25 must-watch people in the NHL for 2024-25: Ovechkin’s record chase, McDavid’s Cup push and more (original) (raw)
We are emerging from a summer that saw $1.12 billion committed to NHL free agents on July 1 alone and featured almost as many significant trades consummated amid the quiet of August as we did during the expected frenzy of draft week.
There were offer sheets and a mammoth nine-figure contract extension signed. Eight new head coaches were hired across the league and four new general managers were installed. The Arizona Coyotes were sold and relocated to Utah.
After such a tumultuous offseason, it only stands to reason that the 2024-25 campaign is set to begin amid a flood of storylines and intrigue.
With that in mind, here are the 25 players, coaches and execs I’ll be watching closest in 2024-25. Who are you watching? This is a subjective list, so share your own most-compelling persons in the comments.
1. Alex Ovechkin, F, Washington Capitals
If Ovechkin manages to chase down Wayne Gretzky’s once-untouchable goals record, it would create the rare NHL storyline that resonates in the wider sporting landscape. He enters the year 41 goals shy of matching Gretzky’s mark of 894 in the regular season. What adds a little extra spice is that it’s far from a foregone conclusion he’ll get there, even though that’s a total Ovechkin typically would have reached by the trade deadline. The Washington Capitals captain just celebrated his 39th birthday and endured the worst goal-scoring stretch of his career through the middle part of last season — at least introducing the idea that Father Time may be gaining on him. This also won’t be your typical record chase for non-sport reasons: because of Ovechkin’s implied support for Russian president Vladimir Putin, who has remained featured in his Instagram profile photo throughout that country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Read: The Athletic’s preseason NHL player poll.
2. Connor McDavid, F, Edmonton Oilers
Coming off a rare playoff MVP performance despite playing for a team that fell short of winning the Stanley Cup, the NHL’s best player is going to be a man on a mission. McDavid knows without a doubt that his Edmonton Oilers are a top-tier championship contender, and every day of the upcoming campaign will be approached with that goal in mind. Along the way, he also stands to have some significant moments with his first-ever Team Canada experience looming at the Four Nations tournament in February and the prestigious 1,000-point milestone likely to come much sooner than that, as he’s just 18 points away. To top it off, McDavid will have a big contractual decision to make next summer when he becomes eligible to sign an extension in Edmonton. In short: If this NHL season were scripted as a movie, McDavid would be cast as its main character.
3. Mitch Marner, F, Toronto Maple Leafs
What could be more compelling than a superstar in the prime of his career who may be careening toward walking away from his childhood team? Did I mention that the team is the Toronto Maple Leafs? Marner will be under a considerable microscope while playing out the final year of his contract with the possibility of unrestricted free agency looming in July 2025. As a legacy player for a legacy franchise — the 27-year-old is two points shy of passing Ron Ellis for seventh on the Leafs’ all-time scoring list — the stakes are high for everyone involved here. Marner will have plenty of opportunity to reinforce his value as an elite offensive player both with the Maple Leafs and Team Canada since he’s expected to draw an invite to the Four Nations event.
Will 2024-25 be Mitch Marner’s last season in Toronto? (Chris Tanouye / Getty Images)
4. Steven Stamkos, F, Nashville Predators
The heart and soul of the Tampa Bay Lightning now calls Nashville home after failing to arrive at a contract both he and the Bolts could live with ahead of free agency. It’s only natural to expect that it’s left a chip on the shoulder of a proud athlete who has spoken eloquently about how tough it was to leave Tampa. With the Predators, Stamkos joins a team that took additional big swings on free agents Brady Skjei and Jonathan Marchessault after a surprisingly competitive campaign, and he’ll be counted on to produce following three straight point-per-game seasons on the other side of his 30th birthday. There was calculated risk taken by all sides as part of the series of decisions that brought Stamkos to Nashville. We’ll start to measure the repercussions once the puck drops.
5. Igor Shesterkin, G, New York Rangers
Not only is he the backbone of a Rangers team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, but Shesterkin is also looking to put an exclamation point on his case for becoming the NHL’s next highest-paid goaltender. It’s fair to say there’s a lot riding on this contract year. And while there’s no way to predict how any player might handle the uncertainty brought on by those circumstances, the fact that Shesterkin is the No. 1 goaltender playing on one of the sport’s main stages could add an extra dash of drama if the Rangers don’t move to extend him during the season. He has been everything the team could hope for and more, especially at playoff time. His career .928 save percentage in the postseason is hard to look past.
6. Sidney Crosby, F, Pittsburgh Penguins
Had he not signed a two-year extension in Pittsburgh just before training camp, Crosby would likely have topped this list. Even with his playing future settled — for the time being, anyway — it remains a year when he’ll knock down more personal milestones (1,600 points and 600 goals are comfortably in reach) and return to best-on-best competition with Team Canada, while trying to uphold his typical golden standard at an age where few have done it before. Incredibly, Crosby has a chance to become the first player in NHL history with 20 point-per-game seasons if he can extend his run of those. The fortunes of his Penguins also bear watching because Crosby talked about his desire to win after signing the contract that will take him to age 40. A third straight season outside of the playoffs simply isn’t an outcome the Pittsburgh captain is going to be able to stomach.
GO DEEPERSidney Crosby's new contract keeps him with Penguins — and in control
7. Mikko Rantanen, F, Colorado Avalanche
We may be talking about the “Rantanen Sweepstakes” by the time this season is finished. The big Finnish winger is currently positioned to headline the league’s 2025 UFA class after coming through a summer where he didn’t sign an extension in Colorado despite coming off consecutive 100-point campaigns. Rantanen has been a big driver of the Avalanche’s success, consistently putting up strong playoff numbers, and will start to garner significant national attention if an extension doesn’t materialize before the regular season starts. In a rising-cap environment, he could command a new deal in the range of the $12.6 million being paid to teammate Nathan MacKinnon.
8. Leon Draisaitl, F, Edmonton Oilers
Set to become the NHL’s highest-paid player when his shiny new extension kicks in next season, Draisaitl has more incentive than ever to help create the circumstances that guarantee McDavid remains in Edmonton for the long term. He is now under contract for nine more seasons with the Oilers and planted a flag in the ground by passing up the chance to pursue free agency in 2025. Arguably the best way for Draisaitl to help entice McDavid to stick around is to continue performing at a world-class level in order to give the Oilers another serious run at the Stanley Cup. With his new deal will come even higher personal expectations, though, and his team is in Cup-or-bust mode.
9. Jeremy Swayman, G, Boston Bruins
Still unsigned by the Boston Bruins heading into training camp, Swayman was treated to a second straight summer where business had to be balanced with his preparation after being taken to salary arbitration by the team in 2023. Whenever the finishing touches are eventually put on what’s expected to be a long-term deal for the goaltender, Swayman will shoulder more of the load than he ever has before in the Bruins crease. Beloved tandem-mate Linus Ullmark was dealt to the Ottawa Senators during the offseason, and that cleared the way for the 25-year-old to see more action for a perennial Stanley Cup contender. He should also find himself in the mix for a spot with Team USA at the Four Nations tournament, although the country is blessed with an embarrassment of riches at the position so the competition will be tough.
GO DEEPERShinzawa: Why Jeremy Swayman’s megabucks pursuit has to wait
10. Connor Bedard, F, Chicago Blackhawks
A 22-goal, 61-point rookie campaign was enough to earn Bedard the Calder Trophy, but he’s made no secret of the fact that he’s expecting much more from himself in Year 2. He won’t be lacking motivation. Bedard’s first tour around the NHL was made immeasurably more difficult by playing for a team that was out of its depth most nights, and the Blackhawks have since added several established veterans to help steady the ship. Plus, the 19-year-old had another full summer of training under his belt and will no doubt want to do everything he can to try and garner consideration for Canada’s Four Nations entry. Add it all together and everything points to a big Bedard bounce incoming.
11. Craig Berube, coach, Toronto Maple Leafs
The man known as “Chief” arrives in Toronto with a Stanley Cup on his resume and a reputation as a straight-talking, no-nonsense coach. He’ll also bring a fresh set of eyes to a challenge predecessor Sheldon Keefe couldn’t find the solution for: how best to deploy a top-heavy forward group while accounting for other roster deficiencies and setting the team up for a long playoff run. Berube has been around the NHL for a long time, including a brief stint in Toronto during his playing days, but will not have found himself in the fishbowl to the degree he will this season. He’s taken on a difficult task, perhaps even an impossible one, but he’ll be expected to deliver answers every day and can expect to have those answers to be endlessly dissected and disseminated.
GO DEEPERIs there any reason to believe this season will be different for the Leafs?
12. Aleksander Barkov, F, Florida Panthers
Count this as a problem every player in the league would love to have: Barkov is coming off an impossibly short summer after becoming the first Finnish-born player ever to lead his team to the Stanley Cup. The challenge facing the Florida Panthers captain is to help ensure his team experiences no lag or hangover, which will be tough after seeing Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and others exit via free agency, and because many of the holdovers are actually returning from consecutive 100-plus-game runs to the championship series.
13. Tomas Hertl, F, Vegas Golden Knights
The veteran forward was out injured when he was traded for the first time in his NHL career, landing in Vegas at the March deadline, which basically comes with a free pass for his brief cameo with the Golden Knights afterward. Hertl wasn’t overly productive in that stretch, but there were plenty of mitigating factors at play. Those will be removed by the time his first full season in Vegas gets underway next month, and the team will need a strong return on the investment it made in him because that deadline deal was followed by letting Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson, among others, walk out the door in free agency. The core of the roster is forever shifting in Vegas, but the high ambition remains. Hertl needs to be a heartbeat player for that program to push forward.
14. Trevor Zegras, F, Anaheim Ducks
Still only 23, it feels like the talented winger’s time in Anaheim is at an inflection point. After an injury-plagued season where his name circulated widely in trade conversations, Zegras will either re-establish himself as an important part of a rebuilding roster in the months ahead or risk having those trade rumors turn into reality. The good news is that Zegras seems to be in good health and isn’t showing any signs of having lost his swagger. Now sporting a full-on mullet, he’s going to be hard to miss no matter which way things break for him this year.
Trevor Zegras answers the burning question: why the new mullet? 💇🏻♂️
(via @DucksStream)
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 17, 2024
15. Eric Tulsky, general manager, Carolina Hurricanes
There had never been an NHL general manager whose prior career achievements include earning a PhD in Chemistry and owning 27 U.S. patents until the Hurricanes promoted Tulsky to replace Don Waddell in June. While Tulsky may not be a true outsider — he had already built up considerable influence on decision-making during 10 years working inside the club’s front office — it stands to reason that he’ll bring a unique approach to the new job. For example, it’s no coincidence that Carolina became the first NHL team in years to lower a player’s cap hit using deferred compensation with extensions signed by Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin this summer. Tulsky takes over the GM duties with Carolina at a crossroads. One of the NHL’s most successful regular-season teams over the past several years, the Hurricanes parted ways with multiple key players during the offseason.
16. Elias Pettersson, F, Vancouver Canucks
Not only is the Vancouver Canucks forward coming off a sluggish finish to last season, but a contract extension that has him carrying the league’s fifth-highest cap hit at $11.6 million is just beginning. The collision of those two factors will create expectations right from the drop of the puck this season. How Pettersson responds could go a long way to determining if the Canucks can take another leap forward after last year’s breakthrough run to Game 7 of the second round. While his 34-goal, 89-point campaign obviously played a role in the team’s success, it should be considered a baseline that Pettersson needs to clear this season.
17. Linus Ullmark, G, Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are desperately in need of a playoff chase, if not a playoff spot, and Ullmark is expected to be a big part of making that happen. He arrived in a trade from Boston in June to considerable fanfare. There is much to like about the Swedish goaltender, from his game to his upbeat attitude and personality, but his acquisition represents a big swing from the Senators. For starters, Ullmark is entering the final season of his contract and could conceivably parlay a strong season into a big payday somewhere else next summer. Conversely, if he fails to meet expectations, Ottawa doesn’t appear to be equipped with a reliable Plan B to pick up the slack.
18. Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning have been a top-tier contender for so long that it’s only natural to assume they’ll continue to be one every year. What kind of season they get from Vasilevskiy will likely determine if that’s actually true. A workhorse throughout their Cup years, the former Vezina and Conn Smythe winner was sidelined to begin last season after back surgery and never returned to previous form. His .900 save percentage was by far the lowest of his NHL career. Vasilevskiy is coming off a healthy summer of training and may simply revert to his former self, but if he’s unable to get there, that may ultimately have more say than any offseason roster changes about whether the Lightning can still be as formidable as they once were.
19. Mikhail Sergachev, D, Utah HC
The signature move of Utah HC’s summer was the surprising draft day trade for Sergachev, who has yearned for the responsibilities of a No. 1 defenseman and will finally get them in the NHL’s newest market. How effectively he can handle those minutes should be a major factor in what the on-ice product looks like this year in Salt Lake City. Sergachev is obviously a known quantity around the NHL after enjoying plenty of success in Tampa, where he largely played behind Victor Hedman on the left side of the team’s blue line and suffered a gruesome broken leg last year. That is a big part of what he’ll be contending with as part of the adjustment to a new city, team and conference — Sergachev dressed for just 36 games including the playoffs last season.
20. Jessica Campbell, assistant coach, Seattle Kraken
A trailblazer as the first full-time female assistant coach in NHL history after being promoted by the Seattle Kraken to a role on Dan Bylsma’s staff over the summer, Campbell is expected to perform a role similar to what she did with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds the past two seasons. Only with more eyeballs on her. Campbell will be tasked with helping some of the Kraken’s younger players with their development while also having a hand in running the power play alongside fellow assistant Bob Woods. In doing so she’ll be carving a path that others will eventually follow.
21. Gabriel Landeskog, F, Colorado Avalanche
More than 800 days have passed since Landeskog dressed in a game for the Avalanche — which just happens to be the night he accepted the Stanley Cup from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after the team’s championship victory in 2022. Since then, his career has been in serious jeopardy because of a right knee injury that ultimately required Landeskog to undergo cartilage transplant surgery. He’s been on a seemingly endless cycle of rehab ever since. However, there is now dawn on the horizon with Landeskog fully expected to return at some point this season — albeit with no guarantee his knee can withstand the demands of the sport at his highest level and understandable questions about how well he’ll perform after such a long layoff.
22. Patrik Laine, F, Montreal Canadiens
When he’s playing free and having fun, there are few more entertaining players on the planet than Laine. Unfortunately, it’s been a while since he’s enjoyed that kind of form after going through a stretch in Columbus where he was frequently injured, experienced the death of his father and ultimately entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. An August trade to Montreal seems to have renewed Laine’s spirits, which at least creates the possibility of an inspired second act to his career. He’s a showman at heart and will quickly be embraced by a passionate fan base if he can start filling the net for the bleu, blanc et rouge. There are certainly a lot of people in Laine’s corner pulling for him.
GO DEEPERWhy the Patrik Laine trade feels familiar but represents a shift for the Canadiens
23. Pierre-Luc Dubois, F, Washington Capitals
If PLD were a stock, investors would be accustomed to volatility. On one hand, he’s a 6-foot-4 center who plays a 200-foot game and is still just 26 years old. On the other, he’s a No. 3 draft pick already on his fourth NHL team and embarking on a “fresh start” for the second time in as many seasons. He landed in Washington from Los Angeles in an offseason trade that carries high risk-reward potential for the Capitals because Dubois is still under contract for seven more seasons at an $8.5 million cap hit. If he plays well there, perhaps seeing time alongside Ovechkin, he may finally find the traction his career has been lacking. If another change of address doesn’t pan out, he’ll be running short on future opportunities.
24. Macklin Celebrini, F, San Jose Sharks
There is no mystery about where the No. 1 pick in June’s draft will spend the season since the San Jose Sharks have already committed to giving him a spot on the NHL roster, not to mention accommodations at Joe Thornton’s house. Celebrini is one of the main reasons the Sharks future is suddenly looking bright after a couple years wandering around the wilderness near the bottom of the standings. They may not actually be much more competitive as a team this season, but with the first No. 1 pick in franchise history in uniform, there should at least be a surge of renewed local interest. No pressure, kid.
25. Marty Walsh, executive director, NHL Players’ Association
Not only is this a season where Walsh is set to deliver on his mandate of returning best-on-best international competition with the Four Nations tournament, but it’s also a season where he’ll start preparing membership for the next round of collective bargaining talks. Walsh has so far shown an ability to work amicably with NHL leadership since his hiring in 2023 and that’ll be put to the test once the sides start formally engaging in CBA discussions with the current deal set to expire in September 2026. His extensive political background will certainly help him navigate those waters, but it’s no small task.
(Graphic: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic, with photos from Patrick Smith, Peter Joneleit and Kevin Sousa / NHLI via Getty Images)