Nearly every team in the NHL has the same goal in mind at the start of a new season: make the playoffs.

Some are certified locks, others are on the cusp, and some know it&#8217;s nowhere near the realm of possibilities.
This past season, there were three teams who made the playoffs the year prior: the Washington Capitals, the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks, all of whom knocked the New Jersey Devils, Minnestoa Wild and Seattle Kraken.
Over at <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/these-2023-24-non-playoff-teams-could-make-it-in-2024-25-and-these-playoff-teams-could-miss">Daily Faceoff,</a> Matt Larkin took a look at three teams who could climb into the playoffs, and who could get knocked out. Larkin has one team from the east making it in, theorizing the Devils knock the Islanders out, while out west, he talks about Chicago and Seattle making it, and the Kings and Jets missing.
Here&#8217;s what he wrote about the Blackhawks and the Kings:
<blockquote>MISSED 2023-24 PLAYOFFS, COULD MAKE 2024-25 PLAYOFFS
Chicago Blackhawks
If you think I played it too safe with the Devils, it’s time to provoke some spit takes. Chicago? One year after it finished with the NHL’s 31st-best record? Hear me out. We’ll start with the <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/connor-bedard/33531">Connor Bedard</a> piece of it. He averaged 0.897 points per game as an 18-year-old. The only two 18-year-olds this millennium to exceed that scoring rate are <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/sidney-crosby/1216">Sidney Crosby</a> and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/connor-mcdavid/2471">Connor McDavid</a>. They both underwent major production leaps as second-year players, winning the Hart and Art Ross Trophies and making the playoffs. Given Bedard is on a generational talent trajectory, it’s reasonable to believe he can explode into the 100-point stratosphere as a sophomore – if he has a decent enough team around him. General manager Kyle Davidson set out to provide that this offseason, adding <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/tyler-bertuzzi/2392">Tyler Bertuzzi </a>and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/teuvo-teravainen/2128">Teuvo Teravainen</a> to the top-six forward group, with <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/ilya-mikheyev/30651">Ilya Mikheyev</a> and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/patrick-maroon/1140">Pat Maroon</a> sprinkled in for depth. Factor in <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/taylor-hall/537">Taylor Hall’s</a> return from injury and that’s a vastly improved forward corps. With<a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/t-j-brodie/199"> TJ Brodie</a> and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/alec-martinez/762">Alec Martinez </a>added to the D-corps and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/laurent-brossoit/2101">Laurent Brossoit</a>, arguably the NHL’s best backup this past season, improving their crease, the Hawks look significantly improved on paper. Best of all, they achieved that without a bunch of ill-advised long-term contracts.
MADE 2023-24 PLAYOFFS, COULD MISS 2024-25 PLAYOFFS
Los Angeles Kings
Rob Blake was hired as Kings GM seven years ago. His club has yet to win a playoff series during his tenure. The 2023-24 Kings were enough of a disappointment in his eyes to fire coach Todd McLellan partway through the year. You’d think the Kings would thus rank among the most aggressive improvers this offseason. But while they’ve been busy…they’ve arguably been busy making themselves worse. They freed themselves from <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/pierre-luc-dubois/2636">Pierre-Luc Dubois</a>’ contract, but in the process they still removed a 40-point scorer and shifted from <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/cam-talbot/1059">Cam Talbot</a> to <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/darcy-kuemper/1692">Darcy Kuemper</a> in net, which, based on last season, is a downgrade in net at a higher price. They watched <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/matt-roy/4512">Matt Roy</a>, one of the game’s better shutdown blueliners, and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/viktor-arvidsson/2453">Viktor Arvidsson</a>, who is injury prone but effective when healthy, walk as UFAs. They handed a three-year deal to checking forward <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/warren-foegele/3911">Warren Foegele</a> and a four-year deal to stay-at-home blueliner <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/joel-edmundson/2532">Joel Edmundson</a>, chewing up more than $7 million in combined cap space on depth players. So the Kings are…worse in net, worse offensively and worse defensively than they were a year ago. Even if exciting young forward <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/quinton-byfield/29855">Quinton Byfield</a> takes another step forward, it won’t offset how badly Blake has struck out this offseason. The Kings are in real danger of missing the playoffs.</blockquote>
<h1>Celebrini signs</h1>
The San Jose Sharks have signed <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/san-jose-sharks-sign-2024-first-overall-pick-macklin-celebrini-to-entry-level-contract">No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini</a> to a three-year entry-level contract, the club announced Saturday.
Celebrini&#8217;s deal carries maximum bonuses, according to <a href="https://puckpedia.com/player/macklin-celebrini?6689b36cb3e0c">PuckPedia</a>, which could see him earn $4.48-million this season.
At 18 years old, Celebrini became the youngest winner of the  NCAA&#8217;s Hobey Baker award as the top collegiate player, becoming the fourth freshman to do so. He scored 32 goals and as many assists in 38 games.
Daily Faceoff&#8217;s Steven Ellis <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2024-nhl-draft-rankings-final-top-120">said the undisputed first-overall pick</a> impressed him with how he played against older competition at Boston University this season:
<blockquote>“The undisputed No. 1 prospect is as complete as it gets, putting up great numbers while still backchecking like his life depends on it. Celebrini is good in the draw, with his pure strength allowing him to win so many faceoffs even against older competition. He’ll be San Jose’s No. 1 for a while, finding ways to make himself valuable even if he isn’t producing much on the scoresheet. As a middleman, he’s better than Bedard. Skill-wise, not on par, but still quite amazing on his own. First overall picks always get significant attention and sometimes even get overhyped. With Celebrini, you can see all the translatable skills, plus how well he handled playing against older competition at only 17. Just think where he’ll be in five more years.”</blockquote>
<hr />
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center">THE NOTEBOOK IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY</h2>
<div style="text-align: center">Be sure to check out the latest <a href="https://betway.com/en/sports/grp/ice-hockey/north-america/nhl" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=httpsa://betway.com/en/sports/grp/ice-hockey/north-america/nhl&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1711770544931000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0ma1qbr16ZXJfEmQK823Z8">NHL odds</a> with online sportsbook Betway.</div>

Nearly every team in the NHL has the same goal in mind at the start of a new season: make the playoffs.



Some are certified locks, others are on the cusp, and some know it's nowhere near the realm of possibilities.

This past season, there were three teams who made the playoffs the year prior: the Washington Capitals, the Nashville Predators and the Vancouver Canucks, all of whom knocked the New Jersey Devils, Minnestoa Wild and Seattle Kraken.

Over at <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/these-2023-24-non-playoff-teams-could-make-it-in-2024-25-and-these-playoff-teams-could-miss">Daily Faceoff,</a> Matt Larkin took a look at three teams who could climb into the playoffs, and who could get knocked out. Larkin has one team from the east making it in, theorizing the Devils knock the Islanders out, while out west, he talks about Chicago and Seattle making it, and the Kings and Jets missing.

Here's what he wrote about the Blackhawks and the Kings:
<blockquote>MISSED 2023-24 PLAYOFFS, COULD MAKE 2024-25 PLAYOFFS
Chicago Blackhawks
If you think I played it too safe with the Devils, it’s time to provoke some spit takes. Chicago? One year after it finished with the NHL’s 31st-best record? Hear me out. We’ll start with the <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/connor-bedard/33531">Connor Bedard</a> piece of it. He averaged 0.897 points per game as an 18-year-old. The only two 18-year-olds this millennium to exceed that scoring rate are <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/sidney-crosby/1216">Sidney Crosby</a> and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/connor-mcdavid/2471">Connor McDavid</a>. They both underwent major production leaps as second-year players, winning the Hart and Art Ross Trophies and making the playoffs. Given Bedard is on a generational talent trajectory, it’s reasonable to believe he can explode into the 100-point stratosphere as a sophomore – if he has a decent enough team around him. General manager Kyle Davidson set out to provide that this offseason, adding <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/tyler-bertuzzi/2392">Tyler Bertuzzi </a>and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/teuvo-teravainen/2128">Teuvo Teravainen</a> to the top-six forward group, with <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/ilya-mikheyev/30651">Ilya Mikheyev</a> and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/patrick-maroon/1140">Pat Maroon</a> sprinkled in for depth. Factor in <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/taylor-hall/537">Taylor Hall’s</a> return from injury and that’s a vastly improved forward corps. With<a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/t-j-brodie/199"> TJ Brodie</a> and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/alec-martinez/762">Alec Martinez </a>added to the D-corps and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/laurent-brossoit/2101">Laurent Brossoit</a>, arguably the NHL’s best backup this past season, improving their crease, the Hawks look significantly improved on paper. Best of all, they achieved that without a bunch of ill-advised long-term contracts.
MADE 2023-24 PLAYOFFS, COULD MISS 2024-25 PLAYOFFS

Los Angeles Kings

Rob Blake was hired as Kings GM seven years ago. His club has yet to win a playoff series during his tenure. The 2023-24 Kings were enough of a disappointment in his eyes to fire coach Todd McLellan partway through the year. You’d think the Kings would thus rank among the most aggressive improvers this offseason. But while they’ve been busy…they’ve arguably been busy making themselves worse. They freed themselves from <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/pierre-luc-dubois/2636">Pierre-Luc Dubois</a>’ contract, but in the process they still removed a 40-point scorer and shifted from <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/cam-talbot/1059">Cam Talbot</a> to <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/darcy-kuemper/1692">Darcy Kuemper</a> in net, which, based on last season, is a downgrade in net at a higher price. They watched <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/matt-roy/4512">Matt Roy</a>, one of the game’s better shutdown blueliners, and <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/viktor-arvidsson/2453">Viktor Arvidsson</a>, who is injury prone but effective when healthy, walk as UFAs. They handed a three-year deal to checking forward <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/warren-foegele/3911">Warren Foegele</a> and a four-year deal to stay-at-home blueliner <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/joel-edmundson/2532">Joel Edmundson</a>, chewing up more than $7 million in combined cap space on depth players. So the Kings are…worse in net, worse offensively and worse defensively than they were a year ago. Even if exciting young forward <a class="text-secondary underline underline-offset-2" href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/players/news/quinton-byfield/29855">Quinton Byfield</a> takes another step forward, it won’t offset how badly Blake has struck out this offseason. The Kings are in real danger of missing the playoffs.</blockquote>
<h1>Celebrini signs</h1>
The San Jose Sharks have signed <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/san-jose-sharks-sign-2024-first-overall-pick-macklin-celebrini-to-entry-level-contract">No. 1 overall draft pick Macklin Celebrini</a> to a three-year entry-level contract, the club announced Saturday.

Celebrini's deal carries maximum bonuses, according to <a href="https://puckpedia.com/player/macklin-celebrini?6689b36cb3e0c">PuckPedia</a>, which could see him earn $4.48-million this season.

At 18 years old, Celebrini became the youngest winner of the  NCAA's Hobey Baker award as the top collegiate player, becoming the fourth freshman to do so. He scored 32 goals and as many assists in 38 games.

Daily Faceoff's Steven Ellis <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/2024-nhl-draft-rankings-final-top-120">said the undisputed first-overall pick</a> impressed him with how he played against older competition at Boston University this season:
<blockquote>“The undisputed No. 1 prospect is as complete as it gets, putting up great numbers while still backchecking like his life depends on it. Celebrini is good in the draw, with his pure strength allowing him to win so many faceoffs even against older competition. He’ll be San Jose’s No. 1 for a while, finding ways to make himself valuable even if he isn’t producing much on the scoresheet. As a middleman, he’s better than Bedard. Skill-wise, not on par, but still quite amazing on his own. First overall picks always get significant attention and sometimes even get overhyped. With Celebrini, you can see all the translatable skills, plus how well he handled playing against older competition at only 17. Just think where he’ll be in five more years.”</blockquote>

<hr />Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at <a href="http://www.twitter.com/zjlaing">@zjlaing</a>, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center">THE NOTEBOOK IS PRESENTED BY BETWAY</h2>
<div style="text-align: center">Be sure to check out the latest <a href="https://betway.com/en/sports/grp/ice-hockey/north-america/nhl" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=httpsa://betway.com/en/sports/grp/ice-hockey/north-america/nhl&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1711770544931000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0ma1qbr16ZXJfEmQK823Z8">NHL odds</a> with online sportsbook Betway.</div>

NHL Notebook: Could the Los Angeles Kings miss the playoffs next year?

Game 3 between Oilers and Stars in Western Conference Final to be afternoon matinee

A rivalry renewed: Oilers and Stars to meet in Western Conference Final for second straight year

NHL Notebook: Are we set to see a busy trade market this offseason?

Edmonton Oilers Stuart Skinner allows goal

Recent articles from Zach Laing

Breaking News