Keys to the offseason for NHL teams, including free agency plans - ESPN

The 2022-23 NHL regular season was a record-breaking campaign for the Boston Bruins as a team and a historic season for Connor McDavid, who scored like it was the early 1990s.

But the eliminations are piling up — both from playoff series losses (including the Bruins), and those who didn't qualify. Those clubs are now looking ahead to this offseason, where the draft, free agency and trades will help put them in a better position to compete in 2023-24.

Read on for a look at what went wrong for each eliminated team, along with a breakdown of its biggest keys this offseason and realistic expectations for next season. Note that more teams will be added to this story as they are eliminated from the playoffs.

Go through every team's profile or skip ahead to your favorite team using the links below:

Note: Profiles for the Atlantic and Metro teams were written by Kristen Shilton, while Ryan S. Clark analyzed the Central and Pacific teams. Stats are collected from sites such as Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey. Projected cap space per Cap Friendly.

Jump to a team:ANA | ARI | BOS | BUFCGY | CHI | COL | CBJDET | LA | MIN | MTLNSH | NJ | NYI | NYROTT | PHI | PIT | SJSTL | TB | VANWPG | WSH

Lost to Hurricanes in five games.

Projected 2023-24 cap space: $34,705,0002023 draft picks: 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th

What went wrong?

The Devils were one of this season's greatest comeback stories. They roared to life after a brief stumble out of the gate, went on a franchise-record 13-game win streak and finished with a 110-point season. Then New Jersey surprised by overcoming a 2-0 series deficit to topple the New York Rangers in their first-round matchup. Astounding stuff.

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