Offseason keys for NHL teams, including draft, free agency - ESPN

The 2023-24 NHL regular season was an entertaining one, with races for playoff position, point and goal leaders, and major trophies all coming down to the bitter end.

But not every fan base got to enjoy all of it so much.

With eliminations piling up, it's time to look ahead to the offseason. Clubs that didn't quite hit the mark this season will use the draft, free agency and trades in an effort to be more competitive in 2024-25.

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.

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. Dates listed with each team are when the entry was published.

Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BUF | CGY
CHI | CBJ | DET | MIN
MTL | NJ | OTT | PHI
PIT | SJ | SEA | STL | WAS

Projected 2024-25 cap space: $6,110,000
2024 draft picks: 1st, 2nd (VGK), 3rd, 3rd (BOS), 3rd (NYI), 4th, 5th, 6th

What went wrong?

The Caps were an underdog all season. But they still reached the playoffs thanks to a valiant push through the final leg of the regular season. That they were swept out of a first-round series against the Rangers — one of the league's potent, premier teams — wasn't entirely surprising.

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The problem was the Capitals' lack of a solid identity (beyond Alex Ovechkin scoring a lot of goals). That's been a theme for Washington, where