Today we are going to look at the first eight teams in the West and determine which roster spots, if any, actually have openings for competition. 

Each year, we get excited at the idea of a young prospect having an outstanding training camp and making the NHL roster as an 18- to 20-year-old rookie. Unfortunately, more often than not, the teams bring in an older player on PTO or keep the low-ceiling player who was on the roster the year prior. Then we have to determine that there was never an opening for a young player on the roster.

It is also sometimes difficult to determine if there is an actual roster opening as teams are pretty reluctant to bury more than league minimum in the minors.

Anaheim Ducks

Roster Spots Up for Grabs:

First or Second Line Winger – one spot

This spot is reserved for when Cutter Gauthier is ready for it. If he's not ready at the beginning of 2024-25, any number of incumbents will play there out of Alex Killorn, Frank Vatrano, Ryan Strome, or Troy Terry, with newcomer Robby Fabbri in the mix as well. That is assuming that the centers are Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras and Mason McTavish. The Ducks don't really have another top-nine forward in their mix who is ready, so Gauthier should be at least on the third line to begin. This spot is open for Gauthier only.

Fourth Line – one spot

The Ducks are bringing back Brock McGinn who played just 24 games in 2023-24 (24-1-2-3), Isac Lundestrom at center (46-5-6-11), Brett Leason (68-11-11-22), Ross Johnston (68-1-3-4) and have added Jansen Harkins (45-0-4-4 in Pittsburgh).

The Ducks should be looking to improve upon McGinn, Johnston and Harkins and will hope to see Lundestrom play more games than he has in the past two years and have Leason match or improve upon his 2023-24. That leaves one spot for McGinn, Johnston and Harkins or turning to one of their younger prospects. Candidates are Carson Meyer (41-2-4-6 and 90 hits in his career with Columbus), Pavol Regenda (19-1-2-3), Sam Colangelo (3-1-0-1), Nikita Nesterenko (12-2-0-2) or Nathan Gaucher (72-10-15-25 AHL).

I think the Ducks will choose McGinn if healthy, Harkins and Meyer to rotate that final spot. Colangelo and Gaucher probably need another half or full season in the AHL and I'm not sure a fourth-line role is ideal for Regenda or Nesterenko.

First or Second Defensive Pairing – one or two spots

Will both Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov be handed top-four roles at the start of 2023-24, each averaging close to 20 minutes per game? The Ducks have added Brian Dumoulin from Seattle and it tells me that they are a little hesitant to have both there. Dumoulin should be a third-pairing defender on most teams at this point, but the Ducks will more than likely have him starting out in the top four.

The locks are Cam Fowler and newly-appointed captain Radko Gudas to be paired on the first and second pairings.

I still think that Mintyukov is a bit more well-rounded as a defender than Zellweger at this point and more likely to start in the top four.

Third Pairing Defense – two spots

Zellweger, Jackson LaCombe, Urho Vaakanainen, Gustav Lindstrom, Tristan Luneau and Drew Helleson could be left battling it out for the remaining three roster spots on defense. LaCombe and Zellweger should be locks here with the third spot up for grabs.

It is just a matter of time until Zellweger, Mintyukov and LaCombe are in the top four on the regular. The Ducks are in a position to trade a defender sooner than later.

Calgary Flames

Fourth line – one spot

The club signed Ryan Lomberg (75-5-2-7) to a two-year deal at $2 million AAV for some reason. He has his winger spot locked in for 2024-25, which leaves Jakob Pelletier (13-1-2-3), Dryden Hunt (28-3-5-8), Walker Duehr (40-2-5-7), Matthew Coronato (34-3-6-9) and Adam Klapka (6-1-0-1) vying for the other winger spot and a spot on the bench.

Kevin Rooney (33-3-1-4) should be the fourth-line center if healthy, but I'm sure the Flames would like to upgrade here. The Flames have quite a few players who can play down the middle, but none of them are ideal to play down on the fourth line.

Matthew Coronato could be the odd man out as he's not an ideal fourth-line player but the Flames brought in Anthony Mantha for what could have been his spot in the top-nine.

Third Pairing Defense – two spots

Kevin Bahl and Jake Bean should be locks on the second or third pairings with Calgary in 2024-25. That leaves two spots in the lineup and one on the bench for Daniil Miromanov (24-3-4-7), Brayden Pachal (50-2-5-7), Jarred Tinordi (52-0-9-9), Joel Hanley (42-1-4-5), Ilya Solovyov (10-0-3-3) and Yan Kuznetsov (1-0-0-0).

As exciting a player as Zayne Parekh is and will be, I don't think he makes the roster in 2024-25.

Chicago Blackhawks

Second-Line Center – one spot

This role should come down to Andreas Athanasiou, Philipp Kurashev or Jason Dickinson in the short-term, but none of them are ideal players in that role for Chicago. Frank Nazar (3-1-0-1) could and should be the solution longer term, but I'm not sure he is ready for it in 2024-25. That leaves us with Lukas Reichel (65-5-11-16) who had a very disappointing 2023-24 but could get another plum opportunity in 2024-25 to start.

Third Pairing Defense – one spot

If healthy, Alec Martinez should be on the first or second pairings in Chicago, but he probably can't be counted on to play more than 60 games. With the additions of Martinez and T.J. Brodie it could limit Kevin Korchinski, Wyatt Kaiser, Isaak Phillips, Louis Crevier and Ethan Del Mastro to compete for the one spot on the ice and the other on the roster.

I think Korchinski could use 30-40 AHL games.

Artyom Levshunov probably won't dress in the pre-season because of injury and won't make the roster as an 18-year-old. He is eligible to play in the AHL in 2024-25.

Laurent Brossoit might miss some time early in 2024-25, so expect to see Arvid Soderblom in the NHL for the first few weeks over Drew Commesso as the latter needs more time in the AHL.

Colorado Avalanche

Second-Line winger – one spot

This is a temporary opening as Artturi Lehkonen is injured for the first few weeks of the season. The obvious short-term choices are either Nikolai Kovalenko or Matthew Phillips (34-1-4-5). I think this would be a perfect audition for Kovalenko to see if he can play in the top six, while Phillips would have to outplay Kovalenko in the pre-season to get an opportunity ahead of him.

Jere Innala could sneak into the picture here as a 26-year-old who played last year in the SHL and had 16 goals and 12 assists in 42 games.

Once Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin are back in the lineup, Logan O'Connor and Jonathan Drouin likely get dropped down the lineup.

Fourth – Line – three spots

Right now it looks like Parker Kelly, Matthew Phillips, Joel Kiviranta, Chris Wagner, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Innala and perhaps Oskar Olausson are competing for two winger spots, a center spot and a bench role. I like Bellemare who is in training camp on a PTO coming out with a job.

Third-Pairing Defense – two spots

The top four is set with Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Josh Manson and Samuel Girard. The bottom pairing will have Erik Brannstrom, Oliver Kylington, Calvin De Haan, Jacob MacDonald, Sam Malinski and perhaps Sean Behrens all competing for three roles. De Haan or MacDonald should be insurance and on the bench more often than not, but if all healthy, it should be Brannstrom and Kylington on the ice.

Dallas Stars

First-Line Winger – one spot

As long as Jason Robertson is out someone will need to replace him on the first line. The most likely candidate is Logan Stankoven (24-8-6-14) who showed well in 2023-24 and is thought to become a regular in 2024-25. This should be a short audition, as Robertson is expected back sooner than later.

Third-Line Wing/Center- two spots

Depending on where Jamie Benn is slotted in the lineup (I suspect at center), there is an opening for two forwards on the third line. Stankoven, Mavrik Bourque, Evgeni Dadonov, Sam Steel and Matej Blumel should compete for the two spots.

Third-Pairing Defense Right Side – one spot

Nils Lundkvist (59-2-17-19) should be the front runner but he will need to compete for this role in 2024-25. Brendan Smith (63-5-10-15) is also on the roster as a veteran and Lian Bichsel is in training camp as well. Bichsel was the 18th overall pick in 2022 and split time between the AHL and the SHL in 2023-24. He is 6-6 and 233 lbs.

Edmonton Oilers

Third-Line Winger – two spots

These spots should come down between Mattias Janmark, Corey Perry, Vasily Podkolzin, Connor Brown, Raphael Lavoie, Matthew Savoie and Mike Hoffman who is in camp on a PTO (66-10-13-23).

The center on this line should be Adam Henrique, who could provide some offense. Podkolzin, Brown, Savoie and Hoffman probably have the higher ceilings for putting up some offense.

Second-Pairing Defense Right Side – one spot

If Darnell Nurse is healthy, this spot would be his defensive partner. Right now, it is looking like one of Ty Emberson (30-1-9-10), Brett Kulak (82-3-13-16), Josh Brown (51-3-7-10) or Troy Stecher (54-1-6-7).

Cam Dineen could be an option on the left side for the third pairing if Kulak was put on the right side.

The depth on this defense is not great as Kulak or Emberson are four or five and Brown or Stecher are six or seven.

Evander Kane is out until January or February.

Los Angeles Kings

Fourth Line – three spots

Pencilled in right now are three of Alex Turcotte (20-1-3-4), Akil Thomas (7-3-1-4), Trevor Lewis (82-8-8-16), Samuel Fagemo (8-1-0-1), Franceso Pinelli, Jack Studnick or Samuel Helenius.

Arthur Kaliyev is out with an injury for at least four to six weeks and could slot in here when he's back, but he'd be better up the lineup.

Third-Pairing Defense – two spots

These two spots should come down to Joel Edmundson (53-1-5-6), Brandt Clarke (16-2-4-6), Kyle Burroughs (73-2-6-8), Andreas Englund (82-1-9-10), Caleb Jones (25-0-5-5) or Jacob Moverare (24-1-0-1).

If Clarke can move up the lineup, then Jordan Spence (71-2-22-24) would come down to the third pairing.

The top three defenders are pretty much set between Drew Doughty (82-15-35-50), Mikey Anderson (74-2-16-18) and Vladislav Gavrikov (77-6-17-23).

Minnesota Wild

Second-Line Winger – one spot

Marcus Johansson (78-11-19-30) is 34 years of age and pencilled in as the second-line winger on Minnesota's depth chart. There has to be an opportunity for Liam Ohgren (4-1-1-2) to have a fantastic pre-season and push Johansson down the lineup.

Third-Line Winger – one spot

Jakub Lauko (60-2-8-10) was acquired from Boston and is pencilled in on the right side in Minnesota on the third line. He might be better utilized on the fourth line and this spot might be open for Frederick Gaudreau (67-5-10-15), Yakov Trenin (76-12-5-17), Travis Boyd (16-2-6-8), Ohgren or Graeme Clark (3-0-0-0).

Fourth Line – three spots

Wild forwards who should be considered for the fourth line are Lauko, Gaudreau, Trenin, Boyd, Ohgren, Clark, Marat Khusnutdinov (16-1-3-4) and Reese Johnson (42-2-3-5).

Third-Pairing Defense Left Side – one spot

This spot and one defender in reserve should have Declan Chisholm (31-3-6-9), Jon Merrill (65-4-7-11), Daemon Hunt (12-0-1-1), Carson Lambos and perhaps Ryan O'Rourke competing for them. Lambos and O'Rourke might need some more time in the AHL, but Hunt might be ready in 2024-25.

Next week, we will look at Nashville, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, Utah, Vancouver, Vegas and Winnipeg and see what opportunities exist for each.

Thank you very much for reading and if you have any comments, please leave them below or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15