Today we will look at the final eight teams in the West and determine what roster spots 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.

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.

Nashville Predators

Roster Spots Up for Grabs:

Third-Line and/or Fourth-Line Winger – four spots

The Predators line-up is one of the most pre-set in the NHL leading up to 2024-25. Here we have Philip Tomasino (41-7-13-20), Luke Evangelista (80-16-23-39), Cole Smith (80-9-14-23), Mark Jankowski (32-7-8-15), Juuso Parssinen (44-8-4-12) and perhaps Zachary L'Heureux competing for four winger roles on the third or fourth line.

Of interest, Evangelista can be sent down still without clearing waivers, but Parssinen would need to clear. I think the team rolls with Tomasino, Evangelista, Smith, Jankowski and Parssinen out of the gate, with one of them on the bench.

Third-Pairing Defense Right Side – one spot

I think this spot comes down to Dante Fabbro (56-3-10-13), Luke Schenn (63-1-6-7) and Nick Blankenburg (12-1-0-1), all vying for one spot and the extra spot on the bench. Fabbro is an impending UFA and this is a big year for him to show that he has a little more to give on the ice.

San Jose Sharks

First or Second-Line Winger – one spot

Rookie Macklin Celebrini and Mikael Granlund (69-12-48-60) will more than likely be the first and second-line centers on opening night. It probably doesn't matter the order at this point as their likely wingers are William Eklund (80-16-29-45), Fabian Zetterlund (82-24-20-44) and Tyler Toffoli (79-33-22-55), leaving one open spot because of the injury to Logan Couture (6-0-1-1).

Competing for this spot should be Alexander Wennberg (79-10-20-30), Ty Dellandrea (42-2-7-9), Luke Kunin (77-11-7-18), Carl Grundstrom (50-8-4-12), Barclay Goodrow (80-4-8-12), Danil Gushchin (4-1-1-2), Will Smith or Quentin Musty.

Wennberg can play center and could slot in on the third line if Will Smith plays on the wing. I don't think Dellandrea, Kunin, Grundstrom or Goodrow have the offense to sustain a role in the top six. Musty needs a year in the AHL, but first he needs another year in junior (was sent to the OHL Monday). That leaves Smith vying for this role in my mind. Both can play center, but it might be easier to transition to the NHL as a winger.

Gushchin has put up offense at the AHL level (56-20-34-54) and could be a dark-horse candidate here.

Granlund is injured and day to day.

Third Pairing Defense – two spots

The Sharks strengthened their top four on defense by adding Cody Ceci (79-5-20-25) and Jake Walman (63-12-9-21). That leaves Marc-Edouard Vlasic (57-6-6-12), Matthew Benning (14-0-2-2), Henry Thrun (51-3-8-11), Shakir Mukhamadullin (3-0-1-1), Jack Thompson (3-0-0-0) and perhaps Luca Cagnoni filling in the third pairing and the extra spot.

We know Vlasic will be one of the three (if healthy) as he still has two years remaining at $7 million AAV. That leaves spots for two others. The temptation to shelter Cagnoni and have him out on the power play might be too much for him not to start the year in SJ. If healthy, I think Mukhamadullin could play a regular role as well. Thrun might not have shown enough in 2023-24 to get more leash.

Benning and Vlasic both require waivers, but it is unlikely either wouldn't make it through.

Benning and Mukhamadullin are injured and day to day and Vlasic is also injured and yet to appear in pre-season.

Goaltending

By trading for Yaroslav Askarov, the Sharks tagged him as their future number-one goalie and perhaps their existing number-one goalie. I can't see them not having him on the roster by November 1st as that was the likely issue with him in Nashville. He will more than likely backup to begin and then the play of the goalies should dictate who takes over. Askarov is injured day-to-day and doesn't require waivers to be sent down, so he might be in the AHL to start.

That leaves one spot for Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek to battle over after the season begins. The big issue is that Blackwood makes $2.35 million and Vanecek makes $3.4 million, so they might not be easy to trade.

Seattle Kraken

Fourth-Line Center – one spot

Shane Wright (8-4-1-5) seems to have been pencilled in here since April. He will need to compete with Ryan Winterton (9-0-0-0), Ben Meyers (23-1-2-3), John Hayden (2-0-0-0) and Mitchell Stephens (23-2-1-3).

Wright and Winterton don't need to clear waivers, but I'm not sure any of Meyers, Hayden or Stephens would be claimed. I think this goes to Wright with the next two up being extras.

Third Pairing Defense Left Side – one spot

Ryker Evans (36-1-8-9) played well in 2023-24 and should get another opportunity in 2024-25. He doesn't need to clear waivers, but unless Josh Mahura (30-0-9-9), Cale Fleury (1-0-0-0), Maxime Lajoie (7-0-1-1) or Gustav Olofsson (1-0-0-0) outplay him in the pre-season, the job is his. Evans played 27:44 in his first preseason game, which is a good sign that the coach likes you.

A player who intrigues me and might get a longer look is Ville Ottavainen (70-8-26-34 in the AHL), who is a big defender (6-5 225 lbs) and plays on the right side. The Kraken are very strong down the right side with Adam Larsson, Brandon Montour and Will Borgen, so it would probably take an injury to see Ottavainen get some ice time with the Kraken.

St. Louis Blues

Third and Fourth Line – three spots

I'm going to use a pen to insert Mathieu Joseph (72-11-24-35), Alexandre Texier (78-12-18-30) and  Dylan Holloway (38-6-3-9) into three of the six spots on these two lines.

The other three spots are between Oskar Sundqvist (71-6-15-21), Radek Faksa (74-7-12-19), Alexey Toropchenko (82-14-7-21), Kasperi Kapanen (73-6-16-22), Zachary Bolduc (25-5-4-9), Nikita Alexandrov (23-0-2-2), Nathan Walker (45-7-6-13) and Zach Dean (9-0-0-0). That is eight players vying for three spots and possibly two bench spots. It is a competitive camp to say the least.

Second and Third Pairing Defender Left Side – two spots

It would appear from the offer sheet given to Philip Broberg (12-0-2-2) that he would have the inside track for this spot, but the Blues also have Scott Perunovich (54-0-17-17), Ryan Suter (82-2-15-17), Pierre-Olivier Joseph (52-2-9-11) and Tyler Tucker (25-1-1-2) all vying for two spots on the left side. I think they will start with Suter on the second pairing and ease Broberg on the third pairing ahead of the others. That will leave one spot between Perunovich, Joseph and Tucker. Tucker is able to play both sides, which gives him a small advantage.

Third-Pairing Defense right side – one spot

This spot should be between Matthew Kessel (39-1-6-7) and Tucker, with the ability of Broberg, Perunivich, Suter and Joseph to play on the right side being taken into consideration. If Suter can play on the right side, they might elect to have him here and let one of the younger guys play on the left side on the second pairing (see above).

Utah Hockey Club

First-Line Center – one spot

This role could be between Logan Cooley (82-20-24-44), Barrett Hayton (33-3-7-10), Alex Kerfoot (82-13-32-45) or Nick Bjugstad (76-22-23-45).

Bjugstad is out with an injury for a few weeks and won't play in the pre-season. He's not an ideal first line center long-term.  I would think if Kerfoot gets an opportunity, it would be very short-term and only as long as Bjugstad is out.

If Hayton is healthy and, on his game, the role should be his as I don't believe that Cooley is ready (38.0% faceoff wins) to inherit a role that requires a 200-foot game at this point. I think the challenge of being the second line center will be a challenge enough.

Third-Line Winger- one spot

The top four wingers should be Clayton Keller (78-33-43-76), Nick Schmaltz (79-22-39-61), Lawson Crouse (81-23-19-42) and Dylan Guenther (45-18-17-35), with Matias Maccelli (82-17-40-57) sliding up and down from the third line.

That leaves Josh Doan (11-4-5-9), Michael Carcone (74-21-8-29), Kerfoot, Jack McBain (67-8-18-26) and perhaps Milos Keleman (10-0-1-1) vying for the third line role.

I don't think Doan can sustain his output from his small sample of 2023-24, so he should be eased into a regular spot in the lineup. Having said that, he might have the most ceiling offensively of anyone else listed in the paragraph above and could be a future top six forward. I think they will start him there and give him a short leash.

Tij Iginla played his first pre-season game of 2024-25 on Sunday night, but most likely he will be sent back to junior after a taste of the NHL.

Third-Pairing Defense Right Side – one spot

John Marino (75-4-20-24) is injured day to day. Ian Cole (78-2-9-11) might start on the second pairing but should be on the third pairing eventually. Michael Kesselring (65-5-16-21) played here in 2023-24 and will need to compete with Robert Bortuzzo (27-0-0-0), Vladislav Kolyachonok (5-1-3-4) or perhaps youngster Maveric Lamoureux for the one spot on the ice and the one spot on the bench.

I don't think Kesselring, Cole or Bortuzzo are capable of playing top-four, and we will need to get a longer look at Kolyachonok and Lamoureux to judge that. Utah knows it has a floor of Kesselring and will need to make the decision based on that.

Vancouver Canucks

Second-Line Winger – two spots

The Canucks have a set third line with Conor Garland (82-20-27-47), Dakota Joshua (63-18-14-32) and Teddy Blueger (68-6-22-28), which outplayed the opposition for much of 2023-24. Joshua is recovering from testicular cancer and might miss a fair amount of 2024-25, so does that push Garland up into the top-six? The other wingers who will compete for that spot are Pius Suter (67-14-15-29), Nils Hoglander (80-24-12-36), Daniel Sprong (76-18-25-43), Arshdeep Bains (8-0-0-0) and Jonathan Lekkerimaki, who played just six games in the AHL in 2023-24.

Lekkerimaki has the highest ceiling, but he might not be ready for 82 NHL games at this point. That leaves us with Garland, Hoglander, Suter and Sprong, as I don't think Bains is above any of them.

Bains and Lekkerimaki don't need waivers (the others do) so they will more than likely be AHL bound to at least start 2024-25.

Sprong and Garland have the highest output of the rest, with Hoglander coming off of a 24-goal campaign in 2023-24. I think Sprong and Hoglander start out the year on the second line with Garland solidifying the third beside Blueger.

Fourth-Line Center – one spot

This should come down between Nils Aman (43-3-4-7) and Aatu Raty. Aman might be better overall defensively, but he struggles to provide much in the way of offense and in winning important faceoffs. Raty has more upside offensively and while he has some holes in his defensive game, he has improved his skating and is much better in the faceoff circle. It wouldn't surprise me if Raty wins out here even if the Canucks lose Aman to waivers.

Thatcher Demko might be out for a few more weeks or even months, so it looks like Kevin Lankinen and Arturs Silovs will split the crease to begin 2024-25.

Vegas Golden Knights

First and Second-Line Wingers – three spots

Players vying for these spots are Pavel Dorofeyev (47-13-11-24), Ivan Barbashev (82-19-25-44), Alexander Holtz (82-16-12-28), Victor Olofsson (51-7-8-15) and perhaps youngster Brendan Brisson (15-2-6-8).

Vegas will have no choice but to play one younger player in these three spots. Barbashev is a certainty, while Dorofeyev and Holtz should get an opportunity to begin with, but we can't forget that Olofsson has had three 20-goal seasons and a career-high of 28 in 2022-23. If either Dorofeyev or Holtz falters, Olofsson should get a look fairly quickly.

Brisson should get on the roster in 2024-25, but might have to start in the bottom-six.

If healthy, the Golden Knights have a solid eight players on defense, with a rock-solid top three pairings.

Shea Theodore is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of 2024-25.

Winnipeg Jets

Second-Line Winger – One spot

I would think that this spot is Cole Perfetti's (71-19-19-38) to lose even though he was a healthy scratch for some playoff games in 2023-24. Until Brad Lambert (1-0-1-1), Nikita Chibrikov (1-1-0-1), Brayden Yager or Colby Barlow are ready to compete for a top-six role on the Jets, this falls to Perfetti by default. There is not another forward on the Jets who can play an extended amount of time in the top six and produce. For Perfetti to lose this role in 2024-25, he would have to be terrible while one of Lambert or Chibrikov force the issue. 

Third Pairing Defense – two spots

Poor Ville Heinola. He was more than likely assured a regular role with the Jets this year but came down with an infection due to a screw in the plate of his broken ankle from 2023-24. He will be out for a few months. Logan Stanley was also injured and is out for at least 4-6 weeks with a knee injury.

This opens the door for Colin Miller (46-4-5-9) to play 70 games or more and for Haydn Fleury (24-1-4-5) and Dylan Coghlan (1-0-0-0) to be on the roster for at least 20-30 games to start. Other considerations are Elias Salomonsson (31-2-9-11 SHL) and Simon Lundmark (67-5-12-17 AHL) but neither is likely to move the needle much.

The Jets defense is very, very thin and can't afford any injuries in their top two pairings if they wish to make the playoffs in 2024-25.

They could trade Perfetti for a defender perhaps?

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