Hi everyone! My name is Lucas Main (@LAM1926 on X) and I will be taking over the Lining Up article this year. Here is my first stab at this, focusing on some of the acquisitions each team from the Western Conference made this offseason. Hope you enjoy!

Pacific Division

Anaheim Ducks – The Ducks brought in a new head coach in Joel Quenneville and some veteran forwards in Mikael Granlund and Chris Kreider. Granlund will be given a lot of the tougher minutes, freeing up Leo Carlsson for better matchups and more offensive zone starts. I think Kreider starts alongside Mason McTavish (if he gets signed), and they use their size and speed to create havoc down low. 

Calgary Flames – The Flames did not do much to their roster in the offseason, but they did lock up Martin Pospisil to an early extension, meaning he is a Flame for four more years. Management and coaches like what he brings so expect him to see an increased role moving forward.

Edmonton Oilers – The Oilers have a few new extensions kicking in this season and a BIG one they need to get done next year so they brought in some new wingers to find the right combo. Trent Frederic will play his first regular season game with the squad while they also brought in Andrew Mangiapane and traded for Isaac Howard. Mangiapane has one season of 35 goals under his belt and could find that touch again if he plays with Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Howard, the reigning Hobey Baker winner, should see some time in the top six, but there could be an adjustment period coming straight from college. 

Los Angeles Kings – The Kings added some depth pieces to their lineup, but they will have a full year of Andrei Kuzmenko on another one-year contract. Management re-signed him after 23 points in 28 games (including playoffs). He seemed to have instant chemistry with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe so he could be a nice late-round pick as he has dual wing eligibility (on Yahoo).

San Jose Sharks – The Sharks added a bunch of veteran players on short term contracts, but you want the youth on this team. Adam Gaudette potted 19 goals for the Ottawa Senators last season so if he can find some chemistry with Macklin Celebrini or William Eklund he could crack that 20 goal plateau. Jeff Skinner signed a one-year deal so he is looking to make a splash on this young team to cash in next offseason and you know GM Mike Greir will want to trade Skinner at the trade deadline so he will be given ample opportunities to produce at the start of the season.

Seattle Kraken – The Kraken bailed out the Stars in taking on Mason Marchment and his contract. This team is filled with big-bodied wingers already (Kappo Kakko, Eeli Tolvanen) and not the same talent that the Stars have, so I wouldn't expect a major season from him.

Vancouver Canucks – It was no shock that the Oilers moved on from Evander Kane. They needed to lose some cap with the number of extensions they had kicking in this summer. However, moving him within the division was a bit of a shocker. Now on the Vancouver Canucks, Kane could have a big season alongside Elias Pettersson. Jake DeBrusk logged a lot of minutes with the Swedish center, but new head coach Adam Foote could start off camp by shaking things up. 

Vegas Golden Knights – The biggest fish in the market this offseason landed in Las Vegas, when they were able to trade for UFA Mitch Marner and sign him to an 8-year contract. With the potential of lining up with Jack Eichel, the American center could finally break the century mark in total points. If the two do line up together, I would expect Eichel to be the shooter on that line. In his 10 NHL seasons, he has averaged over three shots per game in nine of them (the one season he did not was his rookie year when he averaged 2.93 shots per game).

Central

Chicago Blackhawks – The Blackhawks added Andre Burakovsky, bringing in a veteran winger for their young core. He might get some residual points from players like Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard, but Burakovsky was brought in to be a leader in the locker room. 

Colorado Avalanche – For the Avalanche, when they dealt Calum Ritchie to the New York Islanders for Brock Nelson and all they got out of it was a first-round playoff exit, they had to re-sign Nelson to make the trade bearable. He won't face the bulk of other team's shutdown players as they will focus on Nathan MacKinnon, but the real key will be if he can stick on the top power-play unit. Victor Olofsson was a sneaky pickup as he'll get a shot to play with MacKinnon or line two and probably have a couple of two-goal games, but then he'll get hurt and won't make his way back into the lineup.

Dallas Stars – It was supposed to be a big offseason of change for the Stars, but Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn took hometown discounts, so they only had to dump Mason Marchment (for now). Look for youngster Mavrik Bourque to solidify a permanent role in the lineup. 

Time will tell if they need to move out any other contracts, with Jason Robertson being the one mentioned the most. Dallas sport franchises seem to like to move on from their 26-year-old star players so I could see him being moved sooner rather than later.

Minnesota Wild – I suspect the main reason the Wild traded for Vladimir Tarasenko is to convince Kirill the Thrill to sign a new contract. Maybe they have an initial spark at the start of the season together, but nothing that lasts the entire season. However, they will have a full season of their stud defenseman, Zeev Buium. Look for him to take the reigns on the top powerplay unit.

Nashville Predators – The Predators called all the Brinks trucks last summer so there isn't much to write about here. They added some depth defensemen so if your league counts hits/PIMs, Nicolas Hague could be a nice target if you want to shore up those categories.

St. Louis Blues – The Blues acquired defenseman Logan Mailloux on July 1st. If it were a smaller move, we probably wouldn't make too much of it, but the fact that GM Doug Armstrong gave up Zack Bolduc makes this intriguing. Giving up a top prospect like Bolduc must mean that the Blues really like Mailloux. Justin Faulk and Cam Fowler are approaching age 34 so this could be a sign that they are hoping Mailloux develops into their next PPQB so expect him to see some powerplay time along with some sheltered offensive minutes to start. 

Utah Mammoth – Besides announcing the name of the franchise, management made a big splash in acquiring JJ Peterka from the Buffalo Sabres. They gave him a big contract so I would expect him to get top offensive minutes. With the amount of youth in Utah, they have a nice core to build around and grow together.

Winnipeg Jets – One of the bigger storylines of the offseason was Jonathan Toews making a comeback and signing with his hometown Jets. They have already announced the Adam Lowry is going to miss a good chunk of the season so that will open a lot of ice time for the 37-year-old. Many will say that he has already fallen off the wagon as he did not register over 40 points in the last two seasons he was active for, but I will say that with the injuries he was battling and his decision to take time off to heal really affected his game. He is a warrior and a competitor, so if he didn't think his body was ready, he wouldn't have signed that contract. I'm not expecting a point-per-game pace, but I could see him hit between 50-60 points with a full 82 games.