http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/sports/hockey/nhl-regular-season-top-story-lines.html 2016-10-12 03:53:26 5 Top Story Lines of the N.H.L. Season The Oilers’ Connor McDavid and the Sharks should help keep the hockey compelling, but action off the ice, including expansion draft preparations, will draw attention as well. === With the World Cup of Hockey over and McDavid, the Even before the start of the World Cup, McDavid, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, provided a glimpse of what hockey fans could expect in the coming season. It started with an astonishing goal against Finland that proved to be the decisive score in Canada’s 2-0 gold-medal-game victory at the world championship in Moscow in May. Weeks later, Edmonton signed the bruising wing Milan Lucic to a seven-year contract, providing McDavid with perhaps the perfect complement in a 6-foot-3 linemate who has proved equally adept at scoring goals and protecting teammates. The new Las Vegas franchise The period leading up to the expansion draft in June should be especially fretful for teams boasting depth along the blue line. With teams given the option of protecting three expansion-eligible defensemen or eight total expansion-eligible skaters, maintaining that defensive depth could prove tricky. The same goes for goalies, with each team able to protect only a single netminder. “You have to plan now,” said Ron Sutter, a director of player development for the Calgary Flames. “Going into expansion, a good G.M. is going to make those proper decisions. He’s going to have an idea who he is going to keep and who he might lose.” Last season, the But no move exemplified Bergevin and Therrien’s plan to make the Canadiens a more physically imposing matchup than the blockbuster trade on June 29 that sent the fan favorite P. K. Subban, one of the N.H.L.’s most charismatic players, to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. That swap of franchise defensemen outraged Montreal’s fans, obscuring the fact that their team had acquired a blueliner among the best and most intimidating in the league. Bergevin called the Subban trade the “most difficult transaction I’ve ever had to make.” But with Bergevin and Therrien having cast their lot with this tougher group, a poor start to the season could severely hurt their standing with the team’s fans, and potentially its management, too. After a 15-year run in which they became known for regular-season wins and postseason disappointment, the That should prove difficult in a Western Conference featuring a number of elite teams, but the Sharks’ roster remains almost entirely intact. Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic return after tasting victory with Canada at the recent World Cup, and General Manager Doug Wilson even added to the team’s impressive offense by signing forward Mikkel Boedker to a four-year contract. “I think we should have a little bit of a bad taste in our mouth from losing in the final,” Coach Peter DeBoer said at the start of training camp. “Come back re-energized and ready to make that journey again.” The Maple Leafs posted the league’s worst record in 2015-16, but there will be plenty of attention paid to the team this season. The franchise is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a series of events, including the Centennial Classic, an outdoor game against the Detroit Red Wings set for Jan. 1 in Toronto. The yearlong celebration will be buoyed by a team boasting impressive young talent and genuine optimism regarding its future — something fans in Toronto have not felt in at least a few years. That hope starts with In all, the Maple Leafs start the season with five forwards with little to no N.H.L. experience in their lineup. It may not result in an immediate return to the playoffs, but it should prove interesting.