Four players. Two coaches. Two team executives. One league executive. And one expansion group spokesperson.
The following isn’t a comprehensive list of the people who’ll define the 2024-25 NHL season (you’ll notice commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players’ Association executive director Marty Walsh are absent). But it identifies, in no particular order, 10 intriguing people who are tremendously influential, hold the key to a team’s success, or find themselves in a high-pressure situation ahead of this weekend’s season-opening games in Europe.
Alex Ovechkin
Trailing by 41 goals, Ovechkin needs to stay healthy and average a goal every other game to tie Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. It’s a monumental task for a 39-year-old trying to rebound from the least productive season of his career.
Yet, this is the “Great Eight” we’re talking about here. Ovechkin’s incredible longevity – a 40-goal pace or better in 16 of 19 seasons – offers hope. If he’s within striking distance of Gretzky down the stretch, the chase will evolve into the biggest story in the sports world. The NHL is happy to play hype machine.
“Some people have suggested that because Alex is Russian that somehow this should be marginalized in some way,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in September at the NHL/NHLPA player media tour. “We couldn’t disagree more with that. He’s been a terrific ambassador for our game for 20 years now, and his enthusiasm for the game and passion for the game is infectious.”
The Capitals should be fascinating to track, in general. The front office turned over a third of the roster in the offseason, adding, among other things, two top-six forwards (Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane), two top-four defensemen (Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy), and a solid goalie in Logan Thompson.
Washington snuck into last year’s postseason with 40 wins and a minus-37 goal differential but is an improved team on paper. Even with the changes, though, a 2025 playoff spot is far from guaranteed. Side plot: How much will Ovechkin’s teammates defer to him? Will the chase affect the club’s mindset?
Anson Carter
Carter, the former forward turned broadcaster, is part of the Alpharetta Sports & Entertainment group that formally requested the NHL in May to open the expansion process to bring Atlanta into the fold for a third time. Another group of investors, led by billionaire Vernon Krause, has also expressed interest to the league and has dreams of building an NHL-caliber arena in Atlanta.
NHL officials have repeatedly said expansion is not a front-burner issue. However, there’s an understanding in league circles that expansion is on the horizon, with two teams being added relatively soon. Expansion fees are set to rocket past the $500 million Vegas paid in 2017 and the $650 million Seattle forked over in 2021 and land somewhere in the $1 billion-$2 billion range.
The affable Carter is highlighted here because he’s the most recognizable name associated with prospective groups in Atlanta, Houston, and Phoenix.
Any new franchise will almost certainly reside in the United States. The NHL counts the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils (New York), and Kings and Ducks (Los Angeles) as two total markets, which means its presence stateside is less expansive than other sports (22 markets to the NFL’s 30, for instance).
Igor Shesterkin
Shesterkin is arguably the best goalie in the world. Fresh off another strong playoff run (.927 save percentage in 16 games), the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner is a swing player in 2024-25. If Shesterkin’s performing at a high level at the right time, the Rangers can win the Stanley Cup.
The 28-year-old Russian also wants to reset the goalie contract market, which has fallen off a cliff in an era of high scoring rates and tandem workloads.
The seven-year, $84-million deal Montreal’s Carey Price signed in 2017 still stands as the richest ever among goalies. Shesterkin, an MVP-level talent most seasons, is worth at least $11 million a year over seven or eight seasons. Anything above Artemi Panarin’s $11,642,857 would set a franchise record.
Shesterkin is reportedly uninterested in negotiating during the season. While that shouldn’t set off alarm bells in New York, it does keep the door open for a potential exit next summer. He’d be a highly desirable unrestricted free agent.
Jessica Campbell
Campbell is the first full-time female assistant coach in NHL history. The Kraken announced in July that the former Cornell University forward would join Dan Bylsma’s staff as an assistant following two seasons in the same role for AHL Coachella Valley. Campbell also previously coached in Germany.
The 32-year-old is a trailblazer, and that label comes with additional attention and, unfortunately, extra scrutiny. Campbell will be involved in coaching Seattle’s power play and developing its youngsters. The latter has been one of her specialties, and strong connections with ex-Coachella Valley players like Shane Wright, Tye Kartye, and Ryker Evans should ease her transition.
When an NHL team hires a woman for a front-office role in 2024, barely anyone bats an eye. It’s become commonplace to have the best candidate, regardless of gender, get the gig. The coaching ranks have some catching up to do, and by all accounts, Campbell is an ideal first woman in.
Chris MacFarland
Nobody’s feeling bad for Colorado’s general manager. MacFarland has two top-10 (top five?) players on the planet at his disposal in Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Mikko Rantanen is, at minimum, a top-25 player. Those three stars are true franchise pillars – a trio of Cup winners still in their primes.
But, man, has MacFarland been dealt a tough hand. Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen are expected to miss the first chunk of the regular season due to a knee and shoulder injury, respectively. (Landeskog, who hasn’t played since the 2022 Cup Final, has an especially foggy timeline.) Meanwhile, Valeri Nichushkin is suspended until mid-November after violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. To recap, that’s half of the Avalanche’s best two lines unavailable for at least the first month and a half.
Maybe all three return, look normal, and there’s nothing to worry about. Or perhaps the returns don’t go well. Or MacFarland opts to work the controversial LTIR loophole. Or this year becomes a write-off thanks to a rough start.
There’s such a wide range of possibilities with this Avs squad, which is a strange thing to type about a legitimate Cup contender. Complicating matters: Rantanen and starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev are pending UFAs.
Connor McDavid
McDavid, 27, is in the prime of his career. He’s coming off his seventh 100-point season, having recorded 32 goals and a career-high 100 assists in 76 games. At the player media tour, McDavid noted that he took a more measured approach to his offseason workouts this summer after arriving at the 2023-24 training camp too skinny from overtraining. He’s feeling refreshed.
McDavid, who’s only 18 points shy of 1,000, is entering his 10th season. It feels like it’s only a matter of time before he and the Oilers claim the Cup, and McDavid’s understandably hungrier than ever following 42 points in 25 games and a crushing Game 7 loss in the final. He’ll also represent Canada for the first time since the 2018 world championships when the finest Canadians, Americans, Finns, and Swedes battle in the 4 Nations Faceoff in February.
All this while his contract winds down. Like running mate Leon Draisaitl this summer, McDavid is eligible to sign an extension ahead of the final year of his current deal. It seems inevitable he’ll stay in Edmonton, with the AAV ($16 million?) and total money ($128 million?) most likely setting NHL records.
Mitch Marner
The Maple Leafs’ postseason struggles stretched to one series win in nine tries following a seven-game Round 1 loss to the rival Bruins in May. Fairly or not, Marner’s the poster boy for this era of demoralizing defeats and the punching bag for a not-insignificant portion of the NHL’s largest fan base.
Deep playoff runs require standout performances throughout the lineup, but let’s face it, Toronto will go only as far as Marner, Matthews, and William Nylander take them. That means the issue is black and white ahead of the 2025 playoffs: Marner either redeems himself with an extended stretch of brilliant hockey or underwhelms again, providing his haters with extra ammunition.
Marner co-headlines next summer’s UFA class. If he chooses not to re-sign with Toronto and hits the open market, teams will be lining up for his services. For all the negativity surrounding him, Marner’s an exceptional talent – a rare all-situations winger who, at his peak, can simultaneously challenge for the Art Ross Trophy (most points) and Selke Trophy (best defensive forward).
Lindy Ruff
Ruff, a Sabres defenseman in the 1980s and head coach from 1997-2013, is back for a third tour of duty in Buffalo. He’s been brought in to be a savior as the Sabres try desperately to end an NHL-record 13-year playoff drought.
The Sabres last made the playoffs in the second-last full season of Ruff’s first tenure behind the bench. How bad were those years without him? Consider this: Only once did Buffalo’s final record feature more wins than losses, and that one campaign – 2022-23 – barely qualifies, at 42 wins and 40 losses.
The Sabres hope Ruff can bring greater accountability to the dressing room and push players to new heights. Captain Rasmus Dahlin, burgeoning star Owen Power, and 6-foot-7 sniper Tage Thompson lead a fairly balanced roster that, with decent coaching, should be in the hunt for an East wild-card spot.
Kevyn Adams is entering his fifth season as GM. He won’t necessarily lose his job if Buffalo again falls short of the postseason. But for Adams to keep it, the team must take an appreciable step forward in the standings.
Don Waddell
Waddell’s transition from top executive in contending Carolina to top dog in rebuilding Columbus was never going to be easy. It got infinitely harder following the tragic death of Blue Jackets star winger Johnny Gaudreau.
Waddell, named president and GM in May, has done everything he can to steer the organization through the early stages of mourning. The grieving process doesn’t magically stop for the hockey season, so his work will continue in the coming days, weeks, and months. Remember, there’s a handful of Jacket players who’ve lost two teammates in three offseasons, with young goalie Matiss Kivlenieks dying in a fireworks accident in July 2021.
As for the hockey stuff, Waddell inherited a rich prospect pool, but the NHL roster remains very much under construction (and especially so with Gaudreau, the club’s most talented player, gone). Waddell hired coach Dean Evason to stabilize an area that’s been anything but stable. He traded Patrik Laine. He’s talked openly about trying to fix a losing culture. The Jackets will miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season, but there’s plenty to accomplish.
Steve Mayer
As the NHL’s chief content officer, Mayer has been an influential figure for years. He’s the creative, boundary-pushing voice in board rooms filled mostly with labor lawyers and former players. In 2023-24, he was the brains behind a revamped All-Star Weekend and the stunning draft inside Las Vegas’ Sphere.
Mayer was an executive producer on the six-part Amazon Prime Video docuseries launching Friday. Along with traditional producing duties, he helped convince players and teams to buy into the all-access style that’s allowed auto racing, golf, and tennis to reach new audiences. Mayer will be tasked with building on the momentum of whatever buzz is created by Season 1 of “FACEOFF: Inside The NHL.” Nobody at the league office pushes harder than him for players to loosen up and be authentic in front of the cameras.
Also on Mayer’s plate this season: the one-off, seven-game 4 Nations Faceoff tournament; outdoor games at Wrigley Stadium in Chicago and Ohio Stadium in Columbus; and a smaller, more player-focused “decentralized” draft event in which staffers for all 32 teams work from home, not the host city.
