Yes, the Colorado Avalanche lost goalie Darcy Kuemper and forwards Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky in free agency less than a month after winning the Stanley Cup. Tough subtractions after the franchise's first Cup title since 2001.
But don't think for a second that's going to automatically knock the Avs off their Rocky Mountain high and out of their path to a repeat. Regular readers of this space know the previous year's champion almost always starts the next season at No. 1 until someone can push the champs from their perch. And that's not going to be easy for anyone to do.
The Avalanche seem to have a clear path to first place in the Central Division but none of the other three divisions has a similarly strong favorite. Meanwhile, the Sabres' playoff road remains an intense struggle with a top-heavy Atlantic Division that now includes Ottawa and Detroit joining Buffalo in making big progress in their rebuilds.
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There are definitely elite challengers for Colorado this season, and it's hardly outside the realm of possibility we could see a Stanley Cup rematch between the Avs and Tampa Bay Lightning, who fell two wins shy of the NHL's first three-peat in nearly 40 years.
Allow a moment of gloating in the wake of last year's preview section, where we correctly picked Colorado to dethrone Tampa Bay's run for a three-peat in the Cup final. You are, however, allowed your taunts for the ill-advised pick of Seattle as a wild-card team. That won't be repeated.
Here's our Nos. 1-32 look at the NHL heading into the 2022-23 season:
1. Colorado Avalanche. With a new eight-year, $100.8 million deal, Nathan MacKinnon takes over the league's top cap hit from Connor McDavid and he's worth every penny. Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cale Makar became the best defenseman in the world last season, a scant three years after playing for UMass in the NCAA Frozen Four in KeyBank Center. The defense is deep. Kadri is a loss and former Sabre Evan Rodrigues isn't nearly his replacement. The main question is how well Alexandar Georgiev does in goal in place of Kuemper.
2. Carolina Hurricanes. They have depth all over the ice and added former Norris Trophy winner Brent Burns to a solid defense. Rod Brind'Amour captained the Canes past the Sabres and to a Cup in '06. He has a real chance to raise it again as coach. Might be some tailgating going on in Raleigh come June.
3. Edmonton Oilers. Wayne Gretzky endured a four-game sweep in the '83 Cup final before he became a champion. Do Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl enduring a similar feat in the '22 West final vs. the Avs portend a similar ascension? It might if Jack Campbell can bring all the saves he made in Toronto with him into the Oilers' crease.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning. Have played so much hockey in the last 24 months that you wonder if their energy tanks will hit empty. But they have the world's best goalie (Andrei Vasilevskiy) and best coach (Jon Cooper). Even with the losses of Ryan McDonagh and Ondrej Palat, their title window remains open.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs. One of these years, these guys have to get out of the first round and maybe even make a deep run at that first Cup since 1967. The jobs of GM Kyle Dubas and coach Sheldon Keefe likely depend on Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner getting things done when it counts in April and May.
6. Florida Panthers. Not many Presidents Trophy winners turf their coach but Andrew Brunette bore the brunt of the sweep vs. Tampa. Paul Maurice is in and so is Matthew Tkachuk, who now gets to annoy the Atlantic.
7. Calgary Flames. No Johnny Gaudreau and no Tkachuk, so no chance like the '07 Briere- and Drury-less Sabres? No way. Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri will keep the heat on the Oilers in the Pacific.
8. New York Rangers. Old friend Chris Drury will work the trade deadline hard as the Blueshirts ride Igor Shesterkin to Cup contention.
9. Pittsburgh Penguins. Title window still open but final frontiers are closing for Evgeni Malkin (36), Sidney Crosby (35) and Kris Letang (35).
10. Boston Bruins. Offseason injury news was troubling but new coach Jim Montgomery has plenty to work with, especially with the return of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci.
11. Nashville Predators. Getting Ryan McDonagh in cap dump from Tampa Bay is a huge addition to help Roman Josi on 'D'.
12. St. Louis Blues. Ryan O'Reilly's seven-year deal signed with Sabres in 2015 is up after the season. Does he re-sign or get traded?
13. Los Angeles Kings. Pride of Eden Alex Iafallo has averaged 16 goals the last four years and is still eyeing a 20-goal season.
14. Washington Capitals. Alex Oveckhin starts the year at 780, with Gordie (801) and Gretzky (894) squarely on his radar.
15. Minnesota Wild. Major cap crunch next three years for massive Parise-Suter buyouts makes prospect development like Marco Rossi even more vital.
16. Dallas Stars. Had to get Jason Robertson signed and held the line to get a 40-goal guy at four years and under $5 million.
17. Vegas Golden Knights. Imagine Jack Eichel's fury if they miss the playoffs again. Weak goaltending makes it a possibility.
18. Ottawa Senators. Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux are major additions but Cam Talbot's injury forges early crisis in goal.
19. Columbus Blue Jackets. Johnny Hockey shocked the establishment by getting his free agent bonanza in Ohio.
20. New York Islanders. Fell off the map after two straight East final runs and don't look ready to reload.
21. Buffalo Sabres. Will the good vibes of March, April and training camp continue? Will Owen Power win the Calder? Stay tuned. Fun ride ahead.
22. Detroit Red Wings. Steve Yzerman got trade- and free agent-happy but does that build a team?
23. New Jersey Devils. Easy-to-find websites predicting a 95-point team with good goaltending. A pretty big if. Don't see it.
24. Vancouver Canucks. Could make a quick jump in weak Pacific Division.
25. Winnipeg Jets. Stripping Blake Wheeler of the 'C' was a truly odd start to training camp.
26. Anaheim Ducks. Can Trevor Zegras live up to his billing as a made-by-ESPN-on-one-play star?
27. Seattle Kraken. Will be fun to watch Matty Beniers and Shane Wright but second-year expansionists still struggling to build identity.
28. San Jose Sharks. A huge rebuilding challenge for new GM and former Sabres locker room giant Mike Grier.
29. Arizona Coyotes. Mullett Arena: What a great hockey name. Watching a game in the 5,000-seat pad at Arizona State should be a fascinating storyline.
30. Philadelphia Flyers. How long will John Tortorella's patience hold with this group? It might already be severely tested by Halloween.
31. Montreal Canadiens. Stunk for (Juraj) Slavkovsky and now will they be Bad for (Connor) Bedard? No shock if they get the No. 1 pick again.
32. Chicago Blackhawks. Sad to see they will be rolling the tanks through the United Center, especially when they get done trading Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.
