from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

Can Connor McDavid or Carey Price pull their teams into the playoffs? Will Vegas be as good as last year and will Chicago be as bad? Is anyone going to challenge Erik Karlsson for the Norris Trophy?

With the season about to begin, here’s a baker’s dozen worth of questions:

Will anyone be worse than Ottawa?

What a time to be a fan of the Senators. If it wasn’t bad enough that the team traded away Erik Karlsson and Mike Hoffman — and tried to get ride of fan favourite Zack Smith — the Senators are beginning what looks to be a long and painful rebuild without the luxury of actually having a first-round pick. Then again, the Senators might not even be among the five worst teams. Vancouver is entering Year 1 without the Sedins, while Detroit is going to have a difficult time winning games without Henrik Zetterberg. Carolina’s heavily involved owner is making all the wrong decisions, and both New York teams seem to be doing everything in their power to secure the best chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick.

Will anyone challenge Erik Karlsson for the Norris Trophy?

A healthy Karlsson had his worst season in seven years, but you can chalk it up to the team around him. Now that he’s in San Jose and insulated by Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the back end, we should see a different type of defenceman than we saw in Ottawa. Don’t be surprised if Karlsson puts up Paul Coffey-type numbers and competes for the Art Ross Trophy. And unlike his time with the Senators, you can expect him to do it with a positive plus-minus rating as well.

more questions yet to be answered...