Even though the Senators advanced to the second round of the playoffs last spring, they still have the worst winning percentage (.308) of any NHL team since the 1990-91 season.

•The Bruins must find a way to keep their older defensemen—Ray Bourque, 37, Dave Ellett, 34, Grant Ledyard, 36, and Don Sweeney, 32—healthy.

Surely the folks who run the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim know what they're doing. This is Disney, after all, not some Mickey Mouse organization. These guys are emperors of entertainment, kingpins in the corporate world,...

•Either journeyman Bob Essensa or perennial backup Mikhail Shtalenkov must emerge as a No. I netminder to offset the loss of free-agent Curtis Joseph.

Last season 37-year-old defenseman Ray Bourque led NHL players in ice time, with 2,462 minutes, 18 more than Blackhawks backliner Chris Chelios.

•Phoenix needs to improve its special teams, which were a disappointing 14th in power-play efficiency and 21st in penalty killing in the league last season.

The Senators, who again should be in the lower tier of Eastern Conference playoff teams, pulled the biggest upset of the 1998 postseason by knocking out heavily favored New Jersey in six games. Then they followed a...

The Oilers led the NHL with an astounding 2,527 hits last season (653 more than the No. 2 Red Wings), yet they were only 10th in the league in penalty minutes.

They grow up so fast, don't they? That's the lesson the Bruins learned last season when new coach Pat Burns, who was brought in to oversee a rebuilding project, coaxed 39 wins and a playoff appearance from a group of...

•Chicago must improve its record on home ice (14-19-8), which was the fourth worst in the league.