Of the four major North American professional sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL), the NHL has the most parity. Every season, there’s at least one team who shocks everyone by making the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last season, the Seattle Kraken, fresh off a 27-49-6 record in their innaugeral season, made the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the seventh seed of the Western Conference.

Who will be the Seattle Kraken of the 2023-24 NHL season? Which teams will shock the league by performing better than people think? Here’s a look at three potential dark horse teams to make the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Honorable Mentions

You’re not going to see the Buffalo Sabres or Pittsburgh Penguins on this list because, frankly, they’re not dark horse teams. Dark horse teams don’t finish one point out of the playoffs in the previous season like the Sabres did, nor do they finish two points out of the playoffs like the Penguins did.

If I time traveled back from next year and told you the Sabres are making the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, you’d likely think “huh, good for them”, but you wouldn’t be too surprised. The same could be said for the Penguins, though maybe with a lesser reaction. The teams below are like the Kraken.

Also, the Winnipeg Jets aren’t a dark horse team because nobody knows what they’re going to be. Are they going to trade Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele? Both players are vital to their success, have one year left on their deals, and have expressed no interest in re-signing in Winnipeg. Once October comes, their situation will be more clear.

Detroit Red Wings

Last season: 35-37-10 (80 points)

The Detroit Red Wings have been quite busy this offseason, committing just under $80 million total ($27.125 million cap hit this season) between forwards Alex DeBrincat, Christian Fischer, J.T. Compher, Klim Kostin, and Daniel Sprong, defensemen Justin Holl and Shayne Gostisbehere, and goaltender James Reimer. This doesn’t include the buyout of Kailer Yamamoto, who was a part of the Kostin trade.

Last season, the Red Wings finished 24th in goals scored and 23rd in goals against. These offseason changes should go a long way in helping them overcome a fairly substantial climb they’d have to make in order to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They face a bit of a long road, as the Atlantic Division looks to be a very tough one on paper.

Nashville Predators

Last season: 42-32-8 (92 points)

You’re probably wondering why a team that finished just three points out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is considered a dark horse team considering what was said earlier about the Sabres and Penguins. Especially since the Winnipeg Jets, who were merely three points ahead of them, are far from a sure thing to make the postseason.

Well, the Predators have made a few eyeball-raising offseason moves. Specifically, they bought out center Matt Duchene (22 goals and 56 points in 71 games) and traded center Ryan Johansen (12 goals and 28 points in 55 games) to the Colorado Avalanche, retaining $4 million of his $8 million cap hit. Though the Predators signed Ryan O’Reilly to make up for this, the Predators forward group is questionable at best.

However, new general manager Barry Trotz has an ace up his sleeve – Juuse Saros. Saros is one of the best goalies in the NHL. A franchise goalie can make a mediocre team good and Saros certainly qualifies as a franchise goalie. 51 goalies have appeared in at least 50 games since the start of the 2020-21 season. Saros ranks fourth among them with a .920% save percentage.

Not to mention the Predators have Roman Josi, who is the rare kind of a defenseman who can lead an offense. He had a bit of a down year by his standards last season, but given his strong numbers in the past, a bounce back season shouldn’t surprise anybody.

The Western Conference isn’t overly deep. Assuming the Jets trade Hellebuyck and/or Scheifele, the last wild card spot is going to be up for grabs. Even after losing Duchene and Johansen, don’t sleep on the Nashville Predators and their franchise goalie.

Vancouver Canucks

Last season: 38-37-7 (83 points)

The Vancover Canucks are one of the most interesting teams in the league. They’ve got a fair bit of ground to cover up, missing the postseason by 13 points last season. However, the Canucks have two things you like to see in a playoff team. Elias Pettersson is a franchise center and Quinn Hughes is a number one defenseman.

On top of those two stars, the Canucks have J.T. Miller, Andrei Kuzmenko, Brock Boeser, and Conor Garland. If 2019 first rond pick Vasily Podkolzin has a breakout year and Anthony Beauvillier’s pleasantly surprising 33 game stint with the team last season, the Canucks are going to score a lot of goals.

The issue will be preventing them. Last season, the Canucks had a team save percentage of .883%, the second-worst mark in the NHL. How can Vancover improve substantially? It might be as simple as getting more saves.

Thatcher Demko (.901% save percentage last season) battled injuries and inconsistency last season, but before that, he posted two consecutive seasons with a .915% save percentage over 99 games. That’s pretty dang good.

Of course, the Canucks defensive issues aren’t just in net. Their blueline wasn’t good last season aside from Quinn Hughes and Luke Schenn, who was traded to the Maple Leafs at the trade deadline and signed a three-year deal with the Predators this offseason. 2023 trade deadline acquisition Filip Hronek and free agent signings Ian Cole and Carter Soucy should help, but there are still some issues.

If you’re into betting, take a gander at the Canucks’ odds to make the postseason and consider put down a few dollars. It could pay off if Demko makes the saves he made before last season.

* Featured Photo Courtesy of Operation Sports*