What does future hold for those that didn't reach second round?
For the eight teams that find themselves on the sidelines at the end of the first round, there can be a range of emotion that runs from embarrassment (see: Senators, Ottawa) to shock (see: Capitals, Washington) and even to satisfaction (see: Bruins, Boston; Predators, Nashville).
Here's a look at where the eight teams out find themselves as they head into the offseason:
Ottawa Senators
Didn't win a game, led for only a handful of minutes and got just two assists (combined) as far as points from their two best players, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza. So, all in all, the Sens' first-round sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins was about as disastrous as it could get. The first order of business for GM Bryan Murray will be finding a coach who will return some order to a dressing room that came unraveled this season. Look for Bob Hartley to get a long look; perhaps Pat Burns and Pat Quinn, as well.
Then, there's the question of a puck-moving defenseman to replace Wade Redden, who will be somewhere else next training camp, gone with the free-agent winds. The bigger question is, what, if anything, do you do about Spezza and Heatley, who produce mightily in the regular season but have been dreadful in the Senators' past two playoff rounds. Still, this is a team that has talent, good young players and, as it turns out, a decent enough goaltender in Martin Gerber, who was the Sens' best player in their four-game debacle. As for Ray Emery? He'll be able to sleep in all he wants now as Ottawa will wash its hands of him by buying out his contract, barring another team that might show interest but just happened not to read any stories about Emery's immaturity.
New Jersey Devils
The Devils are well-coached, have one of the best netminders of all time between the pipes … and are in big trouble. In being ousted in five games by the New York Rangers, the Devils were exposed as being painfully weak along the blue line and without a bona fide scoring leader up front. And that's no disrespect to Patrik Elias, who once again proved he is a postseason performer with six points in five games. But Brian Gionta has fallen off the map, and there simply isn't enough Devils depth to compete come playoff time.
That means GM Lou Lamoriello will have to get busy this summer. He should be looking at a player such as Wade Redden, a Western Canadian boy who might enjoy playing for Brent Sutter. And there's the issue of finding some talent to help shoulder the load up front. There's also the quandary as to how to handle Martin Brodeur, who was outplayed in almost every game by the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist. Isn't it time Brodeur took off 10 more starts a season to be fresh for the playoffs, given that the Devils haven't advanced past the second round since their Cup win in 2003? If that's the case and Lamoriello doesn't think Kevin Weekes is up to the challenge, the GM needs to address that, too.
Minnesota Wild
How long until the good hockey fans in Minnesota start voting with their feet after yet another disappointing turn by their hometown heroes? The Wild charged to their first division title and, boasting potent power-play and stingy penalty-killing units, looked poised for a long playoff run. Yet Colorado's Jose Theodore outdueled Niklas Backstrom and Marian Gaborik came up dry, with only one assist in six games. Just like that, the Wild were gone. Poof.
Part of the problem seems to be that GM Doug Risebrough is about a year behind in his building plans. The Wild were pushed around last spring by Anaheim, so they got tougher for this campaign. They tried to rough up the Avs, but it didn't work. Now, Risebrough has to figure out what to do with unrestricted free agents Brian Rolston, Keith Carney, Pavol Demitra and Branko Radivojevic. Then, there's Gaborik. He has another year on his deal and will be looking to break the bank in July 2009 as an unrestricted free agent. But it's hard to imagine the Wild will be the ones to open the vault for a player who so completely disappeared at crunch time. If that reluctance does surface, the clock starts ticking on Risebrough to extract the maximum for one of the game's most talented, if enigmatic, players.
Anaheim Ducks
It won't take long for the questions to start coming fast and furious over the Ducks' carcass. Will Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer both retire for good, leaving GM Brian Burke with the onerous task of permanently filling two Hall of Famer roster spots? The Ducks appeared to have all the ingredients for a long run in defense of their first Stanley Cup; but, in the end, their own rambunctious style got them in penalty trouble early in their first-round series against Dallas and they couldn't find enough offense to complete a comeback. Burke decided to stay after rumors persisted he was going to jump ship to Toronto. Now, he will have to tie down Corey Perry to a long-term deal before someone drops an offer sheet in Perry's lap. Burke also will have to find a front-line center and some scoring depth if Anaheim wants to be a contender again in the fall.
Nashville Predators
Although the Predators bowed out in the first round for the fourth straight postseason and have won a total of six playoff games in franchise history, just extending the powerful Detroit Red Wings to a sixth game was a remarkable achievement. The question now is whether it will resonate enough with the fans in Nashville to secure a long-term future in town.
Fans responded down the stretch and filled the Sommet Center with a raucous, lively playoff crowd until the bitter end. But this is still a team that struggled to reach the minimum in average paid attendance to qualify for the revenue sharing that always will be its lifeblood as long as it is in Nashville. With the salary cap going up to about $56 million from the $50.3 million this season, local ownership will be looking at a payroll that will be somewhere in the $45 million range. That's a lot to put down when fans have been reluctant to support the team outside the playoffs. GM David Poile, who did a masterful job in the wake of last summer's fire sale of talent and refusal to re-sign top free agents, still has his hands full. He'll have to get Shea Weber and Ryan Suter under contract. Both are restricted free agents but almost certainly will attract an offer sheet if they're not locked up. The good news for Poile is goalie Dan Ellis showed he has the tools to be the heir apparent to departed Tomas Vokoun (provided Poile can lock Ellis into a long-term deal). Given the proliferation of talent along the blue line, the Preds should be back in the playoff mix in 2008-09. Here's hoping the fans don't forget what this group showed this spring.
Calgary Flames
So, just what did the Mike Keenan coaching experiment yield in Calgary? Well, the Flames finished with two fewer points in the regular season than a year ago and finished third in the Northwest Division, as they did a year ago. They moved up one rung on the playoff ladder, starting with the seventh seed. And, in the end, they played one more game, losing in a Game 7 to San Jose as opposed to losing in six to Detroit in 2006-07. Hard to see where this team is any better off than it was under Jim Playfair.
Not that this is all Keenan's fault. Some of the blame for the Flames' stagnation -- they have yet to win a playoff round since advancing to the 2004 Stanley Cup finals -- lies with GM Darryl Sutter. Calgary boasts impeccable building blocks, with a top-end netminder (Miikka Kiprusoff), a Norris Trophy-finalist defenseman (Dion Phaneuf) and a warrior leader up front in captain Jarome Iginla. Yet the talent level drops off dramatically beyond those three core players. Although the Flames pushed the Sharks to the brink, there isn't enough balance offensively for them to be considered a contender. And the retooled blue line couldn't get the job done when it counted against an offensively superior team such as San Jose. Expect Kristian Huselius to depart in the offseason and Sutter to clear out some other deadwood in the hopes of getting the Flames back on track.
Washington Capitals
There's no way to put a happy face on a series lost in overtime of a Game 7 -- on home ice. Especially when you feel you got jobbed by the officials. It can't be done. But over time, the Capitals will realize that what they accomplished this season was heroic. Under coach Bruce Boudreau, the Caps went from last place in the league to the top of the Southeast Division standings. They erased a 3-1 series deficit against the Philadelphia Flyers only to fall just short when Joffrey Lupul scored in overtime.
But the building blocks are in place for this team to become a contender -- and do so quickly. Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom, along with surprising Brooks Laich, provide a dynamic core of offensive talent. Mike Green has Norris Trophy written all over him, although it's going to cost GM George McPhee a bundle to lock up the restricted free agent. Hard to imagine McPhee won't push to re-sign netminder Cristobal Huet, whom he acquired at the trade deadline for a second-round draft pick. Huet is one of a small group of A-level netminders set to become unrestricted free agents. Given that the Caps don't have a young netminder in the system close to being an NHL starter, Huet will be a priority. The fan base in Washington has been strengthened by the team's play in the last half of the season, and that will help draw free agents to the market (playing with Ovechkin, et al, will be a nice bonus, too). For a team that found itself dispatched from the playoffs in the worst way imaginable, things don't look too bad after all.
Boston Bruins
Almost no one picked the Bruins to be anywhere near the playoffs at the start of the season, which just goes to show you how preseason predictions and $6 will get you a gallon of gas. But after missing the mark in his first attempt at finding a coach (with all respect to nice guy/bad coach Dave Lewis), GM Peter Chiarelli got it right when he hired Claude Julien before the start of the season. Julien imposed a system that kept the Bruins' defensive mistakes to a minimum. Even though they were without one of their top offensive players (Patrice Bergeron) all season, the Bruins still managed to sneak into the playoffs with the eighth seed.
They then pushed the Montreal Canadiens to a seventh game in an emotional series that validated Tim Thomas as the team's No. 1 netminder and Marc Savard as a player who could produce in the postseason. Talented young forward Phil Kessel seems to be learning that hockey isn't a game played at only one end, and youngster David Krejci showed he might be ready to take a step toward stardom. That gives the Bruins nice depth down the middle. Chiarelli will have to decide what to do with netminder Manny Fernandez, who resembles Alexei Zhamnov in terms of disastrous wastes of money, and Glen Murray, whose time in Boston appears to be done.
Scott Burnside is the NHL writer for ESPN.com.
