The Tampa Bay Lightning tied the NHL record for wins in a regular season (62) while Nikita Kucherov took home the Hart Trophy and Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Vezina in 2018-19, but they finished without a victory in the playoffs. The Lightning begin the quest to make amends for their postseason failure when they host the Sunshine State-rival Florida Panthers on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.

The New York Rangers are still rebuilding after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, but hope several key offseason additions accelerate their return to prominence entering Thursday’s season opener at home against the Winnipeg Jets. The Rangers signed prized free-agent forward Artemi Panarin, traded for former Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba and drafted 18-year-old forward Kaapo Kakko with the second overall pick to bolster the roster.

The Pittsburgh Penguins bid to get off on the right foot Thursday when they open the season against the visiting Buffalo Sabres. Sidney Crosby's foot remains the hot-button topic as the superstar captain's availability is clouded for the season opener after he was hit by a shot from Buffalo defenseman Marco Scandella in a preseason game.

The Carolina Hurricanes created some special memories last season but they prefer to look ahead rather than dwell on what they accomplished and what might have been. After a stunning run to the Eastern Conference finals in their first trip to the playoffs in 10 seasons, Carolina enters the 2019-20 campaign with high hopes as they host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Capturing the Central Division title in back-to-back seasons was not seen as enough by the Nashville Predators, who took a significant step toward solving their scoring woes by adding forward Matt Duchene in July. Signed to a seven-year, $56 million contract, Duchene hopes to provide immediate dividends on Thursday as the Predators open their season against the visiting Minnesota Wild.

The Boston Bruins tied for the second-highest point total in the NHL last season and were one win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup, only to drop a winner-take-all Game 7 on home ice to St. Louis. So it's only natural that the Bruins have their eyes on hockey's biggest prize as they kick off the season at the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game road trip.

The Calgary Flames ran roughshod during Bill Peters' first season behind the bench in 2018-19, amassing a Western Conference-best 107 points before seeing their good fortune come to a screeching halt at the hands of the red-hot Colorado Avalanche. The Flames aim to avenge their first-round series loss on Thursday when they visit the Avalanche in Denver.

The Anaheim Ducks were the standard bearers in the Pacific the past few years, winning five consecutive division titles and finishing second once before imploding in 2018-19. After stumbling to a sixth-place finish in the Pacific, the Ducks hope to rebound under new coach Dallas Eakins when they host the up-and-coming Arizona Coyotes in Thursday night's season opener.