In most sports fans minds, there is only one outcome they want to see for the upcoming season: my favorite team steamrolls the rest of the league and every other team has the regression monster slap them with a salmon across the face.
Sadly, it rarely seems to work out that way.
There are always teams that improve from year to year. And then there are those that you keep hoping to stumble and just don’t ever seem to manage that (looking at you, Chicago Blackhawks).
This summer, when talking over the latest trades, signings, and drafts of the NHL as a whole, I found myself actually looking forward to when one specific team starts to improve: the Carolina Hurricanes.