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M H J O N L I N E . C O M | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7 28 P R E S E N T E D B Y "We'll know when the time comes if we're ready to take the next step. But in this league, you've got to first get in the playoffs. It's a hard, hard league." In the East It will be interesting to see how the league shapes up this season. For instance, the Pittsburgh Penguins, fresh off win- ning two Stanley Cups in a row and striving for a three- peat, lost some significant pieces from the 2016-17 team: Cullen, Nick Bonino, Chris Kunitz, Trevor Daley, and of course, Marc-Andre Fleury. Could this be the year Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals finally take the step the Wild have also long been searching? Standing in their way will no doubt be the Tampa Bay Lightning, who will be among the legit Cup contenders by many pundits heading into the season especially with Steven Stamkos on track for a return, and Columbus Blue Jackets, who added Artemi Panarin. One team everybody should look out for is the Toronto Maple Leafs. There is no doubt coach Mike Babcock is confident his team is ready to ascend into the true contender category with the continued development of young stars Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander and addition of still fast, high-scoring veteran Patrick Marleau. In the West As for the West, like the Maple Leafs, the Edmonton Oilers should be daunting with the continued rise of superstar Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Dallas Stars, at least on paper, did more than any team in the league this off- season. First and foremost, they hired veteran bench boss Ken Hitchcock, who typically pushes and prods his teams to 100-point seasons his first year. Secondly, they added a goalie in Ben Bishop, a scoring winger in Alexander Radulov, a rugged defenseman in Marc Methot, a checking center in Martin Hanzal and maybe a bargain skilled forward in Tyler Pitlick. If one assumes the Nashville Predators will pick up where they left off after riding their hot streak to the Stanley Cup Final and the Chicago Blackhawks (got the band back together with Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp's return) and St. Louis Blues will be contenders like usual, the Wild will be in a dogfight with the Winnipeg Jets, who added a goalie in Steve Mason but often blow themselves up eventually. If five teams are to make the playoffs from the Central, that would mean only three can make it from the Pacific. That's hard to imagine with the Oilers, the Calgary Flames (added goalie Mike Smith), the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings also battling. This type of competition is why Boudreau says, "Good is not good enough." "Watching that St. Louis series again, just execute," Boudreau said. "I get all mad again watching it over. Our lone goal, get into the playoffs playing the best hockey we can, and then make sure we're playing 10 or 15 percent better once we get there. "I don't want them to have a let- down heading into this year. I want them to be angrier because all the great stuff we did last year was pretty well wiped away." After 12 seasons covering the Minnesota Wild for the Star Tribune, Michael Russo now covers the Wild and National Hockey League for The Athletic (theathletic.com). He co-hosts the Russo-Souhan Show on mnspn. com and can be heard on KFAN (100.3-FM) and seen throughout the hockey season on Fox Sports North. Follow Russo on Twitter at @RussoHockey. "It bugs me that they pick every other team in the Central Division to make the playoffs except for us. To me, it's like, 'We want to show you.' I hope that's the attitude of the players because that frustrates me." – Bruce Boudreau Russo's Rants 2017-18 SE A SON PRE V IE W Virginia, Minnesota native Matt Niskanen is entering his 12th NHL season.