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Five playoff teams that could miss postseason in 2020

Tampa Bay Lightning v Columbus Blue Jackets - Game Three

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 14: Matt Duchene #95 of the Columbus Blue Jackets celebrates a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning with teammates Zach Werenski #8, Ryan Dzingel #19 and Seth Jones #3 in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 14, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

It happens every year. Teams that make the playoffs one season, don’t make it the following season. Five teams that made the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs failed to qualify for the postseason in 2019. So, who might those five teams be in 2020?

The five teams that made the playoffs in 2018 that didn’t make them in 2019 are the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

Of course, the offseason still isn’t over so any of the teams on this list could make a significant trade or signing to change their course this season, but we’ll make an opinion based on the information we have right now.

Clearly, we’re expecting there to be way more turnover in the Eastern Conference than in the Western Conference. After all, non-playoff teams like the Rangers, Flyers, Panthers, Devils and Sabres have all improved their roster. The Canadiens only missed the playoffs by two points, and GM Marc Bergevin won’t be shy about making a splash before the start of training camp. In the West, things seem to be a little more set.
[Five non-playoff teams that could make it in 2020]

So let’s take a look at who those teams might be in 2020.

Columbus Blue Jackets: The Jackets finished in the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference in 2018-19, but they’ve lost star forward Artemi Panarin, trade deadline acquisition Matt Duchene and franchise netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. Yes, the Jackets have a lot of young talent still on the roster, but too many teams around them got better in the East. Even though they added Gustav Nyquist in free agency, they probably don’t have enough up front to sneak in. Getting this group back into the playoffs would be an unbelievable accomplishment for head coach John Tortorella.

Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes have been able to keep their group together for the most part. They lost Curtis McElhinney in free agency and they traded Calvin de Haan to the Chicago Blackhawks. Free agent Micheal Ferland hasn’t signed with anybody yet, but it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be returning to Carolina. The ‘Canes were one of the big surprises in the NHL last season. We just need to find out if they can do it again. Will a duo of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer be able to carry them back to the playoffs, let alone an Eastern Conference Final?

New York Islanders: Like Carolina, the Islanders have to show that their group is capable of repeating everything they were able to accomplish last season. Barry Trotz was able to get the most out of this group but there’s no denying they caught the league by surprise a little bit last year. Now that teams will have an offseason to adjust, can Trotz get them to buy in to his defense-first system, again? The good news is that they were able to bring back Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Jordan Eberle. Now, Semyon Varlamov has to do what Robin Lehner did last year.
[ProHockeyTalk’s 2019 NHL free agency tracker]

Pittsburgh Penguins: There’s some question marks surrounding the Penguins heading into the season. Last season, they managed to collect 100 points but they were swept by the Islanders in the opening round of the playoffs. They’ve made some changes to their roster by trading away Olli Maatta and Phil Kessel. Yes, they’ve added Dominik Kahun and Alex Galchenyuk, but the defense isn’t getting any younger.

St. Louis Blues: I don’t want to sleep on the Stanley Cup Champions, but the reality is that they were in last place in early January, got hot, and won the cup. They can’t be dismissed, but Stanley Cup hangovers are a real thing. Also, can Jordan Binnington pick up where he left off in the Stanley Cup Final? They haven’t lost any big pieces but they haven’t added much either.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.