Emotionally in 2018
Joined: Nov. 2016
Posts: 9,290
Likes: 3,387
I'd go with the Rangers for the obvious reasons. Drafting Kakko and signing Panarin gives them their superstars up front for the future, acquiring and then signing Fox and Trouba gives them a great defensive outlook. Probably going to be some financial issues over the next few years, but they've truly rebuilt the right way.
The under the radar pick for me is the Coyotes. Not only did they improve on the ice by swapping Galchenyuk for Kessel, and then swapping a depth defenseman for a 40 point, middle six forward in Soderberg, but they've had a fantastic offseason off the ice. The Kessel trade caused ticket sales to skyrocket almost immediately, and there is finally more stability in the ownership group here. They've got the right leader to help guide the franchise to where they need to be business wise, and the on-ice product is going to help that tremendously.