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As you probably know, Travis Yost has decided to move on from Hockeybuzz to pursue other endeavours, so I'm the new hotstove host.

I'm not sure how frequently I'll have new hotstoves up - it depends on the feedback and what's going on in the NHL - but I'm hoping to write at least a couple new posts a week.

Anyhow, with training camps set to open next week, and the NHL season just around the corner, I figured it'd be good to look ahead and try to predict some of what we'll see in 2014-15.

The first topic I'm going to touch on is surprise teams. This could be looked at as teams I think will fail to meet expectations or, in this case, teams not expected to do much that I think will legitimately contend for playoff spots.

I'll probably touch on the former before the season, but in the meantime we'll go with the latter.

There were a couple good options from each conference, but I'm going to keep it at one per.

Western Conference surprise team: Vancouver Canucks

Make no mistake about it, the Canucks were a tire fire last season. Between everything going on with John Tortorella, Ryan Kesler and Roberto Luongo, the team was an absolute disaster. There were a ton of distractions all season long, obviously, and it showed with their results on the ice.

That said, I like their chances to get back in the playoffs this season under new head coach Willie Desjardins.

Ryan Miller is no longer the goaltender he once was, but he's still a capable starter. If he can bounce back from his struggles in St. Louis and Eddie Lack continues on his development track, they should be quite comfortable in goal.

The Sedins are still very good possession drivers and Desjardins will put them in positions to succeed. They won't be forced to block shots and play tough defensive minutes, which should free them up offensively. They're extremely creative players who are deadly when they setup in the offensive zone, so if they get spoon fed favorable starts they should put up big numbers.

Whether Radim Vrbata plays with the Sedins or not, I think he was a very good add, and that he'll provide a nice boost offensively for them. He's consistently put up 20+ goals, 50+ points and I expect him to be able to continue that success in Vancouver.

On defense, I like their top-4 of Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa and Chris Tanev. Edler struggled mightily last season under Tortorella, but I think he'll have more freedom under Desjardins which should help him get back on track.

I don't expect the Canucks to take the league by storm, but I think they're a good bet to squeeze back into the playoffs.

Eastern Conference surprise team: New Jersey Devils

I was flipping back and forth between the Devils and the Islanders, but a lot of people expect good things from the Islanders this year, so the Devils having success would be viewed as more of a surprise.

Anyone who has followed my Devils work knows I like their chances to steal a wild card spot this year. With Martin Brodeur and his .901SV% (over almost 40 games played) out of the picture, the Devils will be a lot better off.

Cory Schneider has posted a .928SV% since 2010, which is the highest in the league over that span. He showed last year when he started the majority of the games down the stretch that he can handle a starter's workload. Him seeing more time in the crease alone should get the Devils, who were close to the playoffs last season, a few more wins.

The next big area of improvement for them will be in the shootouts. Traditionally they were one of the league's best in that aspect of the game, but Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk's departures over the last two seasons hurt them.

Still, they certainly won't go 0-13 again next season. Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias have proven to be capable shooters over the years, and they also added Mike Cammalleri and Martin Havlat to the mix. Even if they trotted out the same shootout lineup as last year consistently, they'd be a good bet to win at least a few of those 13.

With the inevitable improvements in the shootout and Schneider's .920SV%+ getting the bulk of the starts, there's reason to be optimistic about them.

Factor in they added Martin Havlat, as well as the 7th most efficient 5 vs 5 goal scorer last season in Mike Cammalleri, and their offense should be better.

The team's success will ultimately come down to their defense, I think. If Jon Merrill, who more than held his own playing top-4 minutes last year, Eric Gelinas, the NHL's most efficient power play defenseman as a rookie, and Adam Larsson continue to improve and become regular contributors on the backend, the Devils should be a playoff team.

Agree or disagree with my predictions? Feel free to leave your thoughts and picks in the comment section, as well as hotstove topics you'd be interested in seeing in the future.

Devils posts

The Montreal Canadiens are reportedly interested in Martin Brodeur

Renat Makashev gets tryout, Ryan Carter will be at camp

Jackets posts

Are the Blue Jackets and Johansen closing the gap towards an extension?

On Johansen, Horton and shooting percentages

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