Year after year, the Western Conference playoff race proves to be a tougher fight than the one hosted by the East. This season, 87 points clinched the final playoff spot in the East. While in the West, 93 points doesn't provide solid footing.
While weaker competition allows for fewer excuses this season, improving next season is an easier task. Here's what the offseason holds for teams that didn't make the playoffs:
Atlanta Thrashers
There is no denying that the Thrashers have two of the most talented and exciting young players in the game in Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley. It seems likely that Heatley, in part because of the injury that sidelined Kovalchuk, will be awarded the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. Aside from that and playing spoiler for some teams fighting for a playoff spot (Buffalo, chief among them), it was not a very memorable season for Atlanta. The club, depending on how they fare in the upcoming draft lottery, will receive another top draft pick in order for them to help build their roster to respectable levels. Goaltender Milan Hnilicka is certainly a keeper. He seemed to play his best games against the top teams in the league.
Finish: Not surprising.
Biggest offseason objective: Sign some high-character but reasonably priced free agents to balance the roster. The young players should be carrying the load but a few vets who have been through the wars would provide a buffer for the hard times.
Buffalo Sabres
For just the seventh time in the team's 32-year history, the Sabres will be on the outside looking in when the postseason begins. Coach Lindy Ruff won't be there for the first time in his five years behind the bench. He has publicly said he feels this year has been a failure. Whenever a team doesn't make it to the playoffs, certain evaluations need to be made. In Ruff's case, he said he shouldn't have relied on goaltender Martin Biron so heavily during the early parts of the season. It appeared to be part of the reason the young netminder faltered later in the year.
The Sabres didn't miss the playoffs by much but if you want to look to factors that sunk them, look no further than their record against the lesser lights in the league. Their combined record against Atlanta, Columbus and Florida was a wretched 3-6-1. They also couldn't count on their forwards to score consistently. When a few were going well, others were in a slump and so it went. Buffalo made a run at the final spot down the stretch but it was too little, too late.
Finish: Very disappointing.
Biggest offseason objective: This is a franchise that has been successful playing with a team concept. But adding a bona fide scorer would propel them from so-so to back in the hunt.
Florida Panthers
Coach Mike Keenan found out what others before him already had gone through in South Florida. Pavel Bure is a great talent but with not much around him, having a star player is useless and expensive. So, it made sense for the Panthers to purge Bure and other veterans when it became clear they were in rebuilding mode. Keenan said he's determined to give this franchise a fresh start.
What made the Panthers so much fun in their underdog role when they went to the finals in 1996 (and no, we're talking about all those ridiculous plastic rats) was that they all played as a team. That's more important in hockey than in any other sport and the lack of teamwork we've seen among the Panthers from the time they acquired Bure to the time they dealt him to New York, was astounding. This is a franchise that needs to lure back the fans. Bringing in a superstar seemed like a good idea at the time but it proved to be an abject failure. Winning cures all ills and the Panthers need to start winning.
Finish: A concession to rebuilding.
Biggest offseason objective: If there's a franchise player, it's goaltender Roberto Luongo. There are some very promising young players around him such as Kristian Huselius, Olli Jokinen and Pierre Dagenais. The future doesn't look as dismal as the recent past.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins started the season by losing three of their top forwards to injury. They are finishing the year by losing a whole bunch of other people for the same reasons. This has been a rough season for the Penguins, who were trying to adjust to life after Jaromir Jagr. Just ask Martin Straka, who seems to recover from a broken something or other only to break something else immediately. The only good news is that the Penguins should have excellent draft position. Once Mario Lemieux announced he would sit out the rest of the year because of his hip injury, it seemed to have a domino effect on the rest of the team. Their game against Buffalo earlier in the week featured a Penguins' roster that was missing nine regular players. Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot of money to spend and the city desperately needs a new arena. Lemieux plans to return to playing next season but for how long? This team needs a long-term plan and general manager Craig Patrick is good at formulating one.
Finish: Key injuries yield bruised egos.
Biggest offseason objective: There are many decisions to be made on the number of free agents on the roster. In addition to rehabbing his balky hip, owner Mario Lemieux has some serious decisions to make.
New York Rangers
The soap opera is over for another year as the Rangers missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year but that just means there will be plenty of scrutiny and questions during the offseason. Coach Ron Low appears to be in the most vulnerable position. Ken Hitchcock's name continues to come up. Ditto for Pat Burns. John Paddock, who is the bench boss for the team's top affiliate in Hartford, is also said to be a candidate for the Rangers' job. GM Glen Sather said he won't rush to judgment but when he does sit down to decide how to proceed, he'll have plenty on his plate. He is facing a June 15 deadline to decide whether to exercise a $7 million option of Theo Fleury. Fleury said he wants to stay a Ranger and has threatened to retire or play in Europe if New York doesn't want him. Hasn't Broadway seen enough of his act? It's time to close the curtain. Mark Messier is talking about coming back after season-ending shoulder surgery. That's not necessarily a good idea. It might be time to ride into the sunset at age 41. There's the issue of goalie Mike Richter, who becomes unrestricted. Do they keep him or chase after another UFA -- Toronto's Curtis Joseph? With the acquisition of defenseman Tom Poti, it likely means they'll let go Bryan Berard. Martin Rucinsky is also due to be an unrestricted free agent. The Rangers likely will keep him.
Finish: An implosion of epic proportions.
Biggest offseason objective: A major purge is in order. But it's unlikely to happen. Will those whose time has come know when to walk away?
Tampa Bay Lightning
It's nice to see all those decorative banners reflecting their record crowds from the Lightning's time in the Thunderdome but there has been little else to brag about. It's hard to calculate whether there have been more changes on the roster or more in the front office and ownership. Stability has not been the hallmark of this franchise and they desperately need some. Now that management in the person of new GM Jay Feaster is saying they WILL NOT trade center Vincent Lecavalier, who was the most swapped player in January, February and March never to change teams, they need to figure out what they WILL do. when they lost their leading scorer Martin St. Louis to injury earlier in the year, it had a deflating effect on the team. But the biggest distraction was Lecavalier and his troubles. The young center was struggling to find his game and his passion seemed to have waned. In the latter stages of the year, Lecavalier is showing signs of returning to being the player the team saw earlier in his career.
Finish: Same old, same old.
Biggest offseason objective: With Nikolai Khabibulin in net, they will always have a chance to win. But that can't be good enough any more.
Washington Capitals
When the Capitals traded for five-time scoring champion Jaromir Jagr last summer, there were those who were ready to hand them the Eastern Conference championship right then and there. Instead of fighting for league supremacy, however, the Caps are booking their offseason tee times. So, what went wrong? A slow start, some key injuries (Steve Konowalchuk, Calle Johansson) early, shaky goaltending by the normally reliable Olaf Kolzig, and rotten first periods conspired to knock Washington out of the running. Coach Ron Wilson, whose job is safe according to owner Ted Leonsis although Herb Brooks' name continues to surface in the event that Leonsis changes his mind, hasn't won a playoff series since 1998. The team has the sixth-highest payroll in the league but they couldn't get the job done. It took months for Jagr to feel comfortable with his new team after playing for Pittsburgh his first 11 seasons. The first two months he was slowed by a knee injury. According to some around the team, the Jagr trade was the product of the very deep pockets and unbridled enthusiasm of Leonsis rather than the work of GM George McPhee. Regardless, if the beginning was a bust, Jagr showed a lot of his old self toward the end. When Adam Oates was traded to Philadelphia, it appeared the team threw in the towel but that proved not to be the case at all. In their first 10 games without the NHL assist leader, they were 8-2-1. Were the season 90 games long, the Capitals might have made it. So wait til next year.
Finish: Devastating.
Biggest offseason objective: Health.
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell of the Boston Globe is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
