NHL.com continues its preview of the 2014-15 season, which will include in-depth looks at all 30 teams throughout August.

It's been a quiet offseason for the Philadelphia Flyers as far as roster changes, for two very good reasons.

First, the team is butting against the $69 million upper limit of the NHL salary cap.

Second, general manager Ron Hextall is happy with what's in place.

"When I took over I liked this team, and I [still] like our team," Hextall said.

New Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall has a different outlook on what the team should look like, but because of salary cap issues wasn't able to change too much with the roster.

Instead, he's hoping a competitive training camp will allow the team to get off to a better start than last season.

"We have to be more consistent and more ready to go every night," Hextall said. "And compete. It's a hard League. It's hard to win. It's hard to get points. You can't let any games go by where you just mail it in and don't have a chance at picking up some points."

Here are five questions the Flyers have to answer in order to pick up enough points to return to the playoffs:

Brayden Schenn established himself as a big part of the Philadelphia Flyers last season. But those around the team are confident there's more to come.

Schenn was rewarded for his first 20-goal NHL season with a two-year contract that reportedly will pay him $2.5 million this season and next season.

For that money, however, the Flyers are hoping for more than 20 goals.

"He's got a real gift at putting the puck in the net," Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said. "He scored 20 goals, which at this stage of the game that's a lot of goals. But we still think there's more there and there's more growth. I think the biggest thing is the consistency part."

Philadelphia Flyers director of scouting Chris Pryor asked a rhetorical question: What was the best year for player development in the past 10 years?

"They'll probably go back to the lockout year [2004-05], when all the kids had to go down and play in the American [Hockey] League," Pryor said. "They were forced to. If you look at the players now that are go-to guys, at that time, [Jeff] Carter, [Mike] Richards, [Ryan] Getzlaf, [Corey] Perry, [Eric] Staal, [Jason] Spezza, they all spent time in the American league. Everyone realizes that the American league plays a huge role. It did back then and it does now."

That's why the Flyers have no intention of rushing any of their top prospects, a number of whom have picked up a bit of experience in the AHL or will debut there this season.

"You've just got to be patient, even though sometimes it's hard to do it if you have a lot of high draft picks and everyone wants to see them play right away," Pryor said. "Unfortunately, it's not that easy. And what's best for the kid is to be patient. Let him develop."

Here's a look at the Flyers' top 10 prospects, according to NHL.com:

The Ron Hextall era has begun for the Philadelphia Flyers, but his first roster is going to look pretty similar to the last one of Paul Holmgren's tenure.

Hextall is the new general manager, with Holmgren promoted to team president. The Flyers still have a lot of the same strengths (strong group of forwards) and weaknesses (slow/old group of defensemen) and the salary cap situation remains delicate.

Philadelphia shook off a terrible start to the 2013-14 season and still made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There could be increased contributions from young players up front, while the defense corps and goaltending likely will be the same.

Hextall's mission will be simple: Find ways to alleviate some of the salary cap issues while restoring a higher standard of excellence for a proud franchise.

Here's a look at the projected 2014-15 lineup for the Flyers:

The IIHF World Junior Championship is traditionally the tournament most NHL scouts point to as a barometer to gauge how far a prospect has progressed among his peers.

If that's the case, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen must be brimming with confidence after witnessing his players excel for their respective countries at the 2014 WJC in Malmo, Sweden.

Five recent draft picks were very productive in last year's tournament, including forwards Alexander Wennberg of Sweden, Marko Dano of Slovakia and Kerby Rychel and Josh Anderson of Canada, and goalie Oscar Dansk of Sweden. Wennberg, Rychel and Dano were chosen No. 14, No. 19 and No. 27, respectively, in the 2013 NHL Draft. Dansk was selected No. 31 and Anderson No. 95 in 2012.

Additionally, the 2014 WJC Division I Group A tournament featured another diamond in the rough for the Blue Jackets in right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand of Denmark. All Bjorkstrand did was earn recognition as the top forward at the tournament after he had four goals and six points in five games to help his country qualify for the 2015 WJC in Montreal and Toronto.

"I think it means something when kids get a chance to win at that younger level; it helps their confidence down the road because of that winning attitude," Blue Jackets director of amateur scouting Paul Castron said. "We've kind of lacked that type of stuff. So anytime you win, it's good."

When the Columbus Blue Jackets had three first-round picks at the 2013 NHL Draft, it looked like those players would be counted on to help the franchise finally become a consistent Stanley Cup Playoff participant.

The franchise might already be that by the time those guys arrive. Columbus reached the postseason in 2013-14 and won its first two games in franchise history. With president John Davidson and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen in charge, the Blue Jackets have quickly morphed from potential rebuilding situation to potential contender.

There is star-level talent at every position. There are young players with the potential to improve already on the NHL roster. There are exciting young prospects in the pipeline.

It was actually a pretty quiet summer in central Ohio, in part because Kekalainen didn't need a busy one. The biggest item of business remains locking up restricted free agent Ryan Johansen, who can be the first "franchise center" the organization has ever had.

Here's a look at the projected 2014-15 lineup for the Blue Jackets:

The Columbus Blue Jackets didn't trade for forward Scott Hartnell specifically to agitate the Pittsburgh Penguins, but his ability to antagonize certainly didn't hurt.

Hartnell earned a reputation as a Penguins-baiter during his seven seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers before being traded to Columbus for R.J. Umberger on June 23. He was particularly pesky, to put it mildly, when the Pennsylvania rivals met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2008, 2009 and 2012. There wasn't nearly the same level of vitriol when the Blue Jackets and Penguins played in the Eastern Conference First Round in April, a series won by Pittsburgh in six games.

Even though the Penguins have gone through a turbulent offseason they are still considered a contender in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference. Clearly, the Penguins are still one of the teams to beat.

That's why Hartnell's 91 career playoff games could come in handy for the Blue Jackets, a franchise that has played all of 10 since joining the NHL in 2000.

Optimism has always been anchored by realism for followers of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

When the Blue Jackets reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 2009, it was due to the outstanding play of rookie goaltender Steve Mason. But Mason couldn't match that performance in 2009-10 and coach Ken Hitchcock was fired 10 months after leading Columbus to the postseason.

Scott Arniel replaced him and promised better, but failed to deliver and was fired in January 2012. Only since Todd Richards took over have the Blue Jackets found their way.

They barely missed the postseason in 2013, but qualified for the first wild card following a move to the Eastern Conference last season before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the first round.

More importantly, there is now a culture of winning; since Feb. 26, 2013, the Blue Jackets are 62-37-12 for the eighth-most points in the NHL.

Here are five questions facing the Blue Jackets as they try to make the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time:

The Columbus Blue Jackets last season got a taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a five-year absence, and even a first-round exit has not dampened their enthusiasm and expectations for 2014-15.

In fact, moves such as signing center Brandon Dubinsky to a six-year contract extension and trading for left wing Scott Hartnell have the Blue Jackets thinking big.