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

The 2014-15 season can't start soon enough for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Fueled by a rare Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance in which they pushed the Pittsburgh Penguins to six games in the Eastern Conference First Round while captivating Ohio's capital city, the Blue Jackets are eager to show last season was not a fluke.

"The playoffs in the past have been the exception," center Mark Letestu said. "We're trying to make that the rule here. The playoffs are the starting point. The expectations are to compete for a Stanley Cup now. Maybe that's what's changed. Maybe in the past it's been a little more unrealistic than it is now.

"We have a lot of good players, some great players. Everybody fits well. It's a good group. There's a real opportunity to make something special happen here."

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

The Columbus Blue Jackets feel they've turned the corner as a franchise following their second Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance in 13 seasons.

Even though the Blue Jackets were beaten in six games by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference First Round, the excitement generated in April, including winning twice in overtime, has resulted in season ticket sales surpassing 10,000 for the first time since 2009-10.

Defenseman Dalton Prout said the enthusiasm in Columbus is palpable.

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

As Gustav Nyquist walked around the NHL's New York office earlier this month, passing Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, P.K. Subban, Henrik Lundqvist, Patrice Bergeron and Claude Giroux, he kept thinking the same thing.

"I don't know why they want me here," Nyquist said with a smile during the NHL's annual Player Media Tour.

The answer was simple.

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

Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin said he never considered cutting ties with his friends and teammates from his time with the Boston Bruins after his scintillating offensive outburst in his first season in the Lone Star State in 2013-14.

He celebrated a Stanley Cup championship with the Bruins in 2010-11 and won't soon forget the work and sacrifices made for that dream to become a reality his rookie season.

"It's one thing to be on a team, but winning a Stanley Cup is something you never forget," Seguin said. "It's hard to just cut off those ties and those friendships and the feelings shared with those guys."

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

The transitional season for the Dallas Stars is complete following the hiring of a new general manager and coach last summer. A lot more will be expected this season in the wake of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in six seasons in 2013-14.

Stars captain Jamie Benn believes expectations should be high, particularly after the offseason acquisitions of center Jason Spezza and right wings Ales Hemsky and Patrick Eaves.

"Very excited about the players we got and I think they are going to make a big difference in our team," Benn told the Stars website. "Bringing in Spezza and Hemsky are going to give us two solid top lines now. I think our forward group is looking pretty sharp and hopefully our [defensemen] can continue their good play from last year."

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

Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill and coach Lindy Ruff are determined to do a lot more than just have their team qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs each season.

That feat was accomplished last season, their first together in Dallas, and snapped a streak of five straight non-playoff appearances. However, the two have bigger goals in mind.

The Stars earned the second Western Conference wild-card spot last season with 40 wins and 91 points. Nill's acquisition of Tyler Seguin in a trade with the Boston Bruins played a big part in that; Seguin led the Stars in goals (37), assists (47), points (84), power-play goals (11) and game-winning goals (eight) while playing top minutes at center.

"There were some battles during the year," Nill said. "It looked like they were going the wrong way at times and they fought through that and I think that prepared them for the run to get into the playoffs. Then they got in the playoffs and realized how close they were to advancing; how close, but how far. We were one overtime from going to a Game 7 [against the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference First Round] and maybe moving on.

John Tavares already has lived quite an impressive hockey life. He was granted "exceptional player" status by the Ontario Hockey League at 15, broke one of Wayne Gretzky's junior hockey goal-scoring records at 16, was the MVP of the 2009 World Junior Championship at 17 and was the first pick of the 2009 NHL Draft at 18.

He's played in the World Championship three times and won an Olympic gold medal with Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

But last season was the kind of first Tavares would like to avoid. The 23-year-old captain of the New York Islanders sustained a torn medial collateral ligament and a torn meniscus in his left knee at the Olympics and missed the final two months of the NHL season.

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

One could argue that no member of the Washington Capitals personifies the fluctuations of the franchise as much as defenseman Mike Green.

As Washington captivated the NHL several seasons ago with its freewheeling attack, so did Green, whose breathtaking, end-to-end rushes often resulted in dazzling goals.

Yet as the Capitals collectively struggled to reinvent themselves following disheartening eliminations in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Green no longer garnered attention for record-breaking scoring performances. Instead, he took heat for glaring defensive miscues when he was not out because of an injury.