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

The New York Rangers enjoyed a landmark 2013-14 season in which they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings. But it wasn't long after the season ended that changes were made up and down the roster.

Key depth players including forwards Benoit Pouliot and Brian Boyle, and defenseman Anton Stralman, left in free agency, forcing the Rangers to scramble to find reinforcements. Despite the changes, the core of the roster remains mostly intact, as does coach Alain Vigneault's staff, which added assistant Darryl Williams after Daniel Lacroix was hired by the Montreal Canadiens.

There are some big names facing free agency next summer, but for the time being the Rangers believe they can continue the success they enjoyed last season.

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

Days after the New York Rangers were eliminated by the Los Angeles Kings in five games in the Stanley Cup Final, defenseman Ryan McDonagh still was thinking about the shot, a power-play blast in overtime of Game 5 that beat Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick but hit the post. Kings defenseman Alec Martinez scored the Cup-winning goal in the second overtime.

Ready to assume a leadership role, and maybe even the captaincy, McDonagh still thinks about that shot sometimes. And the next time he gets that opportunity, he plans on burying it.

"There hasn't been too many times in my career where I've almost started to celebrate before [the puck goes in]," McDonagh said. "I thought the way it was shot, from the left side and the far post, I didn't see it go out right so I thought it was in."

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

Possibly the worst kept secret in the hockey world during the past 12 months was Thomas Vanek's desire to explore the option of returning to his adopted home in the Twin Cities and play for the Minnesota Wild.

That desire became a reality July 1 when Vanek signed a three-year contract to play for the Wild, and in the process changed the way he approaches his hockey season.

No longer must he, his wife Ashley and their three sons pick up from their summer home in nearby Stillwater, Minn., and move somewhere else for the winter. They'll have the comforts of home year-round, including Thomas, who rolls out of bed and is a 20-minute drive from work.

"[The routine] changes, especially once the kids start school," Vanek said. "I would have been gone a good month already. You have to get back … for us it was Buffalo. You've got to get the kids settled. It's nice to stay here, train with my trainer and kind of get the full summer with him."

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

All the arrows are pointing up for the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in back-to-back seasons, something they had managed only once before since entering the NHL in 2000. They won a playoff series last spring for the first time since advancing to the Western Conference Final in 2003. They also have an intriguing mix of veterans and talented young players.

"Clearly we're trending in the right direction," general manager Chuck Fletcher said. "If I'm not mistaken, only 11 teams have made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons and we're one of them, so that's a small step in the right direction."

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

The Minnesota Wild are coming off their first victory in a Stanley Cup Playoff series in 11 years. But to hear general manager Chuck Fletcher tell it, his team's second-round loss to the Chicago Blackhawks might have been even more valuable than the opening-round victory against the Colorado Avalanche.

"After we lost to Chicago, and even for a week or two afterward, there wasn't any sense of euphoria," he said. "I think everyone believes we're a competitive team and we can compete with the best teams in the League.

"It was an accomplishment, but I like the mindset of our group. I think everyone recognizes how competitive [the NHL] is and how difficult it is to win. We lost a series to Chicago and that stung. That's great when there's that sense that we could have done more and could have done better. It was great to make the playoffs and great to win a round, but I think our group was striving for more than just getting in."

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

From start to finish, 2013-14 must have seemed like 10 seasons in one for the New York Rangers, and not just because of their run to the Stanley Cup Final that had them playing well into June.

They would like to make a return trip to the Cup Final, but preferably without all the distractions they encountered last season.

Between offseason coaching changes, a grueling 3-6-0 road trip to start the season, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist's negotiations on a contract extension, seven players participating in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and two games at Yankee Stadium as part of the NHL Stadium Series, there never was a dull moment for the Rangers.

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

Claude Giroux's play was a microcosm of the Philadelphia Flyers' 2013-14 season.

After 15 games, Giroux had no goals, seven assists and a minus-11 rating; the team was 4-10-1, last in the Metropolitan Division and 15th in the Eastern Conference.

From that point on, however, Giroux had 28 goals and 79 points in 67 games and was a Hart Trophy nominee, while the Flyers went 38-20-9 to finish third in the division.

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

Craig Berube spent 17 seasons in the NHL as a player and seven seasons as an assistant coach. But when he got a promotion to coach of the Philadelphia Flyers three games into the 2013-14 season, he saw things in an entirely new way.

"It wasn't like I got surprised by anything, but from game in and game out it's the competitiveness of the League and how tight the League really is," Berube said. "There's just no room for error. You're playing all these teams on different nights here and there, how good these teams are and how well you have to play and how consistent you have to be to be a really good team."

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

Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky certainly has a special place for the Vezina Trophy he won in 2013. However, it's helping the Blue Jackets reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the second time in franchise history that resonates with him.

"Most important is team success," Bobrovsky said. "Of course it's really good to win the Vezina, to have the honor of being the best goalie in the NHL. It's a great feeling. But what makes you feel really good is team success. And that is an all-around feeling; everyone feels good, feels proud about the team success."

Bobrovsky was a big reason for the Blue Jackets' success last season. In 58 games he went 32-20-5 with a 2.38 goals-against average, a save percentage of .923 and five shutouts. The Blue Jackets finished as the first wild-card team in the Eastern Conference and drew the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.

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

Craig Berube took over as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers three games into last season, giving him ample time to get his team playing the way he believes they need to play to be successful.

However, there's nothing like having a full training camp.

"It's really important," Berube said. "That's where the consistency really is going to come in, through camp and us instilling what we want to do. It started in the summertime. There was a real focus on the off-ice conditioning and what kind of shape you have to be in to be a Flyer and what we're looking for. That's a high standard. We really held it high this year. I think it's really important that they're coming into camp in great shape. And we're really working and competing and getting our guys to where they need to get to at the start of the season. That's very important.