It's still summertime in North America.

But NHL hockey is getting closer.

Veterans are gathering for optional skates. Rookies are assembling for prospects games. And fanbases from one side of the continent to the other are beginning to rev up in anticipation of an exciting, successful season.

The barometers for success are different in some cities than others.

In a handful of places, nothing less than a deep playoff run and/or a Stanley Cup hoist will be considered a win. In others, contending for a playoff spot and/or staying above .500 is the line to cross. And in others, simply remaining relevant for a bit would be good enough.

The B/R hockey team, already in giddy anticipation, seized on the expectations narrative to come up with a list of the half-dozen teams most likely to disappoint in 2024-25—whether by failing to chase a title, failing to chase a postseason berth or failing to keep people's attention past the opening few weeks.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the comments.

Buffalo Sabres

As Floyd Mayweather Jr. used to tell nearly every opponent after schooling them across 12 intermittently violent rounds in the boxing ring, "there's levels to this."

And no, precisely no one outside the Pegula household—and probably not even in it—is expecting a Stanley Cup parade through downtown Buffalo come mid-to-late June 2025.

But there is an expectation of improvement. And given the sturdiness of the rest of the Eastern Conference and the marked improvement of a few teams who didn't reach the playoffs last spring, it seems a tough ask for the Sabres to end a 13-year postseason drought.

Buffalo was 12th in the conference and 22nd in the league last season and fell seven points short of the final wild-card spot captured by the Washington Capitals.

The Capitals may or may not have the stuff to ensure another berth, but it's pretty certain that two teams behind the Sabres—New Jersey and Ottawa—will have a significant bump from their 81 and 78 points, respectively, which could vault them past Buffalo and either instantly into the eight-team field or at least in better position to reach it than the Sabres.

The good news for Western New York fans? At least the football team is pretty good.

Carolina Hurricanes

Remember what we were saying about levels?

The Carolina Hurricanes are a perfect example.

Coach Rod Brind'Amour and Co. have been a playoff fixture in recent years, making the tournament and winning at least one series for six straight seasons. They were second in the Metropolitan Division and third overall in the league with 111 points in 2023-24, and there's little reason to believe they won't still be among the top tier when play begins next month.

But it won't look quite the same. And that's likely to matter in the end.

Carolina will be in rebuilding mode on the blue line after the departures of free agents Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce to Nashville and New Jersey, respectively, and its inability to entice trade deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel to stay—he instead took the money and ran to Tampa Bay—leaves a familiar hole when it comes to proven offense in the top six.

It's certainly no time to shed tears for a Hurricanes team that'll probably still be quite successful, but it wouldn't be hyperbolic to suggest that the preseason calls for another championship parade in Raleigh are just a little less loud than they've been in recent years.

Florida Panthers

Don't bother sending sympathy cards to your hockey friends in south Florida.

The NHL's southernmost franchise is still reveling after its first Stanley Cup parade in June, and the Panthers' social media team has been busy all summer chronicling the travels of the silver chalice as it's bounced from beaches to boats to rooftop bars.

It was the second of two straight trips to the final round for the organization and its fans, and the afterglow doesn't figure to fade anytime in 2024-25, or at least not soon.

But high achievement brings high expectations. And unless the Panthers can work through the Eastern Conference gauntlet yet again, it's going to feel like a letdown.

And at least in mid-September, the forecast is to expect one.

General Manager Bill Zito accomplished his top priority in resigning forward Sam Reinhart for eight years, but the Florida hull took broadside hits with the exits of defensemen Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to Seattle and Toronto, respectively, forward Ryan Lomberg to Calgary and veteran sniper Vladimir Tarasenko to Detroit.

It doesn't mean instant doom and gloom for the champs, but the mass exodus is bound to mean something both on the ice and in the locker room, which sets the Panthers up for failure—in relative terms—when compared to what they've grown accustomed to.

Los Angeles Kings

The aforementioned Panthers were able to overcome the Edmonton Oilers.

But the Los Angeles Kings are still trying to find a way.

The more successful of the league's Southern California teams has been sent home by the Oilers after three consecutive first-round playoff matchups, including a five-game squash last spring after the Kings had seized home-ice advantage with a Game 2 win in Edmonton.

It was a disappointing end to yet another season in Los Angeles and it feels even more impactful given what occurred in the subsequent months with the departure of goaltender Cam Talbot along with key pieces Matt Roy, Viktor Arvidsson, and Blake Lizotte, in addition to trades that sent away Carl Grundstrom and Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The Dubois deal made a positive difference in that it unloaded one of the league's worst contracts, but the addition of Darcy Kuemper from Washington to take on No. 1 goaltender duties doesn't seem like the move likely to ensure a deep playoff run.

Anze Kopitar is still a star at age 37 and Drew Doughty is back for another pursuit at 34, but unless the unproven players on the younger side of the aisle assert themselves in a big way, even another first-round fold might be asking too much this time around.

St. Louis Blues

If nothing else, the St. Louis Blues made some noise this summer.

GM Doug Armstrong took advantage of an oft-discussed but little-utilized means of roster building when he tendered offer sheets to restricted free agents Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway and ultimately wrested them away from familiar surroundings in Edmonton.

The former first-round picks gained experience during the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final and Armstrong bet big on them to continue that trajectory, signing Broberg for two years at better than $4.5 million apiece and Holloway at just shy of $2.3 million per.

Snatching the pair from Alberta and holding on to forward Pavel Buchnevich with a six-year, $48 million extension were Armstrong's only headline-grabbing transactions, which was fine for attracting short-term attention but not exactly ground-shaking when it comes to boosting the fortunes of a team that missed the playoffs by six points last spring.

The Blues were 24th in the league with just 2.85 goals per game in 2023-24 and won't experience much of a change even with Broberg and Holloway, who've combined for precisely 11 goals and 31 points across 170 career regular-season games.

Could they find their way into the mix for an eighth seed come springtime? Sure. But it's more likely Armstrong is answering questions about a third straight playoff miss while Broberg and Holloway are watching former teammates on television.

Vegas Golden Knights

Like the Florida Panthers before them, don't waste tears on the Vegas Golden Knights.

The desert-based organization has made the playoffs in all but one of its seven NHL seasons and was the last team before Florida to hoist the Stanley Cup after beating the Panthers across five games in the spring of 2023.

But injuries and collective aging began to take their toll in 2023-24 when the Golden Knights managed to sneak into the playoffs as a No. 8 seed and were quickly dispatched—albeit in seven games—by the Dallas Stars in the opening round.

And then, "Leaving Las Vegas" became a theme for the summer.

Franchise stalwart Jonathan Marchessault was the highest-profile departure when he headed to Nashville with a lucrative free-agency deal and he was followed out the door by fellow forwards William Carrier, Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio and Anthony Mantha, not to mention veteran defenseman Alec Martinez.

Goalie Logan Thompson was offloaded to Washington, too, and though GM Kelly McCrimmon did welcome the likes of Ilya Samsonov and Victor Olofsson on one-year deals, it's got to be recorded as a net loss both of skill and depth for a team that has top-end talent with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone but little safety net if they again deal with injuries.

Eichel hasn't played more than 67 games in two full seasons with Vegas and Stone hasn't played as many as 70 since 2018-19—which he split between the Golden Knights and Ottawa—meaning any expectation that they'll be near 82 this time is, appropriately, a gamble.