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Anaheim Ducks
Overall: 23
Title track: 28
Ownership: 30
Coaching: 87
Players: 74
Fan relations: 29
Affordability: 31
Stadium experience: 49
Bang for the buck: 10
Change from last year: -19
Here's the recipe for falling from a top-five franchise in these standings to scraping the top 25: Lose a fourth-straight Game 7, fire your head coach and trade away your top goalie. Anaheim is still among the best franchises in sports, but the Ducks laid an egg in the past Stanley Cup playoffs and look like a team in transition.
What's good
Anaheim churns out wins -- during the regular season, anyway -- and its average ticket price is the fourth-lowest in the NHL, which means fans get some good value when they go to games (that No. 10 bang for the buck ranking is third best in hockey). The Pacific Division champions led the league in goals against average and won more games (51) than all but the New York Rangers. Even with their roster changes, the Ducks are mighty. ESPN predicts they'll finish fifth in a tight Pacific Division race this season, which would mean fewer wins and no playoff berth. On the bright side, though, it would make for a much more intriguing final stretch to the regular season.
What's bad
The Ducks fired Bruce Boudreau two days after yet another Game 7 playoff loss, and they brought back Randy Carlyle, the team's all-time winningest coach. Carlyle led Anaheim to its first and only Stanley Cup title in 2007, but he was fired in 2011 following a 7-13-4 start to the season. Now -- after being fired by Toronto -- he's a Duck again. Nostalgia aside, the legacy hire isn't necessarily an improvement. Carlyle went 91-78 in four seasons with the Maple Leafs, and fans aren't convinced (coaching rank dropped 34 spots this year, all the way to 87th). Four players from Carlyle's last Ducks roster remain in Anaheim, which speaks to the team's age: This group is experienced, sure, but talent can only fight time for so long.
What's new
Anaheim is still one of the better NHL values, at about $45 per ticket, but the Ducks fell 23 spots in the affordability rankings (still at 31 -- seventh in the NHL) thanks to a league whose prices are reasonable almost across the board. The franchise's stadium experience also fell 23 spots, but that has to do with other teams doing more than the Ducks doing less. Anaheim's biggest project to improve amenities since its 2012 grand terrace? Adding a "state-of-the-art scoreboard" for the 2015-16 season. Fancy, but not exactly groundbreaking. That said, the front office has put nearly $100 million into renovations since 2005, an effort that keeps the Ducks in the top 50.
Next: St. Louis Blues | Full rankings