In this two-part series, theScore's Josh Gold-Smith and John Matisz evaluate which NHL clubs make for appointment viewing and which teams might have fans changing the channel. Watchability criteria include, but are not limited to: Playing style, expectations, star power, and potential for chaos. (Check out the bottom 16 here.)

15. Boston Bruins

The Bruins aren't one of the NHL's most exciting teams and the unabashed homerism of play-by-play man Jack Edwards can make them a tough watch for non-Boston fans. But the Stanley Cup finalists boast arguably the best forward line in hockey and gargantuan 42-year-old Zdeno Chara is still worth tuning in for.

14. Carolina Hurricanes

The Storm Surge era may be over, but the Hurricanes and their puck-possession style are alive and well. With Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrei Svechnikov up front - not to mention an enviable defense corps and decent goaltending duo - Carolina has appeal. A top-end broadcast adds extra pop.

13. Florida Panthers

A summer of significant change has vaulted the Panthers back into relevance as the arrivals of well-respected coach Joel Quenneville and No. 1 netminder Sergei Bobrovsky instantly make Florida more attractive to the broader NHL fan base. Star forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau might finally have enough talent around them to get back into the playoffs.

12. New York Rangers

The Rangers' rebuild has received a massive jolt, and so too has the intrigue surrounding this group. This offseason alone, New York gained Artemi Panarin and his playmaking skills in transition; Kaapo Kakko and his raw power off the wing; and Jacob Trouba and his 60-point potential from the blue line. Skating at the historic Madison Square Garden doesn't hurt, either. Showtime.

11. Winnipeg Jets

There's no doubt the Jets will be less entertaining if Dustin Byfuglien steps away long-term. Even without him, though, Paul Maurice's crew remains quite watchable thanks to its skilled forwards and heavy, fast-paced style. The potential for further off-ice drama (what happens with restricted free agent Kyle Connor?) makes Winnipeg all the more compelling.

10. Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas' debut season was a story for the ages, with the upstart Golden Knights making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Year 2 featured the acquisition of two-way star Mark Stone and continued team success. VGK 3.0? In a wide-open Pacific Division, we'll see. Head coach Gerard Gallant promotes a highly engaging swarming style, and the broadcast is excellent, too.

9. Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks are an up-and-coming team fresh off a busy offseason. Offensive spark plugs Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser (assuming the latter isn't out long term) will continue to make Vancouver games exceedingly exciting, and crafty rearguard Quinn Hughes will surely bolster the Canucks' status as one of the NHL's most thrilling teams to follow throughout the year.

8. Calgary Flames

Calgary's four-headed watchability monster - agitating scorer Matthew Tkachuk, ageless wonder Mark Giordano, elite playmaker Johnny Gaudreau, and worker bee Sam Bennett - earns the team a top-10 nod. The defending Pacific Division champions are a threat to win it again, and their tilts against fellow divisional heavyweights San Jose and Vegas are sure to be spirited affairs. Plain and simple, the Flames are fun to watch.

7. New Jersey Devils

What a difference a summer makes. The Devils now have dynamite first overall pick Jack Hughes, the ever-magnetic P.K. Subban, and incoming KHL star Nikita Gusev joining former MVP Taylor Hall, the underrated Nico Hischier, and sniper Kyle Palmieri. After enjoying arguably the best offseason in the league, New Jersey is suddenly a huge draw for fans across the continent.

6. Edmonton Oilers

Let's be honest, a roster comprised of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and a bunch of beer leaguers would crack this list's top 10. Toss in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' under-the-radar effectiveness, Zack Kassian's antics, Dave Tippett's arrival behind the bench, and plenty of questions in net, and the Oilers narrowly miss out on a top-five spot. Will it be chaos or success in Edmonton this season?

5. Chicago Blackhawks

The 2018-19 Blackhawks were among the NHL's most entertaining teams, ranking eighth in goals per game while allowing the second-most against. Point-hoarder Patrick Kane, a resurgent Jonathan Toews, and breakout star Alex DeBrincat are all game-breaking talents. More of the same in head coach Jeremy Colliton's first full season will ensure Chicago's contests remain must-see TV.

4. San Jose Sharks

With one of Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns jumping over the boards virtually every shift of every game, the Sharks are inherently fun. Timo Meier - one of the sport's premier power forwards - is a treat to track, and Tomas Hertl is no slouch in the allure department. The watchability kicker? This season could mark Joe Thornton's farewell tour.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

Expectations are high in Toronto, especially with Mitch Marner's splashy new contract on the books. Whether or not they meet expectations, the Maple Leafs should be appointment viewing merely by virtue of a dynamic forward corps featuring Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Marner, and William Nylander, as well as Morgan Rielly and Tyson Barrie on the back end.

2. Colorado Avalanche

Looking like he's been shot out of a cannon multiple times a game, Nathan MacKinnon is Colorado's main man both in terms of winning hockey games and generating universal appeal. Each secondary attraction is awesome in his own right, with Cale Makar, Samuel Girard, Nazem Kadri, and the still-unsigned Mikko Rantanen offering a healthy mix of speed, skill, creativity, and fearlessness. The Avalanche are on the rise. Don't change the channel.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

Beyond the swapping of a few depth pieces, the 2019-20 Lightning largely return the same historically dominant roster of a (regular) season ago. The Steven Stamkos-led squad features reigning Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov, three-zone threat Brayden Point, all-world blue-liner Victor Hedman, and Vezina-winning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning are stacked, and unquestionably the NHL's most watchable outfit.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In this two-part series, theScore's Josh Gold-Smith and John Matisz evaluate which NHL clubs make for appointment viewing and which teams might have fans changing the channel. Watchability criteria include, but are not limited to: Playing style, expectations, star power, and potential for chaos.

31. Anaheim Ducks

Not even John Gibson's best efforts can make the Ducks watchable, especially after Corey Perry and his occasional antics relocated to Dallas. Anaheim is far and away the least compelling team in the NHL.

30. Minnesota Wild

From a watchability standpoint, average sucks. And average is the Wild's thing right now. They'll ice a decent squad every night, but they don't have a superstar attraction. Nobody will be surprised if they make the playoffs or shocked if they miss the cut. The broadcast is solid yet unremarkable.

29. Detroit Red Wings

Beyond Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha, the 2019-20 Red Wings are likely to be pretty dull. If Filip Zadina can quickly acclimatize to the league, sure, he might be worth watching as well. Overall, there just isn't much to be excited about when it comes to hockey in the Motor City.

28. Los Angeles Kings

Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar are entertaining, but the level of intrigue surrounding the Kings as a whole is rather low. They won't win many games, don't play a particularly fun style, and employ too many over-the-hill guys.

27. Arizona Coyotes

Phil Kessel's arrival in the desert will make Coyotes games a bit more interesting. But outside of Kessel, Clayton Keller, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson - and despite Arizona's intriguing position in the Western Conference playoff picture - the 2019-20 Coyotes won't move the ratings needle much.

26. Columbus Blue Jackets

John Tortorella and Seth Jones keep the Blue Jackets from falling too far down the list after Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, and Sergei Bobrovsky all jumped ship in the offseason. Zach Werenski, Cam Atkinson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Josh Anderson all offer their own varying degrees of charm.

25. New York Islanders

Despite the Islanders' playoff success last season, it's hard to get excited about Barry Trotz's defense-first system - and even that's a mirage. Other than offensively gifted center Mathew Barzal, the Islanders don't boast much must-see talent.

24. Philadelphia Flyers

Alain Vigneault's back behind an NHL bench. Carter Hart's set for his first full season. Gritty's surely got a trick or two up his sleeve. Most importantly, this iteration of the Flyers tends to go on long winning streaks and losing skids. Add it all together and there's some mild national appeal.

23. Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens have an intriguing collection of young talent. Still, they're an average offensive team largely dependent on Carey Price. Brendan Gallagher can be a hoot to watch, but is anybody tuning in just for him?

22. Nashville Predators

The Central Division will feature some of the season's toughest battles and, on paper, the Predators are arguably the team to beat. Mixing the ever-entertaining Matt Duchene with dangler Filip Forsberg and probably the best defense corps in the entire league is a win for viewers.

21. Ottawa Senators

For the most part, the Senators weren't really worth watching last season, but they should be a little more fun this time around. New coach D.J. Smith will have the club playing at a high pace, Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot should continue to develop, and Erik Brannstrom's impending arrival could be another reason to tune in. One way or another, expect goals galore during Sens games.

20. Buffalo Sabres

Round 2 of the Jack Eichel-Rasmus Dahlin dynamic duo: Check. Ralph Krueger's return to the NHL coaching ranks: Check. More than a dozen motivated players on expiring contracts: Check. A team desperate to break an eight-season playoff drought: Check. Holding the Sabres back in these rankings is something very important: Their low competitive ceiling.

19. St. Louis Blues

The Stanley Cup champions have a dynamic winger all fans can enjoy in Vladimir Tarasenko and an elite center who does all the little things well in Ryan O'Reilly. But it's hard to dispute the notion that the Blues - a team buoyed by goaltending and defensive prowess - aren't very exciting to watch. They tend to get their business done quietly without a ton of flare.

18. Washington Capitals

We've seen this movie before. It's a good movie, starring the sensational Alex Ovechkin with a strong supporting cast of Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson, and Tom Wilson. The problem is, not much has changed since last year. Or the year before. You can only watch the same movie so many times, right?

17. Dallas Stars

Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, and a resurgent Jamie Benn should be entertaining as usual, and the Stars are legitimate contenders. Daryl "Razor" Reaugh makes the broadcast enjoyable, too. But Dallas had the NHL's third-worst offense last season and still isn't an especially must-see team, even after adding Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry over the summer.

16. Pittsburgh Penguins

Smack-dab in the middle of our rankings is a squad we've come to know very well over the years. As with Ovechkin's Capitals, this is both a compliment and an insult. Working for the Penguins from a watchability perspective are the presences of can't-miss centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, head coach Mike Sullivan's up-tempo style, and a defensive group and goaltending duo riddled with question marks.

Coming Sept. 27: The top 15

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.