Which teams could surprise in the 2022-23 NHL season?

There are two teams in the Eastern Conference that could turn heads with their play this upcoming season. Full Zone Time previewing the upcoming NHL season is available on the Yahoo Sports Hockey Podcast feed or on our Yahoo Sports NHL YouTube channel.

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OMAR: I think Detroit surprises people, man.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Oh.

OMAR: I think Detroit surprises people. Like, there have been a lot of years where Detroit's been, like, oh, whatever. It's just Detroit. I think Detroit catches a lot of teams off guard, and they end up being that, like-- at the end of the year where you're counting up points, it's like, oh my god, like, where do we lose, like, 8 points to? I think people will go back to the schedule and be like, wow, we lost all those games to Detroit.

Like, again, I'm not saying Detroit's, like, an amazing team or whatever. Same thing, their goal-tending is a little shaky and stuff, but, like, their young players, another year older, and they've made some-- well, I think I like a lot of the signings that they made over the off season. I would not be-- that's the team that I would not be surprised if it ends up just kind of sneaking in at the end.

I don't think this is going to be another, like, well, we're going to be bad till a year here for Detroit. I think the idea is, OK, maybe let's, like, go with emotions or whatever. But if, like, if the trade deadline is coming around and they're there, I wouldn't be surprised if Steve-- if Yzerman is like, you know what? I've been with this group for a while. We've been tearing it down and building it up. Let's give them something. Let's give them something, and then see let's see what they can do with it.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Any love for Buffalo? Because I also feel Buffalo is in a very similar spot, too, where they've been trying-- like, they're on their second reboot, essentially, with what they have, and they actually showed genuine progress last year. And that's a team that-- with Owen Power and Alex Tuch, and some of the other pieces-- they're in life post-Jack Eichel. Maybe this coming year ain't the year for them yet, but they're in a similar position as to what Detroit is in where they could use a break going there.

They're really well-coached, too. I know Derek Lalonde's a good coach in Detroit, and he'll be getting his first time as an NHL head coach with them. But Don Granato is showing that he is a great communicator with those guys. Those guys seemingly like to play for him. I don't know if Buffalo's going to make it, but I think Buffalo and Detroit might be on that same wavelength of teams maybe overachieving a little bit more.