The 2007-08 season is underway with Anaheim and Los Angeles splitting a pair of games in London. The European opening is an interesting experiment, but it’s a minor storyline compared to many others that will play out over the winter. Let’s take a look at some of the compelling subplots of the new season.

A Stanley Cup champion hasn’t repeated since Detroit claimed its second straight title in 1998, and the task didn’t get easier for the Anaheim Ducks when Conn Smythe Trophy winner Scott Niedermayer and 48-goal scorer Teemu Selanne opted to retire over the summer. Neither has officially retired, but the Ducks start the season without them. GM Brian Burke responded quickly to Niedermayer’s decision -- or make that indecision -- by signing former Red Wings defender Mathieu Schneider, and he also added Todd Bertuzzi to replace some of the lost scoring punch. There are plenty of young players who stepped up last spring, including Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz and Francois Beauchemin, and others, including Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry, may be ready to assume larger roles. Still, Anaheim’s title defense would benefit if Niedermayer follows the career path of Roger Clemens and returns during the season. Either way, the Ducks are the team to beat in the Western Conference.

No 2006-07 team outscored the Buffalo Sabres, who won a franchise-record 53 games and won the Presidents’ Trophy. Daniel Briere and Chris Drury tallied 69 of the Sabres’ 308 goals, but both are gone via free agency. The Sabres had their chance to re-sign them prior to last season, then made offers below market value to Briere and Drury over the summer. Has Buffalo’s chance to be an elite team again also slipped away? That would seem to be the case. The Sabres are loaded with young talent, but the key departures will put a lot of pressure on Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Tim Connolly and other youngsters to score more and take on leadership roles. Buffalo’s early exit in the playoffs suggests the high-scoring attack wasn’t enough to win close, low-scoring games, and the Sabres will have to be more defensive-minded in 2007-08 if they are going to get anywhere near the Stanley Cup finals. The Sabres are set with Ryan Miller in goal, but he and the defensive corps will have to be stingier to win consistently in 2007-08.

Drury left upstate New York for Manhattan, and Scott Gomez departed New Jersey for the Big Apple. The price was steep, but the New York Rangers managed to add both to a potent lineup that already featured Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka and Petr Prucha. The new acquisitions provide balance and depth to New York’s top two lines, and with young Henrik Lundqvist developing into a top performer in goal, expectations are high this season. The Rangers barely made it into the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring, advancing as the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed, but perhaps they are poised to unseat the New Jersey Devils as the top team in the Atlantic Division. Gomez won a coin-flip with Drury for jersey No. 19, and with that matter settled, the Rangers have set their sights on winning their first division title since 1994.

The Calgary Flames were defensively sound in 2005-06, when they allowed the fewest goals in the league and won the Northwest Division. They looked poised for a terrific follow-up season a year ago, when they scored more goals than they had in a decade, but the team often lacked discipline and focus, particularly in its own end. The Flames backed into the playoffs and lost to Detroit in the first round. General manager Darryl Sutter, who was intolerant of mental lapses and lackluster performances when he was behind the bench, responded by hiring Mike Keenan, the ultimate disciplinarian, to coach the team, Hard-nosed and tough on his players, Keenan often sparks immediate improvement in his clubs, but the benefits can be short-lived as the confrontational coach often alienates players and front office types before moving on. The results haven’t been as good since Keenan led the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup title in 1994, and we’ll see if he can successfully get the Flames to execute and win before he burns bridges and departs. Certainly the talent is there.

Last season, the post-lockout era caught up to the Philadelphia Flyers, who were a slow lot, unable to keep opposing forwards in check and the puck out of their own net. The Flyers allowed a league-high 303 goals in 2006-07. New GM Paul Holmgren began the rebuilding process at last season’s trade deadline, dealing Peter Forsberg, Alexei Zhitnik and Kyle Calder for veteran D Lasse Kukkonen, two promising young defensemen, RW Scottie Upshall and draft picks. He also picked up G Martin Biron, who is expected to take over as the Flyers’ No. 1 goalie. Holmgren creatively went on the offensive prior to the signing period for free agents, acquiring D Kimmo Timonen and LW Scott Hartnell from Nashville and immediately signing them to long-term deals. Then he inked top prize Daniel Briere on July 1, and wrapped up his day by adding D Jason Smith and RW Joffrey Lupul from Edmonton. The Flyers are a grittier team, much like Philly teams of old, and yet they’re better prepared to compete in the new NHL. A key question is whether Biron is No. 1 material. Either way, Holmgren has rebuilt the team for a quick return to the playoffs. Is it possible Philadelphia could quickly become an elite team again?

The Chicago Blackhawks have won more than 30 games only once in the last four NHL seasons. That was in 2006-07, when the Blackhawks won 31 games yet finished last in the Central Division. The new season marks a new era for the franchise, as its first-round picks in the last two drafts, teenagers Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, are good bets to begin their NHL careers. Kane, the first overall pick over the summer, still could be returned to his junior team if he’s not ready. In light of the team’s recent struggles and ever-declining fan base, however, he’ll probably learn on the job in Chicago. The talented Toews may be better prepared to be fast-tracked. Don’t expect immediate results similar to what Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin provided their clubs, which wouldn’t guarantee a quick climb in the standings anyway. Still, Toews and Kane bring hope to the few thousand people who still call themselves Hawks fans.

These are just a few of the storylines of the 2007-08 season. There are many more subplots to explore as eight months of NHL action on ice begin this week.