The set-up: The Anaheim Ducks won the Pacific Division title last season with 103 points but lost in the first round of the playoffs to Nashville, a defeat which was likely the impetus for the firing of head coach Bruce Boudreau. The Dallas Stars won the Central Division last season (team's first division title since 2008) and entered the playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference (109 points). The Stars did eliminate the Minnesota Wild in six games in the opening round but then lost to St. Louis in seven games in the conference semifinals, after a 6-1 loss in Game 7 in Dallas on May 11. These former division rivals open their respective the 2016-17 season on Thursday night at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Anaheim: Randy Carlyle, who led the Ducks to win the Stanley Cup in 2007 during his previous stint in Anaheim, returns for a second go-around in Anaheim. The Ducks have made lots of changes to their roster this summer and fall, and now time will tell if those changes are for the better. Anaheim traded goaltender Frederik Andersen (22-9-7, 2.30 GAA & .919 save percentage) to Toronto and now John Gibson (21-13-4, 2.07 GGA & .920 save percentage) must show he can be a No. 1 goaltender.

Dallas: The Stars made only a few changes to its roster from last season, most notably in their back end. The Stars owned the league's top-ranked offense last season (league-leading 267 goals). Jamie Benn led the NHL in scoring with 87 points in 2014-15 and finished second to Chicago's Patrick Kane with a career-best 41 goals and 89 points last season. However, after allowing 20 goals in their four losses to the Blues, Dallas needed to make changes in order to cover up deficiencies at the other end of the ice. Goaltenders Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi each won 25 games last season.

The pick: Anaheim plays its first five games of the new season on the road and after going 1-7-2 in October last season, I'll make Dallas an 8* play here.