The NHL offseason is a blur where most of the big moves all tend to happen with a one-week stretch between the draft and the first couple of days of free agency.

Most rosters, with the exception of a few random moves that could be made here and there, are pretty much set.

Now that we have at least some idea of what each team might look like on opening night, it is time to start analyzing what they have.

Here we are going to take a look at each team's secret weapon for the 2023-24 season.

What exactly is a secret weapon? Well, it's a player that might be sneaking under the radar a little bit and could make a larger-than-expected impact.

It could be a prospect waiting to make their debut.

An overlooked offseason acquisition that got lost in the shadows of a bigger deal.

Or an X-factor player that could significantly swing a team's success in one direction or another.

Let's go through each team and try to identify who that player could be.

 

Arizona Coyotes: Jason Zucker

The one big theme for this year's free agent class was short-term, one-year deals.

Jason Zucker was one of those players.

Zucker signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Coyotes in free agency and is going to be a great addition to a young, rebuilding Arizona team that needs as much offense as it can get. He is coming off an outstanding year for the Pittsburgh Penguins and is going to bring a lot of what the Coyotes need.

As long as he is healthy, he should be a solid bet for 20 goals and a tireless work ethic, while being a strong veteran presence on a young team that needs a lot of that.

Is he going to make this a playoff team? Not even close.

But he will give them a fighting chance whenever he is on the ice and bring some fire and passion to the roster. Those are good things.