With the 2016-17 NHL season set to kick off on October 12, it's time to take a look at a few of the questions we hope will find answers for during the upcoming campaign.

1. Will Canada be shut out of the playoffs again?

The 2015-16 NHL season marked the first time since the 1969-70 that there was not a single team from Canada in the NHL playoffs. The Winnipeg Jets were the closest team in the Western Conference, finishing the season nine points out of the running. In the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators finished 11 points out.

When looking at the standings as a whole, Canadian teams occupied five of the bottom six slots, with the Toronto Maple Leafs finishing last with 69 points.

2. Who won the trade?

All eyes will be on the Montreal and Nashville bluelines this season due to the trade that sent P.K. Subban to the Predators and Shea Weber to the Canadiens. The two are not the same style of player; Weber is far more defensive minded than the freewheeling Subban and both players will fit well within the systems used by their new clubs, but that doesn't mean that they won't be compared throughout the season and especially in the post-season. Fans and the media will look to proclaim a winner in this trade and both sides obviously hope that that winner is not declared until both clubs make deep playoff runs.

3. Will this be Jagr's final year?

Jaromir Jagr broke into the NHL as an 18-year-old with the Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring 57 points (27G, 30A) for the team in 1990-91. Last year, Jagr, who turned 44 in February, put up 66 points for the Florida Panthers (27G, 39A), the team he will take the ice for when the 2016-17 season begins.

Only two players have played longer than Jagr, Chris Chelios and Gordie Howe. Chelios played until he was 48 and Howe until he was 52.

Jagr is on a one-year contract with the Panthers this season. That deal has a base salary of $4 million and another $1.5 million in incentives.

4. Can Carey Price remain healthy?

The Montreal Canadiens sure hope so, because if last season is any indication, the team will be lost without the man that many consider the best goaltender in the NHL.

5. Is this Alex Ovechkin's year?

The general feeling was that last year was the best season of team-first hockey that Ovechkin played since joining the NHL in 2005-06. That may be true, but the team still failed to move past the second round of the playoffs. In fact, the Capitals have not made it past the second round since 1998 when they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Detroit Red Wings in four games.

Ovechkin remains a potent offensive force, but he's on the wrong side of 30 and with each tick of the clock his inevitable slide gets closer and closer, and with it the Capitals Cup hopes darken.

By Trent Reinsmith