With training camps opening on Thursday and Friday, TSN.ca asked our reporters in each city to come up with three key questions facing each Canadian NHL team this preseason.

Calgary Flames - Jermain Franklin (@TSNJFranklin)

1. How will their new style of play look under the new coaching staff?

Flames GM Brad Treliving wanted his team to play a different way following a disappointing season where the Flames missed the playoffs. So Bob Hartley is out and Glen Gulutzan is in. He was hand-picked to deliver a style of play that commands more puck possession and a stronger defensive system. Calgary was last in the league in goals allowed last year and Gulutzan has said that the first few days of camp will consist of a lot teaching and systems work. The scrimmages can wait.

2. Where's Johnny?

Once Johnny Gaudreau's World Cup experience is over, the focus will be getting the restricted free agent signed to a new deal. If the situation doesn't get resolved quickly, how will the new coaching staff handle it during camp? Will it be a distraction to the players in the room? The Flames can't afford another slow start to the regular season. They tallied just two wins and five points in their first 11 games last season and never recovered. And that was with Gaudreau.

3. Will Matthew Tkachuk earn a long look?

Their sixth-overall pick has already made quite the impression during rookie camp. Tkachuk didn't shy away from the rough stuff during the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, B.C., and the son of former NHLer Keith Tkachuk put his offensive flare on display as well. The competition will only get harder as camp progresses, but recent history has shown that the Flames are more than willing insert young players in their lineup (Sean Monahan, Gaudreau and Sam Bennett). The Flames aren't considered to be very deep on either wing, so there's an opportunity for Tkachuk to impress. Given his salty nature, he may be a perfect fit on a line with Bennett now or in the future.

Edmonton Oilers - Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug)

1. Will Todd McLellan go with three offensive centres?

Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl are all young and skilled centres. All three are legitimate top-six forwards and spreading them out over three lines could limit either Nugent-Hopkins’ ice time or Draisaitl's. The alternative would be to play Draisaitl on the wing (he's done it before) but the team doesn’t have a third-line centre to fill the position.

2. Can Mark Fayne return to form?

Last season was an awful one for Fayne, who seemed sluggish from the first day of training camp. Brought in to solidify the team's second pairing on the blueline, he fell so far out of favour with his new head coach that he and his $3.625-million cap hit ended up in the AHL. Fayne has apparently taken responsibility for not being ready last season and rectified the problems. The Oilers, shy on right-shot defencemen (they will bring in Eric Gryba on a PTO contract), desperately need Fayne to be a solid contributor.

3. Is Nail Yakupov busted?

There's been little return available via trade for their 2012 first-overall pick and GM Peter Chiarelli has decided that hanging onto him is better than handing him away for nothing. Yakupov showed some flashes playing with McDavid early last season, but his jitter-bug style of play and inconsistent production have made him a tough fit. His days in Edmonton seem numbered, as he now has Jesse Puljujarvi and Kris Versteeg to contend with for ice time. He'll get an opportunity with a skilled centre at some point, but it may be too late. Is there any chance he surprises people and carves out a space in the top nine forwards during camp?

Montreal Canadiens - John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl)

1. Who can match the lofty heights of the Man Mountain?

Carey Price and Michel Therrien have both described Shea Weber with that handle. Physically imposing and intimidating, Weber is a horse who routinely ranks in the league's Top 10 for minutes per game. The left-handed shooting candidates to pair with him are Andrei Markov, Nathan Beaulieu, Alexei Emelin and Mark Barberio. All have their pluses and minuses, but who among them could play 25 minutes a night, every night, with the consistency necessary to be Weber’s top-pairing partner? Once Weber returns from World Cup duty, the auditions on his port side will commence.

2. Safe is Death?

Michel Therrien won’t be borrowing John Tortorella's old Tampa Bay Lightning slogan, but his passive, defensive system that relied too much on Carey Price's brilliance (yet returned last season after Price was gone) can't be the style the Canadiens come out of camp selling to the masses. One year ago, they literally flew out of the gate with an up-tempo attack that exploited the middle of the ice in the offensive zone, driven by active support from their defencemen on the rush. The results unfolded to rave reviews – including in the dressing room. In the midst of Montreal’s record-setting nine-game regulation winning streak to start the season, Price remarked to TSN that he enjoyed what he was watching in front of him – that the team wasn’t "dumping [the puck out] as much." It would serve Therrien and the Canadiens well to revisit that plan once camp breaks. But bear in mind that three months ago the Canadiens traded away their best possession driver from the blueline.

3. Bon Cop Bad Cop (Habs edition)?

You have the genial, “players' coach” Anglo (Kirk Muller) and the gruff, old-school Franco (Therrien) paired in what the head coach describes as a "co-coach" arrangement (although Muller is formally titled associate coach). He was hired partially to run the Canadiens' power play, which was as big a liability last season as Price's prolonged absence. Other than special teams, how the Therrien-Muller tandem and the partitioning of responsibilities develop will be interesting to watch when in-game decisions begin during the preseason. We do know Muller will resume one very important role in his return to the fold – that of a confidant for the players. He’ll be the sounding board that has been missing since Gerard Gallant left to coach the Florida Panthers.

Ottawa Senators - Brent Wallace (@TSN_Wally)

1. Style of play?

Guy Boucher becomes the Sens' seventh head coach in the last 10 seasons and Marc Crawford joins him behind the bench as an associate. Combined, they bring almost 20 years of NHL coaching experience (along with their time in the Swiss League) but also bring different styles. Boucher, who has coached in 195 NHL games with Tampa Bay, has historically emphasized more defensive play while Crawford, a Stanley Cup winner with over 1,100 games under his belt, has led teams with fast-paced, up-tempo offensive play. They'll want a renewed commitment to defence, but this is a team that can also score — they're the only team in the league with five 20-goal scorers in each of the last two seasons. How Boucher and Crawford will work with this Sens' lineup will be interesting to see.

2. Will Boucher ask Karlsson to tone down offensive style of play?

Boucher is known as a defensive-minded coach, so how will his system be received by offensively gifted, two-time Norris trophy winner Erik Karlsson? Ottawa's captain led the league in ice time and finished tied for fourth in scoring last season, but he has often been criticized for his defensive play (a career minus-21). Would solid shutdown work from the duo of Dion Phaneuf and Cody Ceci free up Karlsson?

3. Will Brassard help get Ryan and MacArthur scoring?

Ottawa's top line will be Mike Hoffman, Kyle Turris and Mark Stone, with newly acquired Derick Brassard expected to get the second line going with Bobby Ryan and Clarke MacArthur. Ryan, who is the Sens' highest-paid player, has not scored 30 goals in a season since he did it in four straight seasons with Anaheim. The right winger should benefit getting feeds from Brassard — a left-handed shot. MacArthur played four games last season before sustaining a season-ending concussion, his second in seven months. If they can find early chemistry, it would give Ottawa some solid scoring depth behind the top line.

Toronto Maple Leafs - Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton)

1. Is Mitch Marner ready for the NHL?

There's no doubt Marner is the Leafs' biggest question mark. In July, the right winger pledged to add bulk to his 5-foot-11 frame in preparation for training camp and his bid to make the roster. The team knows he's an elite offensive talent and his defensive game has grown too. But whether he's put on enough muscle to make the Leafs comfortable that he can succeed at the next level will have a major impact on how the lineup comes together. Toronto is committed to not rushing in young players, but after he dominated the OHL last season and was named Most Outstanding Player, going back to junior would feel like a setback. How he fares in camp and what the Leafs ultimately judge his play on will be the most dissected topic for the team leading up to the regular season.

2. What will happen with Joffrey Lupul?

Since his season ended with a sports hernia injury in February, Lupul's future with the Maple Leafs has seemed increasingly precarious. Beyond GM Lou Lamoriello saying Lupul is "on the team," the Leafs have made no public comment about the oft-injured winger's health or his standing with the club. Carrying a $5.25 million cap hit for another two years, the Leafs opted not to buy him out in August. But he was noticeably absent from Toronto’s pre-training camp golf tournament, an event he normally attends. Sources said last month that Lupul, 32, is healthy, but whether his relationship with Toronto is strained at this point — or if the team sees a meaningful place for him in its lineup — are issues yet to be addressed.

3. Is the defence good enough?

Last season saw a lot of movement on the blueline for Toronto. Dion Phaneuf and Roman Polak were traded, Matt Hunwick was injured late in the season, Martin Marincin worked his way on to the top pairing and Connor Carrick and Frank Corrado emerged. The Leafs plucked Nikita Zaitsev from the KHL to pair with Morgan Rielly or Jake Gardiner and re-signed Polak, the only two additions made to a group that was tied for sixth-worst is goals-against last season (240). Rielly had career-high totals last season — not jaw-dropping numbers — indicating his progress as a top defenceman. Hopes are high for Zaitsev playing in the NHL and his World Cup performance has shown he's the real deal. After Toronto focused heavily on developing skilled players, assessing what they have defensively is crucial. Mike Babcock likes Hunwick’s work ethic and Polak’s veteran leadership and those players buy time for the team to wait and see how others develop. Rinat Valiev played 10 games for Toronto last season and could see more time. Travis Dermott and Andrew Nielsen are quality prospects, but not NHL-bound in the near future. There’s still work to done – training camp will start to show how much.

Vancouver Canucks - Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN)

1. Can Anton Rodin be a legitimate top-nine winger?

The Swedish Elite League MVP is coming off a knee injury that limited his off-season, and he didn't begin skating until August. The Canucks may even need Rodin to be a top-six winger, as Jim Benning failed in his off-season attempt to acquire one. Now 35 and coming off a nine-goal season that fuelled speculation he could be a buyout casualty, it’s a stretch to think that Alex Burrows can provide the Canucks with legitimate secondary scoring in a top-six role.

2. Which Canuck young forward will take the next step?

Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen will all be expected to take a step forward at both ends of the ice. With the Canucks' lack of offensive depth, more will be expected of all three, especially Baertschi who showed promise with 15 goals and 28 points in 69 games last season. He could also get second-line minutes if other options like Burrows and Rodin don’t get the job done. Horvat was as good as any Canuck during the second half of the season, and a healthy Brandon Sutter may allow Horvat to open the season in a more comfortable role and excel from start to finish. For Virtanen, fitness will be the key. He will be one of the few Canuck forwards who can offer a physical presence.

3. Can the Canucks find any offence from their defence?

Long gone are the days of Sami Salo, Christian Ehrhoff and the highest scoring blueline in the league. Rookie Ben Hutton (one goal, 25 points), Alex Edler (six goals, 20 points) and Chris Tanev (four goals, 18 points) were the only Canucks last year to record double digits. Newcomer Erik Gudbranson is hardly known for his offensive creativity or puck possession numbers. Philip Larsen has an offensive game and should help the power play, but needs to prove he can be a regular, reliable NHL defenceman at both ends of the ice. Six-foot-seven Nikita Tryamkin is the wild card here. He has a big shot and showed promise in his 12-game stint at the end of last season, but he's far from proven at the NHL level.

Winnipeg Jets - Gary Lawless (@garylawless)

1. Who gets Patrik Laine?

Will the Jets' No. 1 draft pick play on a line with Mark Scheifele or Bryan Little? There's no doubt Scheifele is the team's No. 1 centre, but is it better for the next 'Finnish Flash' to start on the second line with Little as he acclimates himself to the NHL?

2. Who will be the Jets' No. 1 goalie?

Goals against remains the big issue in Winnipeg. Ondrej Pavelec is on the last year of his contract and isn't expected be re-sign with the team at this point. Young up-and-comer Connor Hellebuyck is coming off a great rookie campaign with 13 wins in 26 games and a 2.34 goals-against average. He looks to be ready for full-time NHL duty. But will Pavelec give his best season in a contract year to land another big payday?

3. Will Jacob Trouba be in camp?

Trouba is in a tough spot. He's a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights and is a right-shot defenceman on a team already loaded with right shots (Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers). Trouba doesn't want to be a third-pairing blueliner anymore and doesn't want a bridge deal either. He wants his big payday now. The Jets want him for the long term, but at a reduced rate. It will be interesting to see how things develop on this front as camp progresses.