And we're back for part 2 of the Power Rankings, where we'll explore a bit about the teams who will just narrowly miss the playoffs, likely on the last day of the season, and those who'll make it into mid-April. I also noticed a little boo boo from part one, that I added team 20 when I should have stopped at 21. But don't worry, we'll have part 2 be a little shorter so I can give you the grand finale you deserve in a proper Top-10! So let's go...
19: Los Angeles Kings - Hard to count out a team like this. Led by Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, and Jonathan Quick, this team has it's three pillars in place for success. After a resurgent season by Dustin Brown and adding in the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk and bringing back a healthy Jeff Carter, the forwards look deadly and deep! Rolling four lines should be no problem here. But the overall defense and goaltending could be suspect. Well know what Quick brings to the table, but entering the season at 32 years old we have to wonder how much longer he can continue to carry the team. And though they have Doughty manning the blue line, there isn't a whole lot to get excited about. We'll have to see if any young prospects can crack the line up and make a difference on the blue line this year.
18: Dallas Stars - When I think Dallas, I think goals, lots and lots of goals! Unfortunately for them, the goals go in both nets. The Stars have some real offensive dynamos up front led by Benn and Seguin. They've even managed to bring Nichushkin back from the KHL...and he is still only 23! Looking at the blue line I feel they have a pretty good balance. Klingberg, Honka, and Heiskanen all have great offensive upside. Whereas Methot, Johns, and either Lindell or Polak, all are a bit more defensively oriented. Something I like in my d-pairings. Their number one worry will be the play and health of Ben Bishop. Can the 31 year old goalie, with a known history of injuries, stay healthy for the whole season? Seems like this has become a common theme, no?
17: Boston Bruins - Just missing out on the playoffs this year, the Boston Bruins. I don't know what it is...but I just can't buy it. With everyone ranting and raving about them being one of the top three in the Atlantic, I have them finishing 5th. I know, I know, Chara, Krug, Tuukka, McAvoy, Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastaman...something just tells me this year it isnt going to be enough. They even have some very good young players you made an impact last year in Donato, Debrusk, and Heinen. I just have this gut feeling the magic wont be there this year. We'll see in a week.
16: Buffalo Sabres - Buffalo? At 16th? In the playoffs? A head of the Bruins? Yup. I know I said it before in my Most Improved Teams post, so I have to stand by it and give the Sabres their due right? Led officially by Jack Eichel after the departure of Ryan O'Reilly, looks for the kids to come out guns blazing. And depth will no longer be an issue here as they have a very solid top nine now after some incredible trades. Did I mention Rasmus Dahlin yet? Between him, Ristolainen, Bogosian, and Scandella, they have the makings of a solid top-4. Have you guessed the position of real question yet? *Dun Dun Dun!!!* Can goalie Carter Hutton handle the load of being a true number one goalie for an entire season for the 1st time in his career at the ripe age of 32?
15: Philadelphia Flyers - Led by Girouxs bounce back, MVP Caliber season the emergence of Sean Couturier, and a solid rookie campaign from Nolan Patrick, one question is can they build on it and do it again? Dont forget about the x-factor that is Wayne Simmons either. One of my favorite players in the game today, he does it all, and then some! He is in a contract year as well which should motivate him that much more. Looking at the blue line, it's scarier than their new mascot Gritty...but in a good way. Rako Gudas plays on the line and I love it...but sometimes he crosses it and hurts the team. But between GhostBear, Provorov, and Sanheim, they have some studs back there. In net the return the duo of Elliot and Neuvirth, not bad when they're healthy and on their games.
14: Anaheim Ducks - Had the news about Correy Perry's injury broke before I started working on this...I would have likely swapped them with the Flames. But this is still a solid team with solid depth at all 3 levels. Word on the street is that Kesler is ready to play after his hip injury. Patty Eaves is ready to be back in action as well and that alone should help cover the loss of Perry. Kase has looked shot out of a cannon through camp and the preseason, Terry and Steel both appear to be NHL bound as well. Back on D there is Fowler, Lindholm, and Manson leading the way...all 3 under 26 and locked up for another 4 years minimum too. In net they have a borderline all-star and a former all-star in Gibson and Miller. Probably the best tandem in the league, when Gibby is healthy.
13: Colorado Avalanche - Young, fast, and dynamic. What more is there to say other than they have Ottawas 1st round pick this for this years draft, which will likely make them that much scarier next season...but I'm getting a head of myself. Led by MacKinnon and Landeskog up front and surrounded by improving depth, easily a solid top 9 for any team. With a defense that is all in or entering into it's prime as well things are looking good. A nice mix of Offensive and Defensive oriented players, I'd expect a solid, well rounded game to be played out by the team this year. And maybe I spoke a little to soon about best goalie tandems...Varlamov is in a contract year and we all know what he can bring. Now they have added in Grubauer from the Capitals, who was good enough to steal Holtby's starting job last year...this team should be scary.
12: Edmonton Oilers - Connor McDavid...Next! No, no, no...there is a bit more to it than that. Obviously McJesus is leading the way but he isnt alone. Between Draisaitl, The Nugg, Strome, and the forgotten Fin in Puljujarvi, it looks like a nice top-6 will be on the ice in Edmonton this year. It also seems that McDavid has found a new BFF on the ice in Ty Rattie for a winger. Defense is a bit questionable though. I love the play of Darnell Nurse personally. Russell is great at moving the puck and are Klefbom and Larsson. Not a bad top-4. In net they will be carried by Cam Talbot who had an off year last season. Being that he is in a contract year now, lets see if he can backstop the Oilers back into the playoffs in an incredibly tough division.
11: Florida Panthers - The who? Yes the Panthers, who missed out on the playoffs by 1 point last year, on the last day of the regular season no less, will definitely have their eyes on the prize this year as they look to march into the playoff looking to make a real run at The Cup. Led by newly crowned captain, Aleksander Barkov, this has to be one of the deepest offensive teams in the league. Three solid centers, and 6 or more great wingers to go with them, we're seeing a team on the rise! A somewhat questionable D-core though. Led by Ekblad (who I thought would have been named captain) and Yandle, they some a few more good pieces, but will it be enough in the long run? In net they have about as close to a true 50/50 tandem as there is in the league with Luongo and Reimer. And they have brought in Hutchinson as a bit of backup insurance as well. The best part of the team is that all but about 3-4 players are in their mid 20's!
This will conclude part 2 of the Power Rankings. The top-10 will be up before the start of the regular season, until then...let the debates rage on as we get ready to enter the season of the greatest game on earth.
Showing posts with label Sabres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabres. Show all posts
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Friday, September 14, 2018
Most Improved Teams of the Off-Season.
This off-season has seen plenty of players joining new teams
either via trade, free agency, and almost most importantly the draft. With all
these players changing places most teams should have a different outlook coming
into the season, for better or worse. So, I'm going do a breakdown of a
few teams I think have improved the most and not just on paper. These
teams I think are really going to have a significant improvement in the
standings as opposed to last season.
Let’s start with the easy one, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Are the most improved as a whole, probably not. Defense was never really addressed here, but offense? That's another story. They landed arguably the biggest free agent available in the last 10 years by bringing in the home town kid in John Tavares. They now have top-3 center depth reminiscent of the 2009 Penguins.
Penguins had Crosby, Malkin, and Jordan Staal at center the year they won the cup, now the Leafs have Matthews, Tavares, and Kadri! This is scary, not think about Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Patty Marleau on the wings. That's a lot of high-end talent, each line just needs a gritty and physical guy to go in the corners and really help dig out that puck to get it into space, and these guys don’t need much. As far as D goes, not much happened, but look for Timothy Lilgren to crack the lineup. He was scary good last year when I saw him at USA Arena and thought he was NHL ready then, he definitely should be now. Look for the Leafs to battle for top spot in the League this season.
On to the Buffalo Sabres. Another easy choice, but on a deeper level than just picking up Rasmus Dahlin. They have made some remarkable trades! In the process they had to give up a bit, and even gave up one of the best centers in the league when he is on his game in Ryan O'Reilly, but they got back so much more the team is pretty fantastic on paper.
They have added Skinner, Thompson, Berglund, Sobotka, and Connor Sheary all via trade this off season, On top of already having Eichel, Mittelstadt, and Okposo...thats a pretty formidable top-6 no matter how you put it together, and their 3rd line shouldn’t be too shabby either. On D they have Ristolainen, Dahlin, Bogo, and Scandella; which makes for a nice top4 set of D-men. Now the worry is in goal, which isn’t much of a change from last season. The question now is can Carter Hutton carry the load of being a number 1 goalie for the 1st time at 32 years old? If he can look for the Sabre to battle anywhere from wild card to 2nd overall in the Atlantic Division.
In the west, we have the Arizona Coyotes up first. I don’t think that they had the biggest F.A. signings but they definitely locked up a good player in Grabner. He will be a good fit on the 2nd or 3rd line for them, bringing a little bit of size, but a hell of a lot of speed and some goal scoring ability. He'll also be vital on the PK where he had 2 shorty’s and has had 15 so far in his career. More importantly than signing Grabner, they were able to resign some key players in Raanta, Dvorak, and Hjalmarsson. When healthy last season Raanta was stellar in goal winning 21 of the teams 29 victories, with only 46 starts. Dvorak is a young player with a high ceiling that he began to show last season earning himself a substantial raise. And Hjalmarsson is just a solid, hardworking defense man who has "been there and done that" and provides tremendous leadership to a young D-core.
The biggest move they made was trading, straight up, Max Domi for Alex Galchenyuk. While Domi has a lot of upside, Galchenyuk is a bit bigger and a proven goal scorer who most would expect about 30 goals a season out of. Not to mention he has been great on the power play when he is on his game. Combine that with a young and promising group of forward I would expect a solid top 9 and at least 3 20-goal scorers this season...could there be more or someone even to get 30 goals? Only time will tell. Goaltending is in good shape with Raanta as mentioned before, but how will the D-core perform? A pretty good top-4 led by OEL, but will it stay healthy and the depth players rise up? We'll see but expect to Yotes to be in it till the end this year battling for a wild card spot.
And to finish things off we have the St. Louis Blues. An already solid team, though the just missed the playoffs, really shook things up this off season in a big way. Most of all quite a lot was lost in the Ryan O'Reilly trade that was already talked about back up in the Sabres talk, so I'm going to leave that alone. Other than that, they made some key free agency deals that should help to off-set the loss of a few players. Key signings made were of Bozak and Perron returning from Vegas...I think Perron has been moved from the team and came back now 3-4 times at this point, its nuts. Bozak will now give the Blues solid top-3 center depth with O'Reilly and Schenn, who had his own breakout year last season. Down the wings you have one of the best snipers in the game, Tarasenko, along with Steen, Fabri, and big Patty Marron. With a few younger players who'll be looking to make an impact we have another team with a very solid top-9.
The Defense of the Blues is the real key though, they have likely the 3rd, maybe 4th ,best D core in their division, yet it is still likely in the top 3rd of the league. The top-4 is about as solid as it comes being led by Pietrangelo and Parayko. Though that don’t have much in the way of depth or prospects in the system it will be very important that they stay health and play well. Back in goal they have Jake Allen so has been able to stand on his head often, and with the number one spot secured, it will be gravely important that he plays to his best especially late into the season. In a stacked division they will need every victory they can get to make it into the playoffs, the west really looks like it will be the wild, wild, west again and I would expect the Blues to push for the 3rd place spot trying to avoid the wildcard.
I had 2 honorable mentions until today though...now I have 3. I'm not going to go in depth at all, you can do the work and let your imagination run wild. Number one, the Carolina Hurricanes, and no its not because of Mrazek (though it totally helps). Second the Calgary Flames...funny I think these teams did some business this summer. And Third as of about 2:30 EST this afternoon...the San Jose Sharks...Eric Karlsson, what more needs to be said.
Let’s start with the easy one, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Are the most improved as a whole, probably not. Defense was never really addressed here, but offense? That's another story. They landed arguably the biggest free agent available in the last 10 years by bringing in the home town kid in John Tavares. They now have top-3 center depth reminiscent of the 2009 Penguins.
Penguins had Crosby, Malkin, and Jordan Staal at center the year they won the cup, now the Leafs have Matthews, Tavares, and Kadri! This is scary, not think about Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Patty Marleau on the wings. That's a lot of high-end talent, each line just needs a gritty and physical guy to go in the corners and really help dig out that puck to get it into space, and these guys don’t need much. As far as D goes, not much happened, but look for Timothy Lilgren to crack the lineup. He was scary good last year when I saw him at USA Arena and thought he was NHL ready then, he definitely should be now. Look for the Leafs to battle for top spot in the League this season.
On to the Buffalo Sabres. Another easy choice, but on a deeper level than just picking up Rasmus Dahlin. They have made some remarkable trades! In the process they had to give up a bit, and even gave up one of the best centers in the league when he is on his game in Ryan O'Reilly, but they got back so much more the team is pretty fantastic on paper.
They have added Skinner, Thompson, Berglund, Sobotka, and Connor Sheary all via trade this off season, On top of already having Eichel, Mittelstadt, and Okposo...thats a pretty formidable top-6 no matter how you put it together, and their 3rd line shouldn’t be too shabby either. On D they have Ristolainen, Dahlin, Bogo, and Scandella; which makes for a nice top4 set of D-men. Now the worry is in goal, which isn’t much of a change from last season. The question now is can Carter Hutton carry the load of being a number 1 goalie for the 1st time at 32 years old? If he can look for the Sabre to battle anywhere from wild card to 2nd overall in the Atlantic Division.
In the west, we have the Arizona Coyotes up first. I don’t think that they had the biggest F.A. signings but they definitely locked up a good player in Grabner. He will be a good fit on the 2nd or 3rd line for them, bringing a little bit of size, but a hell of a lot of speed and some goal scoring ability. He'll also be vital on the PK where he had 2 shorty’s and has had 15 so far in his career. More importantly than signing Grabner, they were able to resign some key players in Raanta, Dvorak, and Hjalmarsson. When healthy last season Raanta was stellar in goal winning 21 of the teams 29 victories, with only 46 starts. Dvorak is a young player with a high ceiling that he began to show last season earning himself a substantial raise. And Hjalmarsson is just a solid, hardworking defense man who has "been there and done that" and provides tremendous leadership to a young D-core.
The biggest move they made was trading, straight up, Max Domi for Alex Galchenyuk. While Domi has a lot of upside, Galchenyuk is a bit bigger and a proven goal scorer who most would expect about 30 goals a season out of. Not to mention he has been great on the power play when he is on his game. Combine that with a young and promising group of forward I would expect a solid top 9 and at least 3 20-goal scorers this season...could there be more or someone even to get 30 goals? Only time will tell. Goaltending is in good shape with Raanta as mentioned before, but how will the D-core perform? A pretty good top-4 led by OEL, but will it stay healthy and the depth players rise up? We'll see but expect to Yotes to be in it till the end this year battling for a wild card spot.
And to finish things off we have the St. Louis Blues. An already solid team, though the just missed the playoffs, really shook things up this off season in a big way. Most of all quite a lot was lost in the Ryan O'Reilly trade that was already talked about back up in the Sabres talk, so I'm going to leave that alone. Other than that, they made some key free agency deals that should help to off-set the loss of a few players. Key signings made were of Bozak and Perron returning from Vegas...I think Perron has been moved from the team and came back now 3-4 times at this point, its nuts. Bozak will now give the Blues solid top-3 center depth with O'Reilly and Schenn, who had his own breakout year last season. Down the wings you have one of the best snipers in the game, Tarasenko, along with Steen, Fabri, and big Patty Marron. With a few younger players who'll be looking to make an impact we have another team with a very solid top-9.
The Defense of the Blues is the real key though, they have likely the 3rd, maybe 4th ,best D core in their division, yet it is still likely in the top 3rd of the league. The top-4 is about as solid as it comes being led by Pietrangelo and Parayko. Though that don’t have much in the way of depth or prospects in the system it will be very important that they stay health and play well. Back in goal they have Jake Allen so has been able to stand on his head often, and with the number one spot secured, it will be gravely important that he plays to his best especially late into the season. In a stacked division they will need every victory they can get to make it into the playoffs, the west really looks like it will be the wild, wild, west again and I would expect the Blues to push for the 3rd place spot trying to avoid the wildcard.
I had 2 honorable mentions until today though...now I have 3. I'm not going to go in depth at all, you can do the work and let your imagination run wild. Number one, the Carolina Hurricanes, and no its not because of Mrazek (though it totally helps). Second the Calgary Flames...funny I think these teams did some business this summer. And Third as of about 2:30 EST this afternoon...the San Jose Sharks...Eric Karlsson, what more needs to be said.
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