DirtyDeeds Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 Preseason buzz to keep you busy.... Who made the right moves over the summer? Who is moving up in this division and who will struggle or move down? Any surprises? Where do you think they will all finish after all is said and done? My predictions: St Louis Chicago Colorado Dallas Minnesota Winnipeg Nashville No one new moves up much. Dallas has the opportunity but falls short again. Nashville struggles this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 1. Colorado Every season I bet on three teams to win the cup. Calgary because I am a sucker. Than I pick one team in the East and one in the West that I think can win but still have good payouts. Colorado is my Western team this season. They have phenomenal C depth. There wing is one of the strongest in the NHL. They found a star goalie in Varlamov. Coaching is also really good. D is there only area of weakness but it isn't bad. They also have plenty of cap space to add at the deadline. 2. Chicago A modern day dynasty. More high end talent than any team in the NHL. They lack depth at C, though the addition of Richards should help. They are also merely decent in net. 3. St Louis It takes three things to win a cup. You need enough depth to ice three strong lines and cover injuries. You need top end talent so your best players are better than the other teams best players. Finally, unless you have an amazing team you need elite goal tending. St Louis has great depth, but outside of D they lack top end talent and they are weak in net. 4. Minnesota Minnesota got better in the off season. That combined with expected improvements from their younger players like Granlund should mean they are better this season. I still think they are a few pieces away from being cup contenders. But I think they should stay ahead of Dallas. 5. Dallas Seguin and Benn are both awesome. The addition of Spezza and Hemsky could be huge. We might also see Nichushkin make an impact. But I don't like the team of forwards below that . I also don't like Dallas at D or in net. 6. Nashville Nashville was 3 points out of a playoff spot last season. They potentially have one of the best D in hockey if Jones and Ellis take a step forward. They are strong in D with one of the better tenders in the game. They added a bunch of forward depth with Jokinen, Ribeiro, Roy, and Neil. I don't know if they make it into the playoffs but I also don't see them taking a big step backwards. They should be better than Winnipeg. 7. Winnipeg I feel bad for Winnipeg fans. I don't like the core they are trying to build around. They are a team full of secondary pieces that lack strength in any one area. If they could find goal tending they might have enough depth to challenge for a playoff spot. But they are weak in net. They should be a bottom 5 or 6 team next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 1. St Louis: the best team in the division on paper. Big down the middle, solid at wing and D. The D first approach might be a sword Hitchcock falls on with a roster that would benefit from a more offence-minded coach 2. Chicago: the only team at St Louis' level. Agree with kehatch, the core is a dynasty, the supporting roles tend to always be better than anticipated 3. Minnesota: The Wild are always the red-headed stepchild with such a boring, Devils of yore style. They are also consistent at winning 2-1 games. Goaltending became an issue last year, Harding was playing like a Vezina goalie up until Christmas. But the outstanding play of the young, in Granlund, Houla, Coyle etc shows they have very good depth 4. Colorado: I understand they have the likes of Landeskog, Duchene, MacKinnon and O'Reilly. They let Stasny walk into the powerhouse of the conference and their own division. How will that work out? I see the Avs in the biggest position of falling tbh. They've been up and down, I think it continues. Lost in 7 to Minny last year, I don't see that # getting any better yet. 1 good year hyped up by a new coach who happens to be a legend. I still smell inconsistency on an annual basis. 5. Dallas: Biggest chance of rising. I believe Benn is up there with Toews as a leader and Nash (at his best) as a gamebreaker. Seguin, Spezza, Nichushkin, Hemsky et. al. can just play hockey. This is Benn's team, without question. I understand Kari Lehtonen has had an injury-plagued career, don't let it belie the fact he's a stellar goalie when healthy. 6. Nashville: switching gears from being an NHL factory of stellar NHL dmen with Rinne in net to find more offence. The saga continues...welcome to a small market club trying to turn a dime. Always the underdog, I'll always cheer for them to do well. 7. Winnipeg: "Thumper, what did your father tell you?" Thanks kehatch, I can only add the roster is "tumultuous", at best. Mr. Kane, please stand up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyerfan52 Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 1) St. Louis. Great players & depth @ forward. 3 top pairing defensemen followed by a few 2nd pairing types so a strong unit. Elliot adequate for the regular season so what the rookies do as backup matters especially for playoffs. Enough cap space to add a vet @ the TDL. 2) Chicago. The top forwards & defense are up there with the best any team can throw @ them. Supporting cast good enough. Crawford is better then he gets credit for. 3) Dallas. I just feel the current roster seeds them there. 4) Minnesota. A bunch of youngish kids (22ish give or take) ready to make noise. Much depends on the health of Backstrom & Harding in net as I don't see Kuemper ready to handle a starters load. 5) Winnipeg. (Partially home town loyalty.) Close again but no ticket to the dance. If Pavs is ever going to play up to his capability he'd better do it as even Chevy (& Zinger) must be running out of patience. There is enough talent @ both forward & defense for the team to make the playoffs but this core can't seem to get over the hump. Chevy really needs to make a few trades for talent. Besides the ever popular names in the rumor mill (E Kane, Bogo & Big Buff) I'd add Enstrom. I like Enstrom but figure he is built/styled more for the east & see him as a #2 D on the majority of eastern teams. Any 1 of the 4 should bring good talent for both the now & future. 6) Loads of great young forwards but their defense leaves me cold. I have little faith in Varlamov. The excitment of adding to St. Patrick will have worn out & the loss of Statny will hurt more then they likely expected. 7) Nashville. This is the year they bottom out. Lavi coaches a totally different style then Trotz & I don't mean that as a compliment. He does a lot of things that leave you scratching your head. They have Rinni back from injury & a fantastic blueline but the adds @ forward really aren't much. Weber will have to lead the team in points again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 1. Chicago - too much Championship experience. 2. Minnesota - excited to watch the emergence of Niederreiter, Granlund, Coyle, and Brodin as they move into star status to join Koivu, Parise, and Vanek. There is something very good brewing with the Wild. 3. St.Louis - were exposed in the playoffs last season. doubtful Backes, Steen, and Oshie can return to last season's numbers after concussions. Plus, the Blues lack a bonafide goaltender. 4. Colordao - Iginla joins a very good young team. If Tyson Barrie can return from a knee surgery, then the Avs will move up further in the standings 5. Dallas - they did a lot of good things this summer and may have closed the gap between themselves and the upper echelon teams 6. Winnipeg - wishes they were still in the Eastern Conference. They will compete but this is a tough division. 7. Nashville - Weber, Neal, and Rinne should keep them away from the absolute basement but the Preds are clearly in a rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 holy crap kh and peeps, St Loo at 3rd? r u sure? 1st in the conference, I'm thinking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 holy crap kh and peeps, St Loo at 3rd? r u sure? 1st in the conference, I'm thinking... I am not sure. This is a tough division to call because I could see any of four teams win the division. Colorado won last season though and even with the loss of Stastny I think they are better this season. Some good additions, young kids maturing, and a second season under Roy. Chicago is always a threat with their core. Minnesota made some smart additions over the past couple of seasons and they have some good kids that should be really good this season. That leaves St Louis. I love the team. But I don't like the lack of top end forwards or their goal tending. That said they were one of the best regular season teams last season so it wouldn't shock me at all to see them win the division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senor_incendiarse Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 My only prediction, this division will take both wildcard spots and Winnipeg and Nashville won't be in the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 That leaves St Louis. I love the team. But I don't like the lack of top end forwards or their goal tending. That said they were one of the best regular season teams last season so it wouldn't shock me at all to see them win the division. They've got Schwartz and Tarasenko developing into top 6, what more do you want? The hype of Yakupov hid a couple of bullets in Russia's chamber. Tarasenko and Kuznetzov. Washington and St. Louis have wmd's, imo. Always happy to see the Russians here, always and forever. I'm from the generation of Russians not allowed to even think about playing here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted September 2, 2014 Report Share Posted September 2, 2014 holy crap kh and peeps, St Loo at 3rd? r u sure? 1st in the conference, I'm thinking... The Blues lack goaltending and that knocks them down a few points. Other than that, Steen had a career year until he got concussed halfway into the season. After his injury, he became average. Oshie was concussed just prior to the playoffs and he looked out of sync. Backes got rocked hard by Seabrook in the playoffs and we're not sure if he can get back to 100%. Shattenkirk as well, was KO'd. Lots of concussions which is a scary and unpredictable injury. Their key guys may only return to be 90% of what they were last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 They've got Schwartz and Tarasenko developing into top 6, what more do you want? The hype of Yakupov hid a couple of bullets in Russia's chamber. Tarasenko and Kuznetzov. Washington and St. Louis have wmd's, imo. Always happy to see the Russians here, always and forever. I'm from the generation of Russians not allowed to even think about playing here. I like Chicago's and Colorado's top end forwards more than I like St Louis. We are talking about 3 teams that put up 112, 111, and 107 points last season. I don't think there is a wrong way to rank the three teams. Sorry you don't agree with our order. It's not like we predicted St Louis to fall out of the playoffs or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DL44 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 This is nuts. There will be a solid team left out the playoffs here... The only team that is a lock to miss is Wpg. They'll be 7th and stripping assets at the deadline. Top tier - Chi, St.L Tier ll - Minny, Dal, Col* Tier ll a - Nash* Colorado is my wild card team... I have them as my most significant droppers... I could see a scenario where Nashville finishes ahead of them. I'm liking the makeup of the Preds this yr. new coach, new system, healthy Rinne, solid D, and a fresh mix of forward skill up front. I really think these guys have a legit chance of postseason hockey. Someone good is getting left outta the mix here... I would gamble on it being Dallas or Colorado. Or it could be Minny if Harding suffers an episode that leaves the team depending on Keumper(sp)/Backstrom. This will be a tight tight division... Can't wait. This will look crazy, I know... It's August. 1. Chi 2. St. L 3. Nash - just like em 4. Dal 5. Col 6. Min - I'm not expecting Harding to be able to play 7. Wpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DL44 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Nashville ... they have a good mix of vets.. Smith - Riberio - Neal Jarnkrok* - Fisher - Wilson Stalberg - Jokinen - Roy Nystrom - Gaustad - Cullen Clune - Forsberg* - Bourque *2-way ELC If they have a top 8-10 ranked PP in the league, they could surprise a lot of teams... Neal comes over from the top ranked PP in the league where he was on the 1st unit. Riberio is no Malkin... But he is definitely offensively superior to Legwand.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Nashville ... they have a good mix of vets.. Smith - Riberio - Neal Jarnkrok* - Fisher - Wilson Stalberg - Jokinen - Roy Nystrom - Gaustad - Cullen Clune - Forsberg* - Bourque *2-way ELC If they have a top 8-10 ranked PP in the league, they could surprise a lot of teams... Neal comes over from the top ranked PP in the league where he was on the 1st unit. Riberio is no Malkin... But he is definitely offensively superior to Legwand.. Barry Trotz got a lot out of not much. Fisher's best days are behind him. Ribeiro is/was an off-ice problem. Jokinen belongs in the KHL at his age. Stalberg hasn't been the same since he left CHI. Roy is a shadow of his former past. Wilson hasn't panned out like they thought. Forsberg is too young to make an impact on a nightly basis. Gaustad provides too little offense. and the list goes on... Other than Neal, their forward group is a mash of 3rd/4th liners. It's not far off from the Flames with Cammalleri carrying the offensive load. Their blueline is "okay" with Weber and Josi as the top pair. I like the Volchenkov addition. Seth Jones will be a great player but probably not for another two years. Other than that, Ryan Ellis is too small and they are auditioning some NHL newbies for the 5/6/7 spots. Good luck with making the playoffs with that. Rinne is solid and will steal them games. I think he will do for the Preds what Kiprusoff did for the Flames in his final seasons with the Flames. He will single handedly win enough games for the Preds to stay away from the basement but the team as a whole is not good enough to push for a playoff spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyerfan52 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Barry Trotz got a lot out of not much. Fisher's best days are behind him. Ribeiro is/was an off-ice problem. Jokinen belongs in the KHL at his age. Stalberg hasn't been the same since he left CHI. Roy is a shadow of his former past. Wilson hasn't panned out like they thought. Forsberg is too young to make an impact on a nightly basis. Gaustad provides too little offense. and the list goes on... Other than Neal, their forward group is a mash of 3rd/4th liners. It's not far off from the Flames with Cammalleri carrying the offensive load. Their blueline is "okay" with Weber and Josi as the top pair. I like the Volchenkov addition. Seth Jones will be a great player but probably not for another two years. Other than that, Ryan Ellis is too small and they are auditioning some NHL newbies for the 5/6/7 spots. Good luck with making the playoffs with that. Rinne is solid and will steal them games. I think he will do for the Preds what Kiprusoff did for the Flames in his final seasons with the Flames. He will single handedly win enough games for the Preds to stay away from the basement but the team as a whole is not good enough to push for a playoff spot. I agree about the mish-mash of forwards. Nashville has 1 of the strongest (if not the strongest) top 4 D in the league. Rinne is likely a top 5 goalie (unless a product of always having a strong D fronting him like any Phoenix goalie). They'll be hard to score on but when your best defenseman still has to be your main goal-getter it's tough. Trotz could succeed that way. Lavi might be the 1st coach replaced this year as he can't imagine a system for that team. (Anyway. his favorite chewing gum isn't sold in Tennessee. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DL44 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Barry Trotz got a lot out of not much. Fisher's best days are behind him. Ribeiro is/was an off-ice problem. Jokinen belongs in the KHL at his age. Stalberg hasn't been the same since he left CHI. Roy is a shadow of his former past. Wilson hasn't panned out like they thought. Forsberg is too young to make an impact on a nightly basis. Gaustad provides too little offense. and the list goes on... Other than Neal, their forward group is a mash of 3rd/4th liners. It's not far off from the Flames with Cammalleri carrying the offensive load. Their blueline is "okay" with Weber and Josi as the top pair. I like the Volchenkov addition. Seth Jones will be a great player but probably not for another two years. Other than that, Ryan Ellis is too small and they are auditioning some NHL newbies for the 5/6/7 spots. Good luck with making the playoffs with that. Rinne is solid and will steal them games. I think he will do for the Preds what Kiprusoff did for the Flames in his final seasons with the Flames. He will single handedly win enough games for the Preds to stay away from the basement but the team as a whole is not good enough to push for a playoff spot. Flip side... If you look at how playoff teams are built... they're in good shape. They got the best goalie in the division. They got the best Dman in the division. Their blueline is more than 'okay'.. it is very good. Weber-Josi is probably the best pairing in the league... there's half the game taken care of right there. Solid depth down the middle - pre-Yotes Riberio was a #1 (one season removed from a PPG season), Fisher, Jokinen as a 3 and Gaustad as a 4. Their PP was 12th in the league with Legwand as their leading forward in PP ice. I think they'll move into the top 10 with their addition of the distribution skills of Riberio and Roy to feed Neal (the trigger man for the #1 PP in the league... altho i'll give that credit to 87 and 71) The team finished 3 points out of a playoff spot despite missing Rinne and shedding Legwand at the deadline. This team isn't far off at all. Add Laviolette... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Flip side... If you look at how playoff teams are built... they're in good shape. They got the best goalie in the division. They got the best Dman in the division. Their blueline is more than 'okay'.. it is very good. Weber-Josi is probably the best pairing in the league... there's half the game taken care of right there. Solid depth down the middle - pre-Yotes Riberio was a #1 (one season removed from a PPG season), Fisher, Jokinen as a 3 and Gaustad as a 4. Their PP was 12th in the league with Legwand as their leading forward in PP ice. I think they'll move into the top 10 with their addition of the distribution skills of Riberio and Roy to feed Neal (the trigger man for the #1 PP in the league... altho i'll give that credit to 87 and 71) The team finished 3 points out of a playoff spot despite missing Rinne and shedding Legwand at the deadline. This team isn't far off at all. Add Laviolette... They remind me too much of the Flames from a couple years ago. The best goalie in the division (Kiprusoff) Solid top Dmen (Bouwmeester and Giordano) Top line forward (Iginla) After that, the level of talent dropped of significantly and the Flames missed the playoffs three years in a row. That's what's visible with the Preds right now. Weber-Josi is a great combination but they are exposed for about 15-minutes a game with sub-par Dmen. If Neal is as good as Iginla was, then Riberio is what Langkow was. Fisher is like what Jokinen was for the Flames. After that, there's a whole bunch of guys who are looking at the 10-15 goal range. A steep drop off in talent. The biggest killer is the drop off in coaching. Trotz has been one of the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Flip side... If you look at how playoff teams are built... they're in good shape. They got the best goalie in the division. They got the best Dman in the division. Their blueline is more than 'okay'.. it is very good. Weber-Josi is probably the best pairing in the league... there's half the game taken care of right there. Solid depth down the middle - pre-Yotes Riberio was a #1 (one season removed from a PPG season), Fisher, Jokinen as a 3 and Gaustad as a 4. Their PP was 12th in the league with Legwand as their leading forward in PP ice. I think they'll move into the top 10 with their addition of the distribution skills of Riberio and Roy to feed Neal (the trigger man for the #1 PP in the league... altho i'll give that credit to 87 and 71) The team finished 3 points out of a playoff spot despite missing Rinne and shedding Legwand at the deadline. This team isn't far off at all. Add Laviolette... They had really good defensive depth last season and one of the top goalies. Yet they finished second last in the division. It was true the season before that and they were fourth last in the NHL. The depth you speak of is a bunch of spare parts that didn't work for their last teams (Roy, Jokinen, Ribeiro). Ribeiro was a guy trashed by his last team. I personally think Neal is a downgrade on Hornqvist. They lost Legwand at the deadline last season. Fisher is hurt to start the season. They saw a downgrade in coaching IMO. In another division maybe they grind out a few more points this season. But Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota are all up and comers and Chicago and St Louis are proven great teams. This is a really solid division. Nashville has the D core and goal tending to keep from bottoming out (probably). But they aren't moving up IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DL44 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 They had really good defensive depth last season and one of the top goalies. Yet they finished second last in the division. It was true the season before that and they were fourth last in the NHL. The depth you speak of is a bunch of spare parts that didn't work for their last teams (Roy, Jokinen, Ribeiro). Ribeiro was a guy trashed by his last team. I personally think Neal is a downgrade on Hornqvist. They lost Legwand at the deadline last season. Fisher is hurt to start the season. They saw a downgrade in coaching IMO. In another division maybe they grind out a few more points this season. But Colorado, Dallas, and Minnesota are all up and comers and Chicago and St Louis are proven great teams. This is a really solid division. Nashville has the D core and goal tending to keep from bottoming out (probably). But they aren't moving up IMO. Neal a downgrade on Hornqvist? Lost me there. They remind me too much of the Flames from a couple years ago. The best goalie in the division (Kiprusoff) Solid top Dmen (Bouwmeester and Giordano) Top line forward (Iginla) After that, the level of talent dropped of significantly and the Flames missed the playoffs three years in a row. That's what's visible with the Preds right now. Weber-Josi is a great combination but they are exposed for about 15-minutes a game with sub-par Dmen. If Neal is as good as Iginla was, then Riberio is what Langkow was. Fisher is like what Jokinen was for the Flames. After that, there's a whole bunch of guys who are looking at the 10-15 goal range. A steep drop off in talent. The biggest killer is the drop off in coaching. Trotz has been one of the best. I don't think they'll be any drop off in the players responding to the new coach over their last one... Fresh voice, new systems, blah blah blah... Trots is a good coach... but based off the last 2 seasons, a change was needed... and since the GM didn't wanna fire himself.... Sub-par Dmen is a little strong don't ya think? Jones is budding star... can't wait to see what kind of developmental step he takes this yr. then you have Ellis and Volchenkov.. Volchenkov I'll give ya. Who knows how Lavvy decides to pair em up this yr... Maybe he puts Weber-Josi-Jones on separate pairings... In terms of comparing the Flames of three yrs ago to the '14 Preds.. maybe... significant difference of youth tho.. Jones/Smith/Forsberg/Jarnkrok/Ellis vs Backlund/Brodie/Mikkelson/Sutter/Bouma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 Neal a downgrade on Hornqvist? Lost me there. I don't think they'll be any drop off in the players responding to the new coach over their last one... Fresh voice, new systems, blah blah blah... Trots is a good coach... but based off the last 2 seasons, a change was needed... and since the GM didn't wanna fire himself.... Sub-par Dmen is a little strong don't ya think? Jones is budding star... can't wait to see what kind of developmental step he takes this yr. then you have Ellis and Volchenkov.. Volchenkov I'll give ya. Who knows how Lavvy decides to pair em up this yr... Maybe he puts Weber-Josi-Jones on separate pairings... In terms of comparing the Flames of three yrs ago to the '14 Preds.. maybe... significant difference of youth tho.. Jones/Smith/Forsberg/Jarnkrok/Ellis vs Backlund/Brodie/Mikkelson/Sutter/Bouma Let's not even talk about the Preds for now. Dallas added Spezza. Franchise altering talent. Minnesota added Vanek. Franchise altering talent. Colorado lost Stastny but get experienced Iginla, Briere, and Tanguay. Somehow, the Preds leap frog them in the standings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DL44 Posted September 4, 2014 Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 Let's not even talk about the Preds for now. Dallas added Spezza. Franchise altering talent. Minnesota added Vanek. Franchise altering talent. Colorado lost Stastny but get experienced Iginla, Briere, and Tanguay. Somehow, the Preds leap frog them in the standings. Yeah crazy eh. Minny added Vanek, but i don't expect Harding to return to form at all. Just the nature of the disorder. You don't recover from "episodes" when the body gets attacked.. It's a gut feeling that there is more to the story of his "scheduled medication change" over christmas. Knowing a little about MS myself, from the outside, it looks like he had episode, took time off, came back for a couple games and just wasn't right... gone for the season. Now Kuemper is a good prospect... but he isn't 2013 Harding good. he won 12 of his 25 starts last season. Colorado i just think their record was just waaay beyond the caliber of their team... I just have a feeling they drop like a rock. Don't like their additions... don't like their D... don't like their bottom 6 group... but they got Varlamov Dallas i like... They could be 3th.. They may be a lot looser defensively without Peverly and with the ex-Sens... but their PP should be lethal now... All-star team-like... but if doesn't... they had the 23rd ranked PP last yr. Ott was 14th for what it's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted September 4, 2014 Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 Neal a downgrade on Hornqvist? Lost me there. We will see how Neal does in the Western conference away from Malkin and Crosby. He certainly didn't put up those kind of points in Dallas. Hornqvist fit better in Nashville than i think Neal will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyerfan52 Posted September 4, 2014 Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 They remind me too much of the Flames from a couple years ago. The best goalie in the division (Kiprusoff) Solid top Dmen (Bouwmeester and Giordano) Top line forward (Iginla) After that, the level of talent dropped of significantly and the Flames missed the playoffs three years in a row. That's what's visible with the Preds right now. Weber-Josi is a great combination but they are exposed for about 15-minutes a game with sub-par Dmen. If Neal is as good as Iginla was, then Riberio is what Langkow was. Fisher is like what Jokinen was for the Flames. After that, there's a whole bunch of guys who are looking at the 10-15 goal range. A steep drop off in talent. The biggest killer is the drop off in coaching. Trotz has been one of the best. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seriously, JBo & Gio = Weber & Josi? Then Jones & Ellis on the next pairing? Rinne might or not = Kipper but Neal (away from Crosby/Malkin) is supposed to = Iggy in his prime? That gives you a possible .5 of 3.0 if the goalie 1 is equal. ********************************************** BTW, Weber & Josi average 26+ minutes per game. Just a FYI. Behind them I don't see any that are sub-par as the current top 6 are @ least 2nd pairing on most teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfire11 Posted September 4, 2014 Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 My predictions: St Louis Dallas Chicago Minnesota Colorado Nashville Winnipeg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted September 4, 2014 Report Share Posted September 4, 2014 Yeah crazy eh. Minny added Vanek, but i don't expect Harding to return to form at all. Just the nature of the disorder. You don't recover from "episodes" when the body gets attacked.. It's a gut feeling that there is more to the story of his "scheduled medication change" over christmas. Knowing a little about MS myself, from the outside, it looks like he had episode, took time off, came back for a couple games and just wasn't right... gone for the season. Now Kuemper is a good prospect... but he isn't 2013 Harding good. he won 12 of his 25 starts last season. Colorado i just think their record was just waaay beyond the caliber of their team... I just have a feeling they drop like a rock. Don't like their additions... don't like their D... don't like their bottom 6 group... but they got Varlamov Dallas i like... They could be 3th.. They may be a lot looser defensively without Peverly and with the ex-Sens... but their PP should be lethal now... All-star team-like... but if doesn't... they had the 23rd ranked PP last yr. Ott was 14th for what it's worth. Minnesota beat the Avs in the playoffs without Harding. They will be fine without Harding the entire season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.