yave1964

Somewhere Mo seiders agent is grinning wide.

Amadeus Lombardi made an impression, the kid is slipping under the radar but is very talented Wallinder not so much. Did little to impress with as many dmen as we have he could get buried. Edvisson had a nice goal to close out Pittsburgh late but hasn't done much The vets, you are spot on. Rasmussen especially has impressed. I think we will be able to run two legit power play units this year. Cautiously optimistic we will be average or a bit better in net. Tough division. We have to close mb over at least two of Boston, Florida, Ottawa or Buffalo which is a huge task..still I like the roster, not only at the NHL level but the kids at GR as well. Oh PS compher looks really, really fearless and skilled as well.

Damn autocorrect lol

Calgary was so snakebite last year. IMHO their biggest addiction was the subtraction of Sutter ....

The problem to me was picking Boston ylor the penguins for the last spot. Almost a coin toss imho

Fairly high on the yotes this year, surprised and bummed they sent maveric lamereaux back to juniors today. Talented fun kid I was hoping he would stick.

Dallas Colorado Minny Arizona Nashville Loserpeg Blues Hawks

Toronto Tampa Ottawa Florida Boston Detroit Montreal Man is this division stacked. Top five make playoffs

Rangers Devils Hurricanes --------- Only three to make playoffs Penguins Islanders Bluejackets Crapitals Flyers

Edmonton. Cup winner. Calgary. Yes, I said Calgary Vegas Los Angeles Seattle Anaheim Vancouver San Jose

I think Dallas is One of the deepest teams in hockey right now with kids bursting on the scene as well. The signing of Duchene may have been the best under the radar this offseaon.

I do not see Campbell as a Vezina candidate but yes i see him as a legit 1B this season. His career goals against is 2.72 with a career save pct of .910, the league scores more now than in years, i do not expect him to match that but if he is something like 2.90 and .900 that is very solid for a guy who will start 35 games. I see something like that with a record of 22-10-3 out of him this year. IMHO he will turn it around and provide a solid safety net if Skinner slips a bit.

Saved the best for last..... LAST SEASONS RECORD 50-23-9 109 points, second in Pacific. Beat the Kings in a spirited first round matchup before bowing out in six games to the eventual champion Vegas Knights. plus 65 goal differential best in division, second best in Coference. ADDITIONS Added Connor Brown who they believe is the next Hyman. I dont see it but who knows. Ekholm brings his steady play to the team for the whole year allowing Bouchard to terrorize opponents on the rush all yeal long. Honestly not a whole lot of new faces. SUBTRACTIONS Yamamoto and Klostin were cap casualties. Bjugstad was rumored to have been a deadline add but didnt do much and is gone back to Arizona. KIDS AND ROOKIES FOR THIS YEAR Dylan Holloway did very little last year but a middle six role is his for the claiming. Same with Broberg on the back end, he didnt impress much but much more is expected this season, he could crack a talented top four. The team is in need of a third line center with the underwhelming Mcleod the leading candidate but they have two talented rookies beating on the dor in Lavoie and Bourgault who if they earn the spot may surprise. WILL THIS BE THE YEAR? Yes. The Oilers will beat the Rangers in the Stanley Cup finals to take home the cup for a Canadien market for the first time in nearly a third of a century. Mcdavid and Draisatl will lead the way, They have zero cap space so additions will be difficult but deadline adds will be made to the most solid core the Oilers have ever put together around the two since they came into the league. Holloway will beat out brown for the second line winger positions and score 50ish points. The third line will be solved with Janmark/Foegele and one of the two talented kid centers for the deepest lineup the Oilers have had in years allowing RNH to stay on the wing on the Draisatl line. Kane will stay healthy and score 40 on the McJesus line and come close to leading the league in penalties. The biggest surprise will be in net where last years flop Campbell will battle and push skinner earning a 1B to Skinners 1A and the two of them will provide a fantastic goalie tandem for the Oilers. The team wins the first cup in the McDavid era. This is their year. They are more than just two players, they are a solid NHL team.

I never worry much about preseason. I watch every game just to see the kids play and this year more than any other in my memory see how the new faces mesh with the returning players. We open tonight against the Penguins, cannot wait to see how that goes. I think the power play will be so much better that year with the Cat and most important Ghost on the point. IMHO those two are simply huge, our P/K will be much better as well. Looking forward to the season. I know a lot of folks ripped on Yzerman but honestly the team has zero holes anywhere in the lineup. Yes it would be a lot more fun to ice an all star team every night but no weaknesses is a lot better than the Ericsson/Abdelkader/Helm/wasted low pick era that he inherited.

PREVIOUS SEASON 46-25-11 103 points, 3rd in Central, lost to Dallas in first round. plus 21 goal differential ADDITIONS Pat Maroon came aboard to provide bottom six grit. That is it as far as i can find. Additions are difficult as every Wild fan knows and laments as they still have this year and next to pay huge money to Parise and Suter before the cap hit flattens out at a manageable figure. They have tough decisions on Hartman and Zuccarello as both are UFA at the end of the year. SUBRACTIONS Dumba moved on, kind of a mutual thing. Klingberg was a poor fit and is gone as well. Sundqvist, Steel and Reaves are all gone from the bottom six. ROOKIES Rossi failed to impress much with 1 point in 19 games last season, he has to break through into the middle six this year. Dumba will be replaces by talented Brock Faber who is a puck mover on the back end. Carson Lambos is a stay at home defender who will likely be the first callup on the back end when injuries occur. Losing four bottom six forwards and adding one means that Adam Beckman may earn a role with his grit, surprised with 24 goals at Iowa then went pointless in nine games with the big club. These are the names that will be breaking into full time roles this year. If injuries and age finally catch up to Fleury, there is a chance that uber talented goalie Jasper Walstedt is given a chance. SO THE QUESTION, CAN THEY WIN A SERIES OR MORE IN THE CENTRAL DIVISION? Dallas is better and the Avalanche were the Stanley cup champs two years ago. They have two of the toughest teams in the entire conference that they must get past in order to move past the first round. Colorado first, Landeskog is going to miss the season again but they are simply stacked and proven. Dallas added Duchene as well as spare parts Steel and Craig Smith, and like the Wild has three or four very talented kids. My opinion is the Wild are talented and with Kaprisov and Boldy leading the offense they are an absolute lock to make the postseason, likely as the third seed. I just dont see them making it out of the first round unless something significant happens and with the cap hell they are in significant is very unlikely. Clear playoff team. Losing in first round to the Stars with the hope that they can resign one of Hartman or Zuccarello and ride out the next two years and then build around a very talented young base once the Parise/Suter check is finally (mostly) paid.

I deleted the comment as soon as I saw it.

@CamWardo, Saw your second favorite team in the Kings, here is my preview on them I love the rebuild, hate the goalie situation. Peterson was supposed to be the answer but man did he bomb. Love getting Done bois but very hefty price. My favorite sleeper prospect is Clarke, just love the kid. All that said, they are at the cap limit, doubtful they can add an impactful goalie, Copley is a career ahler who had a kid and of had a Andrew Hammond year. I would not bet on him winning as many games for the rest of his career as he did last year. Adding Cam Talbot ..ugh. They go as far as the goalies allow. 3rd place, first round exit unless something changes in net.

@CamWardo Great post. Welcome to the forum, kind of curious what brought you here, glad to see a Cane fan. This forum was established by Flyer fans and Wild fans kind of joined after they had a problem with another forum that they were with. There are a few dozen of us who are fans of other clubs who are welcome with open arms. We have a bunch of guys (and a few ladies) who are big fantasy geeks as well. Agreed the Devils have BIG problems in net. If Hellboy comes over from the Jets midseason as rumored not sure if they can be stopped, Devils have the young talent to offer Winnpeg for him if he as rumored does not wish to resign. I absolutely love Rod as a coach, they are disciplined and talented and play a team game. I mean ZERO disrespect with Svech, he is a talented two way player but he came into the league with many thinkng he would be the 'next Ovie' which he clearly is not. Taking nothing from his game, but i think he will be considered a mild disappointment until his first 50 goal season. It could be worse, my Wings drafted his brother who was as big a bust as we have ever had until we drafted Zadina, lol. Anyway, should be a great season, glad the players finally reported. Cant wait to see the first preseason games over the weekend!

Welcome. Man I agree with Staal, he is as underappreciated and underrated as Marc was overrated. He does everything well, except score. I wrote I like the moves, I think waddell is an overrated GM but he had one hell of a summer. Carolina is a solid team, I just feel they cannot match the skill in Jersey and the Rangers IMHO are a hair better. Agreed Jarvis or especially Necas could take a big next step. BUT Svechnikov at this point is solid but injury prone and not the elite talent he once appeared to be. Terravainen is hot and cold, with more cold streaks than hot last season. Burns another year older. Stastny was a adequate middle six center not replaced. Bunting put up good numbers on a line with Marner and Matthews now he is likely with Necas and Fast. Please don't get me wrong, I love the fun the canes have brought turning into a consistent 100 point plus team, I would have liked them better if they had pulled the trigger on a deal around Nylander and Pesce which was rumored much of the summer. I like the club but don't feel they adequately addressed their major need of offense. Necas led the team in scoring but was 58th in the NHL. Love the insane defensive depth, the goaltending, Staal, but the top six scares absolutely nobody. Until they add to that area I feel they are near elite but likely the third best team in Division.

Vancouver added backup goalie Casey DeSmith in exchange for Tanner Pearson and a 3rd a few ago. DeSmith is miles and miles and miles better than Spencer Martin and the backup goalies that Vancouver ran out there last year. Great add for the Canucks. Pearson missed most of last year and managed only one goal. He was activated off LTIR earlier today to participate in camp. I have no idea how healthy he is or if he has anything in the tank. The big get for Vancouver is getting rid of 1.4 million in cap, the difference in their two salaries. Vancouver needed to shed salary to become cap compliant. Trading essentially a 3rd to save cap space and get a solid veteran backup goalie was great for them. I think they are the big winner in this one. Montreal added Desmith and Petry and picks to help facilitate the Karlsson trade between the Sharks/Penguins. Petry went to Detroit for a fourth, Desmith for a 3rd, neither fit into their plans, great asset management for Montreal. If Pearson can play he will net another pick at the deadline. They won the day as well. Give it to Vancouver by a nose, both got what they wanted but IMHO Vancouver came out slightly ahead on this one.

Actually the Ducks are a few years ahead with MacTavish, Zegras, Carlson and five brilliant D prospects. Ducks should be the poster child for how to do a rebuild.

Forgetting politics (if that is possible in this world anymore) I would love to see SKA Moscow or St/ Petersburg play against NHL teams, one issue would be rink size, the KHL plays a 197 by 92 foot rink, the NHL plays a 200 by 85, so whoever hosted would have an advantage based off what they are used to. I believe the top tier KHL teams fall somewhere between the top of the AHL and the bottom of the NHL. For instance, if you look at SKA who went 41-22-5 they have a bunch of failed NHLers from NA and Europe, guys like Grigorenko who washed out in Buffalo/Colorado, Christian Jaros, Fredrik Claesson, Darren Dietz, Vitaly Abramov, Sergei Plotnikov, Vladislav Kamenev, Maxim Mamin and Nikita Nesterov, who the most hardcore of NHL fans will remember for brief NHL careers. I believe the teams best player Konstantin Okulov could easily be an NHL regular if he had chosen to do so but instead he decided to stay home in Russia where he is a star.Their goalie is the Infamous Ivan Fedotov who the league and the Flyers are fighting over his rights. He is IMHO a capable AHL goalie or possibly an NHL backup. In the KHL with this team he will be a star. St. Petersburg same kind of thing, Nikita Gusev wh bombed with the Knights is among the leagues greatest stars, Dmitri Jaskin, Mikhail Vorobyov who failed to impress the Flyers, Valentin Zykov, Alex Grant all former NHLrole players at best playing key roles. They also have young studs who were drafted early in the NHL drafts who havent come over such as Maret Khusnutdinov (2nd round Wild) and Alex Nikishkin (3rd round Carolina) and Maxim Groshev (3rd round Tampa) all of whom will eventually play in North America and all are considered fine prospects.Their main goalie is 23 year old Dmitri Nikolayev who has no intention of coming to North America, has made it clear he is happy in Mother russia and went 30-7-3 with a 1.98 goals against last year. So I see these two teams, the best that the KHL has to offer as capable and even slightly favored if facing AHL champ Hershey in a seven game series, but on the opposite end, overwhelmingly favored to get their hat handed to them against a bottom feeder like the Sharks or Canadiens. This is team versus team. You could make an All star team of KHL stars who could give an average NHL team a run for their money on a given night, but that is an unfair comparison. Team for team the NHL is superior, even the worst we have to offer is significantly better than their best teams. Not insulting the league I would love to see it happen but it would not be close. It would be fun to watch but wouldnt be much of a series team versus team. I could see the argument that it is the worlds second best league but it is not just a dropoff from one to two, it is a chasm. S

I am not completely against him, Andrae can skate, is not afraid to hit, but at his size I dont see him developing into a dependable top four guy. He reminds me of Brett Lebda who had a nice career with the Wings as a 5/6 d-man who had a very good first pass, little guy but would hit people. He played around seven or eight years in the league which is certainly not nothing, he won a cup, but smalish guys especially on the back end tend not to develop into dependable top four roles. a solid 5/6 who can run the second unit power play has very nice value, that is really where i see him.

I believe they could have the WORST record, but are absolutely not the worst organization. San Jose doesnt seem to have a clue, Columbus with Babcock right before the season is a mess. Arizona is playing in a middle school gym. The Islanders and Canucks both seem that they would be happy stumbling into the playoffs only to lose in five quick games. St. Louis and Washington are both happy to live for the glory days of a few years ago while they slip past mediocrity and into plain bad. I am sure that there are a few others who i feel are worse as an organization. Philly under Fletcher was a mess, Briere has the broom to clean up what was left behind and a plan. A lot of organizations dnt take a good hard look in the mirror and see where they are, instead continuing to put bandaids on the problem. Holland did it with my Wings for four or five years to when he road off into the sunset and left the team in in devastation. What the Flyers are doing now is what Detroit shoulda done several years before they actually did. Getting rid of the vets was a huge message, I dont like the salary being kept especialy getting nothing in return but it shows guts.

I drank the Kool aid on him, really thought he was the real deal. I have never seen anyone whose own head is his worst enemy. I cannot remember the exact stat but it is something crazy close to 40 percent of the time after giving up a goal he gives up a second within four minutes. As soon as scored upon the flood gates open...