yave1964 Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Hockey is here! Thank God. Just a quick best/worst case scenario for each team in the Western conference today, followed by the East tomorrow to kick off the season. to begin: Arizona: BEST case the kids continue to develop, they take a few steps forward and vets Doan and Vrbata pot about 50 goals between them. WORST case Doan and Vrbata fall apart, Domi, Duclair and Reider hit a sophomore slump and Smith continues his decline. Anaheim: BEST they figure out a way to resign Rakell and Lindholm and the offense is more than just one line, Gibson becomes a star and they contend for a cup. WORST Gibson is not ready or is overhyped, Getzlaf continues his decline dragging the offense down a cliff and new/old coach Carlyle reminds fans why he was fired the first time. Flames: BEST the additions of Brouwer and Tkachuk and the development of Reinhart allow them to role three lines, Elliott solves the gaping hole in net and they are in the running for a lower end playoff spot. WORST: Glen Gulutzan is a poor choice to coach a team filled with egos and lazy players and they play disinterested hockey all year. Blackhawks: BEST: Nick Schmaltz comes out of college to win the Calder and they find just enough depth to go with an elite core and compete for a cup. WORST; The loss of even one of the core could cripple a very thin roster otherwise and they slip into mediocrity, Campbell proves you cannot come home again. Avalanche: BEST Rantanen develops into a star scorer and Varlamov plays like he did a few years ago and they contend for a lower end playoff spot. WORST: The defense is undefendably bad behind Barrie and Johnson and Varlamov continues to channel his inner Bryz. Stars: BEST The addition of Hudler makes the best offense in hockey better, the tinkering on defense makes the Finnish combo in net acceptable and they are cup contenders. WORST: Hamhuis? Please, he has sucked for years and too many kids on the blueline help the Stars lead the league in goals for and against and an early playoff out. Oilers: BEST: McDavid becomes an elite star, the more or less trade of Hall/Yakupov for Larsson/Russell/Lucic/Puuljarvi is a smash and they sneak into the playoffs. WORST They continue to simply be the Oilers and Lucic ages prematurely and Puuljarvi proves not to be ready for the NHL and they finish among the worst teams in hockey. Kings: BEST they grow their own depth as Pearson and Toffoli become 25-30 goal men and the core holds on and they contend for the cup. WORST still a playoff team but one early out after another plays hell with a team and they lose their confidence and focus and are again a first round out. Wild: BEST Boudreau has been a regular season master forever, they are the best prepared team in Hockey and contend for the conference title. WORST: Staal proves to be done, Koivu continues to age poorly and the center spot drags them to the fringe of the playoff race where they seem to always be. Predators: BEST led by Rinne, Forsberg and the dynamic Subban and Josi they go all in and win the cup. The best team the Preds have ever had. WORST: Subban is not a smash in Smashville and the distraction that he creates drags down a good young team to a lower end playoff spot. Sharks: BEST Hungry from last seasons near miss and with the addition of Boedker for secondary scoring they replicate last years cup run. WORST: Cup hangovers are a real thing for losers historically, Thornton and Marleau hit the wall and take the team down with them to meciocrity. Blues: BEST: The tweaking they did is enough to get them into the cup finals for the first time in nearly fifty years in Hitchcock's last hurrah. WORST: Letting Elliott go proves to be a bad idea, Jake Allen is already injured, the team gets sick of their coach and wants it over. Canucks: BEST Jim Benning moves to Tibet to become a Buddhist Monk. WORST: The Sedin's slip to 45-50 point guys, the kids do not develop and they are the worst team in Hockey. Jets: BEST Laine and Connor join an underated group of forwards and Hellboy takes charge in net and they contend for at least a lower end playoff spot. WORST: Trouba moves on, the defense drags the team down and for some damn reason Pavelec starts 45-50 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatrik98 Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Well you can cross out Pavs playing 45-50 games. Hopefully you're right on Hellboy. I think he has some serious potential. D needs to step up their game. I'm also hoping that Scheifele has a big year and drops the "underated" tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 On 2016-10-10 at 4:16 AM, yave1964 said: Oilers: BEST: McDavid becomes an elite star, the more or less trade of Hall/Yakupov for Larsson/Russell/Lucic/Puuljarvi is a smash and they sneak into the playoffs. WORST They continue to simply be the Oilers and Lucic ages prematurely and Puuljarvi proves not to be ready for the NHL and they finish among the worst teams in hockey. So much rides on the health of Oscar Klefbom, imo. If injuries continue to be an issue for him and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, it could be another long season of talking about next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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