yave1964 Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Banged out the West yesterday, here, IMHO are the best and worst case scenarios for the teams in the East: Bruins: BEST Young blood in Pastrnak and Carlo infuse a veteran team with enthusiasm and Backes provides needed grit as they make the playoffs. WORST The kids are not alright, the aging Chara is done and the team is a bottom feeder. SAbres: BEST Eichel and Reinhart lead a group of young forwards and the Sabres are a fringe player in a playoff run. WORST Lehner is well, Lehner, the defense proves to be as bad as it looks and the kids progress is slowed making them a bottom ten team yet again. Hurricanes: BEST the brilliant young defense gets help on the forward lines from phenom Aho and vets Stempniak and Stallberg and Teravainen and the Canes break a long postseason drought. WORST Ward and Lack prove to be the worst tandem in Hockey, the additions prove to be a bust and yet again they miss the playoffs. Bluejackets: Solid young core of forwards and defenders all mesh and they compete for a playoff spot. WORST the combo of Bobrovsky and his ailments and Tortorella and his ego drag down the team into the abyss-again. Redwings: BEST kids Larkin/Mantha/Athanasiou provide a spark to the veteran offense, the defense is good enough and Mrazek is brilliant, the team is in the playoffs yet again. WORST: Zetterberg/Kronwall/Ericsson continue to erode badly imports Vanek and Ott prove to be poor signees, no trade is made to shore up the vanilla defense and they are a lottery team. Panthers: BEST they build off the best season in team history with new additions Yandle and McCann fitting in nicely and they are true contenders. WORST Jagr finally starts playing his age, the injuries to Huberdeau and Bjugstad are a portent of things to come and Luongo like Jagr hits the wall. Even with all of this they are a fringe playoff team. Canadiens: BEST Price remains healthy, the trade of Subban for Weber is a nice calming effect and the signing of Shaw provides a spark. WORST Radulov is a bigger distraction than Subban, Shaw proves that outside Chicago he is a zero (see Dave Bolland) and Weber although still wonderful is aging. Borderline playoff team still even in worst case-unless Price gets hurt et again. Devils :BEST the worst offense in Hockey improves dramatically with Hall and rookie Zacha leading the way combining with the leagues best goalie in Schneider to compete for a lower playoff spot. WORST The defense is no name-and no talent, Palmieri slips back to his usual self and Hall is not enough of a difference maker wasting Schneiders brilliance yet again. Islanders: BEST Tavares and a tough fun bunch of young forwards score like crazy, the net sorts itself out and they compete for a division and a cup. WORST: Halak and Greiss prove to be ordinary at best, Leddy and the defense do not deliver enough to keep up with the offense and they are a borderline playoff team. Rangers: BEST Vesey and Buchnavich and Saad provide a spark on the wing, Lundqvist is vintage and McDonough is healthy and the Rangers break the century mark in points. WORST the lack of a single true center behind Stepan hurts, the aging slow defense and the aging King Lundqvist slip a bit more and they are a borderline playoff team. Senators: BEST Karlsson is brilliant as usual, Anderson stands on his head and the kid forwards make a non playoff season still fun to watch. WORST Anderson and Hammond are among the leagues worst tandems behind a painfully thin defense and a lot of 6-4 losses occur. Flyers: BEST: The next wave of young defenders join up with Ghostisbehere to form one of the leagues most envious bunch, a middle six is formed and they are a dangerous fun team night in and out. WORST The goalie tandem falters, the lack of secondary scoring allows other teams to play the Flyers top line harder than most, Ghost takes a step back and Provorov is not ready, the team misses the playoffs. Penguins: BEST the team kept the whole band together and they are the first team in twenty years to win back to back cups. WORST Crosby fights his concussion issues all year, the magic spark added by Hagelin is gone, they discover that when you have two goalies you really have none. Lightning: BEST they win the cup behind a brilliantly balanced team. Many feel if Stamkos were not injured late last year the cup was theirs for the taking. WORST Stamkos is injured again, the distraction in net proves costly and they are an early out. Maple leafs: BEST Nylander, Marner and Matthews make it a fun season Anderssen has a chip on his shoulders after the trade from the Ducks and stands on his head. The team misses the playoffs but shows signs of being on the right path. WORST This is the worst defense in Hockey and Andersen is shell shocked, the kids score 40 points each and are more questions than answers, Kadri and Bozak are both on the roster at years end. Capitals: BEST The Presidents trophy winner runs through the postseason with a vengeance and wins the cup, they returned the who team and added a 3C in Eller so they think it is certainly possible. WORST: Another early out dooms Ovechkin to forever being considered in the same class as Thornton and Marleau and the like who always are regular season studs who never win it all. ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Unfortunately, injuries will sever some teams chances of making the playoffs this year. I doubt Florida will be able to recover from Huberdeau's injury. Add that to the changes on the Backend I just don't see them being in contention. One of the main reasons they were on top of the Atlantic last year which was because of the devastating loss of Carey Price to the Canadiens. The penguins too will hinge on how long Crosby it out. Although they are a team that performs rather well under adversary no one replaces him. Teams making the Playoffs Tampa Bay Washington Philadelphia Boston Montreal NY Rangers Bubble teams Pittsburgh Toronto New Jersey NY Islanders Columbus Teams missing the playoffs Redwings Buffalo Carolina Florida Ottawa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluPuk Posted October 11, 2016 Share Posted October 11, 2016 Jeez, yave, you're bringing tears to my eyes...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted October 11, 2016 Author Share Posted October 11, 2016 7 hours ago, hf101 said: Unfortunately, injuries will sever some teams chances of making the playoffs this year. I doubt Florida will be able to recover from Huberdeau's injury. Add that to the changes on the Backend I just don't see them being in contention. One of the main reasons they were on top of the Atlantic last year which was because of the devastating loss of Carey Price to the Canadiens. The penguins too will hinge on how long Crosby it out. Although they are a team that performs rather well under adversary no one replaces him. Teams making the Playoffs Tampa Bay Washington Philadelphia Boston Montreal NY Rangers Bubble teams Pittsburgh Toronto New Jersey NY Islanders Columbus Teams missing the playoffs Redwings Buffalo Carolina Florida Ottawa Good list, I would move Boston and Philly to the bubble and Pittsburgh in. Carolina to the bubble as well, I REALLY love their defense. A lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haliax Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 I'm okay with that Red Wings worst case scenario. I think it would provide us with a top prospect and give management the motivation to make real change, which the organization is desperate for at this point. But it would also be bad business given that the team is heading into a new building next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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