yave1964 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Okay here we go beginning with the West. I am going to do a quick spin on where i think the teams will end up in this bizzaro world of an NHL this season. 8. Coyotes. Simply dreadful offseason, after apearing to go for it last year they will be among the leagues worst this year. Again. 7. Ducks. Too many kids, too many aging vets collecting paychecks for too little. Not enough players in their prime. 6. Wild. Goaltending suspect, center depth non existent. 5. Sharks. A bit of a rebound year but just on the outside looking on. 4. Kings. This years surprise, the Kings are stacked with youth and Doughty/Kopitar still in the tail end of their prime they sneak into playoffs. 3. Blues. Taresenko/Pietrangelo replaced with Krug/Hoffman. Offense a tad better, Husso steals net from Binnington halfway through year. 2. Knights. Gave up a lot to free up space for Pietrangelo but deadly team built for postseason. 1. Avalanche. The only thing that kept them from the cup last year was injuries in net. Among the games elite. Avalanche over the Kings Knights over the Blues Knights over the Avalanche in 7 as again the Avalanche tenders fall just short. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Thanks @yave1964 for doing... with family. Will respond later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Just like the East, will do a "top half"/"bottom half" as I think it is near impossible to predict exactly where any team ends up with all the craziness still going on with schedules, Covid, and some player holdouts throughout the NHL. Top half with these teams? I like Vegas, St. Louis, Colorado, and yes, I will sneak the Coyotes in there if they can get even just a BIT more offense out of their lineup. The Knights and Blues still look like complete teams..... excellent goalies, stud defensemen, or in the case of Vegas, do-everything defenseman, and both have at least 3 lines that can produces (Vegas maybe 4). Colorado probably has the single best top line, but after that......I still question who steps up consistently, though the potential is there for there to be more than just MacKinnon and his line. Their defense is fast n mobile, but I wonder about their depth....if they lose a guy or two, does it shatter their structure? Maybe.... Avs goalies better hope the team plays mostly on the other side of the ice...I just am not sold on either Grubauer or Francouz to be top notch stoppers game in, game out. Yotes goaltending is better....if they stay healthy, they have a decent, mobile defense, and DO have talent up front, that, for whatever reason, can't seem to come up with the kind of offense you'd think they should be able to get. If they get it, they stay in the top 4...if not, someone in the bottom 4 will relieve them of their burden.... Bottom 4.... Minnesota Wild and the San Jose Sharks, if things fall right for them, have a chance to remove any faltering top 4 team. Make no mistake, I am NOT high on either... Wild because they have a bunch of parts that have yet to show they can work as a cohesive unit game after game, and the Sharks because they have big questions in goal and have shown that even some of their best players (Karlsson and Burns for example), can absolutely look ordinary....if they are even on the ice, healthy and ready to play. Up front, the Sharks look like they might have enough to score regularly, but they are gonna have to prove it. Meier and Kane are probably their best offensive forwards and may have to carry the team for LONG stretches...tall order. Kings and Ducks. Well, both these clubs are transitioning in just about every position. The Kings have the potential to still be a tough defensive club with problems scoring (not unusual for this franchise), but for that work, their goalies need to be at the top of their game....and if Jonathan Quick can't be the same guy he was in the past when LA was winning, then who, exactly steps up? Yea.....that is a problem. Ducks are the opposite. Potential for some great scoring lines....but undermined by a defensive corps that looks to give up tons of chances regularly forcing Gibson/Miller/Stolarz or whoever else they got back there to HAVE to play like an All Star goalie each n every night. And just like the Kings with their issues, yea, that is a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 I truly believe that everyone is making a HUGE mistake with the Kings, I love what their franchiseis doing, Byfield will be a solid 60 plus point two way center for a decade (though i would have taken Steutzle),Iafallo already is established as a true top six winger, Villardi is here to stay as well. They have this kid on defense who i have only watched twice, Mikey Anderson who looks like a young Letang. Lizotte will center the third line, possibly the second if they bring Byfield along slowly and he is another who can play and play hard right now. Durzi came from Toronto and looks to be ready right now as a puck moving third pair/second power play defenseman. Alex Turcotte and Arthur Kalyev are both near ready, i would personally get them into the mix at forward right now, both are top line scoring machines waiting to happen. In net, they have Peterson who i have been wondering when they would finally give him a shot, he will steal nearly half the starts from Quick. And speaking of Quick, they stillhave a decent core in Quick, doughty, Kopizar, Brown and Carter who won a couple of cups together a few years ago. I see this team finishing 4th and making the playoffs. The Coyotes, shudder. The plusses are two top notch goalies, and they returned all seven of their defenseman which isa rarity (although they tried to trade OEL before the draft). The offense is putrid unless Hayton can handle 1C duties as a 20 year old which i seriously doubt. I just dont see anything here to write home about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Math Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 On 12/31/2020 at 10:27 AM, yave1964 said: 8. Coyotes. Simply dreadful offseason, after apearing to go for it last year they will be among the leagues worst this year. Again. 7. Ducks. Too many kids, too many aging vets collecting paychecks for too little. Not enough players in their prime. 6. Wild. Goaltending suspect, center depth non existent. 5. Sharks. A bit of a rebound year but just on the outside looking on. 4. Kings. This years surprise, the Kings are stacked with youth and Doughty/Kopitar still in the tail end of their prime they sneak into playoffs. 3. Blues. Taresenko/Pietrangelo replaced with Krug/Hoffman. Offense a tad better, Husso steals net from Binnington halfway through year. 2. Knights. Gave up a lot to free up space for Pietrangelo but deadly team built for postseason. 1. Avalanche. The only thing that kept them from the cup last year was injuries in net. Among the games elite. Avalanche over the Kings Knights over the Blues Knights over the Avalanche in 7 as again the Avalanche tenders fall just short. I'm pretty much aligned with this. Top-3 is obvious, so is the bottom-2. Fourth spot will be decided between LA and MIN, both of them could sneak into the postseason. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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