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My Western Conference Predictions |
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Following my Eastern Conference Prediction blog (http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Adam-French/My-Eastern-Conference-Standings/155/37920), here are my thoughts on how the Western Conference will shape up. I just wanted to say that the response to my other article was overwhelming.
I pondered if I should wait longer but after a good night sleep I think it is ok to post this after the tragic accident.
Disclaimer: I have been wrong before and I will be again.
1.
San Jose Sharks: 114
I really liked the moves they made this off-season; it has made a very good team even better. Acquiring Havlat for Heatley was a good move and gets rid of a problem on this team while getting Burns for Setoguchi was a coup as Seto was used sparingly while Burns will immediately be a contributor in their top-4. San Jose is just a deep team with one of the best forward groups in the NHL and a solid goalie tandem. Their defence isn’t great but it is the best they have had in a long time so if any indication of their play before with weaker defences they should be in for a President’s Trophy year.
2.
Vancouver Canucks: 112
The reigning President’s Trophy winner is going into the real with relatively the same squad, a team that has talent up and down the roster and that only lost 19 games in regulation last year. The only tradeoffs were Torres for Sturm which takes away some grit but adds a bit more offense and Ehrhoff leaving to be replaced by somebody in the organization. Ehrhoff is a pretty big loss but not insurmountable, they will still have one of the best PP’s in the league due to the Sedin’s. Make fun of the team all you want about the post season but this team rocks the regular.
3.
Chicago Blackhawks: 102
Depth yet again is the name of the game and Chicago has recovered a lot of what they had lost after their Stanley Cup winning year. Though they lost Campbell they added solid players like Montador and O’Donnell strengthening what had been a glaring weakness, the bottom-pairing. Their forward core is very impressive; adding Brunnette was a solid move and while I have little faith in Olesz if used in the 3rd line role he should be an ok player. I expect a big year from both Hossa and Keith this season. While I am a bit worried about Crawford entering his sophomore year, I think he will still play well especially with that defence.
4.
Los Angeles Kings: 103
Fantastic goaltending is starting to be the main ticket in LA and Quick and Bernier make one of the best young tandems in the league. With the acquisition of Richards they finally have that number 2 center they need and allows Stoll to move to the 3rd line, Kopitar/Richards/Stoll/Richardson is a very good group of centers. On defence they are solid and Doughty will likely return to his Norris form this year. I know we have been waiting for LA to “Get it,” and I think this year they have the pieces to really compete.
5.
Detroit Red Wings: 99
It’s impossible to keep the Wings out when healthy; they have two of the best two-way forwards in the game and the best defenseman of all time on their roster. The top-9 is very strong once again in Detroit though now getting quite old for the most part. The defence is solid 1-6 and Kindl should keep getting better as he adjusts to the NHL. Howard is a solid goalie though not great but behind this team he will be fine. I really want to see Tomas Tatar make this squad and add some young blood to it but he may not get the chance at the start of the year.
6.
St. Louis Blues: 98
Picking up Arnott and Langenbrunner were solid moves to add more veteran depth to the forwards, while they may not have a real scoring leader on the squad with MacDonald healthy to go along with Backes, Stewart, Steen and Berglund this is a very underrated forward group that will be very hard to play against. Similarly the defence core is quite strong and has some good young depth, Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk will need to work out the kinks of a sophomore season but as a whole the group looks strong. Lastly with Halak in net they have a quality starter, he may not be the world beater they hoped for but he can give them 50+ games of good goaltending. I really think the Blues make it back to the big show this year.
7.
Nashville Predators: 96
Goaltending and defence are set and strong as always in Nashville, Rinne has solidified himself as one of the best starters in the league while Weber-Suter is the best pairing in the NHL, to add to this they have depth at those positions and the defensive system they employ helps bolster both positions. The forward group in Nashville will have to do it by comity this year and hope to get good seasons out of Blake Geoffrion and Colin Wilson. When Sergei Kostitsyn is your top forward you know you are in trouble but they have the depth to compete for a spot and grab one even while lacking a catalyst forward.
8.
Anaheim Ducks: 95
With the best line in hockey (Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry) and the highest scoring defenseman last year in Visnovsky to go along with an apparently healthy Jonas Hiller it is hard not to like the Ducks. They lack a lot of depth in the forward ranks though and will rely a lot on Selanne, Koivu and the RGP line to produce most of their points. Cogliano was an interesting addition but I don’t think he will do anything major. The blue line is pretty good and Sbisa is a guy I expect to get a lot more praise this year, though I am not sure if Lydman’s great play will be the norm for him. If Hiller is healthy this team will make it, if not...Dan Ellis.
9.
Minnesota Wild: 93
The Wild lost arguably their best defender in Burns to the Sharks and their highest scoring forward in Havlat, how have they improved you might ask? They added some offensive depth and will get a healthy Latendresse, Bouchard and Zidlicky. This offence is shaping up to be very solid, Koivu, Heatley, Bouchard, Latendresse, Setoguchi, Clutterbuck and Cullen make up a depth filled group. Backstrom is still an elite goaltender even without the trap system as he showed last year behind a questionable defence. The defence will have Zidlicky back which will lessen the sting of the Burns loss and will consist of a lot of young guys in Scandella, Spurgeon and Stoner, this will be their Achilles heel but it isn’t as bad as it looks on paper.
10.
Calgary Flames: 88
Kipper had a terrible year last season and despite that the Flames still stayed in contention, I don’t see any move that actually made them noticeably better but I feel Kipper will have a better year despite the loss of Regehr. The forward group outside of Iginla, Bourque and Tanguay isn’t great but it is solid, though they have quite a few 3rd liners’ playing in the top-6 spots. Personally I hate the defence outside of Giordano who is amazing but it isn’t the worst one out there to say the least and Bouwmeester can only get better since he has hit rock bottom in the eyes of many fans. I really want to see Backlund get a shot on the first line with Tanguay and Iginla, I have watched him get pushed back year after year, and he deserves a shot.
11.
Columbus Blue Jackets: 84
They’ve improved to be sure, getting Carter was a very good deal and adding Prospal was smart but he will only be a slightly worse replacement for Huselius who is out for most of the year. Wiz will help the offence and I expect this squad to be a high scoring team that makes its bread and butter on the PP but Columbus did nothing to help their real problem, the defensive side of the game and goaltending. Mason still has potential but these past two seasons have been horrific and add to this that he has Dekanich who has had 2 AHL seasons as a starter at 25 as backup and you have some big problems. The Jackets have one defensive dman on the team in Methot and one sort of two-way guy in Tyutin the rest are offensive defenders, I expect Mason to get blown away.
12.
Phoenix Coyotes: 80
The Coyotes have depth on both the defence and forward groups with a great team game tailored to a defensive system. While people are writing them off already as a last place team I don’t think they will go from 99 points to like 60 from losing one player (Albeit an important one). Mike Smith and Jason Labarbera could very well be one of the worst tandems in the NHL but aside from that the team is strong in most facets of the game. The lack of a number 1 center will shred any hope of playoff contention with the lack of a true number 1 goalie. There is potential for a serious disaster here.
13.
Dallas Stars: 76
The Stars lost their top player in Brad Richards this summer and for me that has messed up their lines as they have now gone from having one of the best 1-2 punches (Richards/Ribeiro) to a 1 punch and a slap (Riberiro/Ott).The forward group lacks depth but has a great top-4 Ribs/Ericsson/Benn/Morrow but I’m not sure they will be as great offensively outside of the attack 24/7 style of Crawford. On the defence they have 3 nice pieces in Robidas, Goligoski and Daley but outside of that it is all bottom pair guys and that lack of depth will kill in a very strong division, hell they are banking on Souray to round out the top-4 and after being waived by the last place Oilers that can never be a good sign. I like Lehtonen despite his health and conditioning issues and I think he will have a good year if he remains healthy but that defence won’t be doing him many favours.
14.
Edmonton Oilers: 74
Minor tweaking additions and some players likely to return to health should improve the Oilers next season. Belanger was a good move and will fit well on the 3rd line, Eager while having a screw loose is better than Stortini and adding Smyth will only help give them a veteran leader and PP help. The problem with this team lays with defence and goaltending the usual suspects. The defence outside of Whitney and Peckham are very inconsistent; Gilbert is a solid top-4 guy but has seen his struggles recently. Goaltending will be huge though, I think Rehab might officially be done yet he was given the majority of starts even after he continued to show he couldn’t get it done, meanwhile Dubnyk had a good second half to the season playing some strong hockey but it is a small sample size to be too optimistic yet.
15.
Colorado Avalanche: 64
Sorry Avs fans but this team screams a bad year to me. Duchene, Stastny, Hejduk should be fine but after that the talent level drops considerably. They have a weak group of wingers, Jones hit 27 last year coming essentially out of nowhere, is that an anomaly? Mueller is coming off an extremely serious concussion, can he come back to the miraculous level of play he had after arriving in Colorado? The defence is also a question mark, Johnson is a great defender and one I think will take the next step this year (13G-27A), Hedja is steady but unspectacular and the rest are guys who left their teams as 6th defenseman. Goaltending gets iffy, I have to say I am a Varlamov fan, he has the skill to be an elite goalie someday but he is fragile and has never played more than 33 games in a season since 2007 in the Super League. If Varlamov doesn’t play more than at least 55+ this team is in the gutter plain and simple, watching Giguere on what I would say a stronger Maple Leaf squad he was flat out bad and can’t be counted on for more than a mentoring limited backup role.
Thanks for reading
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