Richard Cloutier: 30 Teams - 30 Comments
- Maxbone
1. Anaheim Ducks - Log-jam in net. They still have Hiller and Fasth, and both should be the starter. But then you got John Gibson and some Frederik Andersen guy sitting around. Sooner or later, a goalie will be dealt for an eventual Selanne or Koivu replacement.
- Hiller is a 1b/2a goalie. Fasth has 1 year under his belt. The others are unproven.
2. Boston Bruins - I keep hearing Brad Marchand is being shopped as a way for the Bruins to deal with the cap ceiling. Why? I'd never trade this guy.
so you read hockeybuzz too? he's claude lemieux 2.0 and goes nowhere.
3. Buffalo Sabres - Which player will make the NHL first: Mikhail Grigorenko or Zemgus Girgensons? I ripped this off from someone else on Twitter. It sounds like Girgensons will be the NHL regular first, but he's a future 3rd line guy. Between Hodgson, Grigorenko and Girgensons, the Sabres are set down the middle for years. They should really go full rebuild: Deal Vanek for two young quality prospects; deal Stafford for one...buyout Leino, deal Miller if you can. Move Ennis for a winger with size...Hodgson, Grig, Girg, four players from moving Vanek, Stafford and Ennis, plus Pysyk, Ristolainen, Armia, Myers, Ehrhoff, Foligno and Enroth...You have a team with enough high end young talent that you should be beating everyone in about three seasons. Amazing core just sitting there waiting to be pulled together.
way too much detail about a non-playoff team. i guess mysery loves company
4. Calgary Flames - My gut tells me Sean Monahan will be the NHL Calder Trophy winner as top rookie this season. Don't ask me why; it just does.
your gut is wrong. i think you forgot about nik lidstrom's idol klef-is-a-bomb
5. Carolina Hurricanes - Another one of those teams where I don't understand what their management is doing. Tons of power up front, and absolutely zero on defense. This team isn't going anywhere this season.
who cares. it's carolina.
6. Chicago Blackhawks - They'll win the cup again in 2014.
no they won't. it's called a hangover
7. Colorado Avalanche - So who gets dealt first for a defenseman: Paul Stastny or Ryan O'Reilly? Keep in mind O'Reilly can't be dealt until February, but he's worth way more on the trade market than Stastny. The pile up at center in Colorado is incredible, and the team blows everywhere else.
Avs make the playoffs before the Oilers do.
8. Columbus Blue Jackets - Sooner or later, the Jackets are going to need to bring in a true #1 center. As good as the D and goaltending is, and is decent as the wingers on the roster are, the gaping hole at center is going to cost this team playoff opportunities.
Jackets make the playoffs before the Oilers do.
9. Dallas Stars - This team is my pick to be the disappointment of the season. Which is funny, because last year, and I said they'd be the disappointment of the season. The roster is a confused mess.
wrong. nill gets his team into the playoffs. he's the best signing for any team this offseason players included.
10. Detroit Red Wings - This is the opposite of Dallas: I can't see any flaws with the Wings roster. Although I get the feeling that at some point, they'll move a forward to get a defenseman.
defense isn't strong enough. injuries will plague them again up front.
11. Edmonton Oilers - It sounds like Oilers GM Craig MacTavish is done making deals until the pre-season. At that point, a number of things may result in an Oilers trade or two. For example, if Denis Grebeshkov and Anton Belov look like solid NHL defenseman, it creates a log jam. So will Oscar Klefbom if he plays too well to belong in the AHL. Smid, NSchultz, JSchultz, Petry, Grebeshkov, Belov, Klefbom and Ference gives the Oilers eight NHL-level defensemen, with Corey Potter and Philip Larsen also sitting around waiting to see what happens to them. Chances are Grebeshkov is the Oilers #7 guy, Potter and Larsen both gets waived (and sent to the AHL if unclaimed), and Klefbom goes to the AHL, leaving the Oilers with pairings something like Smid/Petry, Ference/Belov and NSchultz/JSchultz. But I still think Klefbom will be too good for the AHL, and most likely Nick Schultz will be dealt to make room for him.
your 8 nhl defensemen only play in edmonton. oilers still need top 4 d talent and veteran leadership up front.
12. Florida Panthers - Have we decided yet if Aleksander Barkov needs to spend a year in the Finnish military first before he can come to the NHL?
doesn't matter. hubie is their next superstar. tonnes of talent and depth. maybe the best young roster - potential wise - in the nhl. not as far away as most think.
13. Los Angeles Kings - After seeing the stupidity that is Zach Bogosian's new contract, how mad do you think Slava Voynov is? I'd take Voynov over Bogosian every time, and he earns a million less per season. Voynov's contract made sense; Bogosian's didn't.
not very. slava lives on the beach. zach spends all of his money on a live in lumberjack to keep the fire stoked. bogo has more potential to do it all. slava's a bit soft and doesn't scare anyone.
14. Minnesota Wild - I like how once every off-season a team proves that going UFA crazy always backfires. The Wild are no closer to becoming a playoff threat, and now, they're losing $30mil per season. What have we learned?
they're a goalie and some scoring away from being a very real threat.
15. Montreal Canadiens - If PK Subban is left off of Team Canada's roster for the Olympics it will be a damn tragedy. The boy has all sorts of game, and on the big ice surface, he'd be a machine.
he's had one monster year. the shame, from an oilers point of view, is that shultz wasn't on the initial list.
16. Nashville Predators - Take Shea Weber and Pekka Rinne out of this roster and you have everyone's second line. This is a managerial miscalculation if you've ever seen one. The Preds are craving full rebuild mode, and Weber + Rinne could be turned into five solid good young players.
they've never had a first line so what's the big deal? wilson is a stud and ready to break out
17. New Jersey Devils - Even though they lost Kovalchuk, they gained Clowe and Jagr, so the situation up front in NJ is not the issue. The D though...Yuck.
jagr equals out the pp. neither guy will be on the pk though and neither has the speed of kovy. up front is an issue. defense and last line of defense is just fine.
18. New York Islanders - I'm still waiting for the Islanders to sacrifice one of their incredible young centers to bring in a top line winger to play with Tavares. They could have Ales Hemsky cheap if they wanted him, but I'm not sure he's the guy they're looking for.
you mean like edmonton has done? oh wait, horcoff doesn't count. isles > oilers so why would they want hemsky?
19. New York Rangers - This just might be the hardest team in the league to understand. They have plenty of talented guys and lotsa youth. Depth at all positions...what's the problem? I still don't know, and because I don't know, I can't recommend a solution, either. They'll struggle again, and it won't make sense. Going from the biggest loudmouth coach in the league to the most arrogant coach in the league isn't a solution to anything.
most arrogant coach? really? one example please.
20. Ottawa Senators - How good would this team be if GM Bryan Murray was allowed to spend as much as he wants? That Bobby Ryan trade was genius.
the trade was genius for anaheim. my god man do you even watch hockey?
21. Philadelphia Flyers - Yet another place Ryan Miller or Tim Thomas could end up. An absolute dartboard of a roster, what makes me sad here is that the team will eventually deal away their good young players (Schenn x 2 and Couturier) to make room for crusty has-beens. Disastrously run franchise.
sorry, did you say they have two good schenns?
22. Phoenix Coyotes - So are they staying or going? I've lost track. And why haven't they dealt Keith Yandle to bring in a couple forward yet?
why haven't the oilers traded any of their 8 untouchables? he's their best player, they contend for a playoff spot every year. why exactly would they trade him?
23. Pittsburgh Penguins - This has to be the best terrible team in the league. Proof positive that you need roster depth if you want to go anywhere. Cap management is everything. How sad is it that the only way forth for the Penguins is to first either deal Fleury (if you can find someone interested, which is likely not possible have the way he's played the last two springs), Letang or Malkin? They have way too much money tied up in way too few players. The Letang deal in particular is a death sentence.
hall, eberle, soon to be nuge, duby, yaku, shultz, etc., and who has too many 6M+ players?
24. San Jose Sharks - The back end of this team is awful, even if you move Brent Burns back to playing defense. What did the GM of the Sharks do all summer, aside from tanning?
this team is still a couple breaks away from getting to the finals. they have vlasic, boyle, stuart, demers, hannan, braun and a star in the making matt irwin already all nhl quality. any gm in the world would take that over the oilers d group.
25. St. Louis Blues - Neither Halak or Elliott are good enough to win a cup. Tim Thomas or Ryan Miller is going to end up here by the end of the season.
if osgood, niemi, crawford, etc., can win a cup then yes, so can the others. now you're just talking crazy talk.
26. Tampa Bay Lightning - I can't believe people want to keep Martin St. Louis off the Olympic list because he's old. Dude lead the NHL in scoring last season. He rocks.
he's already on the list which is better than a lot of guys. who exactly wants him off the list? kevin lowe who is the source of all failure in edmonton?
27. Toronto Maple Leafs - Nazem Kadri is perhaps a $3.5mil re-sign on a one year deal? Situation reminds me of Gagner last year. He got $3.2mil. And after what we just saw with Bogosian, Cody Franson is worth at least $4.5mil per, which, between the two players, pushing the Leafs over the cap limit. It's got to be JM Liles who bites the bullet? No one else on the roster makes sense, unless they do a huge move to shift Phaneuf for a much younger, cheaper player.
kadri signs long term. franson isn't worth that coin - i love him but not even close. liles is kaberle 2.0.
28. Vancouver Canucks - Do we know yet if Roberto Luongo even wants to be in Vancouver? Didn't he just fire his agent? I would laugh if 10 games into the season, he started demanding to be moved.
he already demanded to be moved. haven't you seen the movie? he'll lead team canada to a gold medal and all will be fine again with Lu.
29. Washington Capitals - I keep waiting for the Capitals to do something this off-season. There is a potential Oilers/Capitals deal here, as I can't see how Caps management could go into this season with their current group of six. Nick Schultz would fit as a 4/5/6 option.
no thanks.
30. Winnipeg Jets - That Zach Bogosian deal is one of the worst contracts I've seen in a long, long time. Seven years with a No Movement Clause at $5.142mil per? The guy only started looking like a decent defenseman during last year's half-season. Have the Jets lost their minds? I don't mind Blake Wheeler's deal as much, although I question if he's a 30g per season guy.
what did gagner get again to be a 50pt player? good luck with the nuge, who might be the best of the bunch, shultz, duby, yakupov, etc., when they want their money. 
