Brightest and Darkest Futures 2018 - 5 year outlook

[Critical13]

I don’t get it, why does it say Toronto has 8 darkest votes?

At the time, 8% of people who voted, voted for Toronto.

 

[topshelf15]

Meh ,Ottawa still has a good prospect pool and talent on our squad ...So while i get we dont have our first for next season we still have hope here...Ranking us at the bottom is likely going to be proven wrong

 

[Advanced stats]

Meh ,Ottawa still has a good prospect pool and talent on our squad ...So while i get we dont have our first for next season we still have hope here...Ranking us at the bottom is likely going to be proven wrong

But once you lose Karlsson your talent pool is very dry, and your prospects/Karlsson return is 3 years away from making a big impact, so over the course of the next 4 years wouldn't you say it looks very very dim?

 

[Byron Bitz]

Meh ,Ottawa still has a good prospect pool and talent on our squad ...So while i get we dont have our first for next season we still have hope here...Ranking us at the bottom is likely going to be proven wrong

Ottawa isn’t ranked at the bottom, Montreal rightfully is.

 

[topshelf15]

Ottawa isn’t ranked at the bottom, Montreal rightfully is.

They just drafted a boatload of kids,hard to say they will be at the bottom either...Teams like LA,Chi,Pitt with older cores and depleted pools are far more likely to be in that range than bad teams right now will be...

 

[Volica]

how would you have answered this five years ago?

I imagine it'd be just as funny.
I don't take any votes like this seriously. Lots of sheep, lots of homers.

 

[MacDonald4MVP]

Top 5 (in no particular order):

1. Winnipeg
2. Toronto
3. Tampa
4. Vegas
5. Nashville

Bottom 5 (in no particular order):

1. Ottawa
2. Montreal
3. Arizona
4. Rangers
5. Anaheim

Lol how do you not have Detroit in bottom 5?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Why is Pittsburgh so high, their core is already 30 and only 1 of them has a small chance of putting up th same numbers past 33. Their prospect pool is quite weak as well. They should be in the middle not the top part.

Probably because the question is about the next 5 years, and not 5 years and beyond? That core is still going to be effective for the next 4 to 5 years. It's after that that it gets dicey.

 

[Critical13]

They just drafted a boatload of kids,hard to say they will be at the bottom either...Teams like LA,Chi,Pitt with older cores and depleted pools are far more likely to be in that range than bad teams right now will be...

Those kids will take a few years before they make impacts at the NHL level. I think Montreal has a few years near the bottom before they rise back to contention, I think that's why they were on so many people's radar while picking 10 darkest.

 

[evnted]

NJ with the most evenly lit future

 

[Drytoast]

Let me get this straight?

so AFTER the leafs acquired Tavares we now have a bleaker future?

 

[Hockeyholic]

Detroit should be bottom five. They are a long long long way away from competing. Larkin isn't an elite player. Ideally, hes a # 2 C on a cup contender. They're stuck with albatrosses contracts thanks to the genius who signed them. Said " Genius" is somehow still employed.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

5 years is now a long time to completely change things around positively and negatively.

Terrible thread is terrible.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

There's too much use of loaded language in the premise. It should be more objective. For example:

Which 10 teams will win the most playoff series in the next 5 years
Which 10 teams will win the most regular season games in the next 5 years
Which 10 teams will go to the most Conference Finals in the next 5 years

As written now, a respondent could rightly decide to discount years 1-3 and focus on years 4-5 because those look more like futures. Better definition for success would help.

 

[Brainiac]

I don’t get it, why does it say Toronto has 8 darkest votes?

Just some haters.

The Leafs need to work on their defense ASAP and they'll be good to go. I still see some uncertainty with that process, but it is clearly in the realm of possibility for them to contend in the next few years. Will it happen? Who knows. But saying it 100% won't is just being a hater.

And yeah, all of that coming from a Habs fan! Just calling a spade a spade. If everyone could do that, the board would be much more enjoyable, IMO.

 

[member 298589]

Hahahaha, Montreal.

Love your avatar, man. Sebastian Bach is awesome \m/

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Montreal is an embarassing hockey organisation at the moment.

Maybe in terms of winning the Stanley Cup we might have the worst future in the league considering that management is more interested in playoffs than cups.

But one thing that Montreal knows how to do and always do is compete. I've seen trash mtl rosters make the playoffs and have regular season success for years.

I wouldn't bet on my team finishing in the bottom for the next 2-3-4 years as much as I would love for it to happen.

 

[Lshap]

There's too much use of loaded language in the premise. It should be more objective. For example:

Which 10 teams will win the most playoff series in the next 5 years
Which 10 teams will win the most regular season games in the next 5 years
Which 10 teams will go to the most Conference Finals in the next 5 years

As written now, a respondent could rightly decide to discount years 1-3 and focus on years 4-5 because those look more like futures. Better definition for success would help.

I agree. Even a strong team trying to hold its core together will see many roster changes over a three year period, let alone five. A bottom team in the midst of a rebuild drafting from the cream of the prospect pool will be unrecognizable in two/three years. Keep in mind all those top picks will be reaching the NHL and making an impact much sooner.

A five year outlook for teams like Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, NYR is therefore useless.

 

[Sheppy]

Love your avatar, man. Sebastian Bach is awesome \m/

 

[Critical13]

I agree. Even a strong team trying to hold its core together will see many roster changes over a three year period, let alone five. A bottom team in the midst of a rebuild drafting from the cream of the prospect pool will be unrecognizable in two/three years. Keep in mind all those top picks will be reaching the NHL and making an impact much sooner.

A five year outlook for teams like Detroit, Montreal, Ottawa, NYR is therefore useless.

I guess don't take part then?

 

[Leafidelity]

Folks voting Toronto among the darkest futures truly covering themselves in glory

I imagine Toronto being good is the darkest timeline for them, so I guess not entirely wrong

 

[Lshap]

I guess don't take part then?

Thanks, but I think I will.

Don't get me wrong -- the broad subject is interesting, and it's worth discussing teams with the best outlooks over five years. Those teams are either heading in the right direction or are already there. Either way, it's obviously much easier to look ahead when you're staying the course.

My issue is in trying to scope out the direction for bottom teams that are intentionally changing direction.

 

[wabagee]

It does look like him, who is it?

 

[Koized]

Some of the teams rated above the Penguins and Capitals are hilarious. Both teams will have their core in their primes over the next three years.

 

[NyQuil]

At the time, 8% of people who voted, voted for Toronto.

Just for fun, so when we dredge up this poll in the future, the following members think Toronto will be in the bottom 10 for success over the next 5 years:

Well, now I guess we see the whole point of this exercise.