Brightest and Darkest Futures 2018 - 5 year outlook

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

If Ottawa is successful in the next 5 years, you can dredge up this poll and the satisfaction will be wonderful for ya

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Meh, even the teams with the darkest outlooks are 1 or 2 draft hits away from flipping the script.

 

[Eegs]

Cool idea and a fun exercise to go through. Results are obviously very bias-skewed, but even that info is interesting.

 

[Critical13]

Cool idea and a fun exercise to go through. Results are obviously very bias-skewed, but even that info is interesting.

Thanks! Appreciate it after all the negativity in the thread. I thought it was interesting too.

Meh, even the teams with the darkest outlooks are 1 or 2 draft hits away from flipping the script.

Agreed, at least a few of those bottom 10 teams will surprise us and it will be all the sweeter.

 

[HugginThePost]

So interesting enough, your list basically matches the consensus here. Which makes the think that although there are some problems with bigger fanbases, bias, etc, a lot of those problems are eaten up by the sheer number of votes.

I was referring to the outliers...

Such as Calgary being in the bottom. They are not going to be in the bottom. And Toronto getting votes for being bad. And Edmonton getting top votes, despite having no cap space and having no depth. I don't believe they are going to be bad, just not good. We've been hearing that they will be god for a long time.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

I’m a Pens fan and I have no problem with people saying that the Pens will be in the dark ages 5 years from now.

That’s what happens when you get to draft Crosby and Malkin. They got to build around them for the past 10+ years and have put together teams that had a chance at a Stanley Cup every one of those years. That along with winning 3. There’s not much more as a fan you can ask for.

I’ll gladly accept a couple years being the laughing stock of the league if the FO can somehow manage to right the ship and do it all over again.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

I’m a Pens fan and I have no problem with people saying that the Pens will be in the dark ages 5 years from now.

That’s what happens when you get to draft Crosby and Malkin. They got to build around them for the past 10+ years and have put together teams that had a chance at a Stanley Cup every one of those years. That along with winning 3. There’s not much more as a fan you can ask for.

I’ll gladly accept a couple years being the laughing stock of the league if the FO can somehow manage to right the ship and do it all over again.

-The Penguins have a good 5 years left. Joe Thornton put up 82 points 2 years ago as a 37 year old. As long as players like Guentzel continue to develop and put a beating on other teams in the playoffs, the Penguins are just fine.

 

[NyQuil]

If Ottawa is successful in the next 5 years, you can dredge up this poll and the satisfaction will be wonderful for ya

I'm not that petty.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Draft ppg center in Eichel. Draft another stud center in Casey Mittelstadt last year. Draft best D prospect since Denis Potvin/McDavid level prospect in most recent draft. Have one of the richest owners in sports who spends unlimited amounts. Possess 4 1st round picks the next 2 drafts and somehow the Sabres future is dark? The Sabres can't miss the playoffs forever. Before this recent dark age in team history they had the 4th best win % in league history and had never gone more then 3 years in a row of missing the playoffs. And from 1971 to 2013 the Sabres drafted top 5 only twice.

The 7 year playoff drought and picking top 8 every year since 2013 is not SOP for the Sabres or normal. With a competent GM in charge things are finally turning around. I cannot wait for Dahlin to show us what he can do. If Dahlin was Canadian his hype would be McDavid/Crosby level. At the end of the day McDavid is a superstar center like Crosby. A player that good was drafted only 10 years prior. To get a D prospect comparable to Dahlin you have to go back nearly 50 years to Denis Potvin.

A hybrid dman who blends Karlsson, Lidstrom and Prongers/Kronwalls game is something never seen. When you have analysts saying Dahlin would have went first if he played forward that's just insane. No one should say Edmonton has a dark future with the best forward in the game, so it also shouldn't be said about the future best dman in the games team.

 

[Ivan13]

How is Calgary in the bottom 10?

I think that Calgary's problem is that they are too good to be bad enough to add game-breaking talent to the roster and not good enough to be Cup contenders, so many see them as a perpetual early playoff exit.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

More examples of people answering this question using their own fabricated criteria. The general discussion is good, but it would be more fun if success was tied to something tangible.

If Calgary gets to the playoffs are they not successful?

 

[Ivan13]

Draft ppg center in Eichel. Draft another stud center in Casey Mittelstadt last year. Draft best D prospect since Denis Potvin/McDavid level prospect in most recent draft. Have one of the richest owners in sports who spends unlimited amounts. Possess 4 1st round picks the next 2 drafts and somehow the Sabres future is dark? The Sabres can't miss the playoffs forever. Before this recent dark age in team history they had the 4th best win % in league history and had never gone more then 3 years in a row of missing the playoffs. And from 1971 to 2013 the Sabres drafted top 5 only twice.

The 7 year playoff drought and picking top 8 every year since 2013 is not SOP for the Sabres or normal. With a competent GM in charge things are finally turning around. I cannot wait for Dahlin to show us what he can do. If Dahlin was Canadian his hype would be McDavid/Crosby level. At the end of the day McDavid is a superstar center like Crosby. A player that good was drafted only 10 years prior. To get a D prospect comparable to Dahlin you have to go back nearly 50 years to Denis Potvin.

A hybrid dman who blends Karlsson, Lidstrom and Prongers/Kronwalls game is something never seen. When you have analysts saying Dahlin would have went first if he played forward that's just insane. No one should say Edmonton has a dark future with the best forward in the game, so it also shouldn't be said about the future best dman in the games team.

First of all, hold your horses. And secondly, I guess Bourque, Orr, Harvey etc never played hockey in your alternate universe.

 

[Ivan13]

More examples of people answering this question using their own fabricated criteria. The general discussion is good, but it would be more fun if success was tied to something tangible.

If Calgary gets to the playoffs are they not successful?

The goal is to win the Cup, no? Just getting into the playoff to be canon fodder for the top teams is not success in my books. Go ask the 80s Flames if they felt successful before they got the monkey off their back in '89, despite arguably having the 2nd best team in the league in the late 80s.

 

[Sstroh84]

Can someone explain to me why one of the youngest teams in the league with two consecutive playoff appearances and a Norris Trophy Quality top defensive pairing is falling out of the top 10 of this list?

Columbus is about the present and the future while having an average player age of 23.

 

[Critical13]

I wonder if the Skinner deal would change some people's minds on Buffalo/Carolina?

 

[viper0220]

I think that Calgary's problem is that they are too good to be bad enough to add game-breaking talent to the roster and not good enough to be Cup contenders, so many see them as a perpetual early playoff exit.

I think Calgary has the game breakers but had no depth, I think they have that now.

 

[tucker3434]

I think Calgary has the game breakers but had no depth, I think they have that now.

I guess the question there is, will Gaudreau lead them to a cup? He’s awesome, but I’m not sure he’s THAT good.

 

[TheAngryHank]

NHL farm system rankings: Best, worst prospect pipelines for 2018-19, from 1 to 31 | Sporting News

 

[KingsFan7824]

From where each team finished in the overall standings between 13-14 and last year:

Winnipeg - 22nd to 2nd, so a +20 improvement
Nashville - 19th to 1st, +18
Toronto - 23rd to 7th, +16
Florida - 29th to 16th, +13
Washington - 17th to 6th, +11
Calgary - 27th to 20th, +7
Tampa Bay - 8th to 3rd, +5
New Jersey - 20th to 15th, +5
Edmonton - 28th to 23rd, +5
NY Islanders - 26th to 22nd, +4
Minnesota - 11th to 8th, +3
Carolina - 24th to 21st, +3
Philadelphia - 13th to 13th, E
Columbus - 14th to 14th, E
Vancouver - 25th to 26th, -1
Buffalo - 30th to 31st, -1
Los Angeles - 10th to 12th, -2
Boston - 1st to 4th, -3
Dallas - 16th to 19th, -3
Pittsburgh - 6th to 10th, -4
San Jose - 5th to 11th, -6
Anaheim - 2nd to 9th, -7
Ottawa - 21st to 30th, -9
Arizona - 18th to 29th, -11
NY Rangers - 12th to 24th, -12
Detroit - 15th to 27th, -12
Colorado - 3rd to 17th, -14
St.Louis - 4th to 18th, -14
Chicago - 7th to 25th, -18
Montreal - 9th to 28th, -19

Not counting Vegas, although Buffalo does get that 31st finish. Some top teams that stayed at the top, some top teams that fell, some bottom teams that rose up, some bottom teams that stayed at the bottom. Some bad teams had the most improvement even though they remained bad or average. Some good teams got worse, but still remained near the top overall.

Vancouver had 1 top 10 finish, and 4 bottom 10 finishes. Chicago 4 top 10 finishes, 1 bottom 10 finish. Montreal, 3 times in the top 10. The Rangers had 3 top 10 finishes between 12th and 24th. Boston had 3 average ends to a season sandwiched between 2 top 5 finishes. Anaheim is the only team to finish in the top 10 all 5 years, and Buffalo is the only team to finish in the bottom 10 all 5 years. Winnipeg got worse before they got better, as did Toronto. No team went straight up or straight down.

 

[blood gin]

how would you have answered this five years ago?

Devils far above anybody else had the darkest outlook in 2013 it seems. We had wrapped up an incredible run from 1993-2013, but the organization was barren top to bottom

 

[LuGBuG]

I know I'm a ducks fan but they have a fantastic young defense, young top 5 goalie some stong young forwards and great prospects almost ready. I get they won't be the same for a couple years but bottom group is confusing.

 

[Deficient Mode]

For a "5 year outlook" this is pretty prone to recency bias (2017-18 only). Not surprisingly though. Only surprise is that teams with strong perceived prospect pools like Isles and Canucks fall so low.

 

[viper0220]

I guess the question there is, will Gaudreau lead them to a cup? He’s awesome, but I’m not sure he’s THAT good.

In hockey one can't lead a team to the cup, it is a team effort.

 

[Tage2Tuch]

Draft ppg center in Eichel. Draft another stud center in Casey Mittelstadt last year. Draft best D prospect since Denis Potvin/McDavid level prospect in most recent draft. Have one of the richest owners in sports who spends unlimited amounts. Possess 4 1st round picks the next 2 drafts and somehow the Sabres future is dark? The Sabres can't miss the playoffs forever. Before this recent dark age in team history they had the 4th best win % in league history and had never gone more then 3 years in a row of missing the playoffs. And from 1971 to 2013 the Sabres drafted top 5 only twice.

The 7 year playoff drought and picking top 8 every year since 2013 is not SOP for the Sabres or normal. With a competent GM in charge things are finally turning around. I cannot wait for Dahlin to show us what he can do. If Dahlin was Canadian his hype would be McDavid/Crosby level. At the end of the day McDavid is a superstar center like Crosby. A player that good was drafted only 10 years prior. To get a D prospect comparable to Dahlin you have to go back nearly 50 years to Denis Potvin.

A hybrid dman who blends Karlsson, Lidstrom and Prongers/Kronwalls game is something never seen. When you have analysts saying Dahlin would have went first if he played forward that's just insane. No one should say Edmonton has a dark future with the best forward in the game, so it also shouldn't be said about the future best dman in the games team.

Then trade some Pu for Skinner. (Just a joke cliff pu looks good I was excited about him)

I love Botts.

 

[Rielly4]

1.) Toronto
2.) Buffalo
3.) Winnipeg
4.) St Louis
5.) Edmonton

These are the teams who should be at the top in 5 years. Could change a lot depending on who gets Hughes. If he goes to a team that already has young talent like Vancouver/Arizona/Islanders they could sky rocket up the charts.