Canucks have a much better chance at the Cup than us until otherwise noted.According to The Athletic staff, Avs and Preds have the same chance to win the cup next year.
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Cale in his own league
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Canucks have a much better chance at the Cup than us until otherwise noted.According to The Athletic staff, Avs and Preds have the same chance to win the cup next year.
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Cale in his own league
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How you guys manage to piss off
Sea Eagles
enough to quit the forum is beyond me. Sure, he's a huge homer and sometimes it's a bit much - even for me - but maaan, he also seems to be one of the nicest guys in here. Great job fellas!
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There is very little to suggest that the roster as it stands with 3 of the top 5 wingers injured or uncertain to play, mediocre goaltending, and no cap room or depth should be considered a contender.
The publications putting the Avs at low ends are correct. If Nuke comes back and doesn't go AWOL and Landy is still a top line player then thing start to look good. But those are two huge long shots.
It does sound pretty dire, until you actually go around the league rosters and realize that none of them are that good.There is very little to suggest that the roster as it stands with 3 of the top 5 wingers injured or uncertain to play, mediocre goaltending, and no cap room or depth should be considered a contender.
The publications putting the Avs at low ends are correct. If Nuke comes back and doesn't go AWOL and Landy is still a top line player then thing start to look good. But those are two huge long shots.
Man, the Athletic absolutely sucks anymore. They've basically got Russo (covering the Wild), Portzline (covering the Blue Jackets), Dom making spreadsheets that are just getting worse by the year with his market evaluations of players, and Down Goes Brown writing about how much it sucks to be a Maple Leaf fan the last half century plus. I mean even LeBrun doesn't really do anything anymore other than social pieces and coverage of GM and owners meetings.I'm digging the new Rangers logo.
I'll sign. Hell, I'll start working on a way to stuff the f***ing box.We should start a petition to change the Colorado Eagles to the Colorado Sea Eagles :
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I don't think it happens but if Nuke is able to stay on the roster and Landy is still a top line forward this team does look very good going into the playoffs.Yep. If publications/models are currently projecting Landy and Nuke out of the lineup, we're a bubble team at best. If they come back and play at a high level it obviously has a significant impact.
The question with Nuke isn't so much about whether he plays at a high level, but more whether he plays at all. Funny enough I think the opposite is true for Landy. He's going to play and give things a go. The question for him is more along the lines of, how well can he actually play and how much can he play.
I have a feeling both will end up playing at some point.
I don't think it happens but if Nuke is able to stay on the roster and Landy is still a top line forward this team does look very good going into the playoffs.
The top two Cs are locked in. Rantanen is still Rantanen and with Nuke and Landy you've got the ability to score in the dirty areas and some size and two way play from the top 6Ws. And that pushes Lehkonen onto the third line (or Drouin). And that third line becomes really good if you have LOC Lehk and Colton. Considering its a 10 million dollar third line it better be good.
But will Nuke be able to stay in the lineup? Will Landy actually be a good top line winger?
My guess is No to both of those questions. But we can always dream.
4th line remains a question, but that's something you can fix somewhat easily during the season if that is a real problem.The big question is how many top-6 wingers are we starting the season with? Is it 2/5 or 4/5?It definitely has potential. There's a lot of unanswered questions though, including some significant ones(The two you alluded to with Landy/Nuke being the biggest ones).
You've also got the uncertainty in net, the lack of a 4th line(Particularly 4C), questions about the defense after the Top pairing... And then there's the question of age. We simply aren't a young group anymore. At what point does that start to really impact the top end of this team.
Every team has questions, the Avs aren't really any different then the others. But I definitely think we have more uncertainty then you'd want to have as a contender. Still, there's clearly a path for this team to be a favorite in the West again. Just need a lot of things to go right.
Feels like Colorado twice is redundant.We should start a petition to change the Colorado Eagles to the Colorado Sea Eagles :
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I don't have access to the article, but I highly doubt those numbers are about chance to win the cup.According to The Athletic staff, Avs and Preds have the same chance to win the cup next year.
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Cale in his own league
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4th line remains a question, but that's something you can fix somewhat easily during the season if that is a real problem.The big question is how many top-6 wingers are we starting the season with? Is it 2/5 or 4/5?
But I think the goalie position is actually a bit more clear at this point. Not because of Georgiev, he is what he is at this point. He was pretty good on his first year, bad last year but bounced back a bit in the playoffs. I would expect him not to be as bad as last year. But more importantly, we know Annunen is going to be the backup, and should get games.
I also don't think the 2nd D-pair of Manson and Girard is a question mark. Manson's health maybe. CDH is probably an upgrade on JMFJ, as long as he stays healthy. Brannström definitely has more upside than any of our AHL d-men we call up from time to time. On paper, it's weaker because we lost Byram. As a whole, I think it can actually be a better D-corps this year.
I think overall there are less question marks. We know what Drouin can be. We know we have a #2C in Mittelstadt.
The backers for Askarov see a high end starting goalie in him in time. Then a high end starting goalie can cover a lot of holes the Avs have. I can see that point. Where I think it falls apart is that Askarov is at least 2+ seasons from that level. People quickly overlook that he wasn't the starter in the playoffs for Milwaukee. He's played well and at times even great in the AHL, but nothing is really there that shows he's NHL ready for a backup role, let alone a starter's role... even further a starter's role on a team that would like to contend.The best chance for our core to win another Stanley Cup is this year.
It gets worse next year and even worse the year after that. We will gradually be a worse team.
How does Nashville’s 3rd or 4th string goalie who had an .885 save percentage in the AHL last year help us win the Stanley Cup right now?
I’m all for upgrading from Georgiev, but that’s not it for a hopefully contending team.
How does Nashville’s 3rd or 4th string goalie who had an .885 save percentage in the AHL last year help us win the Stanley Cup right now?
I’m all for upgrading from Georgiev, but that’s not it for a hopefully contending team.
We have negative cap space and very, very limited assets. Askarov is on ELC and that's part of the appeal.I'm with you... all for upgrading George, but Askarov shouldn't be the answer this year.
The backers for Askarov see a high end starting goalie in him in time. Then a high end starting goalie can cover a lot of holes the Avs have. I can see that point. Where I think it falls apart is that Askarov is at least 2+ seasons from that level. People quickly overlook that he wasn't the starter in the playoffs for Milwaukee. He's played well and at times even great in the AHL, but nothing is really there that shows he's NHL ready for a backup role, let alone a starter's role... even further a starter's role on a team that would like to contend.
I'm with you... all for upgrading George, but Askarov shouldn't be the answer this year.
On the quality of the Avs on paper... I'd say the Avs are a slight step down compared to last year, especially if we are looking at the post deadline version. On the pre deadline, assuming health and clean piss tests... the forward group should be a better. Mostly from Mitts stabilizing the 2nd line, but having some better wing depth. The defense though is a strong step back. I wasn't on the Byram hypetrain, but at least he was a top 4D. The Avs had a legit 5 top 4D. They don't have that now. G and Manson have their own questions, but even Makar does. If he wasn't hurt, what happened to his defense? That has to change. In net, the personnel isn't really different, but the outlook is. George looked like an average to above average starter last summer to most. Now he's clearly below average and arguably even bad.
Right now this team looks like a 2nd round exit team. What they do at the deadline and what happens with Nuke/Landy will probably have a large determination with that. If Nuke never returns and Landy is only an okay 3rd liner... it wouldn't be unreasonable to think the Avs are fighting to stay out of the wild card spot (still think playoffs is a near sure thing). If Nuke is clean, Landy is a 1st liner, and the Avs add a good 4C, RD, and G at the deadline, they should absolutely contend.
Not only cover the holes but extend the current window as well. High end goalies can do miracles sometimes.Then a high end starting goalie can cover a lot of holes the Avs have. I can see that point.
Askarov specifically is very unlikely to do that. He'd have to be an elite starter basically right away. Whether or not people want to hear it, this window is closed soon with or without an elite goalie. Not enough money to go around and not enough young talent coming up the pipeline. It is basically this season, then hopefully Rants doesn't blow up all the depth.I forgot a point:
Not only cover the holes but extend the current window as well. High end goalies can do miracles sometimes.
The downside is if they want to retool or rebuild while he's in his prime he could single handedly ruin that.