What is your excitement level for 24/25 season ?

[ViD]

In my option, and as it stands today, this upcoming season I personally have the least expectations I’ve had in a while.

Yes, we finally got a GM change and and an experienced coach, but the roster looks pretty weak and it’s hard to expect anything other than a lottery pick placement.

Some things to look for:

- Can Gaudreau break out playing with his best friend Monahan ?

- How will Fantilli perform in his sophomore year ?

- Can Chinakhov, KJ, Voronkov, Jiricek step up to the next level and have a career year ?

- Will Elvis rebound or will we have a completely new goalie situation ?

How do you feel about the new season ? Any expectations?

Click to read more...

 

[ThisIsMyAlibi]

I expect they’ll be picking top 10 again.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I'm always excited for hockey season. I am excited to see how the young talent progresses, namely Fantilli. I am excited for another new chapter and hopefully some more stability.

As far as excitement with wins and losses, I am not expecting much. But still. I love the team and the sport and I'll be glad to see it return.

Outdoor game should be fun

 

[thebus88]

Starting goalie, top pairing right defenseman, and centers.

None of the problems have really changed from the last few years, besides the removal of Laine.

The team will be better, the question is just how much. What Laine brought, the team still has no issue with, there’s no issue with the scoring of the team, IMO. The problem will still be keeping the puck out of the net.

All that said, “excitement” should be higher than it has been in YEARS. He may still be on roster, but the organization is seemingly finally willing to not force Merzlikins into the net, and give others starts when they deserve it, or at least when he doesn’t deserve to play.

 

[stevo61]

Im excited. I love the draft and development part that comes with kids and I trust that this group can follow through with the development part better than the last. Hoping for big things from Fantilli and Johnson specifically. Also think Jiricek quiets some of the concerns

 

[GoJackets1]

Guess I’m the first or second to vote very excited. Im excited for the young guys to continue to improve but mainly excited to see what improvement is made with an actually experienced, quality coach. Vincent did an okay job that could’ve looked a lot better if not for the collapses. The roster is better on paper than the results showed last year IMO.

If Evason can create strategic improvement, on top of the younger guys improving, I believe we could see 35-40 wins if not more. Obviously I’ve fallen into this trap before, but in this moment that’s how I feel.

 

[tunnelvision]

I'm excited. Even if the team plays well below their expectations I can easily find enjoyable hockey to watch for myself, such as the Monsters and prospects around the world.

I'm excited to see:
- PP and how well they play as a team under new coaching staff, are they going to be as tough to play against as Evason has promised?
- Growth of younger players
- Buffalo tournament and CHL season (CBJ and 2025 draft prospects)

Nervous to see:
- how Monahan as a top-6 C works out
- what kind of year Provorov has and is Waddell able to get a decent return for him.
- the development plan for Lindstrom, Jiricek, Mateychuk and Svozil for this season
- how the goalie situation evolves

 

[NotWendell]

No expectations, no disappointment.

 

[Halfboard]

No expectations, no disappointment.

This should be on a giveaway tshirt….

 

[Youngguns1380]

 

[OldGoaltender]

There are several reasons that I am looking for to this season:

New coach with a system that has been proven in today's NHL
See how Fantilli progresses
To see if Monahan/Gaudreau can rekindle that magic
The Russians are just fun to watch especially Chinakov with the shot
A GM that has proven he can build a playoff caliber team year after year
Lastly I'm old and what else do I have to do

 

[VT]

Very excited... I expect Chinakhov, Voronkov, Sillinger, Tarasov and maybe Jiříček to take a big step forward, I think Malatesta, Brindley and Svozil could be pleasant surprises.

 

[Viqsi]

I never thought I'd be the one to complain about one of these polls having all of its options be overly optimistic.

I'm borderline apathetic and obliging myself to go through the motions because there are still elements here and there that remind me of what I enjoyed and so I'm giving more hope than I actually feel. Attendance at games has always been a challenge for me (first for financial, then for time availability reasons), but this may be the first season where I don't even bother to try.

 

[EDM]

My optimism is 1% higher than Viqsi.

 

[koteka]

I never thought I'd be the one to complain about one of these polls having all of its options be overly optimistic.

My optimism is 1% higher than Viqsi.

I think my optimism beats yours by a smidge. Every year I push back when we might make the playoffs by another season. I am doing it again. I am happy with the change in regime. I like the way we drafted this season. But we are going to suck. Suck less than the last couple of seasons? Hopefully. I can see a scenario where we improve our points and end up in about the same spot.

What I am really hoping for from this season is clarity. I want the new regime to be able to move guys who should be moved and keep guys that should be kept to build at least part of the basis of a team that could one day compete for Cups.

 

[Viqsi]

I think my optimism beats yours by a smidge. Every year I push back when we might make the playoffs by another season. I am doing it again. I am happy with the change in regime. I like the way we drafted this season. But we are going to suck. Suck less than the last couple of seasons? Hopefully. I can see a scenario where we improve our points and end up in about the same spot.

What I am really hoping for from this season is clarity. I want the new regime to be able to move guys who should be moved and keep guys that should be kept to build at least part of the basis of a team that could one day compete for Cups.

Truthfully, at this point Steve Mears is going to matter a lot hell of a lot more to me w/r/t whether or not I can keep going.

No, I'm not kidding. George Matthews was why I fell in love originally, so whenever things went bad I could bounce back by just listening to games on the radio and I'd be ready to jump into the fray again. When McElligott took over, it suddenly made my greatest source of hockey-related strength unlistenable; I had to coast for a little while longer on favorite players here and there (and watching the Preds instead). Then the Tortorella hiring happened and, well, folks remember how I reacted to that - but then seeing how amazingly well it went gave me another boost and the ability to have faith in Kekalainen even if I frequently had no idea what he was on about. Now even all of that is gone and destroyed, potentially tarnishing one of the last of the old guard I remembered so fondly in the process, and Waddell has not been encouraging, and I'm out of Favorite Players to truly lean on. 95% of why I still stick to it is because of friends here and even that gets strained sometimes.

I need it to be better and to have something to have faith in again. I don't know how I'm going to handle it if that doesn't happen.

 

[Xoggz22]

Always excited. Love hockey and hate when it's not being played. I have high hopes, as always, for this team to exceed the expectations - which are pretty low around the NHL

 

[CannonFire1]

This should be on a giveaway tshirt….

With Boomer as the graphic.

 

[Cowumbus]

Not excited at all. Don’t think they will be “fun” to follow for another couple years.

Questioning the time I spend following the team and if it’s even worth it

Ask me again in October.

 

[Doggy]

Truthfully, at this point Steve Mears is going to matter a lot hell of a lot more to me w/r/t whether or not I can keep going.

No, I'm not kidding. George Matthews was why I fell in love originally, so whenever things went bad I could bounce back by just listening to games on the radio and I'd be ready to jump into the fray again. When McElligott took over, it suddenly made my greatest source of hockey-related strength unlistenable; I had to coast for a little while longer on favorite players here and there (and watching the Preds instead). Then the Tortorella hiring happened and, well, folks remember how I reacted to that - but then seeing how amazingly well it went gave me another boost and the ability to have faith in Kekalainen even if I frequently had no idea what he was on about. Now even all of that is gone and destroyed, potentially tarnishing one of the last of the old guard I remembered so fondly in the process, and Waddell has not been encouraging, and I'm out of Favorite Players to truly lean on. 95% of why I still stick to it is because of friends here and even that gets strained sometimes.

I need it to be better and to have something to have faith in again. I don't know how I'm going to handle it if that doesn't happen.

If you are laying your hopes with Mears you are doomed. Dude’s delivery is as dry as the desert.

 

[alphafox]

Probably a Top 7 Pick. Last year was effectively a lost year for most of the roster so I would expect small to no jumps from most of the roster and at the end of the day it's still Elvis on the back end of the same defense. Hopefully we see Fantilli, KJ, Jiricek take huge jumps toward their potential as star players and the supporting cast like Sillinger, Brindley, Mateychuk show that their ceiling is higher than what people hope it could be.

 

[JacketsDavid]

I have a lot more hope than past years.
We finally have a team being assembled not some GM trying to add as much talent as he could without any real insights how to build a team.
The goaltending will likely be the weakness.
I think the overall defense will be better just because of coaching and accountability.
I don't think we will make the playoffs but I think we will be much closer than the last couple seasons.

 

[Viqsi]

If you are laying your hopes with Mears you are doomed. Dude’s delivery is as dry as the desert.

I'll settle for him not being terrible.

 

[hockey17jp]

I think the Jackets are going to suck again but I just will be happy to have hockey back.

Hopefully some youngsters take a big jump forward and make the games easier to watch.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

No expectations, no disappointment.

If only this was how it worked.