HabsQC
Registered User
I know progression is good but I hope it's us. There's no way we get into the playoffs so might as well get as high of a pick as we can
Because those kids are young and unproven. And the nhl season is a marathon. Based purely on last season point totals the ducks were 12 points ahead of last place SJ but 17 behind 5th worst Montreal. That’s how far they have to go to get out of the bottom 5.Don't understand why so many people have the Ducks at the bottom. They just added Cutter. Leo second season. McTavish is just getting better. Chicago and Sharks are going to be in the bottom.
The Ducks had awful injury luck last season. If they can stay healthy they definitely have a chance to make it out of the bottom 5.Because those kids are young and unproven. And the nhl season is a marathon. Based purely on last season point totals the ducks were 12 points ahead of last place SJ but 17 behind 5th worst Montreal. That’s how far they have to go to get out of the bottom 5.
Growth in kids in not linear. Beniers in Sea had a terrible season in year 2.
If Bedard couldn't keep Blackhawks from the basement I doubt Celebrini and Smith can keep the Sharks from the basement.Definitely think the Sharks are still a really poor team, but I think the bump from Celebrini, Smith, and all the vets they added will be enough to keep them from the basement
Sharks are definitely worse but on paper I dont really see any other teams that are that much worse than Montreal. There's a pretty big gap between San Jose and 4 or 5 other teams and Montreal is right there. Then you see Montreal is in the best division in the league, still finished bottom 5 with elite goaltending last year. I think theres a very good chance they are second last.I wish but not even close. At least 5 other teams worse.
Calgary
No defense, no offense, and no goalie.
Probably the Sharks, which is the best possible case for them.
Yea can't really argue any of your points at all. But if K. Dach stays healthy and Caufield's shoulder is fully recovered I can see them being around 10. But I hope they can draft top 3 least one more time of course would be nice.Sharks are definitely worse but on paper I dont really see any other teams that are that much worse than Montreal. There's a pretty big gap between San Jose and 4 or 5 other teams and Montreal is right there. Then you see Montreal is in the best division in the league, still finished bottom 5 with elite goaltending last year. I think theres a very good chance they are second last.
Calgary, Montreal, Chicago are all gonna be pretty bad. I could see Anaheim being better potentially depending on the steps their elite young core can make but they are probably at the bottom too. I dunno about Washington at all, they added two massive wild cards to the room in Dubois and Chychrun could go either way. Lets call a spade a spade they were bad last year how they got in was wild. That kinda negative goal differential to make the playoffs is nuts. Columbus and Philly also aren't very good on paper. To me those are the teams that can challenge for 2nd last.
As a Wings fan, it has been painful watching the team never land a pick above 4th. Despite finishing with 39 points and a -122 differential in 2020, while the next closest team was the Senators with 62 points. During the down years, our picks have been 9th, 6th, 4th, 6th, 8th, and now 15th. We rank bottom-5 in wins during that period.Do the 2009 Penguins win that Stanley Cup without Jordan Staal on the roster? I say no...and they only got Staal because a 102 point rookie season from Sidney Crosby wasn't enough to lift the 2005-06 Penguins more than one spot in the standings. Sorry to use a slightly older example, but as a Penguins fan that one just jumps out so succinctly to me.
The Sharks are still going to be awful next year, just a much more interesting type of awful. Taking a long-term view - one more year picking in the top 3 is almost certainly going to be better for them than jumping ~10 spots in the overall standings. The Bedard-led Hawks only jumping the Sharks is a more contemporary example, but Staal played such a huge role in accelerating the Penguins to Cup contender just by giving them enough depth to avoid being a top-heavy team, despite lacking any depth at wing. Of course that team also added Evgeni Malkin at the same time as Staal, so...point is you need depth to win and one player alone only moves the needle so much in a league like the NHL. San Jose exceeding expectations next year may be welcome by fans in the short-term, but likely works against them long-term.
I don't know if San Jose will finish dead last next season, but they'll likely be close to it and Sharks fans should be plenty alright with that. Growing pains are a necessity. The Sharks nearly allowed twice as many goals as they scored last season...a prime Mario Lemieux ain't overcoming that. That's not even a hypothetical...a prime Lemieux couldn't do that alone in the friggin' 80s, when 16/21 teams qualified for the playoffs. Turns out your supporting staff can't be nothing but Dan Quinns and Rob Browns.
Pittsburgh
I wish. Reality is they'll probably finish like 16-20th.
Penguins are starting to look designed to fail.
"I told Geno I wouldn't cry," blubbered Crosby as he discussed the pending trade, once unthinkable for the franchise icon.
The penguins if
Crosby and Malkin are injured for large parts of the season
I mean, we do have arguably one of the best goalie prospects on the planet that'll get minutes.
That said, behind that group of forwards and defence he will have a long season. I think Vladar ends up getting a lot of these ugly starts.
Edmonton 2015-2016 , Mcdavid's first year and after several years of top draft picks still finished 2nd last with 70 points. San Jose and Chicago are far behind where Edmonton was BEFORE they got McDavid. They will still be bad (future looks good for them though).
He hasn't arrived and he's no Markstrom. Hopefully they give him support otherwise...
How about - No offense, no defense, and ? in goal.
Flames have a mid offense and mid defense (until Ras is traded anyway). The offense isn't special, but they have plenty of middle 6 guys who will keep them from the basement, but not enough for a WC spot. Last year they finished 20th in the league in GF and we didn't lose anyone who contributed to that (Lindholm was useless). Flames have the depth of a winning team (lines 2-4 are solid), but 0 star power.He hasn't arrived and he's no Markstrom. Hopefully they give him support otherwise...
How about - No offense, no defense, and ? in goal.
more like luck....the Sabres finished last 4x in their drought and won twice. Oilers without looking probably only bottomed out once. It doesn't really matter what their job security state is in SJ or Chicago those teams still have a long way since they have nothing to really trade away to get a capable team fast.I think it takes a special kind of terrible management to get 3 first overalls in a row and still land another one couple years later like the Oilers.
Worked out in the end for them but I doubt Chicago and Sharks current management have that kind of job security that they can terrible forever.
Sharks and Chicago will be bad for a while still sure but I expect gradual improvement from here.
I've barely heard of their defensemen beyond Andersson and Weegar. Is there anyone in that lot that you're hopeful can handle 2nd pair duties? If the D isn't as bad as it looks to me, and Wolf is in the running for Calder, they could be a bubble team, I think. Probably ~70-75 points though.Flames have a mid offense and mid defense (until Ras is traded anyway). The offense isn't special, but they have plenty of middle 6 guys who will keep them from the basement, but not enough for a WC spot. Last year they finished 20th in the league in GF and we didn't lose anyone who contributed to that (Lindholm was useless). Flames have the depth of a winning team (lines 2-4 are solid), but 0 star power.
These are the teams that finished below the Flames in their conference: Seattle, Arizona/Utah, Anaheim, Chicago and San Jose. I really only see the Flames being worse than Seattle and Utah, MAYBE Anaheim if they can stay healthy have improvements from their young guys.
I'm more bullish on the Flames than most, not that I want them to be good mind you, but there is still too much talent up front to even come close to competing with San Jose for the basement. I think in 2025/2026 the Flames will be worse.
I've barely heard of their defensemen beyond Andersson and Weegar. Is there anyone in that lot that you're hopeful can handle 2nd pair duties? If the D isn't as bad as it looks to me, and Wolf is in the running for Calder, they could be a bubble team, I think. Probably ~70-75 points though.
Do you really mean it that the Leafs will not make the playoffs and that the Jets and Canucks are going to fall off the map? I think that may be wishful thinking if anything else.Flames , Blue Jackets , sharks bottom 3 . Leaf's wont make playoffs Jet's and Canucks will drop like a rock .