Worst team next season

[HabsQC]

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

 

[StreetHawk]

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.

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.

 

[ameselare]

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.

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.

There's so many variables with injuries etc but I think the Flyers, Hawks, Flames, and Sharks will most likely end up bottom 5 in the league.

Depending on how their seasons play out the Sabres, Habs, Sens, Blues, Kraken, and Penguins could all be there too. I'd put the Ducks with this group rather than the Flyers/Hawks/Flames/Sharks group.

 

[Sabre the Win]

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

If Bedard couldn't keep Blackhawks from the basement I doubt Celebrini and Smith can keep the Sharks from the basement.

As a Sabres fan I know all about high draft picks and following the season up still at the bottom. That -150 goal differential from the Sharks last year is something their prospects alone can't make up for.

 

[AD1066]

Probably the Sharks, which is the best possible case for them.

 

[bert]

I wish but not even close. At least 5 other teams worse.

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.

 

[Volica]

Calgary

No defense, no offense, and no goalie.

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.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Probably the Sharks, which is the best possible case for them.

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.

 

[Tanknation]

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.

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.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

Columbus for me. 1 more year Columbus fans. I think they'll start to show really good things in 25-26.

I could see the Sharks with Celebrini/Smith and the youth going on a month long run that gets them out of the basement.

 

[AD1066]

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.

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.

Now we have solid players such as Raymond and Seider, but lack an elite 1C (IMO), and I'm less optimistic about the future of the team than many on our board. I just don't see the current trajectory matching that of teams like Chicago or San Jose, which were able to secure the most important components of Cup contenders. Bad lottery luck followed by mediocre signings like Copp were sufficient to push the team back up to bubble status, but we're left hoping that Danielson, Edvinsson, and ASP all hit and that the Wings can build an identity around becoming a difficult team to play against, while not necessarily matching the elite talent of other contenders.

 

[Ugene Magic]

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

The Pens were at a point where they could have finished 6th/7th last year if not for a late surge to put them at 14th. They lost their 2nd best player and have not come close to replacing him. They have not really added anyone that remotely makes them a clear better team, and just one of 4 players having a injury can land them into the top 5. Obviously Crosby being out is a lock at a top 5 finish.

The Pens currently I'd argue is a top 10 at least.

 

[Pucklington]

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.

He hasn't arrived and he's no Markstrom. Hopefully they give him support otherwise...

How about - No offense, no defense, and ? in goal.

 

[Kingfan1967]

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).

 

[Helistin]

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).

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.

 

[Volica]

He hasn't arrived and he's no Markstrom. Hopefully they give him support otherwise...

How about - No offense, no defense, and ? in goal.

Yeah I'd agree.
On offence there are some good players, but just not game breakers and for sure nothing that's going to make enough of a difference to win more than 30 games this year.

Like, I think there'd be a lot of teams that'd look at Naz Kadri as a really good 2C on their cup contender. Mikael Backlund as their 3C, Blake Coleman as a middle 6 RW, Yegor Sherangovich as a really good middle 6 guy who can play all 3 positions, and Andrei Kuzmenko as pretty damn good offensive player... It's that we don't have the top end. No real 1C. No real top line wingers (Huberdeau's being paid as one for sure); some depth but nothing special.

Defence has Andersson and Weegar as probably the only two guys who'd be on every teams' opening night roster. Lots of questions and depth guys back there.

 

[JPeeper]

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.

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.

 

[Team_Spirit]

Unless Wolf has a great year it's gonna be the Flames.

 

[Panthaz89]

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.

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.

 

[byrath]

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.

 

[dj Mahoney]

Flames , Blue Jackets , sharks bottom 3 . Leaf's wont make playoffs Jet's and Canucks will drop like a rock .

 

[Devonator]

The correct answer is Calgary....Calgary will be the worse....little in terms of talent....poor prospect pool.....this team will be appalling for years to come...

 

[JPeeper]

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.

The drop off after Weegar and Andersson is enormous. Just a bunch of bottom pairing guys. The only guys who I think will be anything more are our prospect (Parekh, Bru, Morin, Poirier, Grushnivok, Solo, etc.) I also think Andersson is kind of exposed on the top line, he's a solid #3 to me. I also think Andersson gets dealt within the next 18 months.

Wolf won't be in the running for the Calder, the defense will hamper him too much. Down the stretch last year when we got rid of Tanev and Hanifin the defense was just bleeding high danger chances. We replaced a defense stalwart (Tanev) and all around good d-man (Hanifin) with bottom pairing waiver wire pick ups. Wolf stands no chance.

 

[Devonator]

Flames , Blue Jackets , sharks bottom 3 . Leaf's wont make playoffs Jet's and Canucks will drop like a rock .

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.

 

[Gustave]

Calgary will finish 11th last because they’ll show up every game to play hard and grind it out, while eking some wins vs archrival oilers.

Last game of the season, they grind out a win to secure the 11th last spot. Fans will lose their minds all season like the Flyers had to endure in 2024, but the management will be proud of the boys.

That’s my hot take of the 25 season.

Last team should be the Sharks again.