your team's biggest question(s) entering season

[hangman005]

Deep Thought already answered that one: 42

Anyway, Knights have the same big question every year: Can they stay healthy?

I was going to go with who can we pick up when Stone goes on LTIR this year.

on a my personal note....

Will my sanity survive the turtle?

 

[hangman005]

Hahaha so many for both my teams

Anaheim:

Will Zegras bounce back to the 60+ points he's capable of or more?

Were Cronin's failures last year symptomatic of being a first time NHL coach or is he not cut out for the job at this level?

Will Leo Carlsson make a bigger jump towards an elite player this year now that he's gotten his taste of the pro game and experienced a truncated season on NA ice?

How will Cutter Gauthier's one game of apparent chemistry with Leo Carlsson hold up and can that propel him to a Calder worthy season?

Will Pavel Mintyukov and Mason McTavish show significant improvement this year after both had a strong first third of the season but petered out over time?

Will Troy Terry get his head out of his ass and start playing to his strengths again or will he continue to be a heropucking puckhog who has negative chemistry with everyone he plays with?

Will John Gibson start playing like he gives a shit again with Lukas Dostal starting to breath down his neck to take the starting role?

Does Olen Zellweger have a few higher gears to get to that can propel him among the better offensive defensemen in the league or will he settle as more of a third pairing powerplay specialist?

Did all the games missed by Tristan Luneau last year seriously harm his development or was his ability to grow and adapt quickly that he showed in his brief NHL stint enough to charge him to be another dynamic young kid on the Ducks blueline?

Vegas

How good will this team be with like 45% of the core roster gone?

Can Eichel elevate his regular season game to carry the Knights enough to remain a playoff team?

Can a change in scenery really benefit Olofsson and Holtz to offset Vegas' personnel losses?

Can Hill get out of whatever dramatic funk he was in last year and play like a legit NHL starter again? If not, can Samsonov handle the job in his place?

Can Bruce Cassidy make magic happen with an objectively weaker roster?

Now that Hertl has had plenty of time to train his body after recovering from injury, can he return to full form that was clearly missing in the playoffs this year?

Can Hague, Whitecloud, Theodore, and Hanifin elevate their respective games to get to the upper level of their ability? Cause the first three had disappointing seasons by their standards.

Can guys like Cotter and Dorofeyev step up and take their games to a new level with all these departures?

New Jersey would like that.

 

[HanSolo]

New Jersey would like that.

I totally forgot

 

[BLNY]

A tie between goal differential and health. If key people can be healthy, there are a lot more goals than last year. Can the young d mature? Can team defence improve? If the answer to those is yes, they'll flip some of those 30 odd 1-goal games in their favour.

 

[Roomtemperature]

Why am I still doing this?

What time are the Knicks on?

Can I just go back to work?

What does this person do and why does he like to work so much?

 

[hangman005]

I totally forgot

Thought that might be the case, probably the toughest thing being a Vegas fan, trying to remember who hasn't been traded

 

[HanSolo]

Thought that might be the case, probably the toughest thing being a Vegas fan, trying to remember who hasn't been traded

I'll get there eventually lol. Either way this Vegas is team is the most patchwork roster they're running with since the inaugural season.

 

[hangman005]

I'll get there eventually lol. Either way this Vegas is team is the most patchwork roster they're running with since the inaugural season.

Lets make the cup finals like they did

 

[DomBarr]

oh so many questions in the Flames race to the bottom...
Did Andersson request out? If so when will a move take place?
Does Weegar go as well?
Has Kadri said if there is an offer he would be open to moving?
Has Coleman asked to be traded?
How does the Wolf/Vlader/Cooley goaltending do? Who comes out on top?
When do they sell Kuzmenko?
Will Mantha do enough to generate a decent deadline return?

 

[miscs75]

Will Patrick Roy fix the defensive lapses Lane Lambert caused?

Does Ilya Sorokin bounce back to form after last seasons struggles?

Will Brendan Burke stay where he belongs or become a traitor to the Isles by broadcasting for the most overrated Original Six team in history?

 

[ponder719]

Why? Just... why?

 

[Anders Cain]

Avs:

Obvious questions:
1) how does the goal tending do with annunen and georgiev?
2) landeskog and nichushkin...?
3) how will the lines look without lehkonen, nuke and Landy to start the season?
4) does landeskog even make it back? If so, at what level?
5) does cal ritchie make the team out of camp?
6) was makar hurt last year? Some avs fans questioned... Or was his drop in defensive play due to too many minutes?
7) who actually plays top 6 to start the year other than mackinnon, mittelstadt, rantanen and drouin?

So many questions...

 

[Lt Dan]

Lol we have A LOT of questions.

The biggest has to be coaching though. A rookie head coach and Newell Brown as an assistant... oof

 

[hangman005]

View attachment 904754


Lol we have A LOT of questions.

The biggest has to be coaching though. A rookie head coach and Newell Brown as an assistant... oof

In general I thought it'd just be the same one over and over again. "Is Blake fired yet?"

 

[Lt Dan]

In general I thought it'd just be the same one over and over again. "Is Blake fired yet?"

Well... is he?

 

[WhataKnight]

Deep Thought already answered that one: 42

Anyway, Knights have the same big question every year: Can they stay healthy?

That’s the big one. I’ll add a few:

• Is Victor Olofsson going to pick up where he left off the last time he was Eichel’s linemate?

• Will Tomas Hertl regain his SJ form?

• Will the Post-Marchessault Knights please stand up?

Vegas

How good will this team be with like 45% of the core roster gone?

Can Eichel elevate his regular season game to carry the Knights enough to remain a playoff team?

Can a change in scenery really benefit Olofsson and Holtz to offset Vegas' personnel losses?

Can Hill get out of whatever dramatic funk he was in last year and play like a legit NHL starter again? If not, can Samsonov handle the job in his place?

Can Bruce Cassidy make magic happen with an objectively weaker roster?

Now that Hertl has had plenty of time to train his body after recovering from injury, can he return to full form that was clearly missing in the playoffs this year?

Can Hague, Whitecloud, Theodore, and Hanifin elevate their respective games to get to the upper level of their ability? Cause the first three had disappointing seasons by their standards.

Can guys like Cotter and Dorofeyev step up and take their games to a new level with all these departures?

Agreed to all, though Cotter went in the Holtz/Schmid trade. Still kinda pissed about that one, too.

 

[Duffy13]

- Can the powerplay become at least average?
- Goaltending?
- Will potentially being out of a playoff spot by January make them jump start a full rebuild?
- Will missing the playoffs for a 3rd consecutive season be the end of Sullivan?
- Will Crosby break the record for PPG seasons?
- Going to be a strange year in the Burgh, could maybe make the playoffs.... but should they, is another question?

 

[matt trick]

• How well have Wennberg, Tofolli, Dellandrea, Goodrow, Walman, and Ceci insulated Smith and Celebrini?
• Did Grier do enough to get them into the upper 60s or 70s for points?
• Does Muk (or Musty) make the team?
• Can Couture play NHL hockey at all? Consistently?
• Will Askarov start in the AHL? How many NHl games will be play? How will he play?
• Who gets moved at the deadline?
• Can we find a quality free asset in waivers?
• Who will the Sharks draft with their 2025 1st? Is Matthew Schaefer or Logan Hensler the answer to ‘who is the sharks #1 of the d going forward?

 

[Lacaar]

Darnell Nurse

I'm a supporter of his but last year was utter crap. I'm hoping it was an outlier, injury or whatever.

If he rebounds to the player he was then yay, probably still not worth 9 million.
If he stays the same as last year then argh. He was pedestrian in pretty much every area of the game.
If he regresses further.. holy hell I don't want to think about it.

I always loved his toughness and passion. Imo some of that has left him. Hope it's just a blip.

 

[Boud]

1) Can Josh Norris stay healthy and if he can, will he be an effective player?

2) How will this group react to a new coach?

3) Claude Giroux and David Perron getting older. How much does that impact their play?

4) Can the younger guys take another step? Sanderson, Stutzle, Tkachuk, Greig, Pinto, Kleven.

5) Will the depth be sufficient on defense given there's always injuries?

6) Can Batherson and Chabot play with consistency?

 

[HanSolo]

That’s the big one. I’ll add a few:

• Is Victor Olofsson going to pick up where he left off the last time he was Eichel’s linemate?

• Will Tomas Hertl regain his SJ form?

• Will the Post-Marchessault Knights please stand up?



Agreed to all, though Cotter went in the Holtz/Schmid trade. Still kinda pissed about that one, too.

Meh. I think the biggest reason I forgot we moved Cotter is he's been fairly disappointing to date. He has the skill and physical ability to be a very good top 6 player but he lacks the IQ and game sense. I lumped him in with the rest of a cast of guys that have the tools but are questionable as to whether they have enough to keep this team afloat as a playoff team. Cassidy has a lot of work to do with this upcoming training camp.

 

[Patrik26]

Will people pay to see Jack play?
Will Jack last more than 40 games without getting hurt (again)?
Will Keefe hold EVERYONE accountable?

 

[ManofSteel55]

Will we fill our hole at #2RD (even if done internally with Emberson)?
How will our older depth forwards hold up physically?
How injured is Evander Kane?
How close is Matt Savoie?

 

[kingsholygrail]

For the Kings...

Goaltending
Byfield
Clarke

 

[Muffinalt]

- Did we get enough help for Connor Bedard?
- Are Korchinski and Nazar full time NHLers yet?
- Does Reichel (and to lesser extent Phillips & Crevier) have a role on the team going forward?
- Anybody else from the AHL ready to impress?
- Who can build enough value to be traded at the deadline between Hall, Athanasiou, Donato, Murphy?
- Can we win the Calder Cup?