Quote:
Originally Posted by Oil Stain
Florida.
They were even worse then the Oilers last year.
They picked up a couple of names but they still have zero scoring and that will catch up to them over the season. Unlike Nashville and Phoenix they don;t have a strong defensive system either. Picked up some injury cases as well.
I don't think anyone goes there for the hockey. Rather for the climate and the beach.
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This is possible for sure. If there's another team besides Edmonton that has to battle against a losing culture, it's Florida. The hope is that guys like Bolland, Mitchell, MacKenzie, and Thornton will help turn around a locker room to make them competitive at the NHL level, even though their on-ice contributions won't be significant enough. Jokinen should at least be a solid 2-way second line option.
Gallant is the coach this year and there's hope that he will turn things around culturally. He started the process in Columbus, but wasn't around to see it through, and he was an assistant in Montreal during their transformation from the team that Cammalleri said had a "losing culture" to the one now where they are quite strong. There's reason to believe Gallant can do the same in Florida.
Plus, you have a very good young core to build around. Barkov, Huberdeau, Bjugstad, Ekblad, Gudbranson, Kulikov, Olsen, Pirri, Trochek etc. They are a team on the upswing, but haven't proven anything yet, and until they do they would be a good candidate for the bottom 3.