Quote:
Originally Posted by dammage79
As for FLA and ARZ, meh, I don't know how their D corps will balance out in FLA with losing 3 of their top 4 guys. Seems like a good chance at an adjustment year and a high pick. Reimer was a good snag though. But don't they have a 3 headed monster down there now?
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I think Arizona did a fantastic job of tearing down the team of aging veterans and replacing them with younger and more skilled players, all while artificially inflating their cap so that they can run with a younger and cheaper squad. They may not be very good this year, but they could catch lightning in a bottle with all the emerging talent they have in their system. A lot of it will depend on goaltending (what else is new?).
As for Florida, they moved on from Campbell because he's damn old, and outside from still having some decent skating legs (even that is starting to go), he doesn't do anything at a high level anymore. He can still pass, he has decent vision, and lots of experience, but he doesn't hit anyone out there, he has a muffin for a shot, and he's still prone to defensive miscues. Yandle is basically a younger, possibly better Brian Campbell. The contract was pricey, but considering what they spent on Campbell last year it's actually cheaper.
Gudbranson was always supposed to be a good shutdown defender, but he was constantly being pushed back to the 3rd pair, and he was badly exposed in last year's playoffs. While I think he has value, he was going to be hard pressed to get anything more than 3rd pairing minutes this year on this team. Trading him for a young center in McCann was a sharp move. Pysyk is a more than capable replacement for Gudbranson.
Kulikov has always been intriguing. He has skills, he's tough in his own zone, and he's a bit of a playmaker. However, even after all these years in the league, he STILL has major brainfarts at really bad times in games. After his partner Mitchell went down for the season, more and more bad things happened while he was on the ice. He's still a solid 2nd pairing guy, but it looks like Mike Matheson will take his minutes and probably do better with them.
If nothing else, losing Willie Mitchell (likely to retirement) was the hardest thing for the group. Not necessarily for his on-ice contributions, but for his leadership and ability to coach the younger guys. I'm hopeful that the young core is ready to take the next step without him, but there might be some rough patches this year without a steadying influence. Good thing Jagr is still there, among others. I would not be shocked to see Mitchell jump into the coaching ranks somewhere soon if he retires. He seems to have a knack for it. The Demers pickup replaces Mitchell, but he's obviously not nearly as experienced. We'll see how it goes.
The goaltending situation is really, really straightforward to me. Luongo is the starter and Reimer is the backup. But Luongo isn't exactly young anymore, so having someone who can play 25 games competently is a good thing. Luongo is also coming off a surgery in the off-season which might effect his ability to play a lot of hockey in a row, or just flat out hurt his abilities. In that case Reimer is at least a steady, if not flawed, starter. Berra would be his backup, and we know that Berra can fill in now and then and maybe steal you some games. That's all you really need from a 3rd string goaltender.
Look at last year's d-corps and goaltending compared to this year and I think it's a better overall group:
2015/16
Campbell-Ekblad
Kulikov-Mitchell
Gudbranson-Petrovic
Kampfer
Luongo/Montoya
2016/17
Yandle-Ekblad
Demers-Matheson
Pysyk-Petrovic
Kampfer/Kindl
Luongo/Reimer/Berra
Even if the talent replacements are a wash, this year's team has MUCH more depth.