Quote:
Originally Posted by Fire
What makes you think Ottawa will surprise? Looking at their roster they are basically guaranteed to be a bottom 5 NHL team.
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First I should mention that I sort of expect them to complete a trade/more signings before puck drops. They will be a prime location for PTO’s. They added a goalie who (in my opinion) is a legit starter in the league. Dadonov will likely score 30 with the amount of minutes he’s going to get, and the fact he’s playing with Brady Tkachuk. Brady Tkachuk is likely going to take another step, since he’s a Tkachuk and that’s what they do. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Stutzle put up reasonable minutes as he’s been playing in the DEL, and he’ll have the opportunity to do so in Ottawa if he wants to take it.
Chabot is one of the best young defensemen in the league, and they brought in Zaitsev to bring some physicality to the pairing. They sneakily added Gudbransson (not an all star or anything, but was even+\- on the Ducks last season.... so that’s impressive), and if they sign another D (Chara return!? “US is a mess, come to Canada for a year”), they could be middle of that pack.
All that being said, by my saying they could surprise and push, I mostly meant that I don’t see how Edmonton, Vancouver, or Montreal are leaps and bounds better. Not that this is a playoff contending roster.