Quote:
Originally Posted by The Cobra
I do recall the many opinions on the Vegas expansion draft and subsequent trades. How quickly people forget. And Seattle has lots of cap left to still improve the team. Yet you think they will come last in the NHL.
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After Vegas was selected, everyone basically thought they had a reasonably solid defence with no real #1 guy but a lot of guys who wouldn't look out of place on a second pairing. I think Seattle is very similar.
The apparent weakness of the Vegas lineup was at forward - they had no one, outside of one winger (Neal) who had given any indication of being able to consistently put the puck in the net, and he was by no means a superstar. They also had a promising offensive player they got out of Florida who had previously given some good indications in Tampa of being an offensive threat (Marchessault). The Kraken are in a similar spot (Eberle and Gourde). Both teams also had a couple of guys who had yet to be put in a situation where they'd either sink or swim as major contributors - I think you could see guys like Jared McCann or Mason Appleton filling that role.
But who knows - maybe no one steps up. I certainly haven't liked what Francis has done overall, and I think they've missed some very, very obvious opportunities. Obviously they should have taken Bean. They also should have grabbed Domi, even if just to pump his stats on the PP and sell him for a pick at the deadline if everything goes south. I think their goaltending is less questionable than Vegas's was at the time (no one knew then that Fleury would bounce back the way he did) but I'd have bet on Driedger and Vanacek and used the Grubauer money for something else. Wennberg at 4.5 is a huge risk and Schwartz at 5.5 is an overpay. They might not be a whole lot of fun to watch. But I also think there's almost no chance they finish in the basement, and there's an outside shot that they make the playoffs in the weakest division in hockey.