Quote:
Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina
I rank Vegas and Edmonton ahead. And then a big mess.
Vegas' window though is going to start to shrink. It is an aging roster with not much in the pipeline
Edmonton has an advantage on a daily night with having the best offensive player on the planet who is producing at an unreal rate. So they start every game with that edge. You can win a lot with that.
Though I think there are massive questions on their blueline.
But the Flames are part of a HUGE group if middling teams that need things to break for them to have good years. They are not unique in that regard. Do I wish they took a more patient approach to a proper rebuild such that they build a sustainable competitors? Yes I do.
But they didn't. But looking at the team as it is constructed I don't see them being much different than probably 3/4s of the league.
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Yeah the NHL salary cap and parity really makes things congested in the middle. A lot of year to year fluctuations honestly has to do with getting some puck luck and timely saves.
I'd say there are two teams that are the class of the league when it comes to the high end talent on their roster: Tampa Bay & Colorado.
Then you have a group of teams that based on recent history should be playoff locks: Boston, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Vegas, New York Islanders. (And IMO a couple of these teams are due for a set back due to age/losing key pieces, Islanders get included here because of playoff success)
Then I think you have a really soft middle where things could go either way:
Carolina, St.Louis, Florida, Edmonton, Minnesota, Philly, Winnipeg, Nashville, Dallas, Calgary, Montreal, Columbus, Vancouver, New York Rangers
And then I think you have a group of teams that are likely to be bad:
Chicago, Arizona, Ottawa, New Jersey, LA, San Jose, Anaheim, Buffalo, Detroit.
But really in the Western Conference what teams outside of Colorado and Vegas are likely playoff locks? A lot of question marks in the Western Conference IMO.