i legit see a stanley cup contender...not a favorite, but a contender. In no specific order:
Stanely cup favorites: Washington, Pittsburgh, NYR, Minnesota, Chicago
Stanely cup contenders: Montreal, Calgary, Anahiem, Boston, San Jose, Columbus
Stanely cup long-shots: Ottawa, St Louis, NYI/Leafs/Tampa, Oilers, Nashville
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I see this year as a warm up for next year. Being watching all my life (28) but really got into it around 2002. Never been anywhere close to this enthusiastic for the team.
Need to get lucky on a few prospects and I think we're contenders with dangerous depth everywhere for years. By playoffs next year we need this to happen to be a threat;
Ferland - Keep consistent
Jankowski - Good middle six
Andersson - #4/#5 by the end of next year
And someone to play 3rd line wing. Klimchuk, Brouwer, Lazar, Pribyl
Bennett - take a step forward, maybe move to RW
Optimistic for sure but I don't think it's delusional.
This is a really fun team to watch. That team in the late 80’s was amazing, and for the 1st time in awhile we have the ingredients for a team which could eventually rival that one.
Great balance up and down the lineup in all regards: Youth vs Experience; Skill vs Toughness; Scoring vs Defence. Everyone can skate (I'm not including Wideman) and everyone seems to be on board with 'The System'. Took awhile to get going, but now it's firing on all cylinders and it's great to watch. Moving Ferland to the Gaudreau line seemed like the final piece of the puzzle. The canny acquisitions of Stone and Bartkowski cannot be over appreciated. Backlund has been our MVP, Tkachuk would have a shot at the Calder if Toronto hadn't drafted their personal messiah. Now Gaudreau is on fire again and Monahan is on pace for another 30 goal season. There are a few guys, like Brouwer and Elliott, who have been gradually improving in recent weeks and I'm genuinely excited to see what these wily, experienced playoff vets have to offer for the rest of this season.
Giordano as a captain has been a homerun. What better player to epitomise what this team is all about? Untouted, undrafted player works his way through the minors and even Russia and through sheer determination works his way into the upper echelons of NHL defencemen. Treliving picked up Dougie Hamilton for draft picks. Unbe####inglievable.
Even the Ragin' Stajan has had a solid season. After 7 seasons I can finally cope with his presence on the team.
It's easy to say now, but this team is built for a run and I'm glad to see it all coming together. A lot of it is down to Elliott being more reliable, but maybe that is in itself down to the added stability of the defensive acquisitions. I don't see many weaknesses, though let's pray Stone's injury isn't very long so Wideman doesn't have a chance to jinx the whole thing.
SJ would be a major test though.
