Predict the pacific

[Otto-matic]

1) Anaheim
2) Calgary
3) Edmonton
4) San Jose / LA
5) Los Angeles / SJ
6) Vancouver
7) Arizona
8) Vegas

[Caged Great]

1) Calgary
2) Anaheim
3) Edmonton (might switch 2 and 3)
4) San Jose
5) Los Angeles
6) Arizona
7) Vancouver
8) Vegas

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by the2bears

Seems early to call Talbot "elite". I myself would wait until he puts in another year like the last one.

Talbot has a career .922 sv % during the season and identical in the playoffs. He just set a franchise record for wins. He's only 30, which for a goaltender is during his prime years. Even the season before he put up good numbers on a bad Edmonton team.

Is he at the Price or Bobrovsky level? No. But like it or not, he's trending upwards. Some goalies can handle big workloads. I think Talbot is one of the few who can.

[jaikorven]

I hope that some coaches have a better answer for McDavid this season and for that alone I see the Oilers falling.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

...I hate the Oilers as much as anybody.

So, again—if you feel the need to type this, no you don't. You certainly do not hate the Oilers as much as I do, and I am fairly certain you do not hate them as much as at least a couple dozen other posters on this board.

McD will be able to handle 20+ mins each night and excel at it. If either gets injured, then of course it becomes another story. But as for now, as long as those 2 players are on the roster, they get the benefit of a doubt.

Sure, McDullard can play 20 mins a night and be fine. But last year he averaged more than 21 mins per game and was one of only five forwards in the NHL to hit that mark. In the playoffs he was playing 22 1/2 mins per night. He sure did not seem to be thriving on all that extra time, and given the makeup of the Oilers roster it seems clear that McLellan will be under enormous pressure to increase those numbers.

No. I do not believe that McDeadeyes will "excel" with massive amounts of ice time, and will not be the least bit surprised to o see him fade a little down the stretch as a result of the huge workload.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

...Some goalies can handle big workloads. I think Talbot is one of the few who can.

I am not convinced of that. There is a good reason why Cam Talbot was the only NHL goalie to come even close to the 70-game mark last year.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Edmonton.....yeah i know. Ouch.
Anaheim..... Even with injuries a lot of good pieces there so i think they can weather the storm
SJ......Still a formidible group.
Calgary....will take them a while to get it all together.
Arizona.....starting to look like a real team
LA.......Stevens may make a bigger difference here but will need to shed some dead weight and add a couple things before they are playoff contenders.
Vancouver....wont be as bad as many think but no where near a PO spot either.
Vegas......just a gong show as all expansion teams tend to be.

This is how I see it too. Flames look like they are going to come out of the gate late again and have to chase down the pack. Still not sure if they are fast enough to play with the speed teams, or have enough size to play with the big teams. Edmonton and Anaheim are the best of those respectively, and I think the Flames are going to struggle against both.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by midniteowl

Did Vancouver get relegated to the A?

No, NHL just stopped including them in the standings as irrelevant clutter.

#totallymeanttodothat

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

So, again—if you feel the need to type this, no you don't. You certainly do not hate the Oilers as much as I do, and I am fairly certain you do not hate them as much as at least a couple dozen other posters on this board.


Sure, McDullard can play 20 mins a night and be fine. But last year he averaged more than 21 mins per game and was one of only five forwards in the NHL to hit that mark. In the playoffs he was playing 22 1/2 mins per night. He sure did not seem to be thriving on all that extra time, and given the makeup of the Oilers roster it seems clear that McLellan will be under enormous pressure to increase those numbers.

No. I do not believe that McDeadeyes will "excel" with massive amounts of ice time, and will not be the least bit surprised to o see him fade a little down the stretch as a result of the huge workload.

I might not 'hate' the Oilers as much as you, but I can take off the homer glasses and call a good player exactly what he is, even if it's for a hated rival.

McD definitely does excel with extra ice time. I know this because he literally just won the scoring title and 2 MVP trophies, while playing 20+ mins a night. How much more does he need to excel in order to meet your standard? Did he fade off in the playoffs as you suggested? He sure did. And it was glorious . But how much of that might of had to do with the playoff-tested/experienced opposition he faced as well as it being his first time playing in NHL playoffs? Not everything comes down to a player being tired. There are human beings on the other side of the ice who are the best in the world at their jobs trying to stop him. Not everyone carries over their regular season success into the playoffs. For some guys it takes a while to figure out. Time will tell if he figures it out. But for a guy with numerous trophies in his trophy case, he's going to get slapped with big amounts of ice time each and every night. And more than likely, he's going to do well with it.

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I am not convinced of that. There is a good reason why Cam Talbot was the only NHL goalie to come even close to the 70-game mark last year.

But he did handle the workload last season. He literally did it. It happened and he did well. Some goalies DO handle lots of games played well. We had a guy do it for us for almost a decade. It's not ideal, and people pointed to the extra workload as a reason for many of the 1st round exits. But a lot of that had to do with the skaters themselves not playing up to par.

So thank you for making me feel filthy for sticking up for the damn Oilers. But I stand by my point; as long as McD and Talbot are healthy and playing well, the Oilers stand as good a chance as ANY team in the NHL to have a great season and win the division.

[MoneyGuy]

San Jose
Edmonton
Anaheim
Calgary
Los Angeles
Arizona
Vancouver
Vegas

[TheIronMaiden]

Bump.

Yikes, I hope no one put money on these predictions.

[Otto-matic]

I can't believe I seriously took Vegas so lightly.

They have a bunch of established NHL players that would have pumped Arizona regardless of their Cinderella season.

[Locke]

Mine was still right on the money!

[Enoch Root]

Not a single person picked Vegas higher than 7th (no surprise), and most would have picked them lower than 8th if it was possible.

Then all season long, people were saying 'they're so deep!'

To me, Vegas is the poster child for illustrating that it's a team game, and you need confidence, goaltending, passion, the right system, the right mix, and for things to come together, in order to have a good season.

If something is off (the mix, the coach, the goaltending) everything can unravel, regardless of the talent level.

[zamler]

All hail Vegas the toilet bowl champs.

[Erick Estrada]

Yikes I severely overestimated the Alberta teams.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

I can't believe I seriously took Vegas so lightly.

They have a bunch of established NHL players that would have pumped Arizona regardless of their Cinderella season.

Arizona made a bunch of moves that looked like they were at worst going to be a bubble team this season. I never expected them to be this bad. And I don't think they will be again next season.

[crapshoot]

Originally Posted by codynw

Arizona made a bunch of moves that looked like they were at worst going to be a bubble team this season. I never expected them to be this bad. And I don't think they will be again next season.

Considering how absolutely horrible their start and first half of the season was, 1 pt in the first 11 games and so on, it's an achievement that they got to 70 points. The back half of their season has been good, not earth shattering, but at least bubble territory, and they've been beating some very good teams. I don't see them at the bottom of the barrell next year.

[Hey Connor, It's Mess]

I'll go with

1- Vegas
2- Anaheim
3- San Jose
4- LA
5- Calgary
6- Edmonton
7- Vancouver
8- Arizona

[Roof-Daddy]

Ya know, I just had a peek at the VGK final stats, and somebody made a ####ing deal with the devil, if you believe in that sort of thing.

9 out of their top 10 scorers all had career best seasons, and MAF had the best regular season GAA and save % of his entire 14 year career.

David ####ing Perron had 66 points in 70 ####ing games!

What in the actual EFF YOU SEE KAY??