Rank the Canadian NHL teams for 2016-17

[djsFlames]

Winnipeg will not be better than Calgary.

People here give that organization too much respect.
Middle of the road team will be middle of the road. Laine doesn't suddenly change all that. Maybe in a few years, if he truly is the next Ovi/Stamkos type. Calgary is better set up to have a successful season this year.

[nomad]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Calgary
Winnipeg
Ottawa
Edmonton
Montreal
Vancouver
Toronto

yup

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Montreal
Calgary
Winnipeg
Ottawa
Vancouver
Edmonton
Toronto

Another tough year for Canada. Hard to see more than 2 Canadian teams getting in... and I think Winnipeg is, at best, a coin flip to get in. But you never know with Connor and Laine being added.

Fyp. WPG doesn't have the goaltending down. And rookies won't alter a team that significantly that quickly, even good ones. Maybe in a couple seasons.

If anyone's a "coin flip" to get in this season, it's probably Calgary (Elliott + strong d-core + systems heavy coach) and Montreal (The 'Carey Price' Phenomenon)

[Jets4Life]

1. Winnipeg
2. Montreal
3. Ottawa
4. Calgary
5. Edmonton
6. Toronto
7. Vancouver

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Fyp. WPG doesn't have the goaltending down. And rookies won't alter a team that significantly that quickly, even good ones. Maybe in a couple seasons.

If anyone's a "coin flip" to get in this season, it's probably Calgary (Elliott + strong d-core + systems heavy coach) and Montreal (The 'Carey Price' Phenomenon)

Disagree, if they let Connor Hellebuyck be the starter and not Ondrej Pavelec.

[flambers]

My opinion:

1. Montreal
2. Winnipeg
3. Calgary
4. Edmonton
5. Ottawa
6. Vancouver
7. Toronto

[GGG]

1) I think Calgary Winnipeg battle it out for the wildcards
2) Montreal with a healthy price
--------------------------------------------
Then you have a bunch of bad flawed teams competing for bottom 6.

[SofaProfessor]

1. Montreal
2. Calgary
3. Winnipeg
4. Ottawa
5. Edmonton
6. Toronto
7. Vancouver

I think Montreal fell on their face in a spectacular way last year. Their start wasn't indicative of their true strength but neither were their ruts. I expect them to be a playoff team. I have Calgary and Winnipeg pretty equal but gave the Flames the edge cause I'm a fanboy and I think the Flames have a better defence core and goaltending. Ottawa always seems to be kind of decent so you can pencil them into the middle of the pack. Toronto and Edmonton got better this offseason while I think Vancouver is desperately trying to grasp to any sort of relevance and this will be the year they finally crash and burn.

[troutman]

Same as every year:

1. Calgary
2. Quebec
3. Ottawa


4. Winnipeg
5. Toronto
6. Edmonton
7. Vancouver
8. Montreal

[Stupid]

Competitive teams:

CGY (yep)
WPG (bubble team)
MTL (full season of C.Pr. should help)

Probably not competitive teams:

OTT (don't have a lot going for them)
VAN (on the downswing despite DimJim's best efforts)
EDM (getting better but still, Edmonton)
TOR (probably another year of basement dwelling before their upswing starts)

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Just a note off the top of this post; ALL of the Canadian teams were essentially in the bottom 10 in the league (Ottawa at 19th was highest). Nobody should expect any of these teams to be any higher than 11th this year, and even that is a bit of a stretch. There have been improvements to most of these teams, but it probably won't be enough to get any more than 2 of these teams in the playoffs.

Montreal-4th in the Atlantic, 8th in the East, 15th overall. 95 points.
Pros: A healthy Carey Price could easily give any team an extra 5-6 wins, and that's all the Habs would need to be in the playoffs a year ago. They may have fixed a mediocre offense by adding Radulov, and having Weber's shot on the PP (although the latter is maybe a lateral move from Subban).
Cons: There's not a lot of depth on this team. Get past the first two lines and it's a mixed bag of mediocre to below average players. That will be trouble if there are injuries to any of their top players. They are also pretty close to the cap, meaning there are few opportunities to fix the team through trades.

Calgary-4th in the division, 8th in the West, 16th overall. 95 points.
Pros: Offense was not a problem for the Flames last year, and this year should be no different. A new coach with an effective breakout strategy should limit defensive zone time and put the puck more often in the offensive zone. A power play that was poor for most of the year should be improved with a new strategy and new personnel. The absolute worst defensive team added two goalies of high calibre and accomplishment last year.
Cons: This is still a young team that has some learning to do. They were the worst team defensively last year because they were not good at playing defense AND they had awful goaltending. One of those things was fixed, but it remains to be seen if this team can play a stronger game in their own end. Also, new and unproven coaches could have a tough time teaching new and better habits.

Winnipeg-5th in Central, 9th in the West, 18th overall. 90 points.
Pros: A team that struggled to score last year should have no problem doing so this year. Adding Connor, Laine, and possibly Dano and Petan to a lineup that already has Scheifele, Ehlers, Wheeler, Little, Stafford etc. should fix that. The goaltending will be massively improved if Hellebuyck is given the net.
Cons: Pavelec might still be the starter this year, and the d-core doesn't play defense all that effectively. The Jets still take a lot of penalties, and there's no guarantee their PK will be any better than the 25th ranked one last year.

Ottawa-7th in Atlantic, 13th in the East, 23rd overall. 83 points.
Pros: They still have a superstar in Karlsson and some good complimentary/secondary scoring players.
Cons: They don't have a star forward to rely on for consistent offense. Their defense is so woefully thin that Phaneuf looks like a great 2nd pairing d-man for them. Patrick Sieloff might have a legitimate chance to make this team. If Andersson doesn't play out of his mind again, that team is bottom of the barrel.

Edmonton-5th in the Pacific, 11th in the West, 24th overall. 82 points.
Pros: Best thing they ever did was move Taylor Hall. The inmates are no longer running the asylum. A more well-rounded team with a healthy McDavid will move up in the standings, but not drastically so.
Cons: This team still doesn't have a top pairing defenseman, although they have 3 2nd pairing guys at least. However, there's still not enough defensive depth and not enough leadership to get everyone playing a consistently good brand of hockey.

Vancouver-6th in Pacific, 13th in the West, 28th overall. 72 points.
Pros: When you have the Sedins, you still have a legitimate top line. Miller is still a solid goaltender, and Markstrom is slowly taking over the net. Edler and Tanev are good, but not stars.
Cons: There's almost no legitimate secondary attack whatsoever. This team is going to struggle mightily to score goals this year outside of the Sedin line. The defense after the top two is mediocre at best. No relief coming soon with the Canucks right near the cap. Long year for Vancouver as they continue their descent.

Toronto-8th in the Atlantic, 16th in the East, 29th overall. 71 points.
Pros: They finally have some potential top line talent to work with (Matthews, Nylander, Marner), and with established secondary scorers they should finally be able to score a little. There's enough quality veterans on the team to aid the transition for the young talent in the pipe. Andersen should give them better goaltending than last year.
Cons: They still don't have anything close to a real top pairing defenseman, and there's not much coming down the pipe for prospects. The other established defensemen are old and slow, and it will be a long year for Andersen in net.


Just FYI-Arizona Coyotes: Dead f'ing last in the NHL.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

Just FYI-Arizona Coyotes: Dead f'ing last in the NHL.

Care to elaborate?

I see them as losing Boedker and bringing in McGinn.

OEL, Duclair, Domi, Reider and even Hanzal are all under 30, so the aging of players like Doan seem to be off-set. And players like Strome and Dvorak knocking on the door.

Goaltender and defense (except OEL) leave a lot to be desired, but it did last year as well and they still finished 6th last.

I see the Wolves as pretty 'meh' but at least they seemed to be trending upwards with a lot of young talented players. A team like Canucks is in the opposite position and already finished behind them.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Care to elaborate?

I see them as losing Boedker and bringing in McGinn.

OEL, Duclair, Domi, Reider and even Hanzal are all under 30, so the aging of players like Doan seem to be off-set. And players like Strome and Dvorak knocking on the door.

Goaltender and defense (except OEL) leave a lot to be desired, but it did last year as well and they still finished 6th last.

I see the Wolves as pretty 'meh' but at least they seemed to be trending upwards with a lot of young talented players. A team like Canucks is in the opposite position and already finished behind them.

Ok, I'll put it like this.

They are eating both Datsyuk's $7 million and Pronger's $5 million just to get to the cap floor, meaning they aren't paying for any current star players outside of OEL. Their most prolific goal scorer is 39 year old Shane Doan. They had 3 guys above 20 goals last year: Doan-28, Ekman-Larsson-21, Duclair-20. That's a team that was 24th in GF last year and I don't see them getting much better.

They were 25th in GA last year. Smith lost the net after back to back poor years, and they're going with Domingue who's pretty much a better than average backup. The defense is really unimpressive after OEL and Goligoski.

Guys like Strome, Merkley, Perlini etc. are still a year or two away from really helping this team, and I don't see a lot of quality defense prospects coming any time soon.

Here's their projected lineup:

Doan-Vermette-Duclair
Domi-Hanzal-McGinn
Martinook-White-Rieder
?-Dauphin-Richardson

OEL-Goligoski
Michalek-Stone
Murphy-McBain

Smith/Domingue

Look at that lineup compared to the rest of the league. It's downright awful, even compared to the Leafs, and there's not much to hope for other than expecting one of the forward prospects to make the jump to the NHL at 19/20.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Disagree, if they let Connor Hellebuyck be the starter and not Ondrej Pavelec.

Oh yeah, he looked like a real world beater with his 13-11-1 record in his first fraction of an NHL season. Proven starter right there. I mean the numbers are good for a first season, but to be handed the starter job? Joni Ortio has more starts in the NHL.

It's a nice thought sure, but you know that management will again ride the guy that's has the experience until he drops the ball (which knowing pavelec he eventually will), and probably not the guy with 25 games under his belt.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Oh yeah, he looked like a real world beater with his 13-11-1 record in his first fraction of an NHL season. Proven starter right there. I mean the numbers are good for a first season, but to be handed the starter job? Joni Ortio has more starts in the NHL.

It's a nice thought sure, but you know that management will again ride the guy that's has the experience until he drops the ball (which knowing pavelec he eventually will), and probably not the guy with 25 games under his belt.

What do wins and losses have to do with a goaltender, really? The only stat he is in sole control of is save %. his was 918, Pavelec was 904. Connor was a blue chip goaltending prospect and a winner at every level he's been at.

I mean, I don't know if you really follow the Jets much because your assertion they will ride Pavelec until he drops the ball really says a lot. He's god awful and has been dropping the ball for years, management is just being very obtuse about not cutting ties with him.

Also, there's literally no comparison between Ortio and Hellebuyck. Ortio isn't in the same conversation in terms of skill and his ceiling.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

defense (except OEL) leave a lot to be desired

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

The defense is really unimpressive after OEL and Goligoski.

Actually, Murphy, Stone, and DeAngelo round out a pretty nice top five. Middle-of-the-pack at least.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Actually, Murphy, Stone, and DeAngelo round out a pretty nice top five. Middle-of-the-pack at least.

I wouldn't even think of giving them our top 5 for theirs and we don't even have established 4 and 5 guys

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

I wouldn't even think of giving them our top 5 for theirs and we don't even have established 4 and 5 guys

Our top 3 is better than their top 3. But their top 5 is at least comparable to ours. Stone and Murphy are both legitimate top4 guys and DeAngelo is on the cusp of being a strong offensive defenseman in a sheltered role.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

What do wins and losses have to do with a goaltender, really? The only stat he is in sole control of is save %. his was 918, Pavelec was 904. Connor was a blue chip goaltending prospect and a winner at every level he's been at.

I mean, I don't know if you really follow the Jets much because your assertion they will ride Pavelec until he drops the ball really says a lot. He's god awful and has been dropping the ball for years, management is just being very obtuse about not cutting ties with him.

Also, there's literally no comparison between Ortio and Hellebuyck. Ortio isn't in the same conversation in terms of skill and his ceiling.

Winner at every level, yet 25 games in the NHL with roughly a .500 winning percentage. You're saying a 'winner' which implies wins-losses, and then you suddenly cast that aside and put all emphasis on save percentage like the former doesn't matter, when the entire thread subject focuses on projected success next season. .918 is good, about league average for a starter. But even with that, the team didn't win at a playoff rate. And he's only played and sustained that for 25 games. Not 60-70, which is an even greater test for a goaltender. And which he would need to play if you're trying to keep Pavelec out of the net. My bringing up Ortio wasn't comparing the two. I said Ortio's played more games, which was the point. And it's pretty unanimously considered that he's unproven. Which would go the same for 'Connor' because he doesn't have a full season as a starter yet for you to realistically hope that he'd be simply thrown that opportunity next season from the get go, based on the logic that he's won a lower levels? And with how "obtuse" WPG management has been in regards to handling the goatending. Maybe. You could be right. But I guess unfortunately for you guys, your coaching doesn't compile its lineup strategies based on a widespread hyped assumption of fans.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Winner at every level, yet 25 games in the NHL with roughly a .500 winning percentage. You're saying a 'winner' which implies wins-losses, and then you suddenly cast that aside and put all emphasis on save percentage like the former doesn't matter, when the entire thread subject focuses on projected success next season. .918 is good, about league average for a starter. But even with that, the team didn't win at a playoff rate. And he's only played and sustained that for 25 games. Not 60-70, which is an even greater test for a goaltender. And which he would need to play if you're trying to keep Pavelec out of the net. My bringing up Ortio wasn't comparing the two. I said Ortio's played more games, which was the point. And it's pretty unanimously considered that he's unproven. Which would go the same for 'Connor' because he doesn't have a full season as a starter yet for you to realistically hope that he'd be simply thrown that opportunity next season from the get go, based on the logic that he's won a lower levels? And with how "obtuse" WPG management has been in regards to handling the goatending. Maybe. You could be right. But I guess unfortunately for you guys, your coaching doesn't compile its lineup strategies based on a widespread hyped assumption of fans.

Ok. I disagree.