Meanwhile over in Columbus... dark horse in 15-16?

[Dr. Doom]

With one move, Kekalainen may have turned the Blue Jackets into a dark horse Stanley Cup pick in 2015-16.
The team already has a duo that scored over 70 points each last year in Johansen and Nick Foligno.
Saad had 23 tallies and 52 points last season. He’s just 22 years of age.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...003336824.html

That first line is going to be pretty sick that's for sure...

[heep223]

Dark horse to go on a deep playoff run? For sure. Dark horse to win the cup? That seems like a serious stretch to me, even as a dark horse.

[killer_carlson]

they've got a heck of a goalie.

[Hackey]

The East is pretty wide open. I wouldn't be that surprised to see a lot of teams win the East. If you can make it to the finals you always have a shot. Unfortunately the West has some powerhouse teams that will make it pretty tough to win it all even if they did make it that far.

[Locke]

Right now you could fairly accurately predict the Eastern Conference playoff teams with a Yahtzee cup.

Its wide open with some teams improving, some teams getting older or worse or having their windows closing and other teams just sitting around doing nothing.

[AcGold]

If it weren't for Chicago and Anaheim maybe but with those two around it's not fair.

[Five-hole]

Originally Posted by killer_carlson

they've got a heck of a goalie.

He's sure good at being injury prone.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by AcGold

If it weren't for Chicago and Anaheim maybe but with those two around it's not fair.

Huh? Anaheim and Chicago are in the West, the Central and Pacific Divisions, Columbus is in the Metropolitan Division in the East.

[codynw]

I said they'd be good last summer and then everyone but Johansen got injured.

Hope they have better luck this year.

[bax]

They lost over 500 man games to injury last year, by far the most in the NHL. I think that they will be a solid team next year.

[Enoch Root]

good team - not contenders yet

[Redrum]

I was pulling for them to win the draft lottery since they actually deserved a break. But anyway, a bantam team could be a dark horse in the east, must be nice.

[Lord Carnage]

Originally Posted by AcGold

If it weren't for Chicago and Anaheim maybe but with those two around it's not fair.

Originally Posted by Locke

Huh? Anaheim and Chicago are in the West, the Central and Pacific Divisions, Columbus is in the Metropolitan Division in the East.

I think what AcGold is saying is Columbus doesn't have any real shot at a cup with Chicago/Anaheim around... The original article called them to be a Dark Horse pick (winner), not just get to the finals...

But ya, in the East, they certainly have a better chance of getting to the finals now.

[Red Menace]

They are still going to be hard pressed to even make the playoffs....do we really expect one of NYR, WAS, PIT, NYI to fall?
I think the Metro might get 5 teams in and they make it as a wildcard, with the Atlantic only getting 3 (TB, MTL, DET)

[codynw]

My guess for the Eastern Conference playoffs looks something like this.

Metro
NY Rangers
NY Islanders
Washington

Atlantic
Tampa Bay
Montreal
Detroit

Wild Card
Columbus
Philly

I think Pittsburgh and Ottawa will be on the outside this time, Boston and Florida both come close but miss again. And the rest of the East is still bad.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by codynw

I said they'd be good last summer and then everyone but Johansen got injured.

Hope they have better luck this year.

I was thinking the same. I thought they were looking poised to jump a few places in the standings but everybody got injured. Last season wasn't very indicative of what they can do.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Lord Carnage

I think what AcGold is saying is Columbus doesn't have any real shot at a cup with Chicago/Anaheim around... The original article called them to be a Dark Horse pick (winner), not just get to the finals...

But ya, in the East, they certainly have a better chance of getting to the finals now.

Ah! Yes, I'd agree with that. I also think its a little premature to write LA off.

Until an Eastern team really does something drastic the balance of power at the top of the league is absolutely Western.

[Benched]

well, I honestly don't think Saad adds THAT much to Columbus.

What would make them a 'dark horse' to make the playoffs would be if they stay healthy. If they stay healthy, they have a chance at a wildcard.

[oldschoolcalgary]

personally, I think Buffalo has made some major strides this summer...

[GranteedEV]

I don't like Columbus' blueline and I feel like they made a mistake trading away Dano.