Western Conference Preview

[TheHighHat]

Let's breakdown the teams in the West.
Where do you rank 'em in comparison to the Blues?
Let's try to keep the thread on topic.

Last year I had Edmonton, Vegas, and Dallas as the Big 3 in the west.
Edmonton is now in a tier by themselves with the Knights a notch below them.
I now also see a big drop off after the Knights.
Dallas has dropped down into the muck with all of the other playoff teams from last year and a few new playoff contenders this year.

Edmonton is still the best team because the 2 teams that they destroyed in the playoffs did not get better.
Yes, the Oilers lost several veteran wingers but that is a positive thing for a team that has cap issues.
It won't affect them at all during the regular season, but they will miss E. Kane's size and physicality in the playoffs. They won't miss his undisciplined penalties though.

Undersized, but skilled rookie wingers M. Savoie and I. Howard will be given every opportunity to make the team and give the veteran team some youthful exuberance and production.
The Oilers missed the speed of Holloway and McLeod on last years team.
Another twerp (A. Mangiapane) was also brought in to help offset the loss of their winger depth.
He should produce more than Arvidsson, Skinner, Brown, and Perry did last year.
They will look to add size at the TDL.

The Oilers D-men will be fine in the regular season but they'll be on the look out for a bargain RHD before the TDL.
Assuming that Ekholm is healthy and regains form (he was horrible in the finals) the Oilers top 5 d-men are actually underrated. They're big & productive, but yes, overpaid in some cases.
3 of their top 6 d-men are entering their walk years so they should be motivated to perform.

Speaking of walk years; both goalies (S. Skinner & C. Pickard) are also in theirs.
The much maligned Skinner has a career save percentage of .923 in the conference finals (both against Dallas).
His counterpart (J. Oettinger) in both of those series has a career save percentage of .880 in 3 conference finals yet is considered a top goalie. Perception vs reality is an interesting debate for another time.
Skinner's issue is consistency. He was horrible vs the Kings & Panthers, but was sensational vs the Knights & Stars.
He is still young enough and certainly big enough to find it.

I still have Vegas 2nd best even though they have a few issues with one of them being major.
Their biggest issue is going to be their D-men. Watch their 2nd pair and special teams.
It's all about slotting and how the loss of a top guy affects everything.
The loss of A. Pietrangelo now forces S. Theodore to jump up to the top pair with N. Hanifin.
Even though both guys have pretty good size, opposing forwards will have no fear of taking hits from them.
They're probably not a good match because neither is physical, especially Theodore (only 6 hits in 67 games).

That leaves their 2nd pair as B. McNabb & Z. Whitecloud. That is not a 2nd pair on a Cup winner.
McNabb is 34 and has always been a 19-20 minute guy as their #4. He is now their #3.
Whitecloud has always been a 3rd pair guy that plays 17 minutes. He is now their #4.
Can these guys be counted on to play 20-21 a night as a shutdown pair since their offensive production will be minimal?
They'll also be counted on to be the Knights top pair on the PK.

The Knights 3rd pair of J. Lauzon and K. Korczak should be comparable to what they received for years from N. Hague & Whitecloud. Lauzon will get a lot of PK time. Korczak might have 2nd pair upside as he gains more experience.

Even though Petro's PP production fell off a cliff the last 2 years, the Knights will still need to find someone to man the right point on their 2nd PP unit.
The Knights will actually miss Petro more on the PK.
Theodore has never really been used on the PK most of his career.
Can Whitecloud handle opposing teams top Power Play units? Can he be the Knights top RHD penalty killer?
He usually defended against opposing teams 2nd PP units. Major difference.

Acquiring Rasmus Andersson and his bargain cap hit for this year would solve their slotting and special team issues.
If Andersson ends up in Texas instead, it will force the Knights to a plan B and will knock Vegas down a notch in the west rankings.

The Knights other issue isn't as dire but something to keep an eye on especially in the playoffs.
It's their lack of a goal scoring winger (sniper).
We all know Marner is a helluva of playmaker from the wing.
Can he be counted on to score more goals since in theory he won't be looking to pass as much as he did in TO because he was playing a lot with the best goal scorer of his generation?

The Knights are paying 21.5 per year for their top 2 RW'ers.
Many would be surprised to learn that M. Stone has never scored more than 21 goals in a season for the Knights.
Marner & Stone only have (3) 30 goal years between their combined 20 years of experience.
To Stone's credit he actually on average scores more goals in the playoffs than regular season.
Marner's goal production in the playoffs is that of a 3rd liner.

We all know Barbie is a nice player but he is not a goal scorer even though he plays often with Eichel.
Dorofeyev's 35 goals last year kind of came out of nowhere but he was a non factor in the playoffs.
Can he be counted on for 25-30 goals?
B. Howden had his outlier season last year. Doubtful he ever scores 20(+) goals again the rest of his career.

The Knights center depth is their strength. Eichel, Hertl, Karlsson, and Sissons.
If Karlsson is healthy and productive it would not surprise me to see the Knights trade Hertl for a d-man or sniper.
Hertl has been a playoff disappointment (only 6 points in 18 games) for Vegas.
I always thought Hertl was more suited to play the wing because of his size and since he isn't a playmaker.
Perhaps Hertl is moved to LW to give the Knights 2 very good scoring lines but their bottom 6 would be weak.

Dallas has lost their luster and winger depth. They also still need a RHD for their 2nd pair.
However, the Stars can still roll out 3 quality centers (Hintz, Johnston, and Duchene) if they want, but their lack of depth at wing will probably force them to move Duchene or Johnston to wing to give them a decent 2nd line.
Regardless of how their lines play out, they're not going to get as many goals from their 3rd line this year.
The Stars really need M. Bourque to have a breakout year.

I have a blurb about the overrated J. Oettinger in the Oilers section above.
I believe most (including myself) have overrated Dallas the last few years.

Colorado still has 2 of the top players in the game but their depth is weak and they have several questions.
What does Nelson have left as a 2C?
Will Landeskog hold up and what will his production look like?
Has Nichushkin put his issues in the rear view mirror for good?
Will they extend Necas or trade him?

The Avs bottom 6 forwards and bottom 4 d-men look nothing like complimentary pieces on a Cup winning team.
Colorado thoughts of hoisting the Cup again in the near term are delusional.

Winnipeg has 3 pretty good wingers and their top 4 d-men are solid.
Of course their goalie typically is very good to great in the regular season.
They have multiple problems everywhere else.
Their 1C is 32 years old.
Their 2C is 37 years old and hasn't played in a few years.
Yes, they'll probably make the playoffs but Hellebuyck will fold again.
His save % is .866, .864, and .886 the last 3 playoffs.

Minnesota has 3 stud players in Kaprizov, Boldy, and Faber.
After them, the rest of their roster resembles a lottery team.
Their other wingers are old and unproductive.
Their 1C (JEE) is really a 2C at best.
They'll need to give Rossi more ice time to take another step forward and for Buium to be a rookie phenom to make the playoffs this year.
They might be forced to trade Kaprizov if he indicates he is going to test the water in free agency.

Los Angeles is a difficult read for me.
If things go to plan the Kings will make the playoffs again. That plan includes Byfield and Clarke taking the reigns from the 2 HOF'ers in Kopitar and Doughty. The day is coming soon where those HOF'ers meet the wall.
If the plan goes awry and they miss Gavrikov as much as I think they will, they'll miss the playoffs.
The Kings (Holland) were roasted for overpaying for their new 3rd pair d-men.

Utah feels if they just stay relatively healthy this year that they will make the playoffs.
Cooley looks like a legit 1C while Hayton may have finally turned the corner as their 2C.
Their top 4 wingers (Keller, Guenther, Peterka, and Schmaltz) should produce plenty of points.
Their bottom 6 forwards are experienced.

The Mammoth also have a veteran D corps.
4 of their 6 d-men have rings but I bet they would like to inject some youth into the back end on occasion this year.
Lamoureux got his noodle wet last year. He provides more size and nastiness that they lost in Kesselring.
Simashev is probably still a year away.
Can Vejmelka be the man between the pipes?

It's obvious that coach Q has GM Verbeek's ear in Anaheim.
They took on 2 more veteran wingers in an attempt to make the playoffs.
The Ducks really only have one top 9 forward in his prime (Terry).
They have 3 young guns (Carlsson, MacTavish, and Gauthier) that are primed for takeoff.
Their other top 5 forwards (Kreider, Granlund, Strome, Vatrano, and Killorn) are older and mostly overpaid.

The Ducks appear set at LHD for years with Mintyukov, Lacombe, Zellweger, and Solberg.
It would be nice for Luneau to get some legit time on the right side this year to add some offense but that will only happen if injuries hit Trouba, Helleson, or Gudas.
Dostal got his contract. Let's see how he performs.

I predict that Seattle will be the surprise team in the west this year even though most have them as a bottom feeder.
Looking for Wright to breakout in is 2nd full season and for Beniers to add more offense to his game.
Wright had more points than Beniers last year even though he played 4.5 minutes less per game!
Besides those 2 young centers, the Kraken are loaded with veteran players.
Seattle really lacks a sniper but will score by committee (up to 9 guys with 20+).
Kyrou would have been a perfect fit for them. I was pushing for Catton to no avail.
Kartye brings the hits on the 4th line while Nyman is an intriguing prospect with great size.

The Lindgren signing didn't receive a lot of fanfare but I believe it was a very good move at a reasonable price.
Lindgren is a major upgrade over Mahura and slots Oleksiak on the bottom pair where he belongs.
Montour will probably be paired with Lindgren which will allow Monty to freelance up the ice more.
Evans brings some offense from the bottom pair.
Daccord is decent to slightly above average guarding the cage.

Calgary will be in the news all year until they trade Andersson & Kadri. Coleman and Backlund could also be traded.
The Flames will probably revert to bottom feeder status unless Dustin Wolf the sequel is similar to the Godfather Part 2.
How good will Parekh be?

Vancouver will be all about the play of the original E. Pettersson.
Did he grow a pair over the summer and get stronger physically and mentally?
Or, will he be a cap anchor for the next 7 years?

The Boeser re-signing and the decision not to trade Pettersson before his NMC kicked in is all about trying to stay competitive to keep Q. Hughes happy so they have a chance to extend him starting next July 1st.
The rest of the Nucks forwards leave a lot to be desired.
Demko is talented but is made of glass.
It could get very ugly out there.

Are the rumors true that Nashville is going to change their logo to an image of Ponce de Leon?
Players 30+ years old are eating up roughly 56 million in cap space.
When and how they burn it down is the question.
Trading Josi at some point this year will be the start.

Not going to waste much time with Chicago and San Jose.
It's all about maturation and developing their young guns.
Both teams are playing the long game and should be dynamite in 3 years.

If you have made it this far I won't bore you with my take on St. Louis.
Not that he matters as much for the 25-26 season, but I will say that Dvorsky is the most important Blues prospect in several years if not decades.
If he becomes at least a legit 2C the Blues future should be very bright. If he ends up being a mediocre or less player, the Blues will fall way behind all of the other teams that have at least 3 young centers that have high upside in the west.

In summary I have no idea what team will win the Central.
Even though I think Dallas is overrated and will take a step back, I list them as the winner of the Central because of their center depth.
All of the teams also have multiple questions and depth issues.
I do think 5 teams will make it in from the Central.

I have Seattle & Utah replacing Los Angeles & Minnesota in the playoffs from last season.

Central
Dallas
St. Louis
Colorado
Winnipeg
Utah
--------------------
Minnesota
Nashville
Chicago

Pacific
Edmonton
Vegas
Seattle
--------------------
Anaheim
Los Angeles
Calgary
Vancouver
San Jose

[dhsux]

Let's breakdown the teams in the West.
Where do you rank 'em in comparison to the Blues?
Let's try to keep the thread on topic.

Last year I had Edmonton, Vegas, and Dallas as the Big 3 in the west.
Edmonton is now in a tier by themselves with the Knights a notch below them.
I now also see a big drop off after the Knights.
Dallas has dropped down into the muck with all of the other playoff teams from last year and a few new playoff contenders this year.

Edmonton is still the best team because the 2 teams that they destroyed in the playoffs did not get better.
Yes, the Oilers lost several veteran wingers but that is a positive thing for a team that has cap issues.
It won't affect them at all during the regular season, but they will miss E. Kane's size and physicality in the playoffs. They won't miss his undisciplined penalties though.

Undersized, but skilled rookie wingers M. Savoie and I. Howard will be given every opportunity to make the team and give the veteran team some youthful exuberance and production.
The Oilers missed the speed of Holloway and McLeod on last years team.
Another twerp (A. Mangiapane) was also brought in to help offset the loss of their winger depth.
He should produce more than Arvidsson, Skinner, Brown, and Perry did last year.
They will look to add size at the TDL.

The Oilers D-men will be fine in the regular season but they'll be on the look out for a bargain RHD before the TDL.
Assuming that Ekholm is healthy and regains form (he was horrible in the finals) the Oilers top 5 d-men are actually underrated. They're big & productive, but yes, overpaid in some cases.
3 of their top 6 d-men are entering their walk years so they should be motivated to perform.

Speaking of walk years; both goalies (S. Skinner & C. Pickard) are also in theirs.
The much maligned Skinner has a career save percentage of .923 in the conference finals (both against Dallas).
His counterpart (J. Oettinger) in both of those series has a career save percentage of .880 in 3 conference finals yet is considered a top goalie. Perception vs reality is an interesting debate for another time.
Skinner's issue is consistency. He was horrible vs the Kings & Panthers, but was sensational vs the Knights & Stars.
He is still young enough and certainly big enough to find it.

I still have Vegas 2nd best even though they have a few issues with one of them being major.
Their biggest issue is going to be their D-men. Watch their 2nd pair and special teams.
It's all about slotting and how the loss of a top guy affects everything.
The loss of A. Pietrangelo now forces S. Theodore to jump up to the top pair with N. Hanifin.
Even though both guys have pretty good size, opposing forwards will have no fear of taking hits from them.
They're probably not a good match because neither is physical, especially Theodore (only 6 hits in 67 games).

That leaves their 2nd pair as B. McNabb & Z. Whitecloud. That is not a 2nd pair on a Cup winner.
McNabb is 34 and has always been a 19-20 minute guy as their #4. He is now their #3.
Whitecloud has always been a 3rd pair guy that plays 17 minutes. He is now their #4.
Can these guys be counted on to play 20-21 a night as a shutdown pair since their offensive production will be minimal?
They'll also be counted on to be the Knights top pair on the PK.

The Knights 3rd pair of J. Lauzon and K. Korczak should be comparable to what they received for years from N. Hague & Whitecloud. Lauzon will get a lot of PK time. Korczak might have 2nd pair upside as he gains more experience.

Even though Petro's PP production fell off a cliff the last 2 years, the Knights will still need to find someone to man the right point on their 2nd PP unit.
The Knights will actually miss Petro more on the PK.
Theodore has never really been used on the PK most of his career.
Can Whitecloud handle opposing teams top Power Play units? Can he be the Knights top RHD penalty killer?
He usually defended against opposing teams 2nd PP units. Major difference.

Acquiring Rasmus Andersson and his bargain cap hit for this year would solve their slotting and special team issues.
If Andersson ends up in Texas instead, it will force the Knights to a plan B and will knock Vegas down a notch in the west rankings.

The Knights other issue isn't as dire but something to keep an eye on especially in the playoffs.
It's their lack of a goal scoring winger (sniper).
We all know Marner is a helluva of playmaker from the wing.
Can he be counted on to score more goals since in theory he won't be looking to pass as much as he did in TO because he was playing a lot with the best goal scorer of his generation?

The Knights are paying 21.5 per year for their top 2 RW'ers.
Many would be surprised to learn that M. Stone has never scored more than 21 goals in a season for the Knights.
Marner & Stone only have (3) 30 goal years between their combined 20 years of experience.
To Stone's credit he actually on average scores more goals in the playoffs than regular season.
Marner's goal production in the playoffs is that of a 3rd liner.

We all know Barbie is a nice player but he is not a goal scorer even though he plays often with Eichel.
Dorofeyev's 35 goals last year kind of came out of nowhere but he was a non factor in the playoffs.
Can he be counted on for 25-30 goals?
B. Howden had his outlier season last year. Doubtful he ever scores 20(+) goals again the rest of his career.

The Knights center depth is their strength. Eichel, Hertl, Karlsson, and Sissons.
If Karlsson is healthy and productive it would not surprise me to see the Knights trade Hertl for a d-man or sniper.
Hertl has been a playoff disappointment (only 6 points in 18 games) for Vegas.
I always thought Hertl was more suited to play the wing because of his size and since he isn't a playmaker.
Perhaps Hertl is moved to LW to give the Knights 2 very good scoring lines but their bottom 6 would be weak.

Dallas has lost their luster and winger depth. They also still need a RHD for their 2nd pair.
However, the Stars can still roll out 3 quality centers (Hintz, Johnston, and Duchene) if they want, but their lack of depth at wing will probably force them to move Duchene or Johnston to wing to give them a decent 2nd line.
Regardless of how their lines play out, they're not going to get as many goals from their 3rd line this year.
The Stars really need M. Bourque to have a breakout year.

I have a blurb about the overrated J. Oettinger in the Oilers section above.
I believe most (including myself) have overrated Dallas the last few years.

Colorado still has 2 of the top players in the game but their depth is weak and they have several questions.
What does Nelson have left as a 2C?
Will Landeskog hold up and what will his production look like?
Has Nichushkin put his issues in the rear view mirror for good?
Will they extend Necas or trade him?

The Avs bottom 6 forwards and bottom 4 d-men look nothing like complimentary pieces on a Cup winning team.
Colorado thoughts of hoisting the Cup again in the near term are delusional.

Winnipeg has 3 pretty good wingers and their top 4 d-men are solid.
Of course their goalie typically is very good to great in the regular season.
They have multiple problems everywhere else.
Their 1C is 32 years old.
Their 2C is 37 years old and hasn't played in a few years.
Yes, they'll probably make the playoffs but Hellebuyck will fold again.
His save % is .866, .864, and .886 the last 3 playoffs.

Minnesota has 3 stud players in Kaprizov, Boldy, and Faber.
After them, the rest of their roster resembles a lottery team.
Their other wingers are old and unproductive.
Their 1C (JEE) is really a 2C at best.
They'll need to give Rossi more ice time to take another step forward and for Buium to be a rookie phenom to make the playoffs this year.
They might be forced to trade Kaprizov if he indicates he is going to test the water in free agency.

Los Angeles is a difficult read for me.
If things go to plan the Kings will make the playoffs again. That plan includes Byfield and Clarke taking the reigns from the 2 HOF'ers in Kopitar and Doughty. The day is coming soon where those HOF'ers meet the wall.
If the plan goes awry and they miss Gavrikov as much as I think they will, they'll miss the playoffs.
The Kings (Holland) were roasted for overpaying for their new 3rd pair d-men.

Utah feels if they just stay relatively healthy this year that they will make the playoffs.
Cooley looks like a legit 1C while Hayton may have finally turned the corner as their 2C.
Their top 4 wingers (Keller, Guenther, Peterka, and Schmaltz) should produce plenty of points.
Their bottom 6 forwards are experienced.

The Mammoth also have a veteran D corps.
4 of their 6 d-men have rings but I bet they would like to inject some youth into the back end on occasion this year.
Lamoureux got his noodle wet last year. He provides more size and nastiness that they lost in Kesselring.
Simashev is probably still a year away.
Can Vejmelka be the man between the pipes?

It's obvious that coach Q has GM Verbeek's ear in Anaheim.
They took on 2 more veteran wingers in an attempt to make the playoffs.
The Ducks really only have one top 9 forward in his prime (Terry).
They have 3 young guns (Carlsson, MacTavish, and Gauthier) that are primed for takeoff.
Their other top 5 forwards (Kreider, Granlund, Strome, Vatrano, and Killorn) are older and mostly overpaid.

The Ducks appear set at LHD for years with Mintyukov, Lacombe, Zellweger, and Solberg.
It would be nice for Luneau to get some legit time on the right side this year to add some offense but that will only happen if injuries hit Trouba, Helleson, or Gudas.
Dostal got his contract. Let's see how he performs.

I predict that Seattle will be the surprise team in the west this year even though most have them as a bottom feeder.
Looking for Wright to breakout in is 2nd full season and for Beniers to add more offense to his game.
Wright had more points than Beniers last year even though he played 4.5 minutes less per game!
Besides those 2 young centers, the Kraken are loaded with veteran players.
Seattle really lacks a sniper but will score by committee (up to 9 guys with 20+).
Kyrou would have been a perfect fit for them. I was pushing for Catton to no avail.
Kartye brings the hits on the 4th line while Nyman is an intriguing prospect with great size.

The Lindgren signing didn't receive a lot of fanfare but I believe it was a very good move at a reasonable price.
Lindgren is a major upgrade over Mahura and slots Oleksiak on the bottom pair where he belongs.
Montour will probably be paired with Lindgren which will allow Monty to freelance up the ice more.
Evans brings some offense from the bottom pair.
Daccord is decent to slightly above average guarding the cage.

Calgary will be in the news all year until they trade Andersson & Kadri. Coleman and Backlund could also be traded.
The Flames will probably revert to bottom feeder status unless Dustin Wolf the sequel is similar to the Godfather Part 2.
How good will Parekh be?

Vancouver will be all about the play of the original E. Pettersson.
Did he grow a pair over the summer and get stronger physically and mentally?
Or, will he be a cap anchor for the next 7 years?

The Boeser re-signing and the decision not to trade Pettersson before his NMC kicked in is all about trying to stay competitive to keep Q. Hughes happy so they have a chance to extend him starting next July 1st.
The rest of the Nucks forwards leave a lot to be desired.
Demko is talented but is made of glass.
It could get very ugly out there.

Are the rumors true that Nashville is going to change their logo to an image of Ponce de Leon?
Players 30+ years old are eating up roughly 56 million in cap space.
When and how they burn it down is the question.
Trading Josi at some point this year will be the start.

Not going to waste much time with Chicago and San Jose.
It's all about maturation and developing their young guns.
Both teams are playing the long game and should be dynamite in 3 years.

If you have made it this far I won't bore you with my take on St. Louis.
Not that he matters as much for the 25-26 season, but I will say that Dvorsky is the most important Blues prospect in several years if not decades.
If he becomes at least a legit 2C the Blues future should be very bright. If he ends up being a mediocre or less player, the Blues will fall way behind all of the other teams that have at least 3 young centers that have high upside in the west.

In summary I have no idea what team will win the Central.
Even though I think Dallas is overrated and will take a step back, I list them as the winner of the Central because of their center depth.
All of the teams also have multiple questions and depth issues.
I do think 5 teams will make it in from the Central.

I have Seattle & Utah replacing Los Angeles & Minnesota in the playoffs from last season.

Central
Dallas
St. Louis
Colorado
Winnipeg
Utah
--------------------
Minnesota
Nashville
Chicago

Pacific
Edmonton
Vegas
Seattle
--------------------
Anaheim
Los Angeles
Calgary
Vancouver
San Jose

Wow nice write up supporting your thoughts.

I see Vegas as the team remaining on top in the Pacific, hate to say, but the Marner add pretty much solidifying that in my mind.

I'll keep LA second and expect them to actually be better than last year.

Edmonton will likely fall but hang on to third...so that's a repeat of last year isn't it?

I see the central tight as a tick, with no dominating team. The 1-6 slot in this division will be a battle all year and the Blues will be in the thick of it and have their shot at the top 3. The bottom teams, particularly how the Preds perform, may well determine how the top is spaced between themselves.

Dallas is dinged up but will likely lead the way. Colorado will miss Rantanen and we'll see about goal tending there. Winny will come back to earth. I agree Utah will make the play offs this year displacing some body.

The Central has a good chance to get 5 teams in.

[Backesdraft]

Great write ups all around. Love topics like this.

I will say I struggle to see Seattle making the kind of leap the OP is suggesting. The Marchment add was a good one, but their goaltending worries me. They also will need big seasons from Matty B. and Wright, and who knows if they’ll get those.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see EDM falter a bit. Oh I still think they’re a playoff team for sure but they’ve played more hockey the last 2 seasons than anyone else - minus the Panthers - and that catches up to a team eventually. It also doesn’t help that they’ve still failed to address their goaltending.

Didn’t like MN last year and don’t like them much this year. They have a few studs and then the rest of the roster is very so-so. They seem like a team that could be one bad injury away from a high draft pick.

Nashville is a wild card for me. Not expecting to challenge for the conference title or anything but I can’t imagine they’ll be as bad as they were last year.

WPG, like EDM, strikes me as a team due for a bit of a letdown. Losing Ehlers hurt and who knows what Toews will bring. I also think losing a guy like Appleton will hurt more than they realize.

[seattleblue]

I hope nobody ever gave you the high hat because you don't deserve that OP, you deserve better. 'Ponce de Leon' was when this excellent post reached its apotheosis. This is a thread that could go 20 pages on substance. Anyone who puts a well timed thoughtful comprehensive hockey thread together has my appreciation.

I appreciate that you believe in me as the breakout poster of the year, and I still want to get one of Wright or Catton somehow from me to the Blues, but I thought I was going to break out last year. I expected us to be better last year, we still underachieved and got Jake O'Brien as a result. So I am skeptical of Seattle.

"Yeah that's right Leo. You're the big shot around here, and I'm just some schnook likes to get slapped around."

[Red7]

I disagree about the importance of Dvorsky. He’s been supplanted by Mailloux. Not only because of the importance of the role he’s hoped to fill, but because of the cost to acquire him. Schenn and/or Suter can adequately fill the 2C spot and neither cost a player whose production needs to be replaced. I think that makes even Snuggerud ahead of Dvorsky.

[seattleblue]

Dvorsky is by far our most important and untouchable prospect. OP couldn't be more right about that. The cost to acquire Mailloux was fairly even. Bolduc is a good winger, people are acting like he's a departed hall of famer. No, he was the right player to ship out despite his upside, but in any event that has zero bearing on making Mailloux more important than Dvorsky, which in any event, no. A one way hoped for #4 defenseman is not ever more important than a top two scoring center, in the NHL.

[theograce]

Bolduc is a good winger, people are acting like he's a departed hall of famer.

People would do that with Snuggerud or Neighbours too.

Time will tell how everything plays out. Bolduc has an opportunity to build towards being a fan favorite in MTL. He must be right pumped for this

[seattleblue]

Bolduc is a good winger, people are acting like he's a departed hall of famer.

People would do that with Snuggerud or Neighbours too.

Time will tell how everything plays out. Bolduc has an opportunity to build towards being a fan favorite in MTL. He must be right pumped for this

If you're trading one of those three it's Bolduc every time. You keep the Minnesota Sniper and Neighbours over him

[DawgDad]

Bolduc is a good winger, people are acting like he's a departed hall of famer.

People would do that with Snuggerud or Neighbours too.

Time will tell how everything plays out. Bolduc has an opportunity to build towards being a fan favorite in MTL. He must be right pumped for this

Sure, the Blues traded from surplus to shore up an area of weakness.

I would again caution fans not to fall too much in love with these prospects and young players, there is a lot of matriculation and sorting out yet to come. Neighbours may become a team leader but he'd better be because he has a LOT of competition for a spot. Snuggerud has yet to establish a good read on what he will become (something north of his current 18 goal pace, presumably), and of course Dvorsky has only peeped through the keyhole. Guys like Stenberg, Stancl, Pekarcik, well, you cannot count them out until you see what they bring.

Blues could use more center depth in the organization. Good news is they are moving into playoff contention AND they still have all their first round picks. Right now the focus is on Snuggerud, Mailloux, and Dvorsky, if they all pan out the Blues brass can focus on quality upgrade moves.

[TheHighHat]

dhsux: You're probably correct about Vegas if they acquire Andersson before Christmas.
McDavid did seem to pace himself last year knowing that he had the 4N tourney. No different this year.
I agree 100% about the Central being incredibly tight. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Blues win the division, nor would it surprise me to see them finish 5th.

Backesdraft: That Kraken pick could end up being rather foolish.
Even though the Jets were just killing it last year I wrote several times that I didn't consider them a threat to come out of the west. Expectations have been tempered for this year.

seattleblue: Thank you sir.
"There's nothing more foolish than a man chasing his hat"

Red7: My comment about Dvorsky was not about the upcoming season. It was about the relatively near future when the power structure in the west will be flipped because of the amount of young centers that the bottom feeders are now marinating.

[seattleblue]

seattleblue: Thank you sir.
"There's nothing more foolish than a man chasing his hat"

One week ago right now we were in kayaks on a lake on the Olympic peninsula and the wind was pretty steady and it blew off my hat. I tried circling around and it awkwardly took two tries. And my partner was like I can get it. So what exact quote was running through my head right then?

That movie is the Comfortably Numb guitar solo of movies for me. When I've raised hell sister, you'll know it.

[Frank Barone]

Dvorsky is by far our most important and untouchable prospect. OP couldn't be more right about that. The cost to acquire Mailloux was fairly even. Bolduc is a good winger, people are acting like he's a departed hall of famer. No, he was the right player to ship out despite his upside, but in any event that has zero bearing on making Mailloux more important than Dvorsky, which in any event, no. A one way hoped for #4 defenseman is not ever more important than a top two scoring center, in the NHL.

I agree about Dvorsky. He reminds me of a young Bernie Federko, although Dvorsky might be more of a shooter. 25-26 will be a big development year for him. In a couple of years, the Blues will be in good shape with Thomas and Dvorsky at 1A and 1B center.

[dhsux]

Sure, the Blues traded from surplus to shore up an area of weakness.

I would again caution fans not to fall too much in love with these prospects and young players, there is a lot of matriculation and sorting out yet to come. Neighbours may become a team leader but he'd better be because he has a LOT of competition for a spot. Snuggerud has yet to establish a good read on what he will become (something north of his current 18 goal pace, presumably), and of course Dvorsky has only peeped through the keyhole. Guys like Stenberg, Stancl, Pekarcik, well, you cannot count them out until you see what they bring.

Blues could use more center depth in the organization. Good news is they are moving into playoff contention AND they still have all their first round picks. Right now the focus is on Snuggerud, Mailloux, and Dvorsky, if they all pan out the Blues brass can focus on quality upgrade moves.

Dawg you have been speculating about Jakes future with all the prospects coming up for some time now.

I get it and respect your opinion but I look at Jake as potentially the teams next Captain so I do see it differently than you.

And yes I know RT is right there too.

[dhsux]

dhsux: You're probably correct about Vegas if they acquire Andersson before Christmas.
McDavid did seem to pace himself last year knowing that he had the 4N tourney. No different this year.
I agree 100% about the Central being incredibly tight. It wouldn't surprise me to see the Blues win the division, nor would it surprise me to see them finish 5th.

I'm wondering where the point race is going to be.

The Blues and others could be the same as last year heck others even under yet be much better teams than that would reflect.

Who knows but the Central looks like a dog fight to me.

[DawgDad]

Sure, the Blues traded from surplus to shore up an area of weakness.

I would again caution fans not to fall too much in love with these prospects and young players, there is a lot of matriculation and sorting out yet to come. Neighbours may become a team leader but he'd better be because he has a LOT of competition for a spot. Snuggerud has yet to establish a good read on what he will become (something north of his current 18 goal pace, presumably), and of course Dvorsky has only peeped through the keyhole. Guys like Stenberg, Stancl, Pekarcik, well, you cannot count them out until you see what they bring.

Blues could use more center depth in the organization. Good news is they are moving into playoff contention AND they still have all their first round picks. Right now the focus is on Snuggerud, Mailloux, and Dvorsky, if they all pan out the Blues brass can focus on quality upgrade moves.

Dawg you have been speculating about Jakes future with all the prospects coming up for some time now.

I get it and respect your opinion but I look at Jake as potentially the teams next Captain so I do see it differently than you.

And yes I know RT is right there too.

Jake is a player who has been projected by some analysts to have a peak he is currently at or exceeding. Offensively, he seems to have limitations. He is still young, but he is really 3rd on the depth chart at LW and RW (or potentially pushing another LW like Buchnevich over to RW on the depth chart). He is behind Buchnevich and Holloway at LW, behind Kyrou at RW, and in a battle with Snuggerud for top-6 minutes, a battle he may well lose, and eventually Stenberg, Carbonneau, and perhpas others will challenge. So, yes, I see rising prospects nipping at his heels. He has shown a lot of grit, the stuff that might cement his place on the team as a 3rd liner capable of backfilling top-6 and doing effective dirty work on special teams, but he needs everything like that he can muster in his arsenal to not be vulnerable moving forward, especially as he presumably will want to get paid more.

I'm not saying he cannot break into the next level offensively, just that significant sustained improvement seems unlikely from this vantage point. Could he ever post a 60-point season? Consecutive 30-goal seasons?

[larueskee]

Nice write up of your thoughts on the West. I think the dog fights for spots 3-8 could make an entertaining season. Perhaps a follow up with your thoughts?