Ottawa/Detroit/New Jersey/Buffalo: Which team will breakout first?

[slapKing]

Out of the 4 east teams, they have seen better days.

Ottawa: 5 straight seasons with no playoffs

Detroit: 6 straight seasons with no playoffs

New Jersey: 4 straight seasons with no playoffs and 9 of the last 10 seasons with no playoffs

Buffalo: 11 straight seasons with no playoffs

Which team do you think will breakout first? By breaking out, I mean being a consistent playoff team for example

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[LongWayDown37]

Sabres fan saying Devils based purely on Jack Hughes and not thinking about much else. I absolutely love that kid.

Honestly, I think you can make a case for any of these teams except maybe Ottawa. I don't see them turning the corner as quickly.

 

[NyQuil]

If all four rebuilds are roughly equivalent, you have to look at their circumstances.

3 of the 4 are in the same division, competing with each other, and aside from maybe Boston (whose window never seems to close), I think there's still plenty of runway for Florida, Toronto and Tampa Bay.

I think maybe New Jersey has the best odds on that basis.

 

[Team Cozens]

Out of the 4 east teams, they have seen better days.

Ottawa: 5 straight seasons with no playoffs

Detroit: 6 straight seasons with no playoffs

New Jersey: 4 straight seasons with no playoffs and 9 of the last 10 seasons with no playoffs

Buffalo: 11 straight seasons with no playoffs

Which team do you think will breakout first? By breaking out, I mean being a consistent playoff team for example

If they get the goaltending next year, then the Sabres. Having said that, I believe the Red Wings will be a true Stanley Cup contender out of the group within 3/4 years.

 

[wetcoast]

If all four rebuilds are roughly equivalent, you have to look at their circumstances.

3 of the 4 are in the same division, competing with each other, and aside from maybe Boston (whose window never seems to close), I think there's still plenty of runway for Florida, Toronto and Tampa Bay.

I think maybe New Jersey has the best odds on that basis.

This is a good point but I still took the Sabers but honestly it's flip a coin really.

 

[Rydev]

I have the order as the following

Devils

Senators

Sabres
Red Wings

Thats not speaking on what theyll become but moreso when, on a timeline, I think theyll have their first season fighting for a playoff spot

Devils just need a healthy starter (worst goaltending in the league, used seven goalies this year), Senators need a top-6 center, Sabres need a top-4 dman and top-6 center, and the Red Wings are the last of these teams to start rebuilding so naturally they need the most pieces.

I think youll see the Sabres and Red Wings both break out in the 2024-2025 season, with NJ breaking out next season and the Senators in 2023-2024. And thats taking into account the divisions trends and also when/how I think these teams will go about acquiring these pieces

 

[AD1066]

Devils are the closest. Luke Hughes in the pipeline, add Nemec or Jiricek in the draft, and shore up goaltending.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

The Devils score more goals than the other teams on the list by a fairly significant margin, and that's with their best forward missing almost 20 games. And it would be hard to get worse goaltending in the future.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Devils are a goaltender away from being decent. And they are a few good defenseman away from being very very good.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

No team has the C depth Sens have. Stutzle breaks out and they'll separate themselves quickly. Stutzle/Norris/Pinto down the middle

Tkachuk/Batherson on the wings and Sanderson joining a team with already a top 15 D man.

 

[Hisch13r]

If they get the goaltending next year, then the Sabres. Having said that, I believe the Red Wings will be a true Stanley Cup contender out of the group within 3/4 years.

The Sabres goaltending is bad but still not as bad as the Devils, they don't score as much, and have worse underlyings.

 

[Setec Astronomy]

No team has the C depth Sens have. Stutzle breaks out and they'll separate themselves quickly. Stutzle/Norris/Pinto down the middle

Tkachuk/Batherson on the wings and Sanderson joining a team with already a top 15 D man.

Hughes, Hischier and Mercer\Boquist are far superior Sens center depth.

 

[Hisch13r]

Devils currently play the best hockey of the group but just get the worst goaltending in the league and they have the 2nd best high end talent still in the pipeline of the bunch. Sabres have the edge with Power/Quinn/Peterka rather than Hughes/Holtz. Gritsyuk had a tremendous year and if he ends up really hitting that would help bring closer.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Hughes, Hischier and Mercer\Boquist are far superior Sens center depth.

Lol. If(matter of when) Stutzle breaks out.

PPG 2 way C
40 goal 2 way C
Shane Pinto

NJD is not touching that. Mercer is a winger.

Bratt is comparable to Batherson. NJD has no answer to Tkachuk. Ottawa has more superior younger depth.

Pinto, Brown, Formenton, Joseph, Greig vs Wood, Sharagovich, Bouqvist, ?

EDIT: Forgot Holtz. Depending on how he develops, could make things interesting.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Devils currently play the best hockey of the group

2-7-1 is best play?

Allowing 6 goals+ goals in 6 of your last 10 games is all your goalie? Lol.

 

[bert]

Depending on what happens with Sens ownership they might have a shot at this. Before with Melnyk there really was no chance. All 4 are pretty close, what happens at the draft lottery this year could be a huge factor. New Jersey and Buffalo have had alot more luck in the lottery than Ottawa and Detroit. If they end up with the top 2 picks this could definitely change the outlook.

Hows Kevin Bahl looked for Jersey? He is a big guy on a longer development curve but that's the type of D man they need to develop.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

No team has the C depth Sens have. Stutzle breaks out and they'll separate themselves quickly. Stutzle/Norris/Pinto down the middle

Tkachuk/Batherson on the wings and Sanderson joining a team with already a top 15 D man.

Somebody forgot the Devils were in this poll…

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

I think it totally depends on the offseason these teams have. I think all 4 of these teams could make a serious push for a wildcard spot if they make the right additions in this upcoming offseason.

 

[Lays]

Sens
Wings
Devils/Sabres (not in order)

I like the Sens core the most. Next season they’ll have a healthy Pinto and will have added Sanderson. I could see the core come together and break out. All have ties to one another in some way too. Very tight knit group. Wings need defense but the core is forming. Very high on Seider and then of course there’s Larkin, Bertuzzi, Raymond, and Edvinsson along the way. Sabres have rallied since trading Eichel and a lot of guys have stepped up. They still lack a franchise forward, and while I’ve been super high on Tage for longer than Sabres fans have, he’s not that guy. Neither is Krebs, Cozens, Mittelstadt, and whoever their 1st round pick is this season. Regarding the Devils I really don’t like the way that team is built but they’re set at C for the next decade+

 

[NyQuil]

The Devils score more goals than the other teams on the list by a fairly significant margin, and that's with their best forward missing almost 20 games. And it would be hard to get worse goaltending in the future.

Ottawa had their best forward, Batherson, out for 2 months, their top centre Norris, out for a significant span, their 3rd line C, Pinto, out for most of the season, and their other 3/4 C Colin White out for substantial amounts of time.

Now our #1 D, Thomas Chabot is out for the rest of the season, after being hurt eariler, and Jake Sanderson who was supposed to make his debut was injured one game into the Olympics only to get injured again when returning to UND.

Matt Murray, our #1 goalie is likely out for the season again. Thankfully Forsberg has stepped up.

We also got hit with COVID when they weren’t cancelling games due to illness so we just had to make do.

I would like to see how this team could score if we could stay healthy.

 

[newfy]

Who will be best of this group when all is said and done? Hard to say, but I think Jersey is a little bit ahead timeline wise so I went with them.

I wouldnt trade Detroits situation for Ottawa or Buffalo's, Jersey would make me think about it

 

[Gurglesons]

Sabres IMO.

 

[illpucks]

Sens
Wings
Devils/Sabres (not in order)

I like the Sens core the most. Next season they’ll have a healthy Pinto and will have added Sanderson. I could see the core come together and break out. All have ties to one another in some way too. Very tight knit group. Wings need defense but the core is forming. Very high on Seider and then of course there’s Larkin, Bertuzzi, Raymond, and Edvinsson along the way. Sabres have rallied since trading Eichel and a lot of guys have stepped up. They still lack a franchise forward, and while I’ve been super high on Tage for longer than Sabres fans have, he’s not that guy. Neither is Krebs, Cozens, Mittelstadt, and whoever their 1st round pick is this season. Regarding the Devils I really don’t like the way that team is built but they’re set at C for the next decade+

I find it hard to believe that none of the current Sabres are franchise forwards. Whether it be Krebs or Tage or Cozens etc, lots of potential franchise guys just unclear who will step up.

 

[Lays]

I find it hard to believe that none of the current Sabres are franchise forwards. Whether it be Krebs or Tage or Cozens etc, lots of potential franchise guys just unclear who will step up.

Those are ideally second fiddle guys. Contenders need a guy or two better than that

 

[Xspyrit]

Devils just need a healthy starter (worst goaltending in the league, used seven goalies this year), Senators need a top-6 center, Sabres need a top-4 dman and top-6 center, and the Red Wings are the last of these teams to start rebuilding so naturally they need the most pieces.

Dang, that's like the last thing they need

- Josh Norris : 42 goals in his last 77 games, has shown last season he can play against top competition and do pretty well (not saying I believe this is gospel but still interesting to look at) :

- Tim Stutzle, has transitioned to Center on November 24th and has 35 pts in 51 games since (56 pts pace over 82 games). That's good 2nd line numbers and since he turned 20 y/o in january and is a high talent, I think the best is yet to come for him

- Shane Pinto : guy missed all season but assuming the injury doesn't affect him going forward, he's going to be a heck of a player

There's others but considering these 3 guys are between 20 and 22 y/o, I think they're pretty much set at this position.

What they need is new ownership (well, now it's true, RIP Eugene), new management and new coaching (I like DJ and wish he was an assistant coach)