Artorius Horus T
sincerety
It depends.
If Devils are able to land the biggest fish of the off season; Alex DeBrincat
Its the Devils.
If Devils are able to land the biggest fish of the off season; Alex DeBrincat
Its the Devils.
I guess I'd prefer the "what if" potential of NJ a bit more just because we've already seen most of Vancouver's "core" for several seasons now and they can't make the Playoffs even with multiple Calder winners and a guy who can play Vezina level for long stretches.
We will see if their new management can get them out of their salary cap issues and return good assets for some departing players. I think Vancouver COULD jump right into Playoff contention if they make some shrewd moves with Miller, Myers and/or Boeser.
Also need to see a full season of 1C play from EP. I still have high hopes for him as a top 10C but he's been very inconsistent. Hopefully he hits the gym this entire offseason.
It depends.
If Devils are able to land the biggest fish of the off season; Alex DeBrincat
Its the Devils.
The other thing Vancouver has going for them in this, other than a stud goaltender having that part of the equation pretty well backstopped, is that the Western Conference (outside of Colorado) is pretty darn wide open these days. It won't necessarily take much to tip the balance and move from outside the playoffs to in the playoffs in the next few years. A lot of very flawed, incomplete teams made the playoffs in the West this season, with glaring holes in their roster. A lot of those situations look unlikely to change much in the near-term future, as most of those teams are also pretty capped out (or will be by the time they manage to retain key players).
I'd think that landscape in the Western Conference and the Pacific Division particularly, colors the context of Vancouver's outlook in the next handful of years in a potentially more flattering light.
In 5 years
Vancouver:
Horvat 32
Miller 34
Pettersson 28
Boeser 30
Garland 31
Hughes 27
Demko 31
New Jersey:
Hischier 28
Hughes 26
Mercer 25
Bratt 28
Hughes 23
Hamilton 34
In 5 years the Devils core are in their prime whereas the Canucks are aging out.
We can't take in to consideration what we think will happen with trades, because unless we have some connection to management and they are telling us this is happening it all just rumors
Although it is about the next 5 years and I took it as in 5 years, so I guess I somewhat misunderstood the project, it's probably still NJ but it's closer.
DeBrincat is going to L.AIt depends.
If Devils are able to land the biggest fish of the off season; Alex DeBrincat
Its the Devils.
The question is better looking in the next 5 seasons. Not after 5 seasons. So year 1 , 2 ,3 ,4 ,5. Age isnt that much of a concern for the next 5 years for the Canucks. Maybe for year 4 and 5, but that implies theres no prospects or signings which obviously wont happen.