I think it's possible, but it depends on a bunch of positive developments and a lot of luck.
Looking at the rest of the division:
Looking internally:
Can our younger and bigger defense make up for the loss of Hamhuis? Last year's D was decimated by injuries and lacked depth after Hamhuis, Edler and Tanev. If the core stays healthy, Ben Hutton is able to build on his rookie season and Gudbranson provides the physical, shut down presence they acquired him for, the net effect could be better than what we had on most game days last season. Bartkowski was dreadful, Sbisa was exposed to too high minutes and Weber took a major step backwards. If Tryamkin can be effective and physical in a 3rd pairing role, and Larsson can provide some puck movement and offense without being a liability this should be an improvement over Bart and Weber.
Can we score enough? The Sedins started the season well, but injuries and wear and tear have caught up to them and they have tailed off drastically in the 2nd half of the last several seasons. If Loui Eriksson can rejuvenate them while taking some of the defensive pressure off of them, perhaps they can be close to PPG players again. Are Sutter and Hansen 2nd line players? With some protection, can Horvat take the next step as a 200 ft. Centre? Can Baertchi and Virtanen build on last season? Is Rodin or for that matter Etem NHLers?
Our goal tending seems to be in good condition. Miller can be outstanding for 30 to 50 games and Markstrom is going to push him for starts. But how will WD deploy them?
I think many of the pieces are there, but it's going to take positive answers to most of those questions and some help from within the division.
Looking at the rest of the division:
- Does Edmonton get better - with a full year of McDavid and the addition of Lucic, Puljujarvi and Larsson and another year of NHL experience for the likes of Draisaitl, Klefbom and Nurse? They keep promising to turn the corner, but ...
- What trajectories are Anaheim, Los Angeles and Calgary on? You could make the case for either improvement or a decline.
- Has San Jose truely broken through and retooled on the fly? Can they expect consistently high performance out of talented and deep, but aging line up?
- What kind of team does it take to win in the Pacific Division? If you can only choose 2 of Big, Fast or Skilled, which do you go with, and which ever way, does it work in the playoffs?
Looking internally:
Can our younger and bigger defense make up for the loss of Hamhuis? Last year's D was decimated by injuries and lacked depth after Hamhuis, Edler and Tanev. If the core stays healthy, Ben Hutton is able to build on his rookie season and Gudbranson provides the physical, shut down presence they acquired him for, the net effect could be better than what we had on most game days last season. Bartkowski was dreadful, Sbisa was exposed to too high minutes and Weber took a major step backwards. If Tryamkin can be effective and physical in a 3rd pairing role, and Larsson can provide some puck movement and offense without being a liability this should be an improvement over Bart and Weber.
Can we score enough? The Sedins started the season well, but injuries and wear and tear have caught up to them and they have tailed off drastically in the 2nd half of the last several seasons. If Loui Eriksson can rejuvenate them while taking some of the defensive pressure off of them, perhaps they can be close to PPG players again. Are Sutter and Hansen 2nd line players? With some protection, can Horvat take the next step as a 200 ft. Centre? Can Baertchi and Virtanen build on last season? Is Rodin or for that matter Etem NHLers?
Our goal tending seems to be in good condition. Miller can be outstanding for 30 to 50 games and Markstrom is going to push him for starts. But how will WD deploy them?
I think many of the pieces are there, but it's going to take positive answers to most of those questions and some help from within the division.
