2020/2021 Around the League Thread | Part 2

Must kind of get exhausting for him to always be the one to 'light the fuse.'

 

Could be a tough choice for the Hart this year. Matthew’s could get 50 in 50 for goals. And Mcdavid could very likely get at least 100 points in 50 games. I’d go mcdavid I think. Toronto has a much better team overall and McDavid is just by far the best player in the world right now. That would be an awesome playoff matchup. And hopefully a future Olympic matchup.

 

Marchand is such a troll

 

Flames are terrible, but they haven’t played Ottawa yet and have 3 games in hand on Vancouver.

They’re still in a far better position than us.

 

Yep. They'll be 5th and we'll be 6th. The top 4 in the North are separating themselves from the pack though 2-3-4 are TBD.

 

I hate Marchand like most but there's this begrudging respect because of how he backs it up by being, ya know, one of the best players in the damn league. We're talking about a 100 point player, a possession beast, and one of the best defensive forwards in the league. Some of the stuff he's done is obviously indefensible regardless of how good he is, but at least he backs it up and doesn't just make a living being a rat.

 

Another random thought: why are the Oilers wearing those dark blue jerseys so often?? Tell me that's not going to be their primary. Horrid jersey, like the Stars alternate.

 

That’s the problem the Nucks have. I thought the Oilers, Flames and Canucks would be in the Same tier but the Oilers seem to be distancing themselves from those two teams. As a result, Canucks are battling with the flames for 5th.

 

Better position to miss the playoffs and draft later in round one. We are setting up nicely for a top five pick. Better to be really crappy, like us, then mediocre like the Flames. Plus our core is young, while theirs is aging out.

 

Down the stretch I'm feeling that it's not going to be that stressful because this draft is such that you're going to get roughly the same tier of player anywhere in the top 8 or 10. I'm not an expert on this draft by any means but that's the idea I'm getting from what I've read and heard. It'll be gravy if this team gets some lottery luck for once and bumps up!

 

Quinn’s younger brother, Luke Hughes, is in this draft, and looks to be a for sure top five pick.

 

Do you think the Canucks finish bottom 5?

 

I think we are in the bottom five right now, and we are totally healthy, except for Motte. Like all of us, I cheer like crazy during every game for us to win, but accept losing (after the game is over) is likely for the best. Drafting top five, and getting a top D, like Luke Hughes, would be great to go with our very young core. This draft has a few highly rated D in the top five. Outside of the top five it’s pretty flat, if not weak. We really do need a young minute munching D man with size, smarts, and skill. Edler is getting old.

 

Hard to say as the Canucks have played 21 games and many teams below them in the standings have played between 4-7 games less. But, those games in hand will be played in a compacted schedule like the Canucks had to start the season, so not necessarily a good thing to have that many games in hand.

I mean, at buffalo's points pace, they had 12 points with 7 games in hand, so that would put them at 18 points in 21 games, right there with Vancouver.

Hard to make up points when you play only within the division. I don't see the Canucks making it this season with their brutal start. They need to win all of their 3 game series (2 games to 1 at a minimum) and will need to sweep a 2 game series from time to time as well, just to have a shot.

As for Luke Hughes, this is a deep D draft. Top rated D are Owen Power at Michigan, Brandt Clarke in the OHL who is playing in Slovkia during Covid, Simon Evidsson of Sweden, Lambos of the WHL, currently in Europe as well, and L. Hughes who is on the USNDT and playing games.

Clarke is a RHD, the other 4 are LHD. If the draft goes ahead in June, going to be a lot of variance in team's draft lists due to limited viewings and what the kids did last season to go on.

Luke is built similar to Jack, just about 3-4 inches taller. Luke is 6'2, Jack is 5'11, Quinn i s 5'10 per NHL.com. So, I don't see Luke playing in the NHL at 200 lbs. Probably around 190 lbs.

Luke isn't as offensively talented as Quinn. But, sounds like he's better defensively at the same age. High level skater like his brothers. Basically Quinn is an offensive Dman, while Luke is more of a two way guy is how I would look at it. Development wise, Luke will attend Michigan for the 21-22 season. Quinn spent 2 years at Michigan. Possible that Luke only does 1 season there. Depends on how he plays. Michigan has like 3 draft eligible players rated in around the top 10 in Power, K. Johnson, M. Beniers. So, they should be a very strong team when Luke arrives. Don't see any Senior Dmen on Michigan's team. Cam York, the Flyer's #1 pick in 2019 is a Sophmore and likely gets signed by them after his season is completed, so there will be a big opening on the roster.

 

I was thinking as you guys have been tossing around Buddy Robinson. The name sounded awfully familiar aside from Mrs. Robinson, LOL>. Then it came to me. He was playing for AHL Binghamton in the Comets inaugural season of 2013-14. He continued to play with them through the 2016-17 season. He was around a .5 PPG for them.

The last 2 seasons in AHL Stockton, Calagary's farm, the guy has been really good. 42 PTS/65GP last season and 32PTs/45GP this season. He doesn't spend much time inthe box and with his point total last year he earned a shot withthe Flames this season. Hasn't gone so well.

So as @mathonwy says,
"Here's to you Buddy Robinson."

 

McDavid probably can’t reach the Gretzky/Lemieux tier but this is the season he carves out his own tier just below them. Unless you want to say Orr is there with him, which I can understand.

 

If we see him on a well-constructed team with good goaltending in the next year or two, that team will win 55-60 games.

 

Brandt Clarke is the guy I want. I really like that he's getting pro experience in Slovakia. It's likely going to be massive for his development.

 

Wish we had been aggressive going after Jack Hughes in the offseason. You could see he was bound to break out. Wonder if the Devil's might have moved him for the right offer.

 

Could he be the best/most talented "rat" or "pest"" of all time? Definitely in the post-2004 lockout era, I can't recall any others that are that close.

 

Thanks for this. Not too knowledgable about this draft so this helps.

I don't mind if we finish bottom 5 this year. What scares me about it is the lottery system. I'd honestly rather finish wherever and hope for lottery luck. It's like, why get pumped to finish dead last if the literal odds are that we'll be pushed down to 4th? We'd still get a good player though so it wouldn't be all bad.

 

What will change for the Oilers some the off-season? Projected to have around $57 mill in salary cap commitments next season, so leaving them around $24 million in cap space.
UFAs - RNH, Chiasson, Larsson, Barrie, Smith. They will let Barrie and Chiasson walk to free up almost $6 mill. RNH and Larsson, their ice time and production would need to be replaced. Given the flat cap, both would come in around what they are making right now IMO. So, that $24 mill drops by $11 million down to $13 mill with around 6 roster spots to fill. So, they can add 1 really good UFA in the $5-$6 mill range.

Still relying on Koskinen in net.

 

Nothing, unless Edmonton gets a goaltender and a better defence. I could see them picking up a cap dump goalie who catches fire, but there’s nothing in the system. Maybe Broberg or Bouchard break out. Maybe one gets moved. I would love to see McDavid on another team, and it has nothing to do with disliking the Oilers. I’d just love to see him tear the league apart with a deep defence setting the table for him. Imagine him playing with a few Hjalmarsson/Vlasic types with great positioning who know how to play around his backchecking.

 

Stuart Skinner is their hopeful goalie of the future. He had a late Birthday in the 2017 draft, so spent 2 years of pro and this is his final year on his ELC. If he plays well enough this season in the A, could see EDM bring him in as the backup next season and hope he shows well in his 25-30 starts.

Up front, I know the names of guys like Benson, McLeod, their 1st from this draft Holloway (likely to return for his sophomore season at Wisconsin).
Aside from Yamamoto, what other young forwards are expected to be part of a future 2nd line for them next season?