News Article: ESPN has Detroit No. 4 in 'Future Power Rankings'

[Indrid Cold]

I know, I know, its ESPN, but it's still interesting. Buffalo is 3rd. Twattawa is 15th.

NHL Future Power Rankings: Predicting best, worst teams for the next three seasons

Will the Devils' climb continue? Which bubble teams are set for a breakthrough in the next three years? Here are the 1-32 rankings for NHL teams.

www.espn.com

Paywall, of course....

Click to read more...

 

[saska sault]

Hey, some positive reviews. I'll take it, we do have a pretty deep and solid prospect pool and future cap flexibility that is also pretty rare. Some of that will go away when Yzerman starts signing his core guys but it's nice we have not over committed to anyone yet, everyone is still in the prove it stage minus Larkin.

 

[Ezekial]

Oooof Ottawa at 15, I don't think the Ottawa fans are going to agree (I certainly don't)

 

[Pavels Dog]

Oooof Ottawa at 15, I don't think the Ottawa fans are going to agree (I certainly don't)

They're a non-playoff team in cap trouble, terrible prospect pool and ownership/management/coaching with no track record of success.

 

[Ezekial]

They're a non-playoff team in cap trouble, terrible prospect pool and ownership/management/coaching with no track record of success.

And some elite young talent locked up for a long time. They're definitely set up for the future better than 2/3s of the league. Top 10 easily imo.

Their structure could also f*** them with regression, but I think their young deals will age well.

 

[Run the Jewels]

Brief snippet on Yzerman's cap management.

CapFriendly projects they will have more than $30 million in available space next offseason, which is also the same summer in which Jonatan Berggren, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are pending RFAs. Blending that level of cap management with a farm system that's considered to be among the best in the NHL only adds to the expectations that the Red Wings could have everything needed to be a long-term presence in the Eastern Conference playoff landscape.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Oooof Ottawa at 15, I don't think the Ottawa fans are going to agree (I certainly don't)

I do.

They're locked into decent core guys long term but have minimal assets to build up depth around them.

Their stars aren't as good as other shallow teams like Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado, NYR, NJD, Pittsburgh, Florida, Tampa, Dallas and even Buffalo.
And their overall depth isn't as strong as teams many teams with weaker stars like the Islanders, Seattle, LA, Carolina, Vegas, Minnesota.

They look mid AF to me.

 

[Detroit Knights]

I do.

They're locked into decent core guys long term but have minimal assets to build up depth around them.

Their stars aren't as good as other shallow teams like Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado, NYR, NJD, Pittsburgh, Florida, Tampa, Dallas and even Buffalo.
And their overall depth isn't as strong as teams many teams with weaker stars like the Islanders, Seattle, LA, Carolina, Vegas, Minnesota.

They look mid AF to me.

It feels like their top two lines and top D pairing are set for awhile. When giroux leaves that'll hurt. After that IDK. Their actual prospects (non nhl playing players) doesn't jump off like a top 10 to me. Admittedly I am not well versed in their players as much as ours obviously.

They don't seem to have great goalie depth and after signing korpisalo, that is basically their number 1 for a long time and I am not sure how good that really is. He is a good goalie, but he reminds me of like a Howard type in the sense that he will do very well most of the time, but he is not really a "X-factor". Can be easily beatable I guess is what I am trying to say.

With not many additions and some key subtractions, I am utterly confused why people, outside of both fanbases, think that OTT is far and away farther along in the rebuild process than us. It may be my team blinders I suppose, but I just can't see it and I fancy myself as someone who can be very impartial, setting allegiances aside to truly understand both sides of the coin. I just can't see it.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

It feels like their top two lines and top D pairing are set for awhile. When giroux leaves that'll hurt. After that IDK. Their actual prospects (non nhl playing players) doesn't jump off like a top 10 to me. Admittedly I am not well versed in their players as much as ours obviously.

They don't seem to have great goalie depth and after signing korpisalo, that is basically their number 1 for a long time and I am not sure how good that really is. He is a good goalie, but he reminds me of like a Howard type in the sense that he will do very well most of the time, but he is not really a "X-factor". Can be easily beatable I guess is what I am trying to say.

With not many additions and some key subtractions, I am utterly confused why people, outside of both fanbases, think that OTT is far and away farther along in the rebuild process than us. It may be my team blinders I suppose, but I just can't see it and I fancy myself as someone who can be very impartial, setting allegiances aside to truly understand both sides of the coin. I just can't see it.

Top 2 lines are set but still not good enough to compete with the top 12 top heavy teams.
Bottom 2 line depth is on par with bottom 12 teams.
Defense is Sanderson (good potential) Chabot (defensive disaster) and Chychrun (overrated and running away as soon as his contract is over.)
Goaltending is a mystery box right now.
Coaching has to be bottom 5 in the whole league.
Their prospects are bottom third in the league right now.

They look like the mid 90s Whalers to me right now.