Don't get the Montreal hype AT ALL. Or Toronto tbh and I'll back that up with facts. That being said Toronto should stay in the playoffs if it's say 4/7.
Montreal had 1 more win then the Sabres last year, and played 2 more games, they were worse then Buffalo in regulation, also not sure how good Toronto is, they had just 6 more wins then Buffalo and have replaced Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Jonson, Tyson Barrie, Tyler Ennis, with a 60 yr old Thornton, Vesey (who is absolute JUNK) Simmonds, who might be decent for grit-depth but also past his better days, TJ Brodie (Solid but really the top pair guy they need to be a contender? Especially with Muzzin-Holl as your 2nd unit. Oh yea they ADDED DELL for the third goalie spot and have Micheyev in their top six. I'll reference my team again since their the punching bag, he and maybe even Hyman (if he doesen't have Matthews) woudn't crack Buffalo's top 6 which is strange consdiering the Leafs are known for offense)... Also Tavares, Anderson are both a year older ala Price-Weber. The Habs also gained Josh Anderson and Toffoli replacing them with Domi. Oh yeah adding also other depth pieces like Edmundson and Allen who can both be solid but lets be honest here, the Blues were Never a good team because of those guys. You could make an argument Allen held back GOOD-Great Blues teams actually...
That being said Montreal does have a lot of good youth, and Leafs do seem more well rounded (You can at least SEE what the GM's are trying to do) Whether either team is significantly better, I have my doubts.
I fully believe the Oilers will be better with McDrai closer to prime, especially if used on 2 lines and I like their back end more then before. The Jets are an unknown to me in the middle sort of like Vancouver so I would put the Habs and Leafs in this pack, since the Jets COULD hyptothetically bounce back with Stastny and that goaltending with top forward names but the D has missed steps. That's why I say unknown, and Couver lost Toffoli and a guy who finished top 12 in Hart Trophy voting in net (and high in vezina voting) I get Demko could be ready and looked great in the playoffs stealing Games 5 and 6, but you could make both the it was one year, and the they lost a lot argument, OR you could say their young core will get better which again is why I feel both will be in that middle pack. I understand they added Holtby who may be the perfect 50/50 guy for Demko if not all the way there but I also saw Brayden;s game in recent years drop pretty low on a top team so we'll have to see how this goes.
Then Ottawa who has good pieces but should be the worst.
SO I would go Alberta Teams, gun to my head Calgary?
and one of middle pack for top 3
The Middle Pack in any order really.
Ottawa
Would like to add I am mainly pointing out differences and things that may have people talking about how it improves these teams, where as I see it as, is this REALLY improving the team, or is it an excited fanbase (IT's Canadian Markets afterall) Ovely optimistic about the off-season moves with the ANything can happen in a new year mentality.
LOL, just realizing every teams fanbase will likely hate this post because the 2 teams I put at the top (praising) both hate the other so even they would be mad. Oh well.
