They were 5th in offense last year. So in offense, they are a contender.
When you can ice Matthews, Marner, Nylander, JVR, Kadri, Bozak, Marleau you can compete with Crosby and Malkin. Add Hyman, Brown, Moore and Leivo.
Problem could be defense or in the goal.
They added Hainsey, drafted Liljegren and have Kapanen, Rychel, Johnsson, Griffith, Nielsen all under 24 years old with the Marlies.
They lost in OT against the Caps in game 7.
BTW, when the Sens lost in 2nd OT against the Pens, they were a true SC contender.
So at this point, I remain: Toronto might very well be in top-4 for the cup and we are going to have a tough time to be in PO.
1. Tampa Bay
2. Montreal
3. Toronto
4. Ottawa (Wildcard)
5. Florida
6. Buffalo
7. Boston
8. Detroit
We'll beat Toronto in 5 in the playoffs because Drouin is a playoff beast everywhere he plays
The divison is weak and quite frankly, the eastern conference is in general outisde of Pittsburgh and Washington.
People are freaking out on these boards, as usual and while I'm not a fan of Bergevin you also have to aknowlege that if Ottawa made it to within a game of the finals last year, it means the conference is pretty wide open.
[*]Toronto (Hainsey is the only top-4 above 26, Marleau will help, SC contender);
Toronto is a good candidate for powerhouse status.
I do agree that our offense is really really young.As much as poster here whine we still have the best goalie in the league one of the best D in Weber a top end goal scorer in Patches and young talent like Chucky and Drouin.
Not many teams have improved enough to be a legitimate contender to pass us. I'm more concerned with the playoffs than I am with the regular season.
Would be happy with Svechnikov as well
Please, no more Russian. We can't even get things right with a American-born Russian.
Kostitsyn (both), Perezhogin, Emelin, Radulov, Sergachev, and soon to go Markov and Galchenyuk...our record is just bad with Russians.
Stick to an Euro or a NA player.
Otherwise, Bergevin will trade them 1 year after for a local boy.
I would prefer a guy like Joel Farabee, Allan McShane or Ryan Merkley than Svechnikov..
I don't see MTL finish better than 4th,
TOR
TB
OTT/BOS
MTL
BOS/OTT
FLA/BUF
BUF/FLA
DET
Rielly and Zaitsev are really good.There defense is horrible. They are a playoff spot contender, but they are light years away from being a Stanley Cup contender. Get real.
Svechnikov is a franchise changing player, those guys are not. I am also 100% sure Bergevin is fired if we don't make the playoffs.
Pretty sure he will have the chance to make one last stupid trade before being fired.
At worst I think we're 3rd as neither Boston or Ottawa did much to improve themselves so far this off-season. Both are relying on young players to step in & help improve the team. We'll see.
Like last season, TB begins the season as favorites. Hedman & Kucherov are sick. Then they add a healthy Stamkos.
I can see Toronto finishing second, but who knows. They were also unbelievably healthy last year & teams will be more prepared for them this year. They have serious offensive depth though & good goalkeeping, so for now I can see them coming behind TB, who has all the offense that T.O has, a good young goalkeeper & an unbelievable d-man in Hedman.
Detroit will finish last in the division again & probably get a top 5 pick in a great year.
Florida & Buffalo are real unknowns. Fla should have a top 3 spot, because of their forward group, but I don't like their D & their goaltending is suspect. Buffalo has made a lot of changes & have more prospects coming up. Eichel was legit in the 2nd half. We'll see if their D & goaltending holds up.
Montreal is not very exciting, but the forward group is tenacious even without Radulov. Guys like Gallagher, Lehkonen, Shaw, Byron & Danault just come at you. Our D is worrisome. Too defensive, but they won't give up a lot of chances either.
I wouldn't be surprised if we're a top 5 defensive team.
We'll be in a dog fight with Ottawa, Boston, Toronto, Fla & potentially Buffalo for 2 spots, because I can see the Metro getting 5 teams. NJ & Philly should be much improved. Then there's Wash, Pitts & Columbus.
Injuries will play a large factor in who gets in & who doesn't.