The Canadian Division

Who will win the Canadian Division?


  • Total voters
    54

MarkT

Heretic
Nov 11, 2017
3,993
4,496
In this thread, we will don the hat of a fan of one of the teams in the Canadian division. We will bicker, mock, praise, discuss and brag as a defender and follower of our chosen team of the north.

No one knows who will win the division. No one knows which teams will reign supreme. This could get ugly.

I will begin:

Vive les Habitants!
ad6193df07b87259939d25eeb261540c2ec3caac.gifv
 

Avsboy

Registered User
Dec 12, 2006
32,242
16,656
Ottawa sucks, Calgary and Winnipeg are mediocre. Montreal looks better but not good enough. Toronto can't do anything right. I'm between Edmonton and Vancouver, but Edmonton has poor D. Vancouver is a Cup threat I think.
 

MarkT

Heretic
Nov 11, 2017
3,993
4,496
To me, what makes this so compelling is that literally, any team in the division outside of Ottawa could realistically win the division, and any of them including Ottawa could make the playoffs. Calgary has fixed possibly their biggest weakness (goaltending); Edmonton still has McDrai; Montreal is significantly deeper; Ottawa is young, talented and unpredictable; Toronto improved their biggest weakness (defense) and still has all that forward talent; Vancouver has some young stars and Horvat leading the way; and Winnipeg has probably the best goalie in the division.
 

Avsboy

Registered User
Dec 12, 2006
32,242
16,656
To me, what makes this so compelling is that literally, any team in the division outside of Ottawa could realistically win the division, and any of them including Ottawa could make the playoffs. Calgary has fixed possibly their biggest weakness (goaltending); Edmonton still has McDrai; Montreal is significantly deeper; Ottawa is young, talented and unpredictable; Toronto improved their biggest weakness (defense) and still has all that forward talent; Vancouver has some young stars and Horvat leading the way; and Winnipeg has probably the best goalie in the division.

You just highlight their positives. There are negatives to each of them.

Ottawa is too inexperienced and lacks any real gamebreaker currently.
Calgary's forwards are past overrated at this point - they're exposed.
Winnipeg has a goalie, but not much else with an aging forward core.
Edmonton has absolutely no D.
Toronto doesn't gel much, they lack depth throughout the lineup, and they just added Brodie.
Montreal lacks a gamebreaking forward.
Vancouver, to me, has the clear best shot. They have a solid defense and Hughes back there, a forward star, some other forwards, they added Schmidt, and they gave Vegas a good run for its money.
 
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McMetal

Writer of Wrongs
Sep 29, 2015
14,053
11,947
I'm picking Vancouver. I think the youngsters build on that first playoff experience. They have a young 1C, a superstar 1D in the making, and a great goalie tandem. I don't know if I'd call them a serious Cup threat yet, but they have the talent to shine.
 
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Balthazar

I haven't talked to the trainers yet
Sponsor
Apr 25, 2006
48,437
50,610
People are quick to forget that Markstrom inflated the Canucks' record big time last year

Prediction:

Leafs
Flames
Habs
Oilers
Canucks
Jets
Sens
 

Mighty Makar

I hate this fu*ken team
May 24, 2016
14,547
15,680
People are quick to forget that Markstrom inflated the Canucks' record big time last year

Prediction:

Leafs
Flames
Habs
Oilers
Canucks
Jets
Sens
Yep! They were outplayed in so many games last year. Markstrom bailed them out a lot. He was their MVP. I think they got worse.

Leafs
Flames
Oilers
Habs
Canucks
Jets
Sens
 
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Papa Francouz

Registered User
Nov 25, 2013
5,453
5,071
Denver, CO
Sens are going to take it this year. They shored up the goalie spot, have some top-tier prospects making the jump to the NHL, gained another year of development for Tkachuk and Chabot, and brought in some solid veteran depth in all positions.

I'm a big believer in Brady and none of you can ever change my mind.
 

Northern Avs Fan

Registered User
May 27, 2019
21,970
29,648
Who’s playing defence for the Sens other than Chabot?

Their forward group looks like it’s coming along really well, but Matt Murray is going to have to have an incredible season for them to be in the top-4 of this division.
 

Balthazar

I haven't talked to the trainers yet
Sponsor
Apr 25, 2006
48,437
50,610
Who’s playing defence for the Sens other than Chabot?

Their forward group looks like it’s coming along really well, but Matt Murray is going to have to have an incredible season for them to be in the top-4 of this division.
Their 1C is Josh Norris and he has never played in the NHL. They are still 2 years away from a playoff spot.
 

MarkT

Heretic
Nov 11, 2017
3,993
4,496
You just highlight their positives. There are negatives to each of them.

Ottawa is too inexperienced and lacks any real gamebreaker currently.
Calgary's forwards are past overrated at this point - they're exposed.
Winnipeg has a goalie, but not much else with an aging forward core.
Edmonton has absolutely no D.
Toronto doesn't gel much, they lack depth throughout the lineup, and they just added Brodie.
Montreal lacks a gamebreaking forward.
Vancouver, to me, has the clear best shot. They have a solid defense and Hughes back there, a forward star, some other forwards, they added Schmidt, and they gave Vegas a good run for its money.

I was intentionally pointing our reasons each team could potentially do well in the division. If you want to know what I really think, here you go:
  • Calgary's top players do no have what it takes to win, and their top defenseman is getting older and older.
  • Edmonton still has nothing beyond McDrai. They have poor goaltending and poor defense and they just added Barrie, who is going to actively make them worse defensively.
  • Toronto's additions aren't going to suddenly make up for their issues. They should be a playoff team in this division, but they also have significant weaknesses.
  • Winnipeg's defense remains suspect and they need their goalie to stand on his head to win consistently.
  • Vancouver just lost their MVP last season and are relying on Holtby and Demko to replace him. I'm not betting on it working.
  • Ottawa hasn't significantly improved from last year, when they also sucked.
  • Montreal indeed doesn't have any one gamebreaking forward, but in this division, that's fine. See, each team (outside of Edmonton) can probably put together one good shutdown 5-man unit. But Montreal isn't just relying on one unit, one pair to play all the defensive minutes, or one goalie to win every game. Their depth is going to overwhelm these other teams that may have good players at the top of the lineup, but have significant weaknesses at the bottom - Montreal's swarm attack is going to eat those low-end players alive. Other teams can probably outclass Montreal in a top-players vs top players showdown, but I'll take Montreal's depths players over any other team's depth players.
 

Balthazar

I haven't talked to the trainers yet
Sponsor
Apr 25, 2006
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Montreal indeed doesn't have any one gamebreaking forward, but in this division, that's fine. See, each team (outside of Edmonton) can probably put together one good shutdown 5-man unit. But Montreal isn't just relying on one unit, one pair to play all the defensive minutes, or one goalie to win every game. Their depth is going to overwhelm these other teams that may have good players at the top of the lineup, but have significant weaknesses at the bottom - Montreal's swarm attack is going to eat those low-end players alive. Other teams can probably outclass Montreal in a top-players vs top players showdown, but I'll take Montreal's depths players over any other team's depth players.

Josh Anderson provides good size in the top 6 and they badly needed that. Suzuki looks like he was made in the same mold as Bergeron/ROR...add a Selke caliber center in Danault and Julien's tight system...

Also they probably have the biggest defense in the league now and all of them can play today's game.

They aren't going to be easy to play against. If Price and Weber still have enough left in the tank they can do some damage. They were built for the playoffs, too.
 

Avsboy

Registered User
Dec 12, 2006
32,242
16,656
Josh Anderson provides good size in the top 6 and they badly needed that. Suzuki looks like he was made in the same mold as Bergeron/ROR...add a Selke caliber center in Danault and Julien's tight system...

Also they probably have the biggest defense in the league now and all of them can play today's game.

They aren't going to be easy to play against. If Price and Weber still have enough left in the tank they can do some damage. They were built for the playoffs, too.

Anderson has done very little in this league. If Kotkaniemi can breakout they’ll have something going for them.
 

Balthazar

I haven't talked to the trainers yet
Sponsor
Apr 25, 2006
48,437
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Anderson has done very little in this league. If Kotkaniemi can breakout they’ll have something going for them.

Just 2 years ago: 27 goal season and an absolute monster in the playoffs.
 
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Avsboy

Registered User
Dec 12, 2006
32,242
16,656
Just 2 years ago: 27 goal season and an absolute monster in the playoffs.

Im aware. But don’t forget the Avs one hit wonders: Brandon Yip, Galiardi, Wolski, Svatos, Arnason, Mueller....too many to count. Anderson has a lot to prove.
 

MarkT

Heretic
Nov 11, 2017
3,993
4,496
Leafs
Oilers
Canucks
Flames
Jets
Habs
Sens



Montreal is still a really bad team. It kind of amazes me how many Habs fans actually think they significantly improved this off season.

Hm, so adding Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli up front, another year of development for Suzuki and KK, adding Edmundson and Romanov on D, and adding a starter-quality backup in Josh Allen... and losing only Max Domi... none of that counts as significant improvement? They literally addressed every possible weakness they could have without adding a superstar up front.
 

Ararana

Registered User
Sep 22, 2013
17,611
27,457
Two Rivers
Ottawa for me, they're building such a fun team. As for who takes the division, unfortunately I think it's Toronto and we'll never hear the end of it.

The quibbling between Edmonton and Toronto fans this year is going to be so annoying.
 

Cousin Eddie

You Serious Clark?
Nov 3, 2006
40,142
37,285
Toronto is the best team in the division.

Edmonton is second.

Calgary confuses me. They could be good, they could be bad.

Montreal confuses me in whether they should have rebuilt or not. Their future may not be great but they got significantly better this past offseason so they’ll be good this year at least. They brought in Anderson, Toffoli, Edmunson and a great goalie to give CP some nights off. They’re going to be very hard to play against.

Ottawa will be fun to watch but will still be rather weak.

Winnipeg has imo the best goalie in the league and an incredible top 6. After that they aren’t good but their high end talent could carry them.

Vancouver is young and fast but have been completely bailed out by goaltending. Let’s see if the growth of their young stars will be enough to compensate for their major downgrade in goal.
 

MarkT

Heretic
Nov 11, 2017
3,993
4,496
Montreal confuses me in whether they should have rebuilt or not. Their future may not be great but they got significantly better this past offseason so they’ll be good this year at least. They brought in Anderson, Toffoli, Edmunson and a great goalie to give CP some nights off. They’re going to be very hard to play against.

Rebuilding was hardly an option. They were never going to get full value for or even be able to trade (especially during a pandemic) guys like Price and Weber. They'd have to have a fire sale on practically the whole team, and for what? To gather draft picks? They already have 14 picks in the 2021 draft. I think the future there is fine.
 

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