The ridiculously early "where will the CBJ finish next year" poll

[Maylo]

We have no one similar to RoR, no one. So those comparisons die there. And everyone(not Canadian media) declared STL "offseason champions" last year, because of the acquisitions they made.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

The huge question mark in goal and the loss of Panarin's points and his impact on Atkinson's and Dubois' production are the reasons I say a playoff miss. But...............

Look at St. Louis. They solved their goalie issue with a guy who had been languishing in the minors since he turned pro 6 years ago. Binnington even played a full year in the ECHL. So a solution (outside of Korpisalo or Merzikins) is a possibility if the two projected CBJ goalies falter.

Players like Anderson, Bjorkstrand and Texier are going to be given every opportunity to excel-even if Torts isn't so inclined. He might not have any other options. The former 2 are at the ages where they should be hitting their primes. If these two can score 30 each and Texier can chip in 15 or so, the loss of Panarin is greatly mitigated.

If there are players who are going to have additional pressure on them, it's Atkinson and Dubois. Atkinson should be OK. He was 26th in cumulative goals scored in the 5 years (2012-13 thru 16-17) before Panarin's arrival.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?agg...ameType=2&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=goals

Dubois, we'll see. He's obviously talented. Is he a true #1C? We'll be finding out soon-assuming Duchene bolts.

A lot of things have to go right for the CBJ to make the playoffs as currently configured. It's possible, but I'm going to bank on them coming up a bit short-mainly due to goaltending issues.

 

[KJ Dangler]

I'm not sure if you mean "this time last year" literally, but it's an interesting comparison with strong parallels with where the Blue Jackets are now. There are other interesting comparison points too: after they made their moves in the summer, and January 1st, when the Blues were dead last in the league.

The Blues sold off Stastny before last year's playoffs and went into the summer with basically Schenn and a bunch of washed up guys (Berglund, Sobotka, Brodziak) as their centers. Net was a huge question mark. They were as strong as ever on defense and kept their top wingers. To me that roster looks a lot like the supposedly returning Blue Jackets we now see.

Then of course the Blues swindle a #1C via trade, and get ridiculously deep four line scoring thanks to the additions of Maroon, Bozak, and Perron, and the rookie Thomas, and Sundqvist stepping up. And Binnington comes out of nowhere to be the #1G.

The Jackets don't need quite as many additions to get that level of depth scoring. But a top six center, a topline playmaker at any position, and a #1G would be nice.

Good take. Jarmo seems confident that this is a playoff team, even if all ufa walk. I 100% agree. Torts has already come out, and said they most likely tweak their defensive system, which means safe is death is going away, or atleast scaled back , which should help our goalies out tremendously. Our defensive core, and puck moving ability is elite. I would say the best unit top to bottom, in the nhl, especially if Garikov is what we expect him to be, and Murray stays healthy . Center play is my worry. Duchene changes the whole team outlook though. Duchene, Pld , Wennberg, Nash down the middle becomes a strength. If Duchene decides elsewhere, where does Jarmo go ? Kadri ? Ryan Nugent Hopkins ? Turris ?

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Good take. Jarmo seems confident that this is a playoff team, even if all ufa walk. I 100% agree. Torts has already come out, and said they most likely tweak their defensive system, which means safe is death is going away, or atleast scaled back , which should help our goalies out tremendously. Our defensive core, and puck moving ability is elite. I would say the best unit top to bottom, in the nhl, especially if Garikov is what we expect him to be, and Murray stays healthy . Center play is my worry. Duchene changes the whole team outlook though. Duchene, Pld , Wennberg, Nash down the middle becomes a strength. If Duchene decides elsewhere, where does Jarmo go ? Kadri ? Ryan Nugent Hopkins ? Turris ?

An excellent question... for the offseason thread. Or even the Duchene thread.

 

[majormajor]

Edit - moved to offseason thread.

 

[thebus88]

They have no elite forwards but some very, very good ones including a big-time goal scorer in Tarasenko, not unlike our own Cam.

I know its all semantics, but you are significantly undervaluing both ROR and Tarasenko.

Both should be considered "elite" forwards in different ways. ROR (and Bergeron) is a perfect example of somebody who isn't "flashy" but is literally just as impactful as ANYBODY on the ice. I see a younger and bigger ROR in Dubois. I love me some Atkinson, his speed/acceleration is a little extra aspect to his game that many guys like Tarasenko don't have, but unlike Atkinson, Tarasenko has 1 of the best shots/release in the league.

ROR > Dubois......Tarasenko > Atkinson....unfortunately.

God DAMMIT if we only could have gotten ROR. We were supposedly "in the mix", right? And look what he actually went for.

I probably don't want to go back and look at "rumors" or "proposals". I seem to remember this being during Wennberg's value being sky high.

 

[Fred Glover]

I'm not sure if you mean "this time last year" literally, but it's an interesting comparison with strong parallels with where the Blue Jackets are now. There are other interesting comparison points too: after they made their moves in the summer, and January 1st, when the Blues were dead last in the league.

The Blues sold off Stastny before last year's playoffs and went into the summer with basically Schenn and a bunch of washed up guys (Berglund, Sobotka, Brodziak) as their centers. Net was a huge question mark. They were as strong as ever on defense and kept their top wingers. To me that roster looks a lot like the supposedly returning Blue Jackets we now see.

Then of course the Blues swindle a #1C via trade, and get ridiculously deep four line scoring thanks to the additions of Maroon, Bozak, and Perron, and the rookie Thomas, and Sundqvist stepping up. And Binnington comes out of nowhere to be the #1G.

The Jackets don't need quite as many additions to get that level of depth scoring. But a top six center, a topline playmaker at any position, and a #1G would be nice.

I meant what I wrote
Let me paraphrase
It’s nuts to count the Jackets out before Jarmo has a chance to add to the club next year
He has shown the willingness and ability to build a hockey club that will compete and win
No one had the Blues in contention to win the Cup last year
No one had Carolina or the Isles as well
So how about waiting to see what Jarmo does BEFORE we jump off the bridge?

 

[MoeBartoli]

I know its all semantics, but you are significantly undervaluing both ROR and Tarasenko.

Both should be considered "elite" forwards in different ways. ROR (and Bergeron) is a perfect example of somebody who isn't "flashy" but is literally just as impactful as ANYBODY on the ice. I see a younger and bigger ROR in Dubois. I love me some Atkinson, his speed/acceleration is a little extra aspect to his game that many guys like Tarasenko don't have, but unlike Atkinson, Tarasenko has 1 of the best shots/release in the league.

ROR > Dubois......Tarasenko > Atkinson....unfortunately.

God DAMMIT if we only could have gotten ROR. We were supposedly "in the mix", right? And look what he actually went for.

I probably don't want to go back and look at "rumors" or "proposals". I seem to remember this being during Wennberg's value being sky high.

Semantics are at play. I view Panarin as borderline elite and Panarin > Tarasenko.

 

[Madifer]

With this team every season is like a box of chocolates.. the thing is that the box is still in the making. We cant possibly know what we get :/

 

[Jyrki]

I think we can cope with Bob walking. Panarin is just irreplaceable though, against any decent defense he was the guy everyone relied on to find openings. We're going to be bottom 5 in goals for, and unless Korpi or whoever takes the reign has a scorching season we won't be good enough for the playoffs.

 

[blahblah]

Going out on a limb here, somewhere between 1 and 16 in the Eastern Conference.

I'll be honest, at this point in time I'm not betting they'll be in the playoffs next season.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

God DAMMIT if we only could have gotten ROR. We were supposedly "in the mix", right? And look what he actually went for.

According to Pierre LeBrun, nope. At least not enough to mention it.

LeBrun: The untold story of how Ryan O'Reilly was brought to...

For as much as the Sabres are being criticized for the deal, what’s puzzling to me looking back was how few teams actually showed interest, probably shying away from a contract that pays him $7.5 million a year. Montreal dabbled a bit and there were reports Carolina called, but really, the stunner now a year later is that more teams didn’t show interest in a great buy-low candidate.

But the reality is also that many teams shied away from O’Reilly last summer when he was on the market. Armstrong did not.