Speculation: What is in store for us 2017-2018 season

[Maelmoor]

I have a positive feeling, if we can remain somewhat healthy I would put us in the cup contender category, not favourites but we will challenge for it.

 

[CupsOverCash]

This team still has Cup potential. It isn't an easy road, but they are good enough to beat anybody. The question is, will they?

Agreed. The thing is there is too much uncertainty around them. Stamkos coming back and how is he going to be? Do Johnson and Palat come back to form? How does Vasi play? Health is always a question with every team. If all those things go in our favor we are contenders.

 

[TampaJay]

Weirdly enough, I think last year was a good thing. They should come out this year pissed off and rested instead of burnt out and complacent. They have gone from a team that was a consensus favorite to a team with something to prove again. Stamkos is like the forgotten man in the NHL, and that can’t sit well. Same with Johnson, he should get back that chip on his shoulder. They have the talent, it’s just about the attitude, and I’m confident that this year they will be playing for that 1 point in OT in November like it matters. If that happens, then it really just comes down to Vasi.

 

[Byrddog]

Keys to the Cup
Top 6 no year ending injuries before Dec 1
Can this D get it done defensively.
Will the goaltending be good enough.

 

[Sky04]

Keys to the Cup
Top 6 no year ending injuries before Dec 1
Can this D get it done defensively.
Will the goaltending be good enough.

Keys to the Cup:
Make the playoffs
Don't suck from Oct-Feb.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

I chose the most optimistic possible outcome.

We have all the pieces if healthy. And, as others have said, last season stung, not just for us but for the players as well. After being the favorites to make it to the SCF they missed the playoffs by ONE lousy fricking point!

Also, Stamkos, Callahan and Johnson will want to prove that they are fully healed and ready to return to their pre-injury excellence.

Kunitz and Girardi will want to prove that their careers aren't over yet and that we were right to give them a second chance.

Our younglings definitely will be scratching and clawing their way through training camp and the preseason games to prove they deserve a roster spot. That will also give our bottom 6/bottom pairing players incentive to prove that they deserve to retain their roster spot.

Hedman said that he and Strålman talked about how winning the World Championship with Team Sweden just made them want to win the SC even more and sooner than later. They don't want to be in the IIHF WC next year; they want to be deep into the playoffs, competing for the biggest prize of all.

Sure, we're not going to have a perfect season and there will be some slumps and stupid losses, but I do believe that there is more of a hunger there this year to prove to the rest of the NHL that we ARE true contenders for the SC.

 

[Maelmoor]

My main concern is goaltending, how will Vasy handle this new role? Will Budaj keep up for another year?

 

[Flat Ronnie]

It's gonna come down to secondary goal scoring.

We know the D is gonna be weak - most likely. We also know that we have a young goalie in front of a weak D.

If we're gonna win games it's gonna be because someone other than Stamkos and Kucherov are scoring goals.

 

[Leonardo87]

Hoping for a 2015 type run with two more wins in the end, lol. Also going to call this the "Bounce" season. Since not just the team but a lot of players need to make a big bounce back. Have that entire Top 6 still here from the 2015 run, added some young guys and veterans on D and the forward group. I think this will be a good season. Also a lot of guys want to prove themselves that they still can play a strong game, and be 100 percent healthy. So think that motivation will only help this team.

 

[The Gongshow]

It's gonna come down to secondary goal scoring.

We know the D is gonna be weak - most likely. We also know that we have a young goalie in front of a weak D.

If we're gonna win games it's gonna be because someone other than Stamkos and Kucherov are scoring goals.

This. Most nights we have to be the team that outscores others. We can't rely on Vasi for a full season like we could Bishop.

 

[The Macho King]

All-in for Dahlin.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

All-in for Dahlin.

Oh yee


Hedman-Dahlin
Sergachev-Foote
Koekkoek-Dotchin

Hajek, Cernak, Spencer, Masin

Lol

 

[These Are The Days]

lol it seems like for such a long time the top d prospect in recent drafts have been "the bestest ever" and I remember the HUGE hype around Hedman. It was "ZOMGWTFBBQ I haven't seen a player like this in so long" "Easily the best prospect in years" "He's so good" "Bonafide can't miss 1st overall worthy pick" yadda yadda yadda.

And you know what? Everyone on planet earth knew that was the correct assessment about Hedman because he was a 17 year man-child playing great at Sweden's highest level. Everyone knew Hedman was going to be outstanding. It was just a matter of when he was going to go BOOM -which turned out to be last year.

But then they did it about Larsson, then Jones, then Ekblad and now Dahlin.

Perhaps I'm being harsh but those guys were worth only about half the hype they got. Ekblad is outstanding and still has massive boom potential but I'm just not optimistic that it's gonna happen at Hedman's level with the Panthers being the NHL's perennial yo-yo.

Now Dahlin looks like the real deal but I just cannot help but remember how caught up everyone has gotten over the years.

 

[Hoek]

I don't get all the people on the main board picking us to win the division. I say 2nd and we win the first round.

 

[Sky04]

Hedman wasn't regarded that high... Tavares was the clear #1 from day 1, the Hedman/Duchene pushing for 1 was the media trying to hype up the draft. Hedman was just freakishly big, Larsson came along 2 years later and was supposed to be a better prospect than Hedman.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

I don't get all the people on the main board picking us to win the division. I say 2nd and we win the first round.

Probably because all they see is the injuries to our biggies and us being able to go from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to 1 point out of the playoffs while fielding a 1/3 AHL roster. They probably didn't notice the apathetic first part of the season or see that we kept losing points to bottom ranked teams. They know that when (and IF) we are healthy, we are a definite threat and will be hungrier for missing out.

BTW, Dahlin is a LHD. Not gonna be paired with Heddy. He'd be the LHD coming up behind Sergachev/Koekkoek in the somewhat distant future if we were even lucky enough to draft him. How high a pick do we have in the 2018 Draft?

 

[RDTBay4]

If we don't win the cup it'll be 100% Vasilevskiy's fault.

 

[MattM92]

If we don't win the cup it'll be 100% Vasilevskiy's fault.

Agreed.

But what if he has 15 consecutive postseason shutouts and then gives up 1 goal in each of the last 4 games of the Finals to lose 1-0 each game/lose the series? 110% his fault?

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Probably because all they see is the injuries to our biggies and us being able to go from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to 1 point out of the playoffs while fielding a 1/3 AHL roster. They probably didn't notice the apathetic first part of the season or see that we kept losing points to bottom ranked teams. They know that when (and IF) we are healthy, we are a definite threat and will be hungrier for missing out.

BTW, Dahlin is a LHD. Not gonna be paired with Heddy. He'd be the LHD coming up behind Sergachev/Koekkoek in the somewhat distant future if we were even lucky enough to draft him. How high a pick do we have in the 2018 Draft?

He's NHL ready right now, certainly in a year.

I think a guy like Kunitz will make us less apathetic.

Also why not try at least one of Dahlin and Sergachev with VH?

If we don't win the cup it'll be 100% Vasilevskiy's fault.

That's an odd way to spell Crosby.

 

[RDTBay4]

Agreed.

But what if he has 15 consecutive postseason shutouts and then gives up 1 goal in each of the last 4 games of the Finals to lose 1-0 each game/lose the series? 110% his fault?

Yes.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Yes.

If you aren't joking in all of these threads roasting Vasi, you need to check his stats post Bishop trade.

 

[RDTBay4]

If you aren't joking in all of these threads roasting Vasi, you need to check his stats post Bishop trade.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

I still suck at identifying sarcasm.

Seriously, I still don't know if you are being serious or not.

 

[RDTBay4]

I still suck at identifying sarcasm.

Seriously, I still don't know if you are being serious or not.

At this point I don't know either.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

Also why not try at least one of Dahlin and Sergachev with VH?

Because playing the opposite side D can be very, very difficult, especially for a rookie. Coburn can do it better than most but he's a vet. Strålman did okay on the occasional LD shift when Garrison went down and he got paired with everyone under the sun, but is not as comfortable with it as Coburn. Now, I do think that Serqachev has played RD some despite being a LHS. However, Sergachev is very much like a baby version of Hedman. Both are two way defensemen who very heavily favor the more aggressive offensive side of the Force. The best balance for such a d-man is a solid, defensively superior d-man who can hold down the fort and give their partner room to roam while still able to skate and think with the same speed. That's why Hedman works best with Strålman and, to a lesser extent, Dotchin.

I'd almost rather see Sergachev paired up with Coburn if Cooper or Yzerman really want him on the RD, because he could get experience playing his off side with someone who does it very well and who is the defensive defenseman who can allow Sergachev the freedom to roam.

Yzerman did say, though, that Sergachev and Koekkoek would be battling for Garrison's spot so I don't think he's very fond of using d-men on their off hand. We'll see come Training Camp.