In an effort to continue to talk hockey with everyone I’d like to fire up a fun debate.
Which 5 teams do you think will be the best over the course of the next 5-7 years. Feel free to provide an explanation, if you like.
Here’s my picks. Admittedly, I’m an Avs fan, so take that in to account.
1.
Colorado Avalanche: Elite talent up-front and on the backend. Along with elite prospects in the system.
2.
Tampa Bay Lighting: I might have them too high because they are getting a little older, but I think they should be able to sustain great play for at least a few more years.
3.
New York Rangers: Even without Kakko contributing the Rangers look pretty complete moving forward. If Kakko figures it out, they’ll be even more dangerous.
4.
Edmonton Oilers: The combination of McDavid and Draisaitl is always going to be a problem. Edmonton may be a flawed team right now, but they have the defensive prospects to become a dominant team, soon.
5.
Vancouver Canucks: Petterson and Hughes are pretty close to as good as it gets, for driving play. Add Boeser/Horvat and it’s a talented mix moving forward.
Other teams I thought about putting in, were Carolina and Phili. Those teams both have very nice cores.
Edmonton will continue to be successful as the years go on, and as the cap rises. Draisaitl and McDavid are the best one-two punch in the league as it stands right now, and with more cap room to make moves I think we will see them emerge as an elite team. Puljujarvi (?), Broberg, Bouchard and Yamamoto will all be good NHL players (at least) and once Neal, Russell, Koskinen and Lucic's cap has been restored to the table, Edmonton will be able to add some great pieces. The key for them is going to be drafting well over the next few years.
New Jersey will be a top 5 team on the strength of their last few years drafting alone. Hughes, Hischier, a top 10 pick this year, and two top 20 picks this year (Vancouver/Arizona) will be apart of a dynamic core that will include good prospects like Ty Smith and Jesper Boqvist -- hopefully McLeod figures it out and helps them out. Cap wise, after the 2021 season they will be free of Gusev, Palmieri and Zajac's contracts (totalling almost 15m in cap space) and the year after Subban and Schneider (another 15m) --- they will have tons of cap space to make big free agency moves in 2021 and 2022, and by that point Hughes and Hischier will be a bit older, and hopefully their picks from this year will be NHL ready --- Gaudreau who is a New Jersey native will be a free agent in 2022; which would make for a perfect opportunity to give Hughes or Hischier an elite winger without giving much up.
Colorado is a team I can't imagine this list without. Not because of how good they are now; but because of how good their defensive corps is poised to be. Ultimately, their offensive corps is going to lose one of Landeskog or MacKinnon at some point (likely the latter in 2021-2022) but with Makar, Timmins, Girard and Byram on the back-end, its hard to imagine this team being anything but elite so long as they have Nate Mack upfront. My biggest concern for this team would be goaltending and secondary scoring; I imagine that once their ELCs are up guys like Makar, Girard and Byram are going to cost the Avalanche a lot and their already thin secondary scoring may fall victim to the cap crunch. They could be an elite team if guys buy-in and take cheaper deals, but the alternative for them is being a team like Nashville; good, maybe even great, but not cup material.
Montreal - I think its almost a foregone conclusion that Bergevin is going to do something stupid to try and keep his job. While there is some uncertainty with how the upcoming draft is going to all unfold, if they do it by point percentage that leaves Montreal with at worst 7th overall. IF Montreal manages a top 5 pick, they will add another elite prospect to an already budding group (Kotkaniemi, Suzuki, Fleury, Poehling, Romanov, Caufield) who are all team controlled for the foreseeable future. Boat anchor contracts in Weber or Price are excusable as long as both are able to play at an elite level, but Nashville will likely pay to take Weber back at some point to avoid recapture penalties, and Price is a prime candidate for a Seattle buyout; so the Habs have a ton of options to reset the clock. Outside of those two players, they have no massive financial investments (term or dollars) to any player, and have some good secondary pieces locked up for a few years (Byron, Drouin) with great trade bait opportunity in players like Gallagher, Tatar and Petry. If the Habs somehow manage to add a top 5 pick, they can either completely focus on a rebuild and sell the aforementioned guys for picks and prospects, or go for the all-in offer sheet to a player like Barzal or Pierre Luc Dubois this upcoming offseason. Imagine how different Montreal would look if they add a top 5 pick, a 1C, and then make a trade at the draft for a top 4 defenseman or make a big offer to a guy like Torey Krug? There is tons of options; but ultimately a good set of prospects, a ton of draft picks, and tons of cap flexibility means the Habs can go many directions, but I think inevitably they end up atop the Eastern Conference again in the near future (3-4 years)
Carolina - I honestly think this one is the most obvious; so long as they have an owner that commits to the salary cap every year, its going to be very hard to screw this team's trajectory up. Their only real question mark is goaltending; but they have one of the best defensive corps in the league, an elite roster of forwards that just keeps getting better, and surprisingly some great prospects. In the 2021/2022 season, the Canes will have Aho, Teravainen, Niederreiter, Trochek, Svechnikov, Necas, Suzuki, Bokk and Geekie. They'll also have a defensive group of Slavin, Skjei, Gardiner and Pesce, with 18 million coming off the books to add talent. I think their big question mark will come from if and when they can replace Hamilton, and who they can find to tend the crease. It would not at all surprise me if Carolina won a cup by 2026.
Honorable Mentions -
Toronto - I think they will run into too many cap casualties once Andersen/Rielly/Hyman/Kapanen/Johnsson contracts expire. Their defensive issues will only continue to look worse as time goes on and they lose cogs in the wheel. I wouldn't be shocked if they won a cup off the back of their offense and Freddy within the next 2-3 years, but once Freddie and Mo's contracts are up, the Leafs are going to be in trouble.
Ottawa - I think that while they are already looking like a very promising club, the fact that they very likely end up with two top 5 picks this draft makes them even more insane. Imagine if they got 1 and 2, and got Lafreniere and Byfield --- The only reason I don't have them top 5 is because I think so long as Melnyk is the owner, there will be issues in Ottawa. If there's one owner I think could screw up a core of Lafreniere, Byfield, Tkachuk, White, Chabot, Norris, Brown, Batherson, Brannstrom its definitely Melnyk; whether that be refusing to spend to the cap to get them the best possible free agents, or refusing to pony up the big dollars for your star players.
Buffalo - Eichel is great, Dahlin is great, another top 8 pick this year will be great --- not entirely sure what the issue is here, but that Skinner deal is going to sewer that team unless he figures it out. Seems counter intuitive to waste Eichel's best years rebuilding, but it realistically is going to be what has to happen. The Sabres are a mess from top to bottom and outside of two star players and some great secondary assets, the Sabres are really lacking that bright future. Adding Joker was a big move in the right direction, and some lucky lotto could change their trajectory entirely; adding someone like Lafreniere or Byfield into the mix certainly changes things. Buffalo will eventually figure it out; but they need a few more big pieces to really touch that top 5 spot for me.
Vancouver - I like what they have, but I don't know how much I trust Jim Benning to keep it afloat. Pettersson, Boeser, Horvat and Hughes are going to be relied upon to carry this franchise through some pretty inept management decisions; I just hope for Canucks fans' sake that the Beagle/Roussel signing were a one off and not a sign of what is to come.
Philadelphia - If there is a compliance buyout (Hayes) and they can add a pick to make Seattle take the player of their choice (JVR) then I think Philly could be an elite team, both with what they have currently but with what they have in the pipeline. They are fortunate to have a phenomenal young goaltender, great young defensemen, a mix of great young guys and older guys up front, and some great prospects yet to come (Frost/Rubtsov) --- JVR and Hayes have been acceptable this year; but ultimately what you're going to end up with is two 40 point guys making 7m a year making 10-15% of your cap every year --- kinda rough.
