Which 5 teams will be the best over the next 5-7 years?

[ColbyChaos]

wow the Canucks are overrated going by this thread. They are a decent team, but were riding a hot goalie this year. With their goalie injured, they have been falling like a stone.

Pretty much any team besides Vegas atm the moment drops like a rock if their starter gets injured for an extended period of time.

 

[Mr Positive]

Pretty much any team besides Vegas atm the moment drops like a rock if their starter gets injured for an extended period of time.

not true. Lots of teams have a prominent back up.

But besides that, it's just obvious that Vancouver is one of those teams relying not just on a great starter, but one on a crazy hot season.

And I'll say I could be wrong, and maybe it's not just a hot streak, but I've seen this before, and in the modern era it seems that expecting a goalie with high stats to maintain it doesn't pan out.

 

[wetcoast]

Ill pick 6

In five years, Jersey NYR and Buffalo for East. Edmonton Vancouver and Arizona for West

I think that you are sleeping on Calgary in the west they have some really good players under the age of 27 and some really solid middle 6 players in the system as well.

 

[PB37]

To me this is key for the Bruins moving forward but their top 2 centers are 33 and 34, if they draft a couple of replacements very soon those those 2 guys sure but that's going to be very difficult IMO.

A lot is riding on Studnicka, Beecher, and Frederic hitting their potential, agreed. Coyle will still be around and be a solid player and mentor for the young crop coming up. I just think the Bruins are in much better shape than this board wants to give credit for. Bruins are sneaky deep on viable NHL talent among their under 30 crowd to help push the vets during the next 5 year window.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

Canucks will be good

Rangers prove trading helps build a team

 

[The90]

A lot is riding on Studnicka, Beecher, and Frederic hitting their potential, agreed. Coyle will still be around and be a solid player and mentor for the young crop coming up. I just think the Bruins are in much better shape than this board wants to give credit for. Bruins are sneaky deep on viable NHL talent among their under 30 crowd to help push the vets during the next 5 year window.

Agree on depth. I think it’s most people just saying they don’t have (or think they have) that elite talent to replace those guys.

they’ve been exceptional at drafting and developing a culture though. Similar to the red Wings for so many years, so they’ll still be competitive long after they lose a half step. IMO anyways

 

[The90]

A lot is riding on Studnicka, Beecher, and Frederic hitting their potential, agreed. Coyle will still be around and be a solid player and mentor for the young crop coming up. I just think the Bruins are in much better shape than this board wants to give credit for. Bruins are sneaky deep on viable NHL talent among their under 30 crowd to help push the vets during the next 5 year window.

Agree on depth. I think it’s most people just saying they don’t have (or think they have) that elite talent to replace those guys.

they’ve been exceptional at drafting and developing a culture though. Similar to the red Wings for so many years, so they’ll still be competitive long after they lose a half step. IMO anyways

 

[El Travo]

Pretty much any team besides Vegas atm the moment drops like a rock if their starter gets injured for an extended period of time.

[Laughs in Colorado Avalanche]

 

[Nabrules]

people will be shocked when they realize the Bruins only have 1 core winger over 25 and the D core under 28 (most under 25).

they have 2-3 years to draft/trade/sign a center and have plenty of cap space and D to do so.

they'll be competitive for years to come but sure go ahead and keep thinking they're "old" when in fact they're not.

who’s going to Replace Bergeron, Krecji, Chara, Rask?

 

[JD1]

Marchand played his first full season in 2010-2011. He was far from a core piece then, and even the next few years.

Marchand scored 21 goals his rookie season and put up 19 points in the Bruins 25 game playoff run and he's been a top 6 / top 3 contributer ever since. He's been as much a part of their legacy over the past 10 years as anyone else.

 

[Sasso09]

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.

I don't get the Rangers being so high TBH.

1. Philly
2. COL
3. VAN
4. EDM
5. BOS (they just seem to always find a way)


4 out of your top 5 i agree with but in different orders.

 

[Sasso09]

Toronto
- Matthews, 22
- Marner, 22
- Nylander, 23
- Rielly, 26
Edmonton
- McDavid, 23
- Draisaitl, 24
- Nugent Hopkins, 26
- Klefbom, 26
Colorado
- MacKinnon, 26
- Raantanen, 23
- Landeskog, 27
- Makar, 21
Vancouver
- Petterson, 21
- Hughes, 20
- Boeser, 23
- Horvat, 24
Carolina
- Aho, 22
- Svechnikov, 19
- Teravainen, 25
- Slavin, 25

These are my 5 in no particular order, HM:
- Ottawa (yes Ottawa with all those picks, Tkachuk, Chabot)
- Buffalo (Eichel & Dahlin)
- Florida (Barkov, Huberdeau & Ekblad)
- Columbus (Dubois, Jones, Werenski)
- Calgary (Monahan, Gaudreau, Tkachuk, Hanifin)

- Couturier, 26
- Konecny, 22
- Provorov, 22
- Hart, 21
- Sanheim, 23
- Myers, 22
- Farabee, 19
- Frost, 20
- Patrick, 21

Can't even get a HM? i'll take that young core over any in the league.

 

[Sasso09]

Our best players are better than your best players. Elite players are what wins you the Cup in this league.

That's false.

Sean Couturier is the best player for either team.

 

[Sasso09]

I would say at this point the Rangers four key franchise cornerstones are Panarin, Zibanejad, Fox and Shestyorkin. For the Flyers, I would say its Couturier, Giroux/Voracek, Provorov and Hart. I would say that the Rangers come out on top in the top end of our roster compared to the top end of yours.

The Rangers have developed some needed franchise cornerstones much quicker than expected, and also have the youngest team in the league and prior to the season the best prospect pool in the league. If someone like Kakko develops as expected, we add a fifth cornerstone. It could also become someone else like Chytil, Kravtsov, Lundkvist, DeAngelo, Trouba, Buchnevich, Lindgren, Miller. When you have the youngest team in the league and the best prospect pool, while also presently already having four star players, you are in excellent shape going forward. We already have the main ingredients needed because some players have developed extremely well this season. If we get anything beyond what is projected for some of those others, we'll be in even better shape.

I don't care if the Flyers are a better team now or have fewer holes. I concede all of that. I'm talking about what wins the Cup in this league. Thats elite talent. I think the Flyers will be one of the better teams in the NHL in the upcoming years, but I don't know that they have the top-end stars of some other teams, and coaching is a question, considering AV has a history of getting to the later rounds and choking.

Nope, it would be at this point, Couturier, Provorov, Hart and Konecny. Limiting it to 4 really helps your agenda too when there's guys like Giroux at the 5th spot for Philly and no one for the Rangers.

I take Couturier, Provorov, Hart and Konecny over Zibby, Panarin, Fox and Shesty going forward and today.

 

[Sasso09]

Not in my opinion. Even if I was to concede that Couturier is better than Zibanejad, which I don't concede, the Rangers have 3-4 best forwards, the best defenseman, and the best goalie. If we rank that as a top 8 (2F, 1D, 1G), the Rangers have slot 1 at forward, and arguably slot 2 at forward, while also having slot 1 on defense and slot 1 in goal.

Forwards:
Couturier- PHI
Panarin- NYR
Zibby- NYR
Giroux- PHI
Konecny-PHI
Voracek-PHI
Hayes- PHI
JVR- PHI
Strome- NYR
Buchnevich- NYR

Defense:
Provorov- PHI
Niskanen- PHI
Fox- NYR
Sanheim- PHI
DeAngelo- NYR
Trouba- NYR
Myers- PHI
Lindgren- NYR
Ghost-PHI
Braun- PHI


Skjei- NYR ****

Hart > Shesty

I'm not seeing it, at all.

EDIT: Braun replaces Skjei due to trade. I was trying to find a Ranger to fill his spot but they literally have no one after their top 4.

 

[ColbyChaos]

not true. Lots of teams have a prominent back up.

But besides that, it's just obvious that Vancouver is one of those teams relying not just on a great starter, but one on a crazy hot season.

And I'll say I could be wrong, and maybe it's not just a hot streak, but I've seen this before, and in the modern era it seems that expecting a goalie with high stats to maintain it doesn't pan out.

Name them

 

[Byron Bitz]

I don't think an Oilers fan is the best person to be casting a stone in that debate. The Oilers were being propped up by McDavid and Draisaitl and, according to analytics, were far worse a team than their record would suggest. In fact, worse than the Canucks.

Your right they were propped up by McDavid and Draisaitl, and those guys aren’t going anywhere so they will continue to be propped up by those two players for the next 5-7 years.

 

[TheKingPin]

Our best players are better than your best players. Elite players are what wins you the Cup in this league.

since when? You want to matchup against elite players and usually whoever has the best 3rd line seems to win. Couts is elite. He will win the selke this year. He has already shut down the rangers and rest of the leagues best players. After that the flyers continue to have excellent depth that easily out paces the rangers. D is no contest. I think the rangers have a very nice team and play great with Panarin. Tough team to beat. But the flyers will have no real weakness from top through the very bottom. Maybe not this year, but Hart has the capability to win a series all on his own. Never mind a very good fwd and D group.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

since when? You want to matchup against elite players and usually whoever has the best 3rd line seems to win. Couts is elite. He will win the selke this year. He has already shut down the rangers and rest of the leagues best players. After that the flyers continue to have excellent depth that easily out paces the rangers. D is no contest. I think the rangers have a very nice team and play great with Panarin. Tough team to beat. But the flyers will have no real weakness from top through the very bottom. Maybe not this year, but Hart has the capability to win a series all on his own. Never mind a very good fwd and D group.

Go through the Cup winners of the past 10 years. They won because of their top-end talent, not their depth. There were years that Chicago was playing three defensemen for parts of the game. Pittsburgh always found minor leaguers to score a lot on the wings of Crosby and Malkin. There's been one Cup winner in the last 10 years that won without elite talent, St. Louis from last year, and you could argue that they had elite players at the time. Pietrangelo is a top level defenseman, Binnington for the latter half of the season was as good as any goalie in the league, and then guys such as ROR, Tarasenko, Parayko, Dunn are not that far off being elite level NHL'ers, if they aren't elite NHL'ers to begin with.

I fully agree that the Flyers have a good team with good depth and a farm system that constantly refills the team with productive players. What I think the Flyers are missing that some other teams are going to have are top level NHL'ers. We are discussing the best of the best here, so none of these players are bad, but if Philly's answer for the teams that have 3-5 elite NHL'ers is going to be Couturier, Provorov, Hart, and then a declining Giroux and Voracek who were never stars to begin with, I think its going to result in a lot of good finishes, but a lack of a Stanley Cup. Your team had your chance to pick Pettersson, Makar, Heiskanen, all guys who went in the top 10. You picked Patrick instead. NJ had the same chance. They picked Hischier, although I believe Hischier is going to be extremely good. But he's not as good as those elite guys.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

Klefbom, Larsson and Nurse aren't chopped liver either.

Klefbom and Larsson are, in fact, chopped liver.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Forwards:
Couturier- PHI
Panarin- NYR
Zibby- NYR
Giroux- PHI
Konecny-PHI
Voracek-PHI
Hayes- PHI
JVR- PHI
Strome- NYR
Buchnevich- NYR

Defense:
Provorov- PHI
Niskanen- PHI
Fox- NYR
Sanheim- PHI
DeAngelo- NYR
Trouba- NYR
Myers- PHI
Lindgren- NYR
Ghost-PHI
Braun- PHI


Skjei- NYR ****

Hart > Shesty

I'm not seeing it, at all.

EDIT: Braun replaces Skjei due to trade. I was trying to find a Ranger to fill his spot but they literally have no one after their top 4.

I think both of those teams have very bright futures. Kakko is the X factor to me. If he turns the corner next year, New York is headed to another level.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The hardest building blocks to get are a number one centre and a number one defenceman. Van has both and they are already excellent at a young age.

One thing I’ll say on defenceman. As an Avs fan I never truly understood the value of having really elite defenceman until Makar and Girard took centre stage this year.

Super elite puck-movers control the game. They can play a lot of minutes and dictate the play.

Hughes is that guy for Vancouver.

Buffalo also has and they're still garbage. Colorado could be but cup is far from given. No good defensive players.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Buffalo also has and they're still garbage. Colorado could be but cup is far from given. No good defensive players.

Who’s saying a cup is a given for Colorado? But to say to say they don’t have any good defensive players is just inaccurate.

 

[Gurglesons]

Are people really doubting Vancouver has one of the best young cores in this thread? Lol.

Even without Boeser, Pettersson and Hughes is 2/3 of the trifecta and goalie is the easiest position to fill through FA or trade out of the trifecta.

 

[GOALOFSSON]

- Couturier, 26
- Konecny, 22
- Provorov, 22
- Hart, 21
- Sanheim, 23
- Myers, 22
- Farabee, 19
- Frost, 20
- Patrick, 21

Can't even get a HM? i'll take that young core over any in the league.

Majority of your ages listed are off

Dahlin, 20 in a couple of weeks
Eichel, 23
Cozens, 19
Reinhart, 24
Olofsson, 24
Jokiharju, 20
UPL, 21
Mittelstadt, 21
+ Another top pick this year

(Hell, Skinner is only like 7 months older than Couturier)

I'd rather have the group with Eichel/Dahlin, not that the rest of the Sabres' young core isn't good either.
Both teams have more young pieces not listed but doesn't change much for me.