Which team in our division improved most this offseason?

[Foppa Frossa]

Pretty simple, vote and talk about why

Poll options are listed in order of last season standings.

Click to read more...

 

[Bonzai12]

abstaining until free agency plays out

 

[RockLobster]

If no other moves were made, I feel I'd be forced to say we did. Chicago a tight 2nd.

But I'm going to wait until more moves are made before officially voting.

 

[Freudian]

Colorado is the only team that really did anything. Chicago got worse and the other five teams is more or less status quo.

 

[cgf]

I'll wait to see what Chicago gets for Sharp and if that trade lets them keep Oduya before I vote. Winnipeg cleaned up at the draft, and in the long run we have probably changed our outlook the most. If this summer's moves work out we could look back on this as a huge win for us that changed this franchise in a big way.

But at the moment I'm most impressed with the way Chicago's managed to put themselves in position to take an all futures pacakge for Sharp and still have all of their departures replaced for next season (Panarin - Sharp, Dano - Saad, Anisimov - Richards, Tikhonov - Vermette, and a sharp trade letting them afford Oduya or Sekera).

We're going to have to hit some homeruns to ever pass them...please get rads, please get rads, please get rads...

 

[Pokecheque]

This is a tough question. If Calgary were still a division rival then there'd be no question, but most of the teams in the Central really just held serve for the most part. St. Louis did next to nothing except boot Jackman, Chicago obviously made some pretty substantial changes but of course it's hard to improve on a team that just won a Cup. And they're not done.

Dallas made an odd, but possibly effective move if indeed they're going into the season with that goalie tandem. Expensive, but possibly very effective, and Dallas could make waves if their goaltending can at least consistently cover for their defensive shortcomings a la Varly.

Winnipeg IMO got a bit worse in losing Frolik, but they did manage to convince Burmistrov to come back. Either way I don't think they're much better than last season. Minnesota went into the offseason with virtually no cap space save for what they needed to re-sign their key players. And the Preds are still doing reclamation projects. I think they're going to regret re-signing that dirtball Ribeiro.

I guess I too will go with Colorado, even though I voted Dallas (changed my mind). Obviously when you lose a player of O'Reilly's caliber it's a big hit, but they appear to be a much more balanced team and already won't be relying so much on patently terrible hockey players like Cliche, Holden, and Guenin. That right there is a monumental improvement upon last season's train wreck.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I thought this was the summer St. Louis was going to trade one of their core players. I guess not, but it is still early.

Chicago made out pretty well in the Saad trade. Anisimov, when healthy, is a good 3rd line center, and Dano looks dynamic. They've still got to make some moves to get under the cap, though.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Minnesota spent all their money on Dubnyk, we'll see if Chicago's roster half full of Euro ELCs works, Nashville refuses to find any offense, Dallas only bought a goalie, Winnipeg is collecting kids and St Louis still won't trade anyone.

 

[Freudian]

I thought this was the summer St. Louis was going to trade one of their core players. I guess not, but it is still early.

Chicago made out pretty well in the Saad trade. Anisimov, when healthy, is a good 3rd line center, and Dano looks dynamic. They've still got to make some moves to get under the cap, though.

Just like San Jose were going to rebuild.

I think GMs of teams that disappoint would like to make changes but once they get around to trying to trade players aren't willing to pull the trigger unless it's a good deal.

With Blues I think it's a question of locking up Tarasenko before doing anything else.

 

[dahrougem2]

Basing it on everything from the end of the season to today?

1) Colorado
2) Chicago
3) Dallas
4/5/6/7) Minnesota/Winnipeg/St.Louis/Nashville since they didn't really improve

Avs made the big FA waves and big O'Reilly deal

Hawks made the Saad deal and signed 2596 KHL players

Stars have a Niemi/Lehtonen 1/2 punch now

 

[Nalens Oga]

More of those young players on Winnipeg are gonna start making a difference, they weren't acquired this off-season but they're probably more of a difference maker than most of these other signings in this division.

Also Burmistrov if he's gotten better might end up being the best forward signign this FA period unless Richards/Semin get back to form wherever they end up.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Finally off-season where we actually improve and not our opponents.. Colorado by landslide. Chicago still need to trade some assets for picks/prospects, so they will get weaker.

 

[cgf]

Finally off-season where we actually improve and not our opponents.. Colorado by landslide. Chicago still need to trade some assets for picks/prospects, so they will get weaker.

I dunno how much weaker they'll get considering they've already replaced everyone who's leaving and Sharp hasn't even been dealt yet. If they can afford to bring Oduya back or get Erhoff for a year I think they'll be better once the new guys settle in.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

I dunno how much weaker they'll get considering they've already replaced everyone who's leaving and Sharp hasn't even been dealt yet. If they can afford to bring Oduya back or get Erhoff for a year I think they'll be better once the new guys settle in.

How much they have cap-space? I remember watching UFA frenzy last night and It showed they had like one mil cap-space left and needed to sign 5 more players, so essentially no cap-space.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

We certainly downgraded on offense, BUT I think MacK/Duchene having better seasons will make a big difference for better. On defense we made a big change for better, just look at that defense and depth, now we can even sustain couple injuries..

and now our defense actually has potential to be good in NHL, last season at best it could have been the fifth worst defense or something like that, we had absolutely no potential. Now I'm fairly satisfied with our defense.

 

[Bone Breaker]

for now, I`d say the Avs by a large margin. I`m not sold on Chicago`s additions (specially that Dano guy) being able to make up for their loses (Saad, Richards, Oduya...).

 

[cgf]

We certainly downgraded on offense, BUT I think MacK/Duchene having better seasons will make a big difference for better. On defense we made a big change for better, just look at that defense and depth, now we can even sustain couple injuries..

and now our defense actually has potential to be good in NHL, last season at best it could have been the fifth worst defense or something like that, we had absolutely no potential. Now I'm fairly satisfied with our defense.

We probably downgraded on offense...But how much did we really downgrade? We've lost ROR, Briere, and less than 10 games this year from McGinn; while adding Soderberg, Grigorenko, Comeau, and possibly Rantanen. Just on the balance of players joining or leaving the team; not accounting for any bounce back from Duchene/Landeskog/MacKinnon or progression out of EVB; we may not have lost too much. If Rantanen doesn't let the team send him down and/or Greg really thrives under Roy, we could actually have added more offensive talent than we lost. Now if Rantanen needs time in A, Greg can't get it going, and Comeau goes into **** mode we'll have lost a lot, but this could well turn out to leave us with more offensive talent than we had last year.

Our Forwards took a step back in their play against the puck without ROR, that's for damn sure, but it's not the offense we lost that we'll miss most.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

for now, I`d say the Avs by a large margin. I`m not sold on Chicago`s additions (specially that Dano guy) being able to make up for their loses (Saad, Richards, Oduya...).

Exactly, they got maybe younger and cheaper, but hardly better. BUT If Chicago is just able to maintain their current team, they are scary..

 

[InjuredChoker]

not voting until offseason is over or closer to being over... like in august.

there are some big FAs yet to be signed that can change things, not to mention trades.

 

[Iceberg]

Overall, we had a pretty good offseason, considering we had to trade ROR.

But while we upgraded our defense, we have now a lot more questions on offense.

Sure, if everything goes our way, we may have a much better team, but there's a lot IF's and we could very well be looking at another season with no playoffs.

Answering the question, i think Chicago wins it, because as the Stanley Cup champions facing cap problems, they pulled some good moves to remain competitive, and they may still keep Oduya after all.

 

[ABasin]

I'm not sure any team in the Central improved very much in the short term.

In the Pacific, Edmonton and Calgary definitely did.

 

[shadow1]

Colorado strengthened some areas, despite losing a core player in O'Reilly.

Chicago is the only other team do to anything, and I'd say they're worse for it. They have no cap space and no 4-6 defensemen.

 

[Thepoolmaster]

I think the Avs took a marginal step back offensively but tre defense improved in their ability to pass the puck which will help the offense. The Avs improved the most.

I don't think the Hawks will feel the loss of saad that much. Teravanien will step into his role well and anisimov will play 2nd or 3rd line C making them a deeper team then they would have been had they traded sharp for futures and held onto saad at 6.5. If they trade sharp for futures they may take a minor step back but I don't think so

 

[FoppaForsberg*]

As of today, us. However it's only July 2nd. Long way to go

 

[S E P H]

Avs, but that is because Avs had to. You couldn't role with the same defense as in previous years. Also, it seems Sakic and Roy learned through experience about injures the hard way and adjusted accordingly (though any team would have been devastated with Avs injury list last year). You just cannot play Cliche in the role he had last season. You just cannot let play Holden/Guenin in prominent roles. Cannot let Stuart play in the top 4.

I love all the moves they have made, I think people are making big deals about Comeau and Sekera over Beauchemin. I understand wanting "X" player over Com/Beau, but both make this team better. There are some wildcards, but if Rantanen makes this team (with how deep it is), it shows how good he is already for the NHL. And Grigorenko is probably going to the best possible location for him to play in with Roy/Avs offensive potency. Lastly, with the improvement Avs have seen with EJ under Roy, I am hoping for the same outcome with Zadorov as well.

IMO it is good to be optimistic about the upcoming season.

As for the others... *= compared to last season
St. Louis: Stagnated* - Definitely still is a superb regular season team with or without Tarasenko. Needs a direction in how to improve for the postseason and needs some culture change. But they will still be a top 3 club.

Nashville: Stagnated - They upgraded their defensive core a tad with Jackman slotting nicely into the bottom pairing role due to how deep that DCore is. Their young offensive players will be a year older, but I don't think any of them will have a major impact (not talking about Forsberg here, more of the Fialas' of their system). Healthy they are a top 3-4 team, still do not have the depth, but it is coming.

Chicago: Worst - Don't get me wrong, they are still a force to be reckon with, but their depth is definitely getting destroyed with Saad gone, Sharp in the future, and maybe even a buyout on Bickell. They got some good pieces coming back with Dano, but he is still at least a year from being an NHL quality player. Not an amazing regular season club, but very dangerous in the postseason. I would still fancy Avs chances against them if we ever played them in the playoffs. Still a playoff club.

Minnesota: Got a bit better - With the Reilly signing, their defensive core gets that much better. With the improvement of Brodin, Dumb, and Scandella, they have a legitimately strong top 6 if you include Suter in that as well. And of course one of the deepest forward group. Koivu will continue to regress, while I highly doubt Dubnyk will have the same impact for a full 82 game season...both will be big losses for them IMO (which will go a long way). Still a playoff club.

Winnipeg: Riding the course - I understand why people think they got worst with losing Frolik, but who cares when you're able to replace him with ****in Ehlers. Goaltending is still a question mark, but they have a deep enough prospect system to trade to improve this question (and of course Hellebuyck as well). I think a lot of their players might have overachieved** this year (which they will probably take a step back), but if there is a team with the best future, it is easily Jets. Wildcard/bubble club.
**= Especially during the injuries.

Dallas: Riding the course - I appreciate Nill's patience, they're riding the course and have some really good defensive prospects on the cusp of being NHL ready. This including their already young defensive players who took a substantial step last season. Nill might be hoping too much on their defensive prospects to become impactful players, that is my only concern. Offensively, they are killer, but still have some major concerns in inconsistencies on the back end and in net. Bubble playoff team if they were in any other division except Central. I think they will miss the playoffs again, but every game will be very tough against them.


I will say that Avs could very much improve this upcoming season and still not make the playoffs. Central is just a completely insane and ridiculously stacked division. One wildcard I keep coming back to in my head is Chicago's health. They have been absurdly healthy the last couple of seasons with the most major injures happening at the most opportune times with the most opportune injures. Toews with a shoulder strain from a check and Kane with a broken clavicle. This isn't Duchene's ACL sprain, EJ's knee scope, Landeskog's broken wrist, MacKinnon's broken foot, or Hejda's pin fingers (major hockey playing extremities). Keith and Seabrook as well have been fairly healthy, but are picking up some major baggage the last couple of seasons. Basing off the probability and possibility of a team having an injury filled year, it has got to be the Hawks.

And that is the story of Central division, 6 of the 7 teams are all playoff teams. The teams with the most significant injures will miss the playoffs.

1. Nashville Predators (Negative: Do not have depth)
2. St. Louis Blues (Negative: Weak goaltending & internal culture)
3. Colorado Avalanche (Negative: Too much uncertainty)
WC1. Minnesota Wild (Negative: Relying on overachieving players)
WC2. Chicago Blackhawks (Negative: A lot of baggage on core)
6. Winnipeg Jets (Negative: Relying on overachieving players)
7. Dallas Stars (Negative: Relying on too many young players to have quality seasons)

Those are my reasoning based on my interpretation thus far on offseason moves and teams on papers. I might have the Avs slotted a bit too high, but I still see the optimism of how well Avs played in the second half of the season with the injury list. Remember we missed our #1 defenseman and one of our major top 6 cores with monthly IR injures. This then goes along with Landeskog's bum hand (and possibly hip) and whole bottom 6 filled with 4 AHLers.