Well, as we plow towards yet another February 28 NHL trade deadline, I hope that you will join my in plowing through another instalment of Managerial Musings. A quick hit examination of all 30 NHL teams, part two. Enjoy. Actually, on second thought this one isn't so quick...a little more bloated than quick;)
Detroit: Whats not to say about this franchise. They are just win. However, the future is murky. With Lidstrom and Rafalski on the wrong side of 38, and Holmstrom a shell of his former self, this is a team which will need to prove yet again that they have the best scouting department in the NHL. Datsuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Kronwall and Stuart are in their primes which means they will continue to be competitive. But it is imperative that the Wings infuse some young talent into their defense core if this team is to continue to be considered among the uber elite. I believe in them, so should you.
Edmonton: I've been looking forward to this one. To begin, it is popular among hockey pundits to draw comparisons between the rebuilding efforts of the Edmonton Oilers and those successfully made by Pitt, LA, Chicago, and Washington. While they are obvious partners for comparison, I find the Oilers to face significant challenges; challenges which these other clubs were able to overcome. If the Oilers are unable to meet anyone of the following goals, their rebuild will lead to years of mediocrity rather than championships. First, they must acquire and develop defensive depth. Potential first overall pick Adam Larrson is a definite option, but I'm not convinced he will be enough. More is needed. Second, Edmonton must acquire their size and depth down the middle. Of their top four offensive prospects not one is a centre, and of those players currently on the roster not one is a number one pivot. I like the idea of moving current players off the roster for a young centre with size and number one potential. These don't grow on trees. Some options would be Jason Spezza, Braden Schenn, or Joel Colborne. Finally, the Oilers must take care that they do not expose their young talent to an over abundance of failure. They need to acquire some veteran leadership to mentor the youth that they have. If Tambellini fails in any one of these areas the city of champions will continue to be the city of chumps.
Florida: An organization that seems to be in a constant state of flux, unable to gain traction despite years of poor play. They don't inspire much trust, however that may be changing with new GM Dale Tallon; He who built the Chicago Blackhawks before forgetting what time it was...it was Scotty time and Tallon was gone. There are some talented building blocks on the back end with Kulikov and Gudbranson and Swedish goalie Jacob Markstrom is an elite prospect. Where they really lack is offensively. With no good scoring prospects and few pieces with which to acquire prospects outside of the dependable yet boring Stephan Weiss, the Panthers are in tough for longer rather than shorter. They need to find two elite offensive pieces if they are ever going to have success. I'm not hopeful.
Los Angeles: This team should be better. They have an embarrassment of riches both playing on the big club and on the farm. In LA you have Kopitar, Doughty, Johnson, Brown and Quick. Combine that talent with top end prospects like Schenn, Bernier, Forbort, Lokitoinov, and Hickey and this team is loaded. The problem is this. GM Lombardi, loathed by Kings fans everywhere for his ultra conservative approach, refuses to move any youth to improve the club today. This is a problem because the one thing the Kings cannot do is score. They win or lose 2-1 and currently are shockingly out of the playoffs. They have no wingers, unless you count the aging Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams....and I don't. They are also short a second line centre. Sorry, Jarrett Stoll and Michael Handzus don't qualify. They need to move youth for some scoring Now.
Minnesota: More teams should wear green in my opinion. Just looks sharp. This team always manages to make things happen. They don't have any top prospects outside of Michael Granlund, but they have a great mix of young talent and veteran leadership. Mikko Koivu is vastly underrated,while I think Havlat gets a bit of a bad rap, as he excels both offensively and defensively. Vets like Cullen, Madden, Brunette, and Zidlicky provide help. They also have a few wildcards who really contribute in Cal Clutterbuck and Brent Burns. The classic small market club, a mixture of cheep unappreciated veterans and unheralded stars. Backstrom helps in net. I like this team to make the playoffs consistently for the next number of years, but they would need to become extremely lucky to enter the elite group of teams through drafting and developing.
Montreal: So many tough breaks, a few small errors, and several great choices have made this club competitive but far from dominant. First, because I'm a negative nancy, the negative: Scott Gomez. 7 plus per year for little production, a little player, and limited intangibles. What were they thinking? The great: Keeping Price and Plecanec, drafting and developing Subban and Weber, and acquiring Wisniewski and Cammalleri. The tough: losing Georges and Markov for the year really hurt this club. Markov is their best player, and losing him put stress on every other player. Plus, with the injuries to the back end the Canadian brain trust was forced to move on another dman rather than getting a top six forward with size...which is what they need. I don't trust Martin, as he isn't a young players coach.
Nashville: You have to respect this organization. They personify consistency, stability, and organizational intelligence. Year after year they prove the doubters wrong by having regular season success an making the playoffs. Further, they are the equivalent of a defenseman factory consistently drafting and developing the deepest and most talented group of defenders in the NHL. Weber is a superstar, Suter is one of the most underrated players in the league, and players like Blum, Ellis, and Franson ensure they will continue to have strength on the backend. The one problem for Nashville is their inability to develop and aquire offensive talent. Things though, seem to be a changing in Predator land, as Colin Wilson headlines a strangely deep and talented group of offensive prospects. They need some of their young guns to graduate to the big club soon...I'm pulling for Trotz and company.
New Jersey: What to say here. They have proven to be a huge disappointment over the last few years. To me, the major failure of this club has been their inability to acquire puck moving defensemen. They have a talented group of forwards, but if they can't get the puck, it doesn't matter. However, with the early struggles this year the Devils were forced to give big minutes to several young dmen which seems to be paying off, as shown by their recent success. I like this clubs future, especially if they can find a top tier dman through the draft or free agency, as well as a replacement for the once great Marty Brodeur. Any club with Kovalchuk, Zajac, and Parise will be able to score. Will the Kovi contract force the Devils to move Parise is another question that must be answered. If so, the struggles could continue.
New York Islanders: From one struggling team to another. The Islanders, once a proud organization are now, do to years of mismanagement, in danger of moving. Garth Snow has been a revelation moving from the goal crease strait to senior management. Of course what this move revealed is that Charles Wang doesn't know what he's doing because Snow has bungled the job. On the ice they have a few chips in Tavares, Niederreiter, de Haan, Hamonic, Bailey, Grabner and Kabanov. However, the lack of any leadership will likely derail the rebuild. Further, many of their prospects suffer from character issues which are further exasperated by perpetual losing. I don't want to see them move but...
New York Rangers: The quality New York organization. During the mid nineties the Rangers, under Sather, entered a decade of indulgence and gluttony. Similar to the Knicks, Sather became obsessed with acquiring aging stars, and their roster had no coherent structure. More than anyone, Sather needed the lockout and the salary cap to help change the teams direction. Now the Rangers are flush with young talent at all positions. Rather than being loaded down with aging vets, they have young character players in Dubisnky, Callahan, Anisamov, Staal, and Girardi. Young guns Stepan, Gravchev, Del Zotto, Gilroy, Krieder, Zuccarello and Boyle give them even more potential skill and hope. This is a team on the rise...they will be particularly well positioned with the departure or retirement of Chris Drury..the last of the old guard.
Aaron
Skate
Granlund...not Backlund...get your swedes right (I really hope they're Swedish or I look like an idiot).
ReplyDeleteLA should be better, its kind of weird how they're not. They do have a lot of prospects to move and they seem to be frozen. Pick a goalie, dump a few prospects and picks, and take a run at the cup.