By Andrew Chong, Editor and Danny Beck, Resident Ranter /
Summer is winding down and it’s a great time of year to grab a partner and engage in a classic Canadian pastime: speculating on the coming NHL season.
Our own resident ranter, Danny Beck, joins me in offering humble thoughts on some key questions.
Let the games begin...
How will Taylor and Tyler fare?
AC: There was a buzz last year from a few scouts that if Taylor Hall was age-eligible for the 2009 NHL Draft, they would have selected him over John Tavares. It seems like people have been talking about Hall, forever. It also seems like Hall has been winning, forever. I see Taylor matching Johnny-T-type numbers to the tune of 20-plus goals and 50-plus points. Same goes for Tyler Seguin who had more goals than Hall in the OHL, last year.
DB: This is the $64-million-question. On spec, Taylor has a better shot at experiencing more prime-time ice than Tyler. Edmonton needs help and has many holes, while Boston is much deeper—especially at centre. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit to see Tyler back in Junior after eight or so games in Beantown and Taylor spends a very trying year in Edmunchuck.
How much worse will Chicago be?
AC: There are too many blue chip pieces for this team to sink too far. Likely scenario is a half-step back with loss of Niemi and solid depth players. But when you have Kane, Toews, Sharp, Hossa, Bolland, Keith, and Seabrook as your core, you can figure the rest out and be right back in Cup contention.
DB: Chicago will surprise a lot of people by still being very good. A motivated Turco will solidify the goaltending, most forget that Quenneville didn’t trust Niemi or Huet all year and let’s face it, Niemi was either spectacular or very iffy in the playoffs. He just about lost games for them except for their depth, especially on the third and fourth lines. This is where the X-factor is for them. Top six forwards and D are in place and goaltending will be improved. The key will be Bickell, Beach, Dowell, Skille and others in replacing Ladd, Eager, Byfuglien, and Versteeg. They just might.
Who will earn the status, “best player in the league?”
AC: Last season, Toews won the Conn Smythe, Henrik won the Hart, Stamkos and Crosby shared the Richard, Ovechkin won the Pearson, and Miller stole the show at the Olympics. Going into 2010/11, there is no obvious best player in the league. But if you have to pick, and if Sid can maintain this whole elite-goal-scorer thing that he added to his repertoire last season, then I guess you have to pick him.
DB: Ovechkin. End of discussion. Except this: he might not have the team success yet and he doesn’t really make his linemates better. But he is hands down the best player.
Will the Oilers be better?
AC: Since it is not possible to finish worse than last place, I will say, yes. But in all seriousness, Hall, Eberle, and a healthy Ales Hemsky should provide at least a modest bump in the standings—whatever that means (i.e. 15th place to 12th place?).
DB: I can’t remember the last time a team was last in back-to-back years. Maybe it has happened recently, but I just can’t see Edmonton repeating. The jury is still out on what Tambellini is up to. I.e. he still hasn’t traded Souray, hasn’t signed (or traded) Cogliano or Gagner, don’t know if Gerber will play while the ‘Bhulin Wall goes to jail—there is not a true No. 1 D-man and the depth is just not there. So, now that I think of it, they could very easily wind up in 15th. Maybe.
Who will provide offence in Toronto?
AC: Phil Kessel is the only sure thing. Kris Versteeg will have to prove that he can get it done in a first line role while playing against the opposition’s top D. In Chicago, he was part of an offensive powerhouse where opposing teams had a huge variety of threats to worry about. No longer the case.
DB: T.O. will have to hope that all the middle-of-the-road players they have will all get 15 to 20 goals. The addition of Armstrong and Versteeg are solid moves, but their best hope will be the depth at D and in net.
Will long-term contracts (i.e. Luongo, Savard, Hossa) actually be overturned?
AC: No. You cannot possibly step-in to a situation mid-contract and disrupt an organization’s entire salary cap design.
DB: They might. And I hope they are. Those contracts are bogus and do a disservice to all the teams and the players. They will hurt those players late in the contract, likely the player will become a distraction because their production will dip long before the heavy part of the contract does. They have no-movement-clauses as well which will be a horrible distraction to the team and the players. The best solution I heard is that the actually salary in a given year can never be less than X per cent of the cap hit. The likely agreeable per cent would be 50%.
Are the Canucks Canada’s best hope to win a Stanley Cup?
AC: I thought this answer was an obvious, “yes,” last year... and then Jaroslav Halak took the Canadiens to the third round. But now he is gone. And the Canucks have added Dan Hamhuis and Keith Ballard to the mix. Not to mention, Cody Hodgson will be given every chance to shine as a third line centreman.
DB: The Canucks will never win the Cup with a hodge-podge of bottom six forwards and so much money tied up in their D and goaltending. They still don’t have a true No. 1 D-man, yet they have nine D-men on NHL contracts and most of them bloated. And don’t even get me started on Luongo’s deal again. Dumb, dumb moves.
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