This is probably my favorite season primer post that I am writing this season, obviously other than the hometown Oilers which goes without saying. Well I guess it doesn’t go without saying cause I just did. Why is this my favorite you ask? Well mostly because despite finishing second in the Pacific and earning a play-off spot this team seems to be set on self-destruct. No team in the league did as much to make their team worse than Vancouver Canucks and that sounds great to this Oilers fan!
Key Additions: C Brandon Sutter, LW Brandon Prust, D Matt Bartkowski and G Richard Bachman
Key Departures: C Nick Bonino, D Kevin Bieksa, G Eddie Lack, C Shawn Matthias, RW Zack Kassian, C Brad Richardson
Roster Contenders: LW Hunter Shinkaruk, RW Jake Virtanen, C Brendan Gaunce, and D Taylor Fedun
The Canucks finished the 2014/15 season with a 49-29-5 record. Good enough for 101 points and second in the Pacific division, 5th in the Western conference and 8th overall in the league. Eighteen of those wins came thanks to departed goaltender Eddie Lack who led the team in GAA and save percentage in the regular season.
The top line provided a lot of offense with Henrik and Daniel Sedin being joined by right-wing Radim Vrbata. The trio combined for a total of 69 goals and 212 points. So it is easy to see that as this line goes so does the team. The Canucks will need huge years from all three to again be in the play-offs next April.
As for the aforementioned off-season moves let’s look at what GM Jim Benning did that have me so puzzled. First off he traded Kevin Bieksa to Anaheim for a 2016 second round draft pick. While this may help in the long run it hurts the team in the here and now. Bieksa while getting up there in years, he’s 34, he was still a big part of the Canucks defense playing over twenty minutes a night and was used on both the power-play and penalty kill. Next up was the July 1st trade that sent RW Zack Kassian to Montreal for LW Brandon Prust. This was also another loss for Benning in my opinion. While I don’t like Kassian in any way shape or form I have to admit that he is a much better player than Brandon Prust. In 42 games last season Kassian had 10 goals and 6 assists. Prust only managed 4 goals and 14 assists over the full 82 game schedule. Next is the ultra boneheaded play of the summer for Jim Benning. He sent center Nick Bonino and AHL defensive standout Adam Clendening to Pittsburgh for center Brandon Sutter and a 3rd round pick. This is a no-brainer for me, Sutter is a third line center on virtually any NHL team and Bonino was the Canucks 2nd line pivot last season and was also fourth in scoring behind only the top line guys. Add Clendening who had an amazing AHL season to the deal and it is clearly in favour of the Pens. Even with the addition of the draft pick this trade is still lopsided in Pittsburgh’s favour.
Potential Lineup:
Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Radim Vrbata
Chris Higgins – Brandon Sutter – Alex Burrows
Brandon Prust – Bo Horvat – Jannik Hansen
Sven Baertschi – Linden Vey – Derek Dorsett
Alex Edler – Christ Tanev
Dam Hamhuis – Yannick Weber
Luca Sbisa – Matt Bartkowski
Ryan Miller
Jacob Markstrom
Finishing second in the Pacific division last year is likely a lot higher than most had predicted for the Canucks. In my estimation after the off-season that this team had we are likely looking at a massive reduction in wins and points this season. At best I think we will see the Canucks in 5th place in the standings but more than likely I see them finishing 6th.
The players to watch for this team are, as always, the Sedin twins. If they can remain at or near the top of the league in scoring they could claw their way to fifth. As the twins go so does this team but I think even with the on ice magic between the two isn’t going to be anywhere near enough to save the Canuckleheads this year. As I stated in season predictions for the Pacific division over at JustOil.net, at least all the fires the rioters start will keep all the homeless warm this winter…
Welcome to the TENTH edition of the BLH Sunday Night Pint! This evening we have Zach Laing (@loweded), Rob Cooke (@Just Oil78), and Corey Mitchel (@corn_cwm) with us to talk about what is now old news, specifically what was the 3-headed monster in net. We’re also going to touch on how the boys would make the team “heavier” in the words of Peter Chiarelli and our final thoughts as the preseason closes out. So let’s get started shall we?
1. What Will Come of This Three-Headed Monster In Net?
ZL: Yikes. This is a extremely tough call. All three of the goaltenders have played very well up until this point in the preseason. Jeff Marek of Sportsnet has been saying for sometime now that he feels Ben Scrivens will end up being the starting goaltender for Edmonton. Marek is uncertain of Talbot, and thinks Scrivens has enough fight to earn that starter spot. Given that Anders Nilsson doesn’t need to clear waivers in order to be sent down, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him get sent down. Talbot and Scrivens will be able to push each other moving forward, and Nilsson could be called up if an injury occurs.
CM: Oh, the three headed goalie monster. Remember the classic Conklin-Morrison-Markannen conflict? We don’t need another one of those. Looking at things, my guess is that it’s going to be between Scrivens and Nilsson in regards to a goalie move. Looking at what Chiarelli was willing to give up for Talbot, he didn’t make that move just to put Talbot on waivers. Talbot will be on the team to start the season. There’s a very real chance that, as ideal as it may not be, the Oilers start the year with three goalies. Hopefully that isn’t the case. If you aren’t starting the year with a bonafide starter, then you start the year with two guys capable of battling it out for the job. I expect that at some point before the season starts, we see one of Scrivens or Nilsson on waivers. If it’s me, I move away from Scrivens, simply because he was here prior to Chiarelli, who added two guys for his net.
RC: Obviously the choice comes down to Nilsson or Scrivens. No chance that Peter Chiarelli brought in Talbot to only send him to the minors. He is the starter and won’t be going anywhere this season. This should be an open and shut case of which netminder has performed better to this point in the season. If that is the case, then Anders Nilsson is our back-up goalie and we can say good-bye to the Professor now.
Unfortunately play this fall isn’t the only thing to consider when McLellan and Chiarelli are deciding between the two. There are a couple things that bear consideration before a decision is reached. Experience in the NHL will definitely be a factor. Between Talbot and Nilsson the Oilers would have 80 games of NHL experience. Scrivens has over 100 games by himself. Another item to note is the waiver requirements for the two. Scrivens will require to clear waivers before he could be reassigned and Nilsson would not. Not that I see any team claiming Ben even if he is waived but you get the point. If I have to guess, which is the point of the question it would appear, I would say that Chiarelli is trying to move out Scrivens and his 2.3 million dollar cap but barring a trade I think we see Scrivens as the back-up in hopes that his play rebounds and teams come calling.
BLH: Well I have the distinct advantage of answering this question after the news came out about Ben Scrivens’ demotion. But had you asked me before hand I would’ve said the would keep Scrivens because it would’ve cost to much to move him AND Nikitin to the minors but that’s exactly what they’ve done. What will they do with all that cash tied up in Bakersfield? It’s definitely Chia’s and McLellan’s team now and the die has been cast. It’s their way or the highway.
2. How Would You Make the Oilers a “Heavier” Team?
ZL: In order for the Oilers to become “heavier”, the team needs to play a tougher style of game. When I think of heavy teams to play against, I think of teams like the LA Kings when they recently won their Stanley Cups. They play a game driven by strong fore-checking and lots of physical play which forces other teams off of the puck, allowing them to get good scoring chances. The Oilers need to play a game that is driven by the strong fore-check in order to create better scoring opportunities. I think at this point in the preseason, we have seen under McLellan’s system a much stronger fore-check and thus the Oilers have had greater scoring opportunities.
CM: As many people have talked about, it looks like the “enforcer” role is all but done with. So how does this team get heavier? Well, you aren’t about to go out and add a guy to your roster that’s going to play 4-6 minutes a game, and really have little effect on things. The Oilers have Luke Gazdic still, although he may not get too many games this year. The addition of Eric Gryba address things a bit as well, although he could see limited time, much like Gazdic. That being said, you don’t need to be “heavy” to play “heavy”. At this point, it’s going to take another slight culture change. This team has gone from blue collar, hard working, to high skill and speed. Now they need to add that heavy aspect as well. In short, what I’m trying to say is, the players the Oilers have need to learn to play heavy, even if that means taking a bad penalty here or there to establish that the Oilers aren’t going to get pushed around this season.
RC: This is a little bit of a misleading question. You would have had to watched the MacKenzie interview to understand what Peter really means by heaviness. He doesn’t mean heavier players necessarily. What he means is that he wants the team to play a more physical style. He wants his team to be dogged in their pursuit of the puck and to be willing to go into the dirty areas and come out with the puck. I for one do not see the Oilers as being able to play that style of game. The bottom six may be able to and with Pouliot and potentially Slepyshev on the top two lines it would give some of what Chiarelli is asking for. The skilled guys in the top six have never played that style and I don’t know that they ever will be really effective at it. Adding some grit and toughness to the top six is the only route I can see the team going at this stage.
BLH: Well personally I think Chiarelli will take a shot at either Milan Lucic or Kyle Okposo over the course of the season. They would add an element that the Oilers do not have. A guy who can score, hit, and open up the ice for the skillers. I read that Jordan Staal has been linked to the Oilers too. Not sure how reliable that is though. Surely the Canes would like to hold on to the younger Staal, what about the older one though?
With that said, the Oilers have been planning on this for some time. The additions of Anton Slepyshev and Leon Draisaitl, Lauri Korpikoski, and Mark Letestu show us the kind of forward the Oilers are looking to gravitate to. Griffin Reinhart and Eric Gryba on defence are also some big boys who can play a mean game but the sacrifice being how bad they’re going to get caught out on the road when the other team has last change.
3. Your Thoughts on the Oilers 2015/16 Preseason.
ZL: So far, I’m impressed. Our training camp has been much improved under McLellan and granted this is just preseason, the players seem to be responding well to his coaching. I mean, we are 6-1 in the 7 games we have played leading up to the season opener on Thursday. All of the comments have been very positive from the players and from McLellan himself. It will be interesting to see how the team performs through the first 20 games, and then the last 60. Everyone remembers how last season started, so let’s hope this year is much different.
CM: I think the Oilers are exactly what I thought they would be after the offseason. High skill on the front, big questions on the back. McDavid has been an absolute joy, and I can’t wait to watch him as the season starts. Draisaitl has been a very pleasant surprise for me personally., I had him pegged to start the year in the AHL, but he has totally earned the right to start the year on that top line with Hall and McDavid. Reinhart has also been a nice story, and I hope the preseason helped to show everyone who thought the Oilers paid too much for him, that they were mistaken. But the preseason is what it is, and means zero in the grand scheme of things. Let’s drop the puck on this season, and go from there.
RC: I like what I have seen from most of the players so far this season with some very obvious exceptions. McDavid appears as advertised, his speed off the wing is truly amazing to behold. Leon is showing that he is ready for full-time NHL action this season. Slepyshev has been a very nice surprise this fall. We knew he had some offensive ability but I don’t think anyone could have predicted just how good this young man was going to be coming from the bigger ice of the KHL. Anders Nilsson has been perfect so far in 120 minutes of game action and appears poised for a decent NHL career. Justin Schultz has been far superior to his previous seasons and on most nights has been the best defenseman on the team. Andrej Sekera seems to come as advertised. Aside from a couple defensive lapses against the Canucks on Thursday he has played fairly well in a very small sample size. Those are some of the positives.
The negatives are just as obvious as the positives. Andrew Ference has shown that he does not have enough left in the tank to compete with the younger faster players in the NHL. Captain or not, it is time for Andy to hang up the skates in my opinion. The other player that has proven to be a really bad choice for the opening night roster is Nikita Nikitin. Last season he was apparently injured for the majority of the year and that supposedly affected his performance greatly. Well then the guy must still be injured because I have seen no improvement what so ever from last year. He is too slow, can’t seem to make a pass exiting the defensive zone and more often than not his bomb from the point is finding the end boards instead of the net.
BLH: I’ll tell you what. Every year I am stoked because there’s a new crop of players and a new season is upon us but as we can all tell this isn’t just any season coming up. The new players have come to play this year and there’s no doubt in any of them. But the story of the preseason for me is what looks like the re-emergence of Nail Yakupov and, from my eye at least, the failing experiment that is Taylor Hall and Connor McDavid.
Yakupov looks to have his swagger back. He’s working hard, he’s shooting again, and it just looks like he’s loving hockey like he used to. As for Hall, he’s my whipping boy, so anything he does wrong gets magnified and anything he does right goes unnoticed because that’s what should be happening. But he looks way behind McDavid in terms of on-ice thought processes. Draisaitl looked better on 97’s wing to be honest. So we’ll have to keep an eye on this one.
BONUS: Who’s Your Favorite Captain of All-Time?
ZL: I am a big fan of Mark Messier. After Wayne Gretzky left, Moose stepped in and took the team to a Stanley Cup Championship. He helped prove to everyone that the Oilers could do it without Wayne, and they did just that. Considering he has an NHL award named after him – the Mark Messier Leadership Award – as well as the fact that he is the only player to Captain two teams to a Stanley Cup Champion.
CM: Do I get crucified if I don’t say Messier? Because I’m going totally bias here, and I’m saying Mario Lemieux. The sexy picks might be a Mark Messier or a Jonathan Toews, but the question is “favorite captain”. I can’t help it if my all time favorite player was a captain. Also, second best player of all time, and lead the Pens to back to back Cups. Just saying.
RC: How anyone could say anyone other than Mark Messier is beyond me. I mean come on the guy has an award named after him! The Mark Messier leadership award is named that way because of the respect that anyone that has ever played against or watched the man play the game. He led the right way. He was a fierce competitor and demanded the same from all his teammates. If you gave less than your all then you had Moose to deal with in the locker room! There hasn’t been many players in the league that were as widely respected and feared as Mess. He earned and deserves the award that bears his name and there should be no question as to who is the greatest NHL captain of all-time!
BLH: My Favorite captain of all-time (which is basically code for the time I’ve been alive) would be Wendel Clark. About the time I started following hockey more closely was when the Leafs were having those runs in the 90s. He played that old brand of Canadian hockey. Tough and fearless and a wrist shot that hasn’t been matched by many. And how could you not respect the handlebar mustache? Mario Lemieux was my favorite player but I’m not sure he was my favorite captain. Maybe in the 2002 Olympics is when he really shone as a captain. I think Steve Yzerman could be nominated too for how he went from highly skilled 100pt per season player to elite defensive center after numerous knee surgeries.
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below with your thoughts on this week’s SNP topics!
Oh and don’t forget to catch up with is on the Socials!
Welcome back to another edition of the Beer League Heroes Sunday Night Pint! This is the 9th installment and this week we’ve got Jason Adams (@Jason_Adams_ATB) from Alongtheboards.com, BLH’s newest contributor and photoshop extraordinaire Kjell Iverson (@kjelliverson), Justoil.net‘s Rob Cooke (@justoil78), and myself, BLH (@beerleagueheroe).
We’re going to be going over some hot topics from the week previous that include the Boston Bruins and their best imitation of the Oilers defence circa last year, Justin Schultz’s apparent turnaround, the battle between Darnell Nurse and Griffin Reinhart, and lastly, slurpees and the impact they’ve had on the socioeconomic status of blue collar workers across Canada… Or probably just what your favorite flavor is?
1. The Boston Bruins defence is in absolute shambles right now with the Injuries to Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, this would be a perfect time for Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli to call up his old chum Don Sweeney and see if he needs some help. If you were Chiarelli how would you offer to help Sweeney?
JA: Hmm… What would I do if I was Peter Chiarelli. How would I help out Boston? Well. There’s an old quote attributed to Bobby Hull – ‘I wouldn’t piss in his ear if his brain was on fire’. That’s approximately how I’d feel about the Bruins organization if I were Chiarelli, based on the circumstances of his departure and the Dougie Hamilton trade. I wouldn’t make a trade with the Bruins right now if I was Chiarelli – who I’m sure is less vindictive than I am – unless it was wildly tilted in Edmonton’s favour, or it involved taking Nikita Nikitin or Teddy Purcell off our hands. Otherwise, if the Bruins are drowning, hand them a brick.
KI: The Oilers pick up the tab for Don Sweeney’s medication and trade Andrew Ference to the Boston Bruins in exchange for future considerations and/or a case of beer. They need defensemen, right? No? That’s not helping them? I suppose they could always pick up Brandon Davidson off waivers for nothing?
RC: I am tempted to suggest trading the Captain back to his former team but with the injuries that require an addition being to Chara and Seidenberg I don’t see that Ference can really help. He has shown over the last two seasons that he isn’t capable of playing big minutes anymore and will likely be in the press box more often than not this season on a not good Oilers blue line.
Sending defenseman Nikita Nikitin is the most obvious choice but his play so far in the pre-season hasn’t been a ton better than last season despite being 100% healthy as Niki stated. However if the Oilers were willing to retain 50% of his salary I could see a deal made so the Bruins would have the added firepower on the power-play to make up for some of what Big Z provides. I know Nikitin has little to know value but Boston is kind of over a barrel so with the retained salary I would demand an 3rd round pick back from Sweeney. I doubt he would go for it but after the draft fiasco where Sweeney and Neely asked for more from Edmonton for Hamilton than they asked of the Flames I wouldn’t be all that willing to help them out in the slightest.
BLH: With the way training camp is going I’d see if he was interested in a RW to go with say Andrew Ference or Nikita Nikitin. Maybe Teddy Purcell or perhaps even Nail Yakupov. Anton Slepyshev is really turning heads here and he plays a game that is much more conducive to a 2nd/3rd liner than Nail Yakupov. Also, should a 1st overall pick really be suiting up on the 3rd line going into his 4th season? Not sure what a deal like that would bring back for Edmonton but it might be worth looking into as I did here.
2. Justin Schultz had a helluva game the other night vs. the Jets ECHL team and that has sparked a little debate amongst Oilers fans and pundits. Is this the year that Jultzy pulls it all together?
JA: Justin Schultz is a player that’s gotten all the flak in the world over the last couple of years, but his slate should be wiped clean like everyone else that endured the Eakins Era. The fact is that Schultz’s skill set is unique on the Oilers, and he’s never going to be prime Zdeno Chara. That being said he’s shown some good signs this preseason, so yes, I’ll say he’ll establish himself as a top 4 defenceman this year.
KI: I wrote a blog about this, so I suppose I’m sort of biased. I personally believe Schultz is going to have a career year. I felt he was a victim of poor defensive depth last season, and not utilized properly in the right situations. With better depth this season and the guidance of Todd McLellan, I think Schultz will make an impact. He’ll have off nights like everyone else, but I think we’ll see significantly less “Jultzing” than we did last year. If his performance against the Jets is any indication, he’s willing to do what it takes.
RC: For me it is still way to early to tell yet. He has shown a lot more confidence this fall so far but let’s be fair. He is playing AHL competition right now. Let’s see what he can do over the first ten to fifteen games of the season when wins will be crucial for this young team. Given his past performance as an Oiler I am doubtful that he can make enough of a change this season to earn himself that long-term deal that he desires. My money is on him being moved at the deadline to a team that can put him on the third pairing with plenty of power-play time.
BLH: Boy, I hope so. The Oilers have invested a lot into this kid and so far he’s served them with a big plate of go screw yourself. How much that has to do with his ability or with the ability of the coaching staff over the past few seasons is probably fodder for more water cooler chatter but I like his chances under McLellan due to the new coach’s ability to run a very effective powerplay. Will it earn him a long-term contract? I don’t think it will. I reckon the Oilers will trade him or walk away from him because they’ve got Jordan Oesterle and Joey Laleggia in the minors who could very well be excellent PP specialists in the future for the Oilers.
3. Darnell Nurse and Griffin Reinhart are set to duel it out for one of the last remaining spots on the blueline, who do you think has a better chance at winning a spot on the Oilers’ opening night roster?
JA: I took a good hard look at this question on one of my most recent articles for AlongTheBoards. At the time, I gave the nod to Nurse, but I think the organization is leaning towards Reinhart. Griff’s been playing solid, low risk hockey and has looked like an NHLer in camp. Not that Nurse has looked bad, but there’s still some chaos in his game to iron out.
KI: This is a tough one for me. I really like both of them. Reinhart has been the steadier of the two, but Nurse has made a bit more noise after exploding Hunter Smith’s nose. I like Nurse’s mobility and mean streak, and I like Reinhart’s poise and decision making. In the end, if we assume either of them make the roster, I have to give the nod to Reinhart. That being said, I’m not sure there is room for either of them.
RC: To my eyes Griffin appears that he is a little ahead of Darnell. Reinhart is a lot less chaotic than Nurse, he is a reliable defenseman that doesn’t appear to do more than he knows he can. Nurse tends to try to be everywhere still and needs some games in Bakersfield to learn to calm down and try to do a little less. If you are asking long-term then my answer is definitely Darnell Nurse.
Both are likely going to be fixtures of the Oilers top four for many years but Nurse has a higher projection in my opinion. He can bring more offense than Griffin and still is a very effective defender with a well documented mean streak. Nurse is the future of the defense and we all hope he evolves into a true franchise defender. Reinhart projects as a top four guy or maybe a defensive specialist on the top pairing if we are really lucky. Obviously having the pair of them in the top four for the next decade is the ultimate goal either way.
BLH: At this point I like Griffin Reinhart. The Oilers aren’t in need of a flashy dynamic defenceman right now, maybe later in the season but certainly not now. Reinhart is very cool and collected. He plays a very simple style of game. He’s also very strong and his skating has looked to have improved greatly. Nurse is still trying to do too much right now and the team isn’t quite ready to accommodate that sort of player yet. So I say Griffin Reinhart for the win!
BONUS: I’d say a good portion of Canadian kids from my generation grew up playing video games and inhaling Slurpees whilst playing said video games (Mario Kart, NHL ’94, or 007 Goldeneye), my question for the participants today is, What’s your favorite flavor of Slurpee?
JA: Any answer that is not Lime Crush is the wrong answer. I don’t have slurpees often, but if I see the gas station has that flavour, I will get one every time.
KI: I haven’t had a slurpee since I was 14. I suppose I’ll go with coke (do they even still make coke flavored slurpees?) since that goes well with rye or rum. I’d prefer beer though.
RC: Personally I wouldn’t know. I don’t drink the things. If you asked my wife she would say Pepsi or Coke are the only kinds worth buying but that is her opinion I guess. If you are buying I will take an extra large triple triple from Timmy’s instead!
BLH: Tough one. I love Slurpees and they’re absolutely horrid in Taiwan. They come out of the machine in purely a liquid state and then turn into a Slurpee in your cup… It’s weird and off-putting. But my favorite flavor is Coke. It’s a classic go-to for any Slurpee lover. If I had to pick another I’d say Root Beer or Dr.Pepper.
Thank you for reading! I guess to recap the consensus is that Justin Schultz’s middle name is Chaos, Griffin Reinhart bakes a better pie, Don Sweeney can take a hike off a short cliff and Slurpees are something that somebody in their 30’s should never touch…
The Minnesota Wild are an interesting team to follow this season. Thanks to late season heroics from Devan Dubnyk the Wild managed to claw their way back into a playoff spot. Without Duby’s 38 consecutive starts, 27 of which were wins there is little to no chance that this would have been a playoff contender last spring. Not that the team is bad or anything but they are not a powerhouse by any stretch. They are solid if not spectacular offensively, top third defensively, very bad on the power-play and the number one ranked team on the PK.
Key Additions: LW Ruslan Fedetenko, C Zac Dalpe, D Mike Rielly, and D Tyson Strachan
Key Departures: C Kyle Brodziak, LW Matt Cooke, RW Chris Stewart, G Josh Harding
Roster Contenders: LW Brett Sutter, C Tyler Graovac, RW Michael Keranen, D Jonathon Blum
Last season the Wild finished with a 46-28-8 record, good enough for sixth in the Western conference and 11th overall in the league. As I already stated before though Devan Dubnyk and his herculean efforts are responsible for 27 of those wins. Just goes to show what kind of season the team was having prior to acquiring Duby from Arizona.
This is a team that could go either way this season. If Dubnyk can replicate his performance from this past season the team should be sitting pretty but should his numbers regress back closer to his career averages the WIld could be in for a long season.
The only real positives that I can see from the off-season additions is Mike Rielly. Granted I can’t help but think we could be looking at Justin Schultz 2.0. He sounds eerily similar to what we heard the summer that Justin was so highly sought after. I guess time will tell if there is more to Rielly’s game than there was Schultz’s because every Oilers fan knows how unhappy we are with his performance to date. Personally I am much happier with the Wild signing Tyson Strachan but that is for purely selfish reasons. Tyson is my first cousin so his return to the Western conference means I get to see him play more than twice this season!
Potential Lineup:
Zach Parise – Mikael Granlund – Jason Pomenville
Thomas Vanek – Mikko Koivu – Nino Niederreiter
Jason Zucker – Charlie Coyle – Justin Fontaine
Ryan Carter – Erik Haula – Jordan Schroeder
Ryan Suter – Jonas Brodin
Jared Spurgeon – Mathew Dumba
Marco Scandella – Christian Folin
Devan Dubnyk
Niklas Backstrom
The Wild were fourth in the ultra tough Central division and will be looking to duplicate that finish or better. Their main competition this season is St. Louis, Chicago and Nashville. My money is on the Wild making the post-season but as a Wild Card team this year.
The player to watch, aside from Dubnyk is Mike Rielly. He will have to be lights out good to crack the opening night roster. I predict a season in the AHL with the farm team is his likely destination. Wild fans better hope he is closer to Karlsson than Schultz.
Last season the San Jose Sharks missed the playoff for the first time since 2003. In the aftermath we seen the mutual parting of ways between the team and long-time head coach Todd McLellan. Was last season an anomaly or is the long playoff run over for the one mighty Sharks? The core group of players is aging but there should still be a little left in the tank of Jumbo Joe Thornton and Patty Marleau. Enough to get them back to the playoffs? We will see I guess.
Key Additions: RW Joel Ward, D Paul Martin, D Mark Cundari, G Martin Jones
Key Departures: G Antti Niemi, D Matt Irwin, D Taylor Fedun
Roster Hopefuls: RW Timo Meier, RW Nikolay Goldobin, D Jeremy Roy
Last season was a bit of free fall for the once powerful Sharks. They went from 111 points and a second place finish in the Pacific division to 89 points and a fifth place end. The unfortunate part for Sharks fans is that while they did bring in a few nice players this summer they also lost a couple good ones too. Joel Ward is a great addition to the team as is defenseman Paul Martin but I can’t seem to figure out why they walked away from goaltender Antti Niemi. In my opinion opting for a very much unproven Martin Jones as the new starter when you had a more than capable starter already in the fold is beyond me but that is something you would have to ask GM Doug Wilson.
Timo Meier should bring the team some hope. He has a big frame and has excellent instincts in the offensive zone. He is a very capable player when he has the puck on his stick. He is going to head back to the QMJHL this season but should be in the NHL full-time by next season. If you haven’t had the pleasure of watching this kid play I urge you to do so! You won’t be disappointed. Another player on this team that I absolutely love is big defender/ winger Brent Burns. The guy is a stud defenseman and can really supply the offense from the backend. Last season he finished fourth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 43 assists. That’s pretty damn special for a defenseman!
Potential Lineup:
Patrick Marleau – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski
Melker Karlsson – Logan Couture – Tomas Hertl
Matt Neito – Chris Tierney – Joel Ward
Raffi Torres – Ben Smith – Tommy Wingels
Brent Burns – Paul Martin
M.E. Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brendon Dillon – Mirco Mueller
Martin Jones
Alex Stalock
The Sharks finished an astounding 11 points out of the playoffs, I know that isn’t “Oilers” astounding but that is pretty huge a change for a perennial playoff team like San Jose. I don’t think last season was an anomaly by any stretch. I think it was a bigger than expected regression but not an unexpected regression. With little in the way of changes from last season I expect the team will regress even further this season and will be in the fifth slot come the end of the season.
Martin Jones is the guy to keep an eye on for this team. He is largely unproven and will be needed to play a hell of a lot more than the fifteen games he played last season. It will be interesting to see if the Sharks guessed right and Jones is in fact ready. Situation sounds very similar to that of the Oilers.
