Post by St. Louis Sting on Oct 5, 2017 0:34:08 GMT -5
It's been over a year since I've put one of these together, and I've got fantasy fever at the moment so I'll do one now!
The Contenders
St. Louis Sting
Biggest Assets: Connor McDavid, Brent Burns, Nikita Kucherov, Carey Price
Position of Strength: Center, Defenseman, Goalie
Position of Weakness: None
Breakout Potential: Christian Dvorak, Landeskog bounce-back
2017 Outlook: The Sting went all-out in the offseason to try to return to the NHL winners circle after taking the Stanley Cup in the league's inaugural season. St. Louis went out and acquired top-tier assets in Brent Burns and Nikita Kucherov, as well as Rasmus Ristolainen who is a multi-category beast in this league set-up. The three-headed monster of Price, Jones, and Dubnyk should continue to dominate the crease, leaving the Sting without a noticeable hole, and barring a disastrous turn of events, they should be competing for the title at the end of the year.
New Jersey Haze
Biggest Assets: Brad Marchand, Vladimir Tarasenko, Braden Holtby, Sergei Bobrovsky
Position of Strength: Goalie, Wings
Position of Weakness: Defense?
Breakout Potential: Alex Galchenyuk, Stamkos return
2017 Outlook: New Jersey's most notable move this offseason was the re-signing of the league's top goalie tandem in Holtby and Bobrovsky despite RFA offers that jacked up their prices. Goalies are a key to this league, and Jeff knows it, as he ponied up to return the Vezina front-runners' services for the extended future. Though the wings for the Haze are extraordinarily strong, the Haze will need a full bounce-back from Steven Stamkos or the middle of the ice could lag behind the other top teams. The defense also isn't a great strength of this team, particularly in the shot blocking category where the Haze could get rolled every week. Still, there is a ton of potential here, and you shouldn't expect to see the Haze sit lower than 4th place when it's all said and done.
Norwich Nemesis
Biggest Assets: Alex Ovechkin, Joe Pavelski, Filip Forsberg
Position of Strength: Center and Defense
Position of Weakness: None
Breakout Potential: Juuse Saros, Robby Fabbri if he had knees
2017 Outlook: Assuming Norwich gets its salary issues straightened out, this team should be one of the top squads in the league again this coming season. Going into the offseason the Nemesis moved on from Vladimir Tarasenko and Rasmus Ristolainen to stock the NBA squad, so it was shocking to see the Nemesis come out so hard in free agency to acquire Alex Ovechkin and Shea Weber. Weber was immediately moved in a deal for Kyle Lowry, but the Nemesis returned some solid NHL players in that deal as well that should keep them near the cream of the crop. The costs got a bit out of hand and the Nemesis may end up handcuffed in payroll to begin the season, so that is something to keep an eye on as well.
Montana Grizzlies
Biggest Assets: Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, Corey Perry, Dustin Byfuglien
Position of Strength: Center
Position of Weakness: None
Breakout Potential: Shayne Gostisbehere, Sam Bennett
2017 Outlook: After falling to the Cajuns in the finals last season, the Grizzlies return with a vengeance, and largely the same team that got them there in 2016. There was very little roster turn-over for the Grizz this offseason, which has led to a quiet offseason in Montana. Perhaps they are resting on their laurels, which could be dangerous as you watch the Sting, Haze, and Nemesis retool for a run at the cup. The Grizz still remain in the top tier, however, and their could even be growth for this team as Bennett, Aho, and Ghost all get another year under their belts.
Maybe, Just Maybe
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Biggest Assets: Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Blake Wheeler
Position of Strength: Center
Position of Weakness: Goalie, Defense
Breakout Potential: Ummmmm...
2017 Outlook: If you thought the Nemesis had payroll issues just check out the defending champs. The Cajuns took a big chance in the offseason acquiring the rights to top defender Erik Karlsson, but he had to pay dearly to retain his services. Louisiana's core from their championship season all hit RFA at the same time, and those increased salaries are having huge consequences on the construction and depth of this roster. The Cajuns had to sacrifice Jonathan Toews to the Payroll Gods in order to retain the services of their high priced RFA's, but there are still significant holes on this roster. The goalie situation clearly stands out as multiple levels below that of the three teams mentioned above, and the defensemen could be rough. Owner Kap issued a challenge to the league, saying that we should cancel the regular season now, but with the current turmoil in Louisiana I have a tough time placing the Cajuns into that top tier.
Syracuse Warriors
Biggest Assets: John Tavares, David Pastrnak, Mitch Marner
Position of Strength: Center, Wings
Position of Weakness: Goalie, Defense
Breakout Potential: Mitch Marner, Evgeni Dadonov
2017 Outlook: Like last year, Syracuse remains a competitive team that falls just outside the elite tier. That holds particularly true now after trading away Joe Pavelski and, in a surprising turn of events, losing #1 goaltender Jonathan Quick to Restricted Free Agency. Quick's loss is the real devastating blow here, as it took a solid goaltending corps and potentially turned it into a below-average netminding group. Luckily for the Warriors they were able to scoop up King Henrik, but there could be an issue with pucks going in the net on this Syracuse team between their weaker goaltending and uninspiring defensemen.
Fighting for Their Playoff Lives
Dallas Desparados
Biggest Assets: Wayne Simmonds, Leon Draisaitl
Position of Strength: LW
Position of Weakness: Goalies
Breakout Potential: More than I'd like to list
2017 Outlook: It appears that a youth movement has started in Dallas, as the NHL team is extremely young but also immensely talented. It is extremely likely that at least a couple of the young studs that Dallas has acquired will break out in a significant way, and that could lead this team up the rankings and into the playoffs. Of course it helps having someone like Wayne Simmonds to lead the way, and it may take a season or two for the babies to get their skates under them, but I'm excited to see where Dallas goes in the future. The biggest immediate concern for this team is undoubtedly the goalies, as there is no clear number one there and when they do get in the crease it could get ugly fast.
Pensacola Pelicans
Biggest Assets: Victor Hedman, Jeff Carter, TJ Oshie
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: LW, Goalie
Breakout Potential: Almost as much as Dallas
2017 Outlook: In many ways I could write the same thing for the Pelicans as I did for Dallas. Pensacola has a few veterans to lead the team to a few victories now, but the real attractiveness of the squad is the future. Drouin, Ehlers, Kuznetsov, Reinhart, and Vasilevskiy all have major impact potential, and hopefully for the Pelicans they start to put it together this season. If things come together more quickly than I expect the Pelicans could make a run towards the top of that second tier, but I believe the goaltending situation will keep this team from joining the elite even if the breakouts happen. Craig Anderson got PAID in free agency, but it remains to be seen whether he will live up to that lofty contract at age 36. It was a risky play, but one that could very well pan out for the young Pelicans.
Clayhounds Dawgs
Biggest Assets: Jamie Benn, Nicklas Backstrom, Jonathan Quick
Position of Strength: Wings, Goalies?
Position of Weakness: Center, Defense
Breakout Potential: Lots
2017 Outlook: As we have become accustomed to for a while, the Dawgs go into the 2017 season with something of a "stars and scrubs" lineup. The top of this roster is fantastic, led by Jamie Benn, Nicklas Backstrom, Milan Lucic, and Cam Atkinson. After the top few guys, however, things go downhill quickly largely due to the fact that a few of the brightest stars (Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson) were shipped off entering their RFA season. A good portion of the roster is made up of rookies or very young guys just over the rookie thresholds, so there is breakout potential here. There is also the chance that this team falls flat on its face. One aspect that should keep the Dawgs competitive a lot of weeks are the goalies, Jonathan Quick (stolen from Syracuse) and Marc-Andre Fleury give the team a respectable 1-2 punch. I don't expect the Dawgs to finish any higher than 6th in the standings, and if the rookies don't perform there is some serious downside here.
The Bottom Feeders
Buffalo Wings
Biggest Assets: Jonathan Toews, PK Subban, Ryan Suter
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: Offense
Breakout Potential: Not a lot
2017 Outlook: Buffalo has been transparent in their plans to tear down and rebuild the NHL system, and looking at the roster you can tell that plan is still in force. The Wings don't have a ton of top-tier talent sprinkled in the roster, but there is a glimmer of a future coming together. The Wings locked down PK Subban to man the blue line, and lucked out when the Payroll Gods handed them Jonathan Toews late in free agency. There are some young players who could experience growth, but very few (if any) blue-chip prospects to bank on. Most of the team is made up of old superstars well past their prime, just seeking one last magical run. I'm sorry to tell them, however, that I don't believe that will be happening in Buffalo this year.
Fort Wayne Freedom
Biggest Assets: Jack Eichel, John Klingberg, Matt Murray
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: Goalie, Offense
Breakout Potential: Nico Hischier, Max Domi, Jesse Puljujarvi
2017 Outlook: The Freedom enter the 2017 season near the bottom of the heap again, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. The Freedom had an excellent showing in free agency this year, scooping up John Klingberg, Phil Kessel, and what's left of Zach Parise. Add these guys in to the young core led by Jack Eichel, Matt Murray, and William Nylander and you have the makings of a solid future team. If things had fallen differently Fort Wayne could even be a tier higher, as they made runs at multiple high-profile RFA's to no avail. The team still appears incomplete (something that Brian needs to fix!) and will still finish near the bottom this season, but there is hope out in Fort Wayne now.
Connecticut Huskies
Biggest Assets: Auston Matthews. That's it.
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: Everything but the defense
Breakout Potential: Ivan Provorov, Dylan Strome, Timo Meier, Nolan Patrick
2017 Outlook: Staring at the roster right now, it doesn't look like the Huskies will improve much on last year's last place finish. Auston Matthews can try all he wants, but until some of the other younger guys start stepping up and ramping up their development this team will be in rough shape. That is possible though! There are potential breakouts to be found, perhaps none moreso than the most recent #1 overall pick, Nolan Patrick. Expect the Huskies to let Patrick grow his game in the Juniors all season, but there is a glimmer of promise in the future even if it is dim as can be.
I hope you all enjoy these. If you have any comments or predictions of your own please share them!
The Contenders
St. Louis Sting
Biggest Assets: Connor McDavid, Brent Burns, Nikita Kucherov, Carey Price
Position of Strength: Center, Defenseman, Goalie
Position of Weakness: None
Breakout Potential: Christian Dvorak, Landeskog bounce-back
2017 Outlook: The Sting went all-out in the offseason to try to return to the NHL winners circle after taking the Stanley Cup in the league's inaugural season. St. Louis went out and acquired top-tier assets in Brent Burns and Nikita Kucherov, as well as Rasmus Ristolainen who is a multi-category beast in this league set-up. The three-headed monster of Price, Jones, and Dubnyk should continue to dominate the crease, leaving the Sting without a noticeable hole, and barring a disastrous turn of events, they should be competing for the title at the end of the year.
New Jersey Haze
Biggest Assets: Brad Marchand, Vladimir Tarasenko, Braden Holtby, Sergei Bobrovsky
Position of Strength: Goalie, Wings
Position of Weakness: Defense?
Breakout Potential: Alex Galchenyuk, Stamkos return
2017 Outlook: New Jersey's most notable move this offseason was the re-signing of the league's top goalie tandem in Holtby and Bobrovsky despite RFA offers that jacked up their prices. Goalies are a key to this league, and Jeff knows it, as he ponied up to return the Vezina front-runners' services for the extended future. Though the wings for the Haze are extraordinarily strong, the Haze will need a full bounce-back from Steven Stamkos or the middle of the ice could lag behind the other top teams. The defense also isn't a great strength of this team, particularly in the shot blocking category where the Haze could get rolled every week. Still, there is a ton of potential here, and you shouldn't expect to see the Haze sit lower than 4th place when it's all said and done.
Norwich Nemesis
Biggest Assets: Alex Ovechkin, Joe Pavelski, Filip Forsberg
Position of Strength: Center and Defense
Position of Weakness: None
Breakout Potential: Juuse Saros, Robby Fabbri if he had knees
2017 Outlook: Assuming Norwich gets its salary issues straightened out, this team should be one of the top squads in the league again this coming season. Going into the offseason the Nemesis moved on from Vladimir Tarasenko and Rasmus Ristolainen to stock the NBA squad, so it was shocking to see the Nemesis come out so hard in free agency to acquire Alex Ovechkin and Shea Weber. Weber was immediately moved in a deal for Kyle Lowry, but the Nemesis returned some solid NHL players in that deal as well that should keep them near the cream of the crop. The costs got a bit out of hand and the Nemesis may end up handcuffed in payroll to begin the season, so that is something to keep an eye on as well.
Montana Grizzlies
Biggest Assets: Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, Corey Perry, Dustin Byfuglien
Position of Strength: Center
Position of Weakness: None
Breakout Potential: Shayne Gostisbehere, Sam Bennett
2017 Outlook: After falling to the Cajuns in the finals last season, the Grizzlies return with a vengeance, and largely the same team that got them there in 2016. There was very little roster turn-over for the Grizz this offseason, which has led to a quiet offseason in Montana. Perhaps they are resting on their laurels, which could be dangerous as you watch the Sting, Haze, and Nemesis retool for a run at the cup. The Grizz still remain in the top tier, however, and their could even be growth for this team as Bennett, Aho, and Ghost all get another year under their belts.
Maybe, Just Maybe
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Biggest Assets: Sidney Crosby, Erik Karlsson, Blake Wheeler
Position of Strength: Center
Position of Weakness: Goalie, Defense
Breakout Potential: Ummmmm...
2017 Outlook: If you thought the Nemesis had payroll issues just check out the defending champs. The Cajuns took a big chance in the offseason acquiring the rights to top defender Erik Karlsson, but he had to pay dearly to retain his services. Louisiana's core from their championship season all hit RFA at the same time, and those increased salaries are having huge consequences on the construction and depth of this roster. The Cajuns had to sacrifice Jonathan Toews to the Payroll Gods in order to retain the services of their high priced RFA's, but there are still significant holes on this roster. The goalie situation clearly stands out as multiple levels below that of the three teams mentioned above, and the defensemen could be rough. Owner Kap issued a challenge to the league, saying that we should cancel the regular season now, but with the current turmoil in Louisiana I have a tough time placing the Cajuns into that top tier.
Syracuse Warriors
Biggest Assets: John Tavares, David Pastrnak, Mitch Marner
Position of Strength: Center, Wings
Position of Weakness: Goalie, Defense
Breakout Potential: Mitch Marner, Evgeni Dadonov
2017 Outlook: Like last year, Syracuse remains a competitive team that falls just outside the elite tier. That holds particularly true now after trading away Joe Pavelski and, in a surprising turn of events, losing #1 goaltender Jonathan Quick to Restricted Free Agency. Quick's loss is the real devastating blow here, as it took a solid goaltending corps and potentially turned it into a below-average netminding group. Luckily for the Warriors they were able to scoop up King Henrik, but there could be an issue with pucks going in the net on this Syracuse team between their weaker goaltending and uninspiring defensemen.
Fighting for Their Playoff Lives
Dallas Desparados
Biggest Assets: Wayne Simmonds, Leon Draisaitl
Position of Strength: LW
Position of Weakness: Goalies
Breakout Potential: More than I'd like to list
2017 Outlook: It appears that a youth movement has started in Dallas, as the NHL team is extremely young but also immensely talented. It is extremely likely that at least a couple of the young studs that Dallas has acquired will break out in a significant way, and that could lead this team up the rankings and into the playoffs. Of course it helps having someone like Wayne Simmonds to lead the way, and it may take a season or two for the babies to get their skates under them, but I'm excited to see where Dallas goes in the future. The biggest immediate concern for this team is undoubtedly the goalies, as there is no clear number one there and when they do get in the crease it could get ugly fast.
Pensacola Pelicans
Biggest Assets: Victor Hedman, Jeff Carter, TJ Oshie
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: LW, Goalie
Breakout Potential: Almost as much as Dallas
2017 Outlook: In many ways I could write the same thing for the Pelicans as I did for Dallas. Pensacola has a few veterans to lead the team to a few victories now, but the real attractiveness of the squad is the future. Drouin, Ehlers, Kuznetsov, Reinhart, and Vasilevskiy all have major impact potential, and hopefully for the Pelicans they start to put it together this season. If things come together more quickly than I expect the Pelicans could make a run towards the top of that second tier, but I believe the goaltending situation will keep this team from joining the elite even if the breakouts happen. Craig Anderson got PAID in free agency, but it remains to be seen whether he will live up to that lofty contract at age 36. It was a risky play, but one that could very well pan out for the young Pelicans.
Clayhounds Dawgs
Biggest Assets: Jamie Benn, Nicklas Backstrom, Jonathan Quick
Position of Strength: Wings, Goalies?
Position of Weakness: Center, Defense
Breakout Potential: Lots
2017 Outlook: As we have become accustomed to for a while, the Dawgs go into the 2017 season with something of a "stars and scrubs" lineup. The top of this roster is fantastic, led by Jamie Benn, Nicklas Backstrom, Milan Lucic, and Cam Atkinson. After the top few guys, however, things go downhill quickly largely due to the fact that a few of the brightest stars (Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson) were shipped off entering their RFA season. A good portion of the roster is made up of rookies or very young guys just over the rookie thresholds, so there is breakout potential here. There is also the chance that this team falls flat on its face. One aspect that should keep the Dawgs competitive a lot of weeks are the goalies, Jonathan Quick (stolen from Syracuse) and Marc-Andre Fleury give the team a respectable 1-2 punch. I don't expect the Dawgs to finish any higher than 6th in the standings, and if the rookies don't perform there is some serious downside here.
The Bottom Feeders
Buffalo Wings
Biggest Assets: Jonathan Toews, PK Subban, Ryan Suter
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: Offense
Breakout Potential: Not a lot
2017 Outlook: Buffalo has been transparent in their plans to tear down and rebuild the NHL system, and looking at the roster you can tell that plan is still in force. The Wings don't have a ton of top-tier talent sprinkled in the roster, but there is a glimmer of a future coming together. The Wings locked down PK Subban to man the blue line, and lucked out when the Payroll Gods handed them Jonathan Toews late in free agency. There are some young players who could experience growth, but very few (if any) blue-chip prospects to bank on. Most of the team is made up of old superstars well past their prime, just seeking one last magical run. I'm sorry to tell them, however, that I don't believe that will be happening in Buffalo this year.
Fort Wayne Freedom
Biggest Assets: Jack Eichel, John Klingberg, Matt Murray
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: Goalie, Offense
Breakout Potential: Nico Hischier, Max Domi, Jesse Puljujarvi
2017 Outlook: The Freedom enter the 2017 season near the bottom of the heap again, but it wasn't for a lack of effort. The Freedom had an excellent showing in free agency this year, scooping up John Klingberg, Phil Kessel, and what's left of Zach Parise. Add these guys in to the young core led by Jack Eichel, Matt Murray, and William Nylander and you have the makings of a solid future team. If things had fallen differently Fort Wayne could even be a tier higher, as they made runs at multiple high-profile RFA's to no avail. The team still appears incomplete (something that Brian needs to fix!) and will still finish near the bottom this season, but there is hope out in Fort Wayne now.
Connecticut Huskies
Biggest Assets: Auston Matthews. That's it.
Position of Strength: None
Position of Weakness: Everything but the defense
Breakout Potential: Ivan Provorov, Dylan Strome, Timo Meier, Nolan Patrick
2017 Outlook: Staring at the roster right now, it doesn't look like the Huskies will improve much on last year's last place finish. Auston Matthews can try all he wants, but until some of the other younger guys start stepping up and ramping up their development this team will be in rough shape. That is possible though! There are potential breakouts to be found, perhaps none moreso than the most recent #1 overall pick, Nolan Patrick. Expect the Huskies to let Patrick grow his game in the Juniors all season, but there is a glimmer of promise in the future even if it is dim as can be.
I hope you all enjoy these. If you have any comments or predictions of your own please share them!
