Detroit Red Wings: Predicting how the Atlantic Division will Shape Up
The Ottawa Senators: 8th
I don’t know how else to describe the current state of the Ottawa Senators other than a complete disaster of a franchise. The Sens dumped their franchise player Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks, which is good for the rest of the Atlantic Division teams.
The return from the Sharks is laughable. Erik Karlsson is a premium defenseman. A perennial Norris Trophy Candidate. The slick-skating, fleet-footed right-handed shot now joins a stacked Sharks team. Karlsson along with Brent Burns and Marc-Edward Vlasic becomes one of the deepest defense cores in the entire NHL.
The Sens fetched Dylan DeMelo and Chris Tierney both NHLers but with limited upside. The also received prospects Josh Norris and Rudolfs Balcers along with a first and second-round pick. The draft choices will, of course, be very late choices in their respected rounds.
Before the team decided to move on from Erik Karlsson they had dealt a top-six forward in Mike Hoffman to the Sharks, who flipped him immediately to the Florida Panthers. There was some snickering around the league; many folks considered the Sharks return for Hoffman much higher than what they gave up for him. Then the Sens still made another deal with the Sharks for Karlsson.
Hoffman and Karlsson had a bunch of off-ice issues last season. It was highly reported that Erik Karlsson’s wife had the misfortune of a stillborn child. A heartbreaking, devastating situation. After that terrible incident, it was said Mike Hoffman’s girlfriend “allegedly” created a false social media account to express very adverse actions towards the Karlsson’s.
The whole situation is a complete disaster for the franchise. Then there is this, Craig Anderson, the starting goaltender for the Sens, has requested a trade. He remains in Ottawa but is expected to be dealt at some point.
The owner of the Ottawa Senators has also threatened publically to move the franchise due to poor attendance. Just when you think it couldn’t get any more dysfunctional the Ottawa Senators assistant General Manager Randy Lee was accused of and charged with second-degree harassment.
When you see how bad it is in Ottawa, it makes things look so bright for the Detroit Red Wings. Ottawa will be right in the mix for the first overall selection in the 2019 Entry Level Draft.
Key Players;
Matt Duchene is still an outstanding top center in the NHL. Duchene along with Mark Stone will pace the Ottawa Senators offense this season. Stone will be a trade candidate at some point this season. Stone is in the final year of his contract and is set to become an unrestricted free agent July.1, 2019. Surely Mark Stone can’t wait to get out of dodge.
Future Stars;
Brady Tkachuk who is the son of former NHLer Keith is a rising star already as a rookie. The Sens selected Brady with the fourth overall pick in this past NHL draft. Tkachuk will skate as a top 6 forward this season from the get-go for the Sens. Cody Ceci, and Thomas Chabot are good defenders who have yet reached their full potential. The pair will serve as the top pairing this season for the franchise.
The ugly;
Bobby Ryan makes 7.25 million per season and is under contract until 2022. Craig Anderson is under contract obligations until 2020 at 4.75 million per season. The Sens also have Marian Gaborik‘s 4.875 million buried. Gaborik is under contract until 2021. Zack Smith was placed on waivers recently and went unclaimed; he makes 3.25 per. So the Detroit Red Wings are not the only team with terrible contracts on the books.
I expect the Ottawa Senators to be the odds-on favorite to win the draft lottery.
The Montreal Canadians: 7th
The Canadians have a lot of front office issues, but nothing like the Sens. Montreal remember traded P.K Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. Weber has been injury plagued since his arrival to the Habs and has had little to no impact on the franchise since his arrival.
The Habs recently traded their captain Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a familiar face to the Detroit Red Wings Tomas Tatar. Tatar is projected to skate on the Habs top line accompanied by Brenden Gallagher and Max Domi.
The Montreal Canadians are projected to start Max Domi as a center. A position he has yet to play in professional hockey. Not just a center, their top center. Let me know how that works out for you Habs nation.
Jonathan Drouin has had some issues throughout his young career getting along with management. Drouin was traded to the Habs in a deal that landed Mikhail Sergachev to Tampa. Drouin recorded 46 points including 13 goals last season for the Habs and was a minus 28.
Drouin is a much more capable NHL center than Domi, but Drouin’s inability defensively has led to his return to the wing. So the Habs have a winger playing center and a center playing wing. Makes sense right?
General Manager Marc Bergevin has swung and missed often leaving the Habs in limbo. Many folks have the Detroit Red Wings finishing below the Habs. I think there are too many question marks with Montreal myself to possess a better ranking.
Key PLayers;
Carey Price is still a top-notch goaltender in the NHL. Although the injury bug has bitten price in recent years, he is still a solid netminder. I can certainly see a scenario where the Montreal Canadians offer up Carey Price as trade bait. Another exciting situation may arise when Seattle is officially granted an expansion team. Montreal may leave Price unprotected as a way to shed his 10.5 million per season salary. Price has that expensive cap hit until 2026. The cap hit makes for a problematic trade piece without eating some of the contract.
Max Domi is a solid player, but I don’t consider him a franchise player. He is indeed much more gifted offensively on his worst day than his father ever was (that is clearly a joke). Domi, only 23 years of age, should be coming into his own. Drouin is 23 as well with a high ceiling if he can find a way to put it all together.
Brenden Gallagher is the most consistent forward of the group. Known as a pesky pest Gallagher goes into the dirty areas, often lays the body using his small frame in the corner. Gallagher will drive you crazy to play against but he’s a guy you wish was on your team.
Future Stars;
Maybe the next star, not plural. Jesperi Kotkaniemi was selected third overall by the Montreal Canadians in the 2018 Entry Level Draft. This is where Filip Zadina was expected to go. Montreal is desperate for NHL caliber centers they needed an NHL ready center even if his offensive ceiling isn’t as high as others who are wingers like Zadina or Tkachuk.
The Ugly;
Shea Weber has been nothing but a bust for the Montreal Canadians. Weber is under contract until 2026 at 7.8 million per season. Weber has often found himself on the injured reserve list. Andrew Shaw in his heyday was an effect bottom-six six forward with the always-contending Chicago Blackhawks. Shaw hasn’t done much for the Habs. His 3.9 million per season is owed until 2022.
The Montreal Canadians will be a lottery hopeful next summer.
The Detroit Red Wings: 6th
The Detroit Red Wings are a better club even with all their holes than the previous two mentioned. The Detroit Red Wings have a brighter future and more rising talent within. Yes, the defensive group struggles often.
The aging veteran players Ken Holland and Jeff Blashill prefer, limit the offensive upside. When the goaltenders are struggling, they seem like they wouldn’t be able to stop a floating feather, that is how ugly it can be.
The departure of Henrik Zetterberg hurts the depth and reliability among the Detroit Red Wings forwards. If the Detroit Red Wings were in a position to contend, the loss would be devastating. At this time the loss is almost a blessing in disguise. The departure allows the Wings to insert a young forward into a line-up of mediocre middle-aged forwards.
With Michael Rasmussen expected to make the team, 6th overall pick Filip Zadina and a couple of younger defenders. The Detroit Red Wings add more youngsters to youthful established players, Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Tyler Bertuzzi.
Finally, Ken Holland is starting to build a younger club. The Detroit Red Wings average age always nears the eldest in the league, still hovering around 30 years old. That is much too old in today’s NHL.
Key Players;
Dylan Larkin is set to lead the Detroit Red Wings. Larkin is now by far the Red Wings best all-around player. He’s the best two-way player on the team. Expect Larkin to lead the Detroit Red Wings forwards in average ice-time and points. If he continues to progress, we can start to call him a dynamic play-maker. He hasn’t reached his full potential quite yet.
Anthony Mantha should lead the Detroit Red Wings in goals this season. At times Mantha has forgotten to keep his feet moving and needs to improve his game without the puck. Mantha if he puts his mind to it should be a physical force who can pot 30 goals.
Andreas Athanasiou at times enters head coach Jeff Blashill’s dog house, and it seems no matter what he does positivly it takes quite some time to evacuate said dog house. Athanasiou if granted more ice will produce offensively and create constant scoring chances with his world-class speed.
Future Stars;
Filip Zadina and Michael Rasmussen both while in the Detroit Red Wings line-up need to play like top 9 forwards to produce. These players can’t provide or develop in a positive way buried on the fourth line. Jeff Blashill cannot play this pair the same way he’s played Martin Frk and Evgeny Svechnikov in the past.
Dennis Cholowski has looked the part throughout the preseason. A much-needed position upgrade for the Detroit Red Wings. The NHL defenders that are currently rostered are either past their prime or trending in the wrong direction. Joe Hicketts, Libor Sulak and Filip Hronek are all coming. The word star is a stretch, but Cholowski seems like the one who has top pairing potential down the road.
The Ugly;
The back-end for the Detroit Red Wings is a significant problem. Jonathan Ericsson and Nick Jensen should both lose their jobs to younger defenders. Will they though? Probably not, Jeff Blashill would instead, roll out a slow, limited upside veteran player than watch a rookie take his lumps.
Niklas Kronwall is a good leader but can only contribute as a 6th defenseman these days. The problem in Detroit is they have a bunch of 6 and 7th caliber defenders.
Danny DeKeyser is 28 years old and will be the veteran in a couple of years from now when the dust settles. Mike Green, Jonathan Ericsson, and Trevor Daley all have two years left on their deals.
Eventually, we will see full-scale changes on the back-end, until then it will continue to be under the “ugly” category.
The goaltending is a question mark. The Detroit Red Wings brought in Jonathan Bernier to push Jimmy Howard who is in the final year of his contract. Both goaltenders will find themselves struggling to produce with a weak defense core in front of them. Expect a lot of ups and downs.
Expect the Detroit Red Wings to be in the draft lottery mix as seasons end.
The Buffalo Sabres: 5th
Jack Eichel seems to be coming into his own. The Sabres are still a long way from being contenders or even playing as a top third team in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres are on the right path though.
Key Players;
The Sabres acquired Jeff Skinner from the Carolina Hurricanes. Skinner is expected to play with Jack Eichel and Kyle Okposo as the Buffalo Sabres top line. That’s an excellent top NHL line, but it starts to get thin up front after that.
The second line is set to feature the 8th overall pick from 2017 Casey Mittelstadt. Veterans Jason Pominville and Vladimir Sobotka are expected to flank the young center. That second line is anything but a force.
The Sabres also added former St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund to be their third line depth center.
Marco Scandella and Zach Bogosian provide stability and a veteran presence to a youthful back-end.
Buffalo upgraded in-goal adding Carter Hutton over the summer to replace Robin Lehner. Hutton the goaltender I wished Ken Holland targeted rather than Jonathan Bernier. Hutton joins Linus Ullmark as the battery in-goal for the Sabres.
Future Stars;
Jack Eichel has the potential to settle in as a top center for the Buffalo Sabres. The Sky is still the limit for 22-year-old Jack Eichel. Eichel recorded 25 goals and 64 points last year for the limping Sabres. The Sabres acquired Skinner to play along with Eichel on the top line. Eichel doesn’t have to do it all himself anymore. Skinner himself recorded 24 goals for the Cans’ last season and netted 49 points.
Rasmus Dahlin; the first overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Level Draft is set to make an immediate impact for the Buffalo Sabres. Dahlin joins Rasmus Ristolainen who is a dynamic talent in his own right.
They are both gifted offensively and have an opportunity to log big-time minutes for the Buffalo Sabres this season.
Sam Reinhart is a forward to watch. Reinhart is a breakout candidate for the Sabres. Reinhard was drafted second overall in 2014 has taken some time to live up to the hype. Nearly 23 years old and starting to look like he’s figuring it out.
The Ugly;
The bottom six forwards for the Buffalo Sabres are a little bleak. Question marks with Evan Rodriques, Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons. If one of two of these forwards hit, along with Reinhart, the Buffalo Sabres could surprise some people.
The defensive group will be dynamic for a long time, but the third pair is a little “ugly.” Jake McCabe and Nathan Beaulieu are nothing to write home about.
The Florida Panthers: 4th
The Panthers have an exciting club. Newly appointed captain Aleksander Barkov is a dynamic number one center in this league that not everyone has heard of.
Key PLayers:
Barkov is one of the most underrated NHL players in the league.
The Florida Panthers have the luxury to roll out Vincent Trocheck out as their second center. A very nice, dynamic, exciting one-two punch for the Florida Panthers.
The Panthers added Mike Hoffman who is a top six forward. Expect Hoffman to have a career year in the goal scoring department this season. Hoffman will be playing with the best group of forwards in his career.
Jonathan Huberdeau is set to start on the wing but can play some center if needed. This core of forwards will make the other around them elevate their games. Evgeni Dadonov, Nick Bjugstad will both benefit tremendously being sprinkled in on lines with the previous four forwards mentioned.
Aaron Ekbad and Keith Yandle serve as the top defenders for the club. Ekbad is one of the better defenders across the NHL. Yandle is a nice compliment, but the defense group is a weakness for the Panthers. Mike Matheson is solid. The Panthers will lean on those three; all will play 23 plus minutes a night.
Future Stars;
Barkov recorded 27 goals and totaled 78 points last season for the Panthers. Expect those numbers to continue to rise over the coming years.
Trocheck was a third-round pick in 2011. What a bargain he has become. Last season Vinny recorded 31 goals and added 44 helpers to total 75 points.
They are not precisely “future stars” they have become shining stars. Mix in Aaron Ekblad on the back-end and Mike Hoffman this is a playoff team that if they add a piece or two has the potential to make some playoff noise.
The Ugly:
An aging Roberto Luongo in-goal is a bit concerning. The Panthers also have James Reimer and signed Michael Hutchinson this summer. Luongo is under contract until 2022 at a steep price for his age. Bobby Lou makes 5.3 per season.
The Boston Bruins: 3rd
The Bruins have been able to roll out the underrated Patrice Bergeron year after year as their number one center. The four-time Selke Trophy winner is known for his defensive abilities, but he is also a dynamic offensive playmaker.
Bergeron, a pass-first player, is a scoring wingers dream to play alongside. Bergeron recorded 30 goals last year and 63 points through an injury-plagued season, left him to compete in 64 contests. A point a game, that is impressive.
Zdeno Chara was at one time an immovable force on the Boston Bruins back-end. Chara still a tough matchup for many forwards isn’t quite as impressive as he once was. Chara recorded 24 points last season and was a plus 22.
Future Stars/ Key Players:
The 22-year-old star David Pastrnak has posted back to back 30 plus goal seasons for the Bruins. Pastranak along with the pesky Brad Marchand usually skate with Bergeron between them makes for a top line that can play against any other top line in the NHL.
Jake DeBrusk and Ryan Donato are a pair of young forwards who are about to take off and provide the Boston Bruins with three sharp lines to roll out against the competition. David Krejci is an outstanding second line center. He plays a big two-way style similar to Bergeron but a little more physical but not quite as offensively gifted.
On the back-end, the Bruins have Torey Krug and Charlie McAvoy who are both offensively gifted. Both defenders can really skate and create from the defensive position. Chara still plays big minutes, but the pressure is spread out a bit more these days with the youthful legs taking a chunk of minutes Chara use to play.
The Ugly:
The Bruins have three solid lines, and that should be enough to keep them rocking all season long but the fourth line is not what it once was. Joakim Nordstrom, Chris Wagner, and Noel Acciari look to make up the Bruins fourth line.
Last year the Bruins depth was noticed during their playoff run with Tim Scheller and Riley Nash. Both players have moved on because of cap reasons.
Tuukka Rask is still elite, but when he struggled for a month last season, the Bruins were able to plug-in Anton Khudobin who has now moved to play for the Dallas Stars. The Bruins back-up now is Jaroslav Halak. A definite downgrade.
The Bruins really lean on their top 4 defenders, and it is simple. John Moore and Brandon Carlo can be unreliable at times.
The Toronto Maple Leafs: 2nd
The Mike Babcock guided Toronto Maple Leafs are Stanley Cup contenders until further notice. The Leafs landed John Tavares this offseason adding to an already offensive juggernaut.
The Key PLayers/Stars:
Tavares is the closest to a complete center that there can be. Detroit Red Wings fans won’t want to hear this, but he’s basically Henrik Zetterberg in his prime. Mike Babcock has his guy. Tavares will be leaned upon early and often by his head coach. Babcock will roll Tavares out in all of the critical times throughout the hockey game.
It doesn’t hurt to have all the young scoring forwards Brenden Shanahan, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have assembled. William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews make up a young trio of scorers.
When you throw those guys in a snow globe and shake it up with players like Patrick Marleau, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown and Nazim Kadri you have a team that can score with all three lines. The Leafs are deep up front, real deep. The Leafs have young forwards like Josh Leivo, Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen playing as bottom six forwards. Believe it, or not all three have 20 goals, 50 point potential.
The Ugly:
The Leafs have a substantial number one defender in Morgan Reilly, but he can’t do it all himself. The Leafs need help on the back-end. Ron Hainsey is ok; Jake Gardiner is much better than he played late in last years playoffs. He owned his mistakes, and the Leafs expect him to bounce back.
Travis Dermott is expected to flourish this season and rise through the Leafs depth chart. As a group, this is the weakness of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the defensive core. They will look to add a defender at some point this season.
The goaltender Frederik Anderson is a guy Mike Babcock uses as his workhorse. Anderson will play nearly 70 games for the Leafs. At times he is left on an island with Toronto’s struggles on the back-end. He can win a game on his own.
Mike Babcock only turned to Curtis McElhinney on the second day of back to back games. Expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to be in the market for a defenseman at some point this season.
For the record, Mike Babcock has adapted some as a coach. He used to be so defensively driven; now he allows all these young stars in Toronto play more of a wide-open style of hockey. Jeff Blashill needs to take notice and let the young Detroit Red Wings to play more of that wide-open looking hockey. Babcock knows his team needs to score a lot to win, they don’t have the roster to lock opponents down, and either does Detroit.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will win the Atlantic Division.
The Lightning we suspect will win a close division race with the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. I would say the Leafs are the deepest upfront of the three teams. The Bruins are solid all around but don’t have quite as much depth.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have the best defensive group of the bunch. Also a Vezina Trophy candidate in Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Stars:
Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are both perennial goal scorers. Both players have the opportunity to achieve 40 goals each every season. Brayden Point is a player who sort of broke out last season for the Lightning, expect an encore performance out of Point this season.
Tyler Johnson isn’t a star, but he is the Detroit Red Wings killer, I feel obligated to write him in because of that alone.
Victor Hedman is one of the best defensemen in all of hockey. Hedman plays nearly 30 minutes a night and can take over the game when he is feeling up to it. I wouldn’t say he is anything near Nicklas Lidstrom, but he has the same type of impact on a nightly basis for his club, similar to what Chris Pronger did when he was going right.
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The Lightning traded for Ryan McDonagh last season, another impact defender added to the stable. They were able to re-sign Ryan locking him and Hedman both up for the long-term. Expect McDonagh to be paired with his old friend from the Rangers days, Dan Girardi.
Hedman often plays with the reliable Anton Stralman. TB traded Jonathan Drouin last offseason to the Montreal Canadians for Mikhail Sergachev. Mikhail is currently a third pair defender. I expect him to take a step forward; he is heading towards being an impact NHL defender.
The Ugly:
How much ugly can there be with the team expected to win the Eastern Conference? The only weakness is the bottom 6 forwards. The Tampa Bay Lightning are a top-heavy scoring forward club. They have the players and scorers to carry the club, but they could look to add depth if they can fit it under their salary cap.
Next. Potential 30 Goal achievers for the Detroit Red Wings. dark
The 5th and 6th rated defenders are old and play up and down throughout the season. Brayden Coburn is anything but a gifted skater, and Dan Girardi has lost a step.
That is about it; the Lightning are Cup contenders, expect them to finish around 110 points.