OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - Vancouver Canucks - 2014 - what if Jim Benning never happened? Pt. 2

CanuckJohnny · 03-10-2024, 05:03 PM

NHL Season Preview

October 2nd, 2018 -

The top ranked rosters coming into the season are the Blues, Canadiens and Predators. Montreal is expected to have another sharp season and earn an opportunity to redeem themselves in the postseason after finishing short of where they wanted. St. Louis is only one year removed from winning the Cup and still maintains most of the core pieces from the roster. Star winger Vladimir Tarasenko will look to lead them back to the promised land. Nashville has the top-rated D corps in the NHL and a budding superstar in winger Filip Forsberg. If Rinne can take care of business between the pipes they could challenge for a cup.

Tampa Bay is a team with serious skill up front and a bona fide number one defenseman in Victor Hedman. With Andrei Vasilevskiy coming into his own as one of the elite netminders in the NHL they have potential to win it all and have seemed to be on the cusp of greatness for a couple years now. This could be the year they put it all together. Washington can count on good goaltending from Braden Holtby and they have build a top five blueline to complement their skilled forwards led by Alex Ovechkin. Boston is fresh off another visit to the Cup Final and they look dangerous as always, with Pastrnak and Marchand leading the charge up front and Patrice Bergeron providing steady two way play. Their blueline is led by two stars in Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton and Tuukka Rask is reliable and consistent in net for them. They will look to get back to the Finals and earn a different result.

Calgary will be in tough to defend their championship with the tenth ranked roster in the NHL. Devan Dubnyk is a top ten, maybe top 5 goalie in the league and they will expect him to keep them in a lot of games but their forward group is still young and doesn't have a lot of eye popping talent beyond Gaudreau, Monahan and Strome. If Kyle Connor can take another step forward in his sophomore season that would be huge for them. Pittsburgh has the number one ranked forward group in the NHL with the three headed monster of Crosby, Malkin and Hartman down the middle and a plethora of talent on their wings between Guentzel, Oshie, Perron, Perry and Beau Bennett. The questions for them are whether their tandem of Murray and Raanta can play as well as consistently as they did last year and whether Kris Letang at 31 can still carry this D corps that lacks any other big names or standout talents.

A couple Pacific Division teams are expected to be on the cusp of a playoff appearance this season. Anaheim has a rising star on their hands in 25 year old goalie John Gibson and some good young pieces on their blueline between Theodore, Fowler, Vatanen and Lindholm (once he gets healthy, he's out indefinitely with a back injury to start the season). Can a ragtag forward group led by captain Ryan Getzlaf and comprised of veterans like Palmieri and Silfverberg, rising stars like Boeser and Terry and thirty goal scorer Rikard Rakell get it done and score enough to make the postseason? The Kings are led by Kopitar, Doughty and Quick. They will need all of them to stay healthy and to get regular contributions from the rest of the lineup beyond Kopi and Toffoli in order to make the playoffs but Jonathan Quick will always give them a chance.

The scoring race is expected to be a showcase of the league's young guns, it will probably be between Buffalo's generational superstar Connor McDavid, Edmonton's Leon Draisatl and Florida's sniper supreme Auston Matthews. The battle for the Norris will likely come down to top defensemen Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson and Roman Josi. Montreal's Carey Price is still the consensus best goalie in the league but he will be challenged for the Vezina by Freddy Andersen of the Golden Knights and Anaheim's John Gibson.

Early favourites for the Calder include Vegas forward Elias Pettersson who is expected to start the season centering their third line between veterans Brandon Pirri and Patric Hornqvist, 18 year old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin of the Jets who has earned a first pairing role out of training camp and 20 year old forward Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Blue Jackets who already has nineteen games of NHL experience under his belt but is expected to be more productive this season than the four points he posted in his stint last year.

03-10-2024, 05:03 PM	#96
CanuckJohnny All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2022 Posts: 554	NHL Season Preview October 2nd, 2018 - The top ranked rosters coming into the season are the Blues, Canadiens and Predators. Montreal is expected to have another sharp season and earn an opportunity to redeem themselves in the postseason after finishing short of where they wanted. St. Louis is only one year removed from winning the Cup and still maintains most of the core pieces from the roster. Star winger Vladimir Tarasenko will look to lead them back to the promised land. Nashville has the top-rated D corps in the NHL and a budding superstar in winger Filip Forsberg. If Rinne can take care of business between the pipes they could challenge for a cup. Tampa Bay is a team with serious skill up front and a bona fide number one defenseman in Victor Hedman. With Andrei Vasilevskiy coming into his own as one of the elite netminders in the NHL they have potential to win it all and have seemed to be on the cusp of greatness for a couple years now. This could be the year they put it all together. Washington can count on good goaltending from Braden Holtby and they have build a top five blueline to complement their skilled forwards led by Alex Ovechkin. Boston is fresh off another visit to the Cup Final and they look dangerous as always, with Pastrnak and Marchand leading the charge up front and Patrice Bergeron providing steady two way play. Their blueline is led by two stars in Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton and Tuukka Rask is reliable and consistent in net for them. They will look to get back to the Finals and earn a different result. Calgary will be in tough to defend their championship with the tenth ranked roster in the NHL. Devan Dubnyk is a top ten, maybe top 5 goalie in the league and they will expect him to keep them in a lot of games but their forward group is still young and doesn't have a lot of eye popping talent beyond Gaudreau, Monahan and Strome. If Kyle Connor can take another step forward in his sophomore season that would be huge for them. Pittsburgh has the number one ranked forward group in the NHL with the three headed monster of Crosby, Malkin and Hartman down the middle and a plethora of talent on their wings between Guentzel, Oshie, Perron, Perry and Beau Bennett. The questions for them are whether their tandem of Murray and Raanta can play as well as consistently as they did last year and whether Kris Letang at 31 can still carry this D corps that lacks any other big names or standout talents. A couple Pacific Division teams are expected to be on the cusp of a playoff appearance this season. Anaheim has a rising star on their hands in 25 year old goalie John Gibson and some good young pieces on their blueline between Theodore, Fowler, Vatanen and Lindholm (once he gets healthy, he's out indefinitely with a back injury to start the season). Can a ragtag forward group led by captain Ryan Getzlaf and comprised of veterans like Palmieri and Silfverberg, rising stars like Boeser and Terry and thirty goal scorer Rikard Rakell get it done and score enough to make the postseason? The Kings are led by Kopitar, Doughty and Quick. They will need all of them to stay healthy and to get regular contributions from the rest of the lineup beyond Kopi and Toffoli in order to make the playoffs but Jonathan Quick will always give them a chance. The scoring race is expected to be a showcase of the league's young guns, it will probably be between Buffalo's generational superstar Connor McDavid, Edmonton's Leon Draisatl and Florida's sniper supreme Auston Matthews. The battle for the Norris will likely come down to top defensemen Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson and Roman Josi. Montreal's Carey Price is still the consensus best goalie in the league but he will be challenged for the Vezina by Freddy Andersen of the Golden Knights and Anaheim's John Gibson. Early favourites for the Calder include Vegas forward Elias Pettersson who is expected to start the season centering their third line between veterans Brandon Pirri and Patric Hornqvist, 18 year old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin of the Jets who has earned a first pairing role out of training camp and 20 year old forward Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Blue Jackets who already has nineteen games of NHL experience under his belt but is expected to be more productive this season than the four points he posted in his stint last year.