The NHL Rewind Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Hey all, As the off season boredom continues, I would love to get a debate going about what team improved the most in your opinion this summer (so far)? There are a lot of teams that have really improved their roster in my opinion, with the teams like the Kraken, Bruins, Devils, Predators, and dare I say the Capitals? All of these teams, whether through questionable contracts or trades, have greatly improved their rosters compared to last season. Out of these teams though, purely based off of off season additions, the Pred’s have to be my pick for most improved. They have always had good goaltending, solid defence and a decent forward group, but following the signings this off season (by a GM with just 377 days of experience), the Smashville Preds are going to be much more than a team that just sneaks into the playoffs. Also, I think that the Devil's have best put themselves in a position to win a cup out of the above group; but on paper the Predators, I believe, have made the most positive additions. What do you think? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 (edited) 3 hours ago, The NHL Rewind said: Hey all, As the off season boredom continues, I would love to get a debate going about what team improved the most in your opinion this summer (so far)? There are a lot of teams that have really improved their roster in my opinion, with the teams like the Kraken, Bruins, Devils, Predators, and dare I say the Capitals? All of these teams, whether through questionable contracts or trades, have greatly improved their rosters compared to last season. Out of these teams though, purely based off of off season additions, the Pred’s have to be my pick for most improved. They have always had good goaltending, solid defence and a decent forward group, but following the signings this off season (by a GM with just 377 days of experience), the Smashville Preds are going to be much more than a team that just sneaks into the playoffs. Also, I think that the Devil's have best put themselves in a position to win a cup out of the above group; but on paper the Predators, I believe, have made the most positive additions. What do you think? I think I like your conclusion of Predators and Devils. Definitely the Predators. The Capitals This, to me, was clearly about giving Ovechkin one more shot. I like the Logan Thompason deal. I think it may be a lot to give up for a likely 40-60 tandem with Lindgren, but it really solidifies that provided Thompson stays healthy. I'm not a huge fan of Jakob Chychrun, but I think a fresh start will do him good. And they got a 3rd round with him. For a 33 year-old meh but right-handed defenseman. I like itl I like the Mangiapane trade. I'm unclear whether they'll slot him with Ovechkin or if they put Strome or someone else there. Their draft was meh. Parascak was a reach, but maybe turns out okay or is trade fodder. I think they likely got decent depth in later rounds. It's a crap shoot so hard to say. I don't think I have much of an opinion either way about their resignings. I guess if I had to pick a team outside of the Dvils for the eastern conference, it would be the Caps. The Kraken: I'm jealous of the Berkly Catton pick. They have qualifying offers out to Beniers, Tovanen, and Seppela. So, if they stay in the fold, that's a plus. I'm not a fan of Bylsma, but he may be the right coach for the moment. I'm not sure what to think about the Chandler Stephenson signing. It seems like square peg/round hole and they'll hate it toward end of term, but time will tell. tatar was interesting, but I would have liked this more 2-3 years ago. The signings reek of attempting to be good but not likely to be great. Yeah, I'd have to agree with Nashville and New Jersey. Straight up conversation about the draft? San Jose. #1 center and a top pair defenseman? yes please. Edited July 12 by ruxpin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The NHL Rewind Posted July 12 Author Share Posted July 12 3 minutes ago, ruxpin said: I think I like your conclusion of Predators and Devils. Definitely the Predators. The Capitals This, to me, was clearly about giving Ovechkin one more shot. I like the Logan Thompason deal. I think it may be a lot to give up for a likely 40-60 tandem with Lindgren, but it really solidifies that provided Thompson stays healthy. I'm not a huge fan of Jakob Chychrun, but I think a fresh start will do him good. And they got a 3rd round with him. For a 33 year-old meh but right-handed defenseman. I like itl I like the Mangiapane trade. I'm unclear whether they'll slot him with Ovechkin or if they put Strome or someone else there. Their draft was meh. Parascak was a reach, but maybe turns out okay or is trade fodder. I think they likely got decent depth in later rounds. It's a crap shoot so hard to say. I don't think I have much of an opinion either way about their resignings. I guess if I had to pick a team outside of the Dvils for the eastern conference, it would be the Caps. The Kraken: I'm jealous of the Berkly Catton pick. They have qualifying offers out to Beniers, Tovanen, and Seppela. So, if they stay in the fold, that's a plus. I'm not a fan of Bylsma, but he may be the right coach for the moment. I'm not sure what to think about the Chandler Stephenson signing. It seems like square peg/round hole and they'll hate it toward end of term, but time will tell. tatar was interesting, but I would have liked this more 2-3 years ago. The signings reek of attempting to be good but not likely to be great. Yeah, I'd have to agree with Nashville and New Jersey. Straight up conversation about the draft? San Jose. #1 center and a top pair defenseman? yes please. Hey ruxpin, Love your analysis on Washington - really does seem like they want to give Ovi one more shot and I would say they did just about as well as they could. I also really like the Matt Roy signing. I agree with Seattle, it is sort of a bunch of armchair gm moves where, yes, they are good players, but the contract and fit seem a little sketchy. Hopefully Bylsma can have a good first year there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaucyJack Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Wow. Caps in the league conversation after largely disappearing after their 2018 Cup Miracle. Good to hear! The Washington Post sportswriters were over the moon last week in assessing their changes. Pierre Luc-Dubois is the New Kuznetsov, don’t you know? Jakob Chychrun is a second John Carlson, and Matt Roy will be a solid stay-at-home blue liner to let those guys roam. New blood Mangiapane, Duhaime, and Raddysh will all be in Washington not Hershey. And of course Thompson maybe playing 40% to give Lindgren more rest. Me, of course I have no $&@^-ing clue until I see these guys on the ice in a game. And even then, who will be good in playoffs, which is what really counts. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post yave1964 Posted July 12 Popular Post Share Posted July 12 All of the above frankly, a team that nobody is giving love to who IMHO had one hell of a frenzy is the Hawks. They really lost nobody, and added Bertuzzi Maroon Craig smith Teravainen Mikhayev Martinez Brodie Brossoit Look, I know they are old but just so much better than what they had last year. Just skilled depth to surround bedsrd, he is likely centering Bert and Teravainen which is a damn strong line, with Taylor hall, Athanasiou and Foligno as a solid 2nd line with Donate centering mikhayev and maroon. Look I am not implying to raise the cup in Chicago but baby steps, they could realistically put up 80-85 points and Bedard has two very good linemates. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 14 hours ago, The NHL Rewind said: Hey all, As the off season boredom continues, I would love to get a debate going about what team improved the most in your opinion this summer (so far)? There are a lot of teams that have really improved their roster in my opinion, with the teams like the Kraken, Bruins, Devils, Predators, and dare I say the Capitals? All of these teams, whether through questionable contracts or trades, have greatly improved their rosters compared to last season. Out of these teams though, purely based off of off season additions, the Pred’s have to be my pick for most improved. They have always had good goaltending, solid defence and a decent forward group, but following the signings this off season (by a GM with just 377 days of experience), the Smashville Preds are going to be much more than a team that just sneaks into the playoffs. Also, I think that the Devil's have best put themselves in a position to win a cup out of the above group; but on paper the Predators, I believe, have made the most positive additions. What do you think? The Sharks added a #1 centre AND a likely #1 defenceman, just in one round. I know it isn't going to make them this upcoming season, but going forward, that is one heck of an improvement. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 1 hour ago, flyercanuck said: The Sharks added a #1 centre AND a likely #1 defenceman, just in one round. I know it isn't going to make them this upcoming season, but going forward, that is one heck of an improvement. Yeppers. We added mostly bottom 6 players, Toffoli aside. Basically the plan is to have guys who can insulate Celebrini and Smith from immediately having the toughest match ups to let them develop Nd get uaed to the league and pace, have another high pick this year in a deep draft, and maybe move some guys at the deadline for more picks. Granlund is on his last year of a 5m, and probably fetches a 2nd at the deadline. He can play C or Wing and score. Playoff teams like scoring depth. Maybe some other expiring 3rd/4th liners like Kunin and Grundstrom can fetch a 6th or 7th My guess is Dickenson, Musty, Bystedt and Edstrom stay in the minors 1 or 2 more years. But they might get 9 games. I'm sure Dickenson will get some Barracuda time after the London knights season is done. Hoping vegas, as cap screwed as they are with the losses, pull a penguins this year and suck and give us another top 10 pick. It's not even lottery protected LOL 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegx.ca Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Yeah San Jose but it'd be pretty much impossible to worse line up than last years...I do know which team was the opposite of improving the most and sadly it's Calgary 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 15 hours ago, yave1964 said: All of the above frankly, a team that nobody is giving love to who IMHO had one hell of a frenzy is the Hawks. They really lost nobody, and added Bertuzzi Maroon Craig smith Teravainen Mikhayev Martinez Brodie Brossoit Look, I know they are old but just so much better than what they had last year. Just skilled depth to surround bedsrd, he is likely centering Bert and Teravainen which is a damn strong line, with Taylor hall, Athanasiou and Foligno as a solid 2nd line with Donate centering mikhayev and maroon. Look I am not implying to raise the cup in Chicago but baby steps, they could realistically put up 80-85 points and Bedard has two very good linemates. Yeah, it's a pretty funny thing. The Hawks will definitely be the most improved team, and they will still finish well back of playoff position. They added a couple of top-6 players and a bunch of depth pieces. My guess is that they'll end up somewhere around 25th/26th and you'll hear Chicago fans say things like "look at how many one goal losses they had!". Predictions... -About 35 wins, 75 points. -Bedard will get his points. -Taylor Hall will get hurt. -Andreas Athanasiou will fly around the ice at a million miles per hour and flirt with the Mendoza Line of both offense *and* defense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 1 hour ago, thegx.ca said: Yeah San Jose but it'd be pretty much impossible to worse line up than last years...I do know which team was the opposite of improving the most and sadly it's Calgary I dunno... Calgary is pretty clearly rebuilding, so roster losses are gains for the future. There are contenders that lost big pieces which weren't adequately replaced. -Dallas had a thin blueline already and lost Chris Tanev as their shutdown guy and replaced him with Matt Dumba. -Vegas lost Marchessault, Thompson, Stevenson, Carrier, Amadio. That forward group has really thinned out, leaving Eichel and a legitimately broken-down Stone. -The Jets brought in Kahkonnen but lost Toffoli, Monahan, Nate Schmidt and Brendan Dillion. Broissoit gone with Comrie replacing him, so Hellebuyck doesn't get a day off now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegx.ca Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 38 minutes ago, JR Ewing said: I dunno... Calgary is pretty clearly rebuilding, so roster losses are gains for the future. There are contenders that lost big pieces which weren't adequately replaced. -Dallas had a thin blueline already and lost Chris Tanev as their shutdown guy and replaced him with Matt Dumba. -Vegas lost Marchessault, Thompson, Stevenson, Carrier, Amadio. That forward group has really thinned out, leaving Eichel and a legitimately broken-down Stone. -The Jets brought in Kahkonnen but lost Toffoli, Monahan, Nate Schmidt and Brendan Dillion. Broissoit gone with Comrie replacing him, so Hellebuyck doesn't get a day off now. Well Calgary is clearly in their basement phase of whatever they trying to do hahaha...they literally keep getting worse with every move after firing Sutter...instead of being in win now mode with Sutter/Treliving they in lose now draft high mode without them with no signs when things will change...feel bad for Backlund the most he got tricked into staying on the sinking ship by management spiel that they still trying to compete now instead of 5-10+ years later... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 47 minutes ago, thegx.ca said: Well Calgary is clearly in their basement phase of whatever they trying to do hahaha...they literally keep getting worse with every move after firing Sutter...instead of being in win now mode with Sutter/Treliving they in lose now draft high mode without them with no signs when things will change...feel bad for Backlund the most he got tricked into staying on the sinking ship by management spiel that they still trying to compete now instead of 5-10+ years later... I would say they are angling to bottom out for the next 2 years. It's not a bad time given Hagens this draft and especially McKenna next draft. Depending on how bad the sharks pick and Vegas pick is next year, I'm looking at RW power forward Martone and RHD's Logan Hensler or Charlie Tretheway so far. We will probably not be bottom 5 when the McKenna sweepstakes kick off in 2026 as I think Celebrini/Smith/Eklund will be hitting their strides by then, and maybe even Musty and Dickenson, Mukh. Edstrom is good enough to be a 2nd line C by then but he could be a great 3rd line C. Bystedt and Chernyshov look promising too. We will know soon if Pohlkamp or Cagnoni can overcome their small size against grown men, but I'm still looking mostly at RHD next year. Starting to try to acquire a goalie of the future would be a good idea too. Since Saros resigned 8 years, I'm hoping Askarov becomes available. A dream scenario is Carolina blunders and moves Kochetkov. He's my favorite young goalie in the league. The penguins moving Sergei Murashov would be nice too I doubt Minny moves Wallstedt or Calgary moves Wolf. The only goalie who looked even half ok at sharks development so far is Magnus Chrona. His name is awesome and I want to play him just because of that name lol 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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