NHL 2009/2010

***Art*** · 09-13-2009, 02:58 AM

I am getting pumped for the new season. My Sharks should return strong, and with a lot of new faces.

Sadly, they traded away one of my favorites today, Jonathan Cheechoo. He and Milan Michalek were sent to Ottowa for Dany Heatley. Heatley will be welcome in San Jose, but I'll always love Cheechoo.

ON the bright side, the original report was that it was a three team trade, and my VERY FAVORITE EVER, the Captain, Patrick Marleau was going to the Los Angeles Kings. Yuck.

Anyhow, how is your team looking this year?

**Skeeter** · 09-13-2009, 05:17 PM

The Canucks are looking very strong this year. The trade they made with the Sharks to pick up Ehrhoff and Lukowich seriously solidified their defense and only cost them two prospects who may never make the NHL. Obviously the Sharks made the trade to clear the cap space to pick up Heatley, but it definitely benefited the Canucks.

My concern with the Sharks is that their defense is questionable. They have a couple good puck-movers on the back end, but they are lacking depth. Still, their offense will be frightening with Marleau, Thornton, and Heatley.

The Canucks have a glut of players battling for jobs this training camp, which I love. Hopefully last year's OHL player of the year, Cody Hodgson, will make the team, as it wouldn't do him much good to go back down to juniors and dominate the OHL again.

***Art*** · 09-13-2009, 05:46 PM

The Sharks do still have Rob Blake, Dan Boyle, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Douglas Murray... they do need a bit of depth there, but their top defensive line is pretty stellar, and their second should be pretty good.

**Skeeter** · 09-14-2009, 02:04 AM

True, but things drop down quickly after those top-four. Injuries to any one of those and the Sharks could be in trouble. Still, they'll likely finish near the top of the Western Conference.

***Art*** · 09-14-2009, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

True, but things drop down quickly after those top-four. Injuries to any one of those and the Sharks could be in trouble. Still, they'll likely finish near the top of the Western Conference.

I see no reason the Sharks should be much worse than last year. President's Trophy? Maybe not, but they are returning most of their top players.

I have to be honest, I have only gotten REALLY into hockey over the last season and a half. I've always followed the Sharks as a casual fan, but I think Hockey has officially replaced basketball for me. So, while I am pretty knowledgeable about the Sharks, I do not know much about most other teams.

But I do know that I liked watching the Canucks play last year.

**tmlfan123** · 09-14-2009, 10:51 AM

Thornton feeding Heatley sends shudders down my spine.

Believe it or not, I'm quite excited for the Leafs this year. The Toskala/Gustavsson tandem in goal should be at least above-average, and we have eight defensemen who can play at the NHL level. A top four of Tomas Kaberle, Mike Komisarek, Luke Schenn, and Francois Beauchemin compares favourably with just about everyone. Mike Van Ryn, Garnet Exelby, Ian White, and Jeff Finger round out the rest of the pack on the back end.

The question mark is up front. If the Hagman-Grabovski-Kulemin line continues to improve, they could end up putting up 75 goals. There were shifts last year where they dominated with their speed. Stajan sees the play better than most, but has no real shooter anymore after Antropov left. Ponikarovsky and Blake are not true top-line talent. Having said that, I love Blake's speed and hands. The bottom six are going to have to add some secondary offense though, and I don't really see it happening. Wayne Primeau, Lee Stempniak, John Mitchell, Jamal Mayers, Colton Orr, and one rookie will likely round out the forward corps and there's not much in the way of offense to be had from them. I really hope Jiri Tlusty can stick it this year. He has good speed and size but is doubtful to ever be more than a third-liner.

Another interesting thought is the possible addition of Phil Kessel. The guy has 100-point potential and turns 22 in October. It would be a huge coup and might be enough to sneak the Leafs into the playoffs.

Prognosis: If the goaltending holds up and our young forwards continue to improve, I can see us making the playoffs. If the goaltending heads south and the young guys take a step back, I can see us in top-5 position draft position.

Prediction: With Kessel(admittedly not even close to a sure thing), I'm guessing 7th overall in the East. Without him, 9th. Can one player make that much difference? I think so.

**tmlfan123** · 09-14-2009, 10:52 AM

Also Skeeter, I'm curious as to your thoughts on the huge deal Luongo signed. In favour?

**Skeeter** · 09-14-2009, 11:19 AM

The Leafs' defense is remarkably improved, but there are still far too many question marks in my mind for them to make the playoffs. They'll be a pain in the butt to play against, but the defense is still the only part of the team that's strong right now. They have no first line. Even if they add Kessel, they still have no first line. They have a lot of young talent among the forward group, but they're just not ready yet to carry the offense on their own. The other big question mark is in goal. Toskala is inconsistent and Gustavsson is unproven. Still, with that defense in front of them, the goaltending should be better than last year, but that's not saying much.

I still don't think the Leafs make the playoffs. Which is fine for them, as they're still rebuilding. They'll be difficult to play against and interesting to watch, but I question where the offense is going to come from and how good their goaltending will be.

As for Luongo, it's a great contract for the Canucks. It leaves them with plenty of salary cap space and there are two out clauses. One allows Luongo to request a trade after five years (the length of the Sedins' contracts) if he's unhappy with the direction of the team and one that allows the Canucks to trade Luongo after seven or eight years.

**tmlfan123** · 09-14-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

They have no first line. Even if they add Kessel, they still have no first line.

True, but the Leafs were 10th in goals scored last year, one slot above the... Canucks?

Granted they've lost Antropov, but the idea is that the younger guys will continue to improve and pick up some of that slack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

They have a lot of young talent among the forward group, but they're just not ready yet to carry the offense on their own.

The beauty of it is that they don't have to. Blake averaged 18:20 minutes per game, with Niklas Hagman and Matt Stajan the only others around 17 minutes(17:04 and 16:55, respectively). Dominic Moore and Nik Antropov were both in the 17-18 minute range before they were traded. This is not a team that depends on one or even two lines to put up all the points.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

The other big question mark is in goal. Toskala is inconsistent and Gustavsson is unproven. Still, with that defense in front of them, the goaltending should be better than last year, but that's not saying much.

Toskala was hamstrung last year by injuries. He's not elite, but he says he has no pain and he is still an good goalie in my opinion. In his first year in Toronto, he was fantastic after the first two months. You can throw last year out, due to horrendous defense and the injury. Gustavsson is unproven, but he comes with similar credentials to Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers. If he is half as good as Lundqvist was his first year in the NHL, I'd be happy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

I still don't think the Leafs make the playoffs. Which is fine for them, as they're still rebuilding. They'll be difficult to play against and interesting to watch, but I question where the offense is going to come from and how good their goaltending will be.

It'll be a last-week spot if they do make it, but I'm not betting against them, especially if they get hot early.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

As for Luongo, it's a great contract for the Canucks. It leaves them with plenty of salary cap space and there are two out clauses. One allows Luongo to request a trade after five years (the length of the Sedins' contracts) if he's unhappy with the direction of the team and one that allows the Canucks to trade Luongo after seven or eight years.

But Luongo will obviously not be the same goalie in seven or eight years. It just seemed like a lot of years to give a 30-year-old goalie to me. On the other hand, they absolutely had to keep him.

**Skeeter** · 09-14-2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmlfan123

True, but the Leafs were 10th in goals scored last year, one slot above the... Canucks?

Granted they've lost Antropov, but the idea is that the younger guys will continue to improve and pick up some of that slack.

Which is very risky. That's why the phrase "sophomore slump" exists. I just don't have a lot of faith in a forward corps that is dominated by youth.

Quote:

The beauty of it is that they don't have to. Blake averaged 18:20 minutes per game, with Niklas Hagman and Matt Stajan the only others around 17 minutes(17:04 and 16:55, respectively). Dominic Moore and Nik Antropov were both in the 17-18 minute range before they were traded. This is not a team that depends on one or even two lines to put up all the points.

I wouldn't trust Blake to be consistent in his point production, which is an issue. Stajan and Hagman are also quite inconsistent. They've subtracted two players who played a lot of minutes in Moore and Antropov and haven't adequately replaced them, in my opinion.

Quote:

Toskala was hamstrung last year by injuries. He's not elite, but he says he has no pain and he is still an good goalie in my opinion. In his first year in Toronto, he was fantastic after the first two months. You can throw last year out, due to horrendous defense and the injury. Gustavsson is unproven, but he comes with similar credentials to Henrik Lundqvist of the Rangers. If he is half as good as Lundqvist was his first year in the NHL, I'd be happy.

Fair enough. But Toskala has struggled with inconsistency even when healthy. Gustavsson is highly touted, but unproven against NHL shooters. Burke is hyping him, but I wouldn't get too excited about him until he faces NHL forwards.

Quote:

It'll be a last-week spot if they do make it, but I'm not betting against them, especially if they get hot early.

It's certainly a possibility, but I'm not expecting them to make the playoffs this year.

Quote:

But Luongo will obviously not be the same goalie in seven or eight years. It just seemed like a lot of years to give a 30-year-old goalie to me. On the other hand, they absolutely had to keep him.

Counter-example: Brodeur. Still a dominant goalie. See also Khabibulin, Roloson, etc. Goalies tend to be able to play longer than other positions.

**tmlfan123** · 09-14-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

Which is very risky. That's why the phrase "sophomore slump" exists. I just don't have a lot of faith in a forward corps that is dominated by youth.
I wouldn't trust Blake to be consistent in his point production, which is an issue. Stajan and Hagman are also quite inconsistent. They've subtracted two players who played a lot of minutes in Moore and Antropov and haven't adequately replaced them, in my opinion.

I don't put a lot of faith in any one player, although I doubt Blake and Hagman will drop off from their 08-09 totals. I do believe that the collective group should improve enough to keep the Leafs in the middle of the pack at least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

Fair enough. But Toskala has struggled with inconsistency even when healthy. Gustavsson is highly touted, but unproven against NHL shooters. Burke is hyping him, but I wouldn't get too excited about him until he faces NHL forwards.

One or the other of them should be good. Between the two of them, we should get decent goaltending.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skeeter

Counter-example: Brodeur. Still a dominant goalie. See also Khabibulin, Roloson, etc. Goalies tend to be able to play longer than other positions.

True enough.

**Skeeter** · 09-14-2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmlfan123

I don't put a lot of faith in any one player, although I doubt Blake and Hagman will drop off from their 08-09 totals. I do believe that the collective group should improve enough to keep the Leafs in the middle of the pack at least.

If the Leafs can get balanced scoring throughout their lineup, then they'll be in good shape. Still, Antropov provided 21 goals and 46 points last season. That's not easy to replace. Kubina provided 40 points from the back end. That's not easy to replace.

However, the Leafs' young players could step up and be competitive offensively; I just wouldn't bank on it.