Offseason Review and Season and Roster preview for Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey and New York I
Carolina
Last years record: 54-20-8 116 points
Significant UFA losses: Vincent Trocheck, Nino Niederriter, Max Domi, Derek Stepan, Josh Leivo, Brendan Smith, Ian Cole, Alex Lyon
Significant UFA additions: Paul Stastny, Ondrej Kase, Mackenzie Maceachern, Ryan Dzingel, William Lagesson
Significant Trades
To CAR: 2022 4RD (PHI), 2023 3RD (PHI), 2024 2RD (PHI)
To PHI: Anthony DeAngelo, 2022 7RD (CAR)
To CAR: Lane Pederson, Brent Burns (34% retained)
To SJ: Steven Lorentz, Eetu Makiniemi, 2023 3RD (CAR)
To CAR: Max Pacioretty, Dylan Coghlan
To VGK: Future Considerations
Carolina’s 2022 Draft:
2RD #60 FOR Gleb Trikozov
3RD #71 LW Alex Perevalov
4RD #101 LD Simon Forsmark
4RD #124 RW Cruz Lucius
5RD #156 LD Vladimir Grudinin
6RD #171 G Jakub Vondras
7RD #205 LD Alex Pelevin
Season and Roster Preview: the Hurricanes were able to go through this offseason and even though they had lost some key guys they replaced this guys with some pretty good players and while I am not exactly sure they got a lot better in the offseason they are at least similar to the team that won top spot in the Metro last year and I think it will be very difficult to push them off of top spot in the Metro this year.
In Net they are bringing back the same tandem that won the Williams M Jennings trophy last year for least amount of goals given up and that is the duo of Andersen and Raanta. Now those two player extremely well in both of their first seasons in Carolina and I would expect the same type of thing to happen this year where Andersen is the starter playing in 50-60 games with Raanta playing 20-30 games as the backup and the one concern I have with bringing both of these guys back is the injury problems as both got injured at inopportun times last year and have a long history of being injured so having good young goalie Kochetkov as the third stringer will be important as it may end up falling on his back to win some games if Andersen or Raanta get injured and after the games he played at the NHL level last year I think he can be a good goalie at the NHL level if need be.
As for their defence they went through a few changes bringing in Coghlan and Burns and moving on from DeAngelo, Cole and Smith but I think for their lineups this year, you would have great defensemen Jaccob Slavin who can be a very offensive tool play with newly brought in and DeAngelo replacement Brent Burns who is looking to keep his stunning offensive production going in Carolina after putting up over 50 points on a weak Sharks team at age 38, then i would keep the 2nd pair from last year of Brett Pesce who is a amazing defensive defensemen and has been a really good player for Carolina with Brady Skjei who will be trying to replicate one of his best offensive seasons from last year where he scored 39 points, and then have two right side defensemen in Ethan Bear (if he isn’t traded before the start of the season) and Dylan Coghlan who is looking to solidify a 3rd pair role on the Canes roster this year after proving he can be a regular last year in Vegas should both play on the third pair even though they are both righties and one should probably play his off side as I would’ve had Gardiner on the Left but he suffered a setback and looks like he will be out to start the season at least so having Coghlan and Bear makes the most sense with a guy like Lagesson or Chatfield being the 7th man on the roster so after these moves I think that they probably did downgrade a tad as Burns is older then DeAngelo and they Donny have the veteran 7th defensemen that they did last year in Smith with Gardiner on IR but I think this lineup on the D side looks poised to help the goalies again this year but I think they could have more offense from their D then they had last year and I am really excited to see the Canes D-Corp.
And as for their forward group I think they were able to make enough adjustments to remain a lethal scoring group although i wouldn’t call them much improved from last year but as for the line pairings I wouldnt be surprised if they bring back their top line from last year of Aho who is a really good top line Center and should continue to put up 70-80 points this year, Svechnikov who has played really well with Aho and I wouldn’t be shocked if he hit 40 goals this year and Seth Jarvis who surprised many by being a consistent top 6 forward in his rookie year and I think playing on the top line would give him a great ability to have more points then he did in his rookie year, on the 2nd line I would have Teravainen who is a good top 6 winger and should play on the second line and I think that Kotkaniemi will be able to win the 2nd line Center spot as I still believe he is the best player to replace Trocheck at the second line Center position and should improve on his first season in Carolina and I would also have young player Martin Necas on the second line with Kotkaniemi and Teravainen as I still think Necas is a good top 6 forward and I didn’t think putting him in the bottom six last year helped him so if he can prove he is still a top six player then I see no reason to not put him on the top line. As for their bottom six I would keep as much of their shutdown line from last year as I could as I think that the Staal,Fast, Niederriter line did great last year and Staal and Fast should remain there but with Niederriter now gone I think Stastny who they brought in should also be on that line as he is a bit older and less productive then Niederriter but is still a really good player and playing on Staal’s wing should help him continue to produce, and then I would have newly acquired Ondrej Kase who I would’ve put in the top 9 but with such a deep roster I think he start on the 4th line and either works his way up or waits for a injury and have him play with consistent 4th line forward and great penalty killer Jordan Martinook and although some might not agree I would but young rookie Noel Gunler on the 4th line as well because I think he seems NHL ready to me and if there was a injury where he could play in the top 9 I think he could show just how talented he is and have some guys like Dzingel be a spare but I think that this Canes team really did do a good job remodeling their forward group and if Pacioretty who they acquired wasn’t out until February with injury then I would say they have heavily improved but just allowing Kotkaniemi and Necas more playing time I think is a win and I can’t wait to see their lethal offense this year.
Rating B+: the Hurricanes have done amazingly this year by keeping their tandem from last year, replacing guys like Cole and DeAngelo on the backend with Burns and Coghlan, and giving the younger guys a more prominent role with Stastny, Kase and eventually Pacioretty coming in and I think that this team may be a tad weaker then last years team and they may not have the same amount of points they did last year but with all of their moves I think it would be pretty had to knock them off top of the Metro as I think it is pretty likely they not only make the playoffs but are crowned division champions again.
Carolina
My Projected lineup
A.Svechnikov-S.Aho-S.Jarvis
T.Teravainen-J.Kotkaniemi-M.Necas
P.Stastny-J.Staal-J.Fast
N.Gunler-J.Martinook-O.Kase
J.Slavin-B.Burns
B.Skjei-B.Pesce
D.Coghlan-E.Bear
F.Andersen
A.Raanta
R.Dzingel-L.Pederson-W.Lagesson
(IR M.Pacioretty, J.Gardiner)
My Projected point total and record for the Hurricanes.
52-24-6 for 110 points
Columbus
Last years record: 37-38-7 81 points
Significant UFA losses: Kevin Stenlund, Gabriel Carlsson, Scott Harrington
Significant UFA additions: Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson
Significant trades:
To COLU: 2023 3RD (CAL), 2023 4RD (WIN)
To SEA: Oliver Bjorkstrand
Columbus 2022 Draft:
1RD #6 RD David Jiricek
1RD #12 LD Denton Mateychuk
2RD #44 C Luca Del Bel Belluz
3RD #96 RW Jordan Dumais
4RD #109 RW Kirill Dolzhenkov
5RD #138 G Sergei Ivanov
7RD #203 RW James Fisher
Season and Roster preview: the Blue Jackets have done a outstanding job this offseason to improve their roster by adding the biggest free agent from this year and a good 3rd pair defensemen and besides giving up a decent top 6 winger didn’t move anyone out so they look poised to be a much better team this year but we’re their additions enough to get them back into the playoff mix or will they have to wait another year before they make the playoffs.
In Net they are bringing back the exact same tandem of Merzlikins and Korpisalo that was with the team last year. Merzlikins is the Blue Jackets number one goalie and even after a bit of a rough season last year where he had 3.22 GAA and a .907 SV% in 59 games last year he is going to have his 5 year extension kick in this year and given how badly the team played in front of him last year it makes sense that he had a bit of a bad year but i think he rebounds this year and they brought back Korpisalo on a 1 year contract that is a bit of a bet on himself as Korpisalo had a injury riddled and flat out bad statistical season and if he can be the tandem goalie he was a few years ago and can play 20-30 games this year well then I think Columbus will have great goaltending and if Korpisalo isn’t doing well then they have a brilliant 3rd string goalie in Tarasov who I think is the future backup of this team and while I think that another year of development isn’t a bad thing for him if he shows that he is better the Korpisalo then maybe him playing at the NHL level wouldn’t be to bad but I think that their goaltending looks promising for this season and should be much better then last year.
On the defensive end they really didn’t change too much but their younger guys are more experienced then last year and with a bit of a addition they can definitely improve from last year. Now Wereinski is still the Blue Jackets top defensemen and should remain on the top pair and the Jackets need a person who they can pair with him and while I think they drafted the long term solution in Jiricek this year he is still a bit away from the NHL so I think that Wereinski will play with Boqvist this year as Boqvist was injured a lot last year but was on a 17 goal pace last year and if he plays top pair minutes consistently with Wereinski and can keep healthy I wouldn’t be shocked if he could hit 20 goals this year, on their second pair I would have Gavrikov on the left side as I think he is going to try to look like a legit top 4 defensemen in a contract year and have him paired with either Blankenburg or Peeke as I think both could be very good top 4 defensemen playing with Gavrikov but I think one would probably go to the minors or be a spare froward and with Blankenburg being young and having very little pro time played I think Peeke should play on that 2nd pair, and then have newly brought in Erik Gudbranson who I don’t like the contract they gave him but should be a good 3rd pair D-Men for them after he reinvigorated his career in Calgary last year and have him paired with Bean who should he can be a consistent NHL defensemen last year and have a Bayreuther or Blankenburg be the 7th defensemen and with this nice mix of veterans and younger players I think this D-Corp should play much better and help Merzlikins out a lot more then last year when they what the 5th most goals allowed last year.
And with their forward group they were able to get a 100 point player from last year who is sure to help them improve offensively. The addition of Gaudreau is really great for this Blue Jackets team as he is the play maker that Laine has needed to unlock his goal scoring potential and after Gaudreau hit 115 points last year and Laine finished a injury riddled year with 56 points in 56 games and a 38 goal pace I would not be half shocked if those two are on the top line and Laine hits between 40-50 goals and each gets 100 points and I think Sillinger should be the guy to Center them as they probably want the young Center to be their future number one and having him play with a duo like that will only help build his confidence and help him have a breakout year, on their second line I would have rookie Kent Jonson who played well in his short NHL stint last year and amazed at the World Juinors play with captain Boone Jenner who seems ready to go after his injury last year and should help Johnson unlock his offensive potential and have Voracek play with them as he should he is a really good playmaker last year putting up a lot of assists and k think a guy like Johnson could benefit from that and make a lethal second line, then for their 3rd line have Chinakov who had a great season last year as a rookie play on a wing as I think he should grow from last year and have a good sophomore season with him being the most likely to go in the top 6 if their is a injury and have him play with Roslovic and Nyquist as Roslovic just got a 2 year extension and should show he can still be a productive middle six forward after a down year last year and Nyquist is in a contract year and while a lot of people view him as a bottom six forward he should want to show everyone he is still a productive middle six forward who can put up points, and on their 4th line have Sean Kuraly who is a really good penalty killing depth forward playing with Eric Robinson who could play in the top 9 if there are injuries but for now would probably only make the 4th line and Emil Bemstrom who hasn’t been able to prove he can be a consistent NHL forward yet but I think he should prove that next year, and then have 4th liner/AHL forwards like Olivier and Gaunce be spared who can come in and play if there is a injury so I really like how their forward group looks even though they had to trade Oliver Bjorkstrand for nothing, when you get a guy like Gaudreau your offense will instantly get better and after having a rather productive offense last year where they finished 14th in goals scored I would t be surprised if they cracked the top 5 this year.
Rating A-: I think the Blue Jackets did amazing this offseason by replacing Bjorkstrand with Gaudreau and adding Gudbranson and rookie Johnson to this roster as they are going to be exciting to watch this year and I think that with a much improved offensive group and a healthy backend and goaltending this team will be competing for a playoff spot again and after a few seasons of being a bottom dwelling team in the NHL I think that they could be one of three teams in contention for the third spot in the Metro this year and I think they would be my pick to grab the third spot in the Metro.
Columbus
My Projected lineup
J.Gaudreau-C.Sillinger-P.Laine
K.Johnson-B.Jenner-J.Voracek
G.Nyquist-J.Roslovic-Y.Chinakov
E.Robinson-S.Kuraly-E.Bemstrom
Z.Wereinski-A.Boqvist
V.Gavrikov-A.Peeke
J.Bean-E.Gudbranson
E.Merzlikins
J.Korpisalo
M.Olivier-B.Gaunce-G.Bayreuther
(SUSP A.Texier)
My Projected point total and record for the Blue Jackets
44-29-9 for 97 points
New Jersey
Last years record: 27-46-9 63 points
Significant UFA losses: Frederik Gauthier, Jimmy Vesey, P.K Subban, Jon Gillies, Andrew Hammond
Significant UFA additions: Ondrej Palat, Jack Dugan, Brendan Smith
Significant trades:
To NJ: Vitek Vanecek, 2022 2RD (WIN)
To WAS: 2022 2RD (NJ), 2022 3RD (NJ)
To NJ: Erik Haula
To BOS: Pavel Zacha
To NJ: John Marino
To PIT: Ty Smith, 2023 3RD (NJ)
New Jersey 2022 Draft:
1RD #2 RD Simon Nemec
2RD #46 RD Seamus Casey
4RD #102 G Tyler Brennan
4RD #110 LD Daniil Orlov
4RD #126 RD Charlie Leddy
5RD #141 RW Petr Hauser
6RD #166 LW Josh Filmon
7RD #198 RD Artem Barabosha
Season and Roster preview: the New Jersey Devils have made a few good moves this offseason as they have been able to improve their team nicely and with all three positions improved they should be able to be more competitive this year with a healthy goalie duo and a great forward group but we’re they able to do enough to make the playoffs this year.
In net they were able to improve off of last years duo as they started out last year with Blackwood and Bernier but by early in the new year both had been injured and they had to play with their 3rd and 4th string goalies but they seem to be in a better position now. They acquired Vanecek from the Capitals and he will definitely be able to help stabilize the goalie position as he had been playing well in Washington and especially in the regular season and with a now healthy Blackwood who is trying to prove he can be a starter or 1A in the NHL probably coming out to prove that they should have a duo in which you can have Vanecek be your 1A and Blackwood your 1B and give Vanecek slightly more work and they still have Bernier as well but he will be injured to start the season but if and when he gets back the Devils will either have to put him on waivers, trade him or carry 3 goaltenders but after last year things are looking up at the goalie position and I think this will help their team this year instead of it being a burden like it was last year.
On the defensive side the Devils haven’t done too much but what they were able to do has been great now the top pair will probably be a duo that played quite well in each of their first years in New Jersey and that is Hamilton and Graves as I think they played well last year and should remain together, on the second pair I would probably think that newly extended Siegenthaler who is coming off a pretty good year for a defensive defensemen would play maybe with newly acquired John Marino who is the P.K Subban replacement in New Jersey and cost Ty Smith to get should play well in Jersey in a top 4 role and put up some points on the Devils backend, and then have Damon Severson on the 3rd paire as a good pick moving defensemen who can probably get a lot of points playing on the 3rd pair be partnered with I would like to say a rookie but with Mukhamadullin and Nemec the Devils two top D prospects both players who play on the right side I don’t see them playing right out of the gate so I could see a young left side defensemen like Kevin Bahl who could look for a bigger opportunity probably get that third line spot and have Smith be the defensive spare as he can be a healthy body and if there are injuries who the young guys aren’t playing too well he can come in and play 3rd pair minutes and as we saw in Carolina last year be a very good defensemen, but this is a much improved Devils blue line and I expect them to give up much less goals then they did last year when they gave up the 4th most goals in the league.
Now with their forward group I would probably have a top six that is made up of their two top young Centers in Hischier who should remain on the top line as he is captain and plays really well and put Hughes on the 2nd line to give him some better matchups and hopefully allow him to score at will, then because of their great chemistry I would put Sharangovich on one of Hughes wings as I think that is Hughes can have a big year this year then Sharangovich should push at least 20 goals this year and on Hughes other wing have newly acquired Palat as I think the veteran presence would help both Hughes and Sharangovich improve this year, while I would have Bratt who should show he can put up 50-60 points in consecutive seasons and rookie Holtz who should be able to carve out a top six role this year after playing in the AHL last year play on Hischier’s wing as Bratt and Holtz should both help Hischier be offensive. And they also have a really deep bottom six as I would see Mercer and newly acquired Haula playing on the 3rd line as Haula was acquired to replace Zacha as 3rd line Center and Mercer showed last year he is capable of being a top 9 forward and while his season was decimated due to injuries last year o would put wood on line 3 and see if he can still be a top nine forward, and then I think that two over paid 3rd line forwards in Andreas Johnsson and Tomas Tatar will start the season on the 4th line as I can’t see them making the top 9 right now and until there is a injury where they could both come up and play top 9 minutes I think they play on the 4th line, and for me it cam down to either Bastian or Boqvist Centering that 4th line but I think of how well he has played in the fourth line role that Bastian would beat out Boqvist and Center the 4th line with Boqvist being the first guy in if there is a injury.
Rating B: the Devils did a lot of great things to their team this year by adding guys like Haula, Palat, Marino and Vanecek to replace Zacha,Smith and Subban and I expect a completely revamped team this year as their net minding should give them key saves and their defence should be a ton better then last year while their offense will continue to get better but given they are still a pretty young team and in a pretty steep and competitive division I think they will make big strides this year and look much more like a playoff team and less like a rebuilding one but I think that they will still miss the playoffs this year and by not much but I think the time of the Devils being easy to play against is over and in a year or two I could see them competing for a playoff spot.
New Jersey
My Projected lineup
J.Bratt-N.Hischier-A.Holtz
Y.Sharangovich-J.Hughes-O.Palat
M.Wood-E.Haula-D.Mercer
T.Tatar-N.Bastian-A.Johnsson
R.Graves-D.Hamilton
J.Siegenthaler-D.Severson
K.Bahl-J.Marino
V.Vanecek
M.Blackwood
J.Boqvist-M.McLeod-B.Smith
(IR Jonathan Bernier)
My Projected point total and record for the Devils
40-34-8 for 88 points
New York I
Last years record: 37-35-10 84 points
Significant UFA losses: Austin Czarnik, Zdeno Chara, Andy Greene
Significant UFA additions: Nikita Soshnikov
Significant trades:
To MON: 2022 1RD (NYI)
To NYI: Alex Romanov, 2022 4RD (MON)
New York I 2022 Draft:
2RD #65 LD Calle Odelius
3RD #78 LW Quinn Finley
4RD #98 LD Isaiah George
5RD #142 RW Matthew Maggio
6RD #174 LW Daylan Kuefler
Season and Roster preview: the Islanders haven’t done much improving this offseason as they are bringing back most of the same roster as last year but with no long road trip and a lot more healthy bodies then last year they should be headed to a better year then last year in my opinion.
So the Islanders didn’t make too many moves this year but kept most of the players they already had. Even though there was a lot of trade rumours around Semyon Varlamov the Islanders were intent to keep him and run the tandem of Sorokin and Varlamov again and after last year where Sorokin really shined and showed he can be a starter in the NHL I think that he will probably play the greater portion of the games for the Islanders with Varlamov being a nice veteran backup tor the Islanders but still playing a good amount of games.
With their D-Corp they were able to acquire and sign Alexander Romanov who should probably play with Dobson and be that stabilizing top 4 defensemen that they haven’t had since they moved Leddy last offseason and give the Islanders a lethal top 4 after they re-signed Dobson to a new deal and still have the top pair of Pelech and Pulock and they will definitely be better then last year when they had Greene and Chara, and even their 3rd pair is solid with Mayfield playing on the right side and one of Cholowski, Salo or Aho probably playing on the other side so after a year where they still had a pretty good overall defence being 10th in GA last year, I wouldn’t be shocked if they end up top 3 this year.
And lastly with the forward group that needed a major addition to help this team become more offensive in the offseason but they weren’t able to bring in a great top six player but now for the lack of trying as they tried to get Kadri, Gaudreau and Miller amongst others in the offseason but struck out on all of them and are going into next year with basically the same roster. Now I think they should probably put Wahlstrom and Lee on Barzal’s top line as I think it is the best way to unlock Barzal’s hidden potential points wise, they could maybe put together a 2nd line of Nelson who is coming off a amazing career with Beauvillier who should be looking to prove people wrong and show he belongs in the top sic and maybe Palmeri who I think could maybe return to New Jersey form playing consistently in the Isles top 6, then bring back some of the fourth line with Clutterbuck and Cizikas prairies with Parise and make a good 4th line with Martin who was a regular o. The fourth line maybe being a spare to start the season and that leaves the Islanders 3rd line being made up of good 3rd line Center J.G Pageau, Josh Bailey who had trade speculation surrounding him a lot this year but remains in NYI and should be able to help produce on the third line and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a young rookie who made the team and played on the 3rd line and while there are a few good prospects for the Islanders I wouldn’t be shocked if Dufour impressed enough in trading camp to teak that roster spot and run with it after he showed just how talented a player he is this year in the QMJHL and the world juniors.
Rating C+: the Islanders did make some improvements to their team and didn’t have too many significant losses to their team besides Chara and Greene and the only major addition to this team was Romanov so they are banking on a healthy roster and more complete defence to get them back to the playoffs but with a weaker forward group then most teams and a way more competitive division then last year I am just not sure they have done enough to make the playoffs and while I think they will have a better record then last year I see them probably just missing the playoffs this year and miss for the 2nd consecutive season.
Islanders
My Projected lineup
A.Lee-M.Barzal-O.Wahlstrom
A.Beauvillier-B.Nelson-K.Palmeri
J.Bailey-J.G Pageau-W.Dufour
Z.Parise-C.Cizikas-C.Clutterbuck
A.Pelech-R.Pulock
N.Dobson-A.Romanov
R.Salo-S.Mayfield
I.Sorokin
S.Varlamov
K.Bellows-M.Martin-S.Aho
My Projected point total and record for the Islanders
39-30-13 for 91 points
Comments
Post a Comment