2015-2016 NHL Discussion Thread

how far the oilers go is honestly a complete roll of the dice. there's a really really good chance they don't make it, but at the same time everything might just click and the oilers may just go full Blue Jays on em

 

Yeah, it kind of depends on:

A. How well Taylor Hall bounces back this season
B. How Connor McDavid does. Will he live to expectations?
C. How will Cam Talbot hold up as a #1?
D. How will the new coach do?

But I think they'll make the playoffs next year. This year will be more of a year where they just figure out how to put all the pieces together. Will be fun to watch them tho

 

all of these factors are huge influences - i'd say even the presence of a solid #1 guy should be a huge boost to them. Switching around 2 (Scrivens and Fasth) just isn't good for a team's mentality, I'd know from our Bernier/Reimer split period.

Again, Edmonton is starting to become notorious for their rep of "killing prospects", having so many 1st overall picks and still being in the gutter. Whether McDavid lives up to the hype is still yet to be seen, judging from the videos of the oiler crowds reacting to him scoring on an empty net at practice though they sure seem ready for it

 

I mean, from the limited footage I've seen, the 5 goals during one of the Oiler's scrimmages, the guy clearly has the talent to score many goals. But in regards to the NHL, it's a very different game. I'm wondering if he'll be able to make the transition, as you don't have the time nor space you do in other leagues. I have a similar concern for the Flyer's new coach Hakstol, but that's a different topic

 

Any Sharks / Lightning / Capitals fans out there?

Sharks: After missing the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, how will they do? New coach, along with a couple new veterans?

Lightning: With Tyler Johnson not 100%, how will the lightning do? Will they build upon the success they saw last year and make another deep playoff run?

Capitals: With Backstrom confirmed out for the first dozen or so games, how will the Capitals begin their season under Kuznetsov as their #1 center? Will Ovechkin see a dip in goals during that duration? How will Holtby hold up with his new contract?

 

Red wings prospects just tied the defending champs in preseason regular time lmao

 

yep. i have season tickets for them as well

we haven't killed any prospects, save for Yakupov (Dallas Eakins had a real issue with the guy, as soon as Todd Nelson was announced as interim head coach, he started to flourish.. and he's still a young, young guy with plenty of time to find his way in the show. Nuge had two fair mediocre seasons, but one was due to a shoulder injury he played with nearly all season. Taylor Hall has been consistently in the top 10 for point scorers while on consistently one of the worst teams in the league. None of these guys are "killed prospects", rather they've just been victims of playing on a team plagued by managerial incompetence.

 

Preseason doesn't really mean that much when everyone is testing out their prospects and new strategies

yeah the "managerial incompetence" part was what I was referring to. I'm just talking about the apparent rep that you guys have within the league of taking all these #1 draft picks that usually have such a big impact on franchises (MacKinnon, Stammers, Kane, Crosby/Ovechkin etc) and have "mediocre" seasons - not doubting at all that it's due to management.

Also no doubt that McDavid will live up to the hype, seems to already be performing in preseason :O

 

Yeah the hawks were playing Toews/Kane/etc though, red wings really only playing prospects no datsyuk no zetterberg etc. Dosen't necessarily mean anything, but it's definitely interesting to see.

 

maybe so, wouldn't count it for anything. Toews and Kane playing in a preseason game vs a playoff game isn't necessarily the same

Any sharks fans out there?

 

Black hawks will win, look at their roster lol its filled with talented people they will win this season, mark my words.

 

They lost a few great players on their roster. Sharp, Saad, Oduya. We'll see though.

 

Look at all the new young talent that they got this year, will definitely make it up i have a lot of fate in teravainen, and the new young russian kid that scored 62 points last year and they also got marko dano which i think will do good.

 

wouldnt be mad if patty kane went to jail for a couple years, just so a team other than the black hawks win

 

@ le DNA Test. No DNA of his was present in the rape kit. So should he actually be guilty, going to be much harder to convict him.

But I agree, I want to see someone else win. Pittsburg or maybe Tampa Bay.

 

https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/649643483066568704

Starting to feel the hit from the bloated cap already, lol.

Not that I'm complaining - happy to see the floor opened up to the other teams and give them a shot at the cup.

 

Sucks they had to move Saad. I wouldn't have, he is a great player. Their offense might see a hit from that this year.

 

Sort of unrelated but here's my 16-team fantasy roster this year (snake draft, I started with 10th)
https://gyazo.com/bf9a16c85a7268badedf3ed0de4d7f1e

Sort of gambled on Pastrnak but hopefully he puts up big playing time in Boston. Plotnikov was sort of an afterthought, but hey if he's starting on the Pens' 2nd line then why not?

Didn't get a goalie till late...same thing happened last year lol. Just gotta tough it out with Pavelec (with Hammond injured/his starting spot in jeopardy with Anderson doing so well) and hope the Jets have a decent year.

 

Yeah you should have got a goalie earlier. Not a huge fan of your roster really. I only see couture and strome having better seasons than the previous. Foligno might regress, I think hagelin will have a rough time in the Ducks. Hartnell's numbers will slowly go down I think.

 

has to be the worst roster ive seen in ages, and i would never have went with those goalies either