Post by Beans (BOS) on Oct 19, 2015 12:41:38 GMT -5
Found this great article on The Hockey News. The link I had has since disappeared but I somehow managed to copy/paste before it was lost.
7 Random Questions: Pre-Season Edition
October 19, 2015 - The Hockey News Staff
As the iNHL prepares to unveil its new website and get its inaugural season underway, we at The Hockey News have been making bold predictions and furiously debating the merits of the various trades and signings we’ve seen. Since we couldn’t agree on very much, here are the 7 most pressing questions (as we see them) heading into the iNHL season. Feel free to answer or to provide your own top storylines!
7) Will a rookie lead the Coyotes in scoring?
Always dangerous to pick a rookie to lead an NHL franchise but the Coyotes have a couple of dynamic talents on a team that was 29th in the league in scoring a year ago. Max Domi – son of former Leafs’ tough guy Tie Domi – is a dynamic 20-year-old centre who represented Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships and put up 102 points for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. He looks like a first liner and possible face of the franchise.
Not to be outdone, winger Anthony Duclair represents the future of the game: big, highly skilled, and blisteringly fast. Duclair was the major piece returning to Arizona in the Keith Yandle trade last year and it’s a good bet that he’ll be a key part of the Coyotes’ future for a long time (assuming they remain the Coyotes).
6) Will Nail Yakupov emerge in Nashville?
There is no doubt that Yakupov’s time in the City of Champions was turbulent. Even though there were more lows than highs for Yakupov in Edmonton he did show significant improvement after Dallas Eakins was shown the door and while playing alongside veteran centre Derek Roy and no one is going to question his off-the-charts skills.
If Yakupov does become the player Edmonton thought they were getting when they invested the 1st overall pick of the 2012 draft in him (or even if he gets close), then Nashville will have serious scoring threats on each of its top-three lines and this could be Filip Forsberg 2.0. But if he falls short, the Preds may come to regret letting Seth Jones get away from them.
5) What is the future of the Florida Panthers?
Both on and off the ice, the Panthers’ future is unclear. On the ice, they brought in Big Buff and look poised to improve upon their oh-so-close effort from last year. But they could take a step back and hand Winnipeg a lottery pick. Given how strong the Metropolitan division has become (see #3 and #2 below), the Panthers will probably need to finish top-3 in the Atlantic, which means finishing ahead of at least one of Tampa, Montreal, and Detroit. This will be a tall order.
Off the ice, new owner and GM Steve has stated his desire to move the team to Hartford and usher in a return of the Whalers. This may well be the final season in the iNHL for the Florida Panthers but it promises to be an entertaining one with all the of the young talent that has been stockpiled over the years and what should be an all-out push to qualify for the playoffs.
4) How good will Edmonton be?
Connor McDavid, Seth Jones, and Tuukka Rask. They are an elite centre, elite defender, and elite goaltender, respectively. They could also be the key to returning Edmonton to the playoffs.
But are they ready this season? Of the new guys, Rask’s performance should be the easiest to project – he’ll give the Oilers elite goaltending and a chance to win most nights. McDavid is a rookie so there’s no telling what he’ll do – he could put up 100+ points like Crosby but could also be manhandled by bigger, stronger opponents. Seth Jones has been progressing nicely in his first few seasons and looks like the stud #1 d-man Edmonton has been searching for since Chris Pronger bolted town. But Jones’ steady play and development was on a Nashville blueline that was deep and could hide the costs of his youth – can he take a step forward on an Oilers blueline without nearly as much support? The Oilers’ playoff hopes may depend on it.
3) Will iNHL Rivalries Get Hotter Following Bruins’ Rebuild?
Take a quick look at where Boston shipped its previous core talents and you immediately notice that certain rivalries are about to get even more heated.
Atlantic: Loui Eriksson (Tampa)
Metropolitan: Zdeno Chara (Philly), Patrice Bergeron (NJ), David Krejci (NJ), Brad Marchand (NYR)
Pacific: Matt Beleskey (LA), Tuukka Rask (EDM)
The Metropolitan division in particular should now be unbelievably competitive in the wake of the Boston firesale. Chara, Bergeron, Krejci, and Marchand were added to a division that already saw Phil Kessel join the Penguins and features the 2014 Eastern Conference Champion New York Rangers, John Tavares and the Islanders, and the finally healthy Blue Jackets. Oh, and we forgot about the Capitals who have some guy named Ovechkin who now plays with a guy named Oshie.
Not only that, the Battle of Alberta will have a distinctly Boston flavour to it this year as Dougie Hamilton and Tuukka Rask are welcomed to one of the best rivalries in the game. After flipping former Los Angeles backup Martin Jones to division rival San Jose in the offseason, the Bruins made it up to the Kings by sending former-Duck Matt Beleskey back to California to torment former linemates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
But Boston does not escape unscathed. The Bruins will also have to face a couple of old friends inside its own division: Milan Lucic and Loui Eriksson – two thirds of Boston’s top line last year – are now members of the Atlantic division favorite Tampa Bay Lightning. Staying in Florida, we have the biggest (literally) addition to a rivalry and we can’t wait for Lucic vs. Big Buff 6 times a year.
2) Will a Metropolitan Team Be Robbed of the Playoffs?
It looks like it. The Rangers, Penguins, Islanders, and Capitals are elite teams or look like elite teams. But the Devils just added the dynamic duo of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci and the Flyers seriously upgraded their blueline with Zdeno Chara while improving their cap situation. Not to be forgotten, the Blue Jackets are excited to unveil Brandon Saad and should be primed for a return to the playoffs with a return to good health. For anyone counting, that’s 7 teams and that is going to make things interesting (see also, #3 above).
This could be a situation where at least 6 teams from the Metropolitan division deserve to be in the playoffs based on points but someone misses out because of the new playoff structure introduced last year that requires at least 3 qualifiers from each division. The Metropolitan Division’s loss is the Atlantic’s gain.
1) Can the Blackhawks repeat or will the Ducks or Predators spoil the party?
No one has done it in the salary cap era but the first true dynasty of the “new NHL” has a better shot than any previous champion. They’re bringing back most of their stars (except for Saad) and new GM Rob Ranek has added significant toughness to their bottom 6 in the form of Deryk Engelland and Michael Ferland. Sergei Kalinin on the third line is an intriguing player as well.
Chicago will no doubt be one of the favorites to emerge from the West but they will face big challenges from the Ducks, who the Hawks themselves noted were their toughest opponent last Spring, and the Predators, who added Patrik Elias and Nail Yakupov. The Hawks would also be wise not to forget about two-time champion Los Angeles. And, again, who knows exactly how good Edmonton can be this season.
