The Cobra
04-06-2016, 10:04 PM
Cobra...
Shamefully not one of the 7 NHL teams based in Canada are going to be in the playoffs this season. While there are various reasons, various excuses etc etc the fact is they just weren`t good enough.....and please don`t feed me that "well all the teams are made up far and away by Canadian players anyway" garbage.
Here`s some of the drastic needs in the opinion of TSN writers for Canadian teams to right their ship going forward...
TSN
The autopsy for Canada’s Lotto 7 is well underway. We’ve already established the where it went wrong for Canadas teams where each team’s season veered off course.
But how will these seven clubs get back on track?
Here is a look at Priority One as each enters the offseason on Sunday:
CALGARY
Priority One: Starting goaltender
Scoop: This is no secret. GM Brad Treliving said three weeks ago the Flames would “cast a wide net” in search of a goaltender. James Reimer now has three shutouts and a .938 save percentage in eight starts for the Sharks. If Reimer were Calgary’s choice, why wouldn’t the Flames trade a fourth-round pick for him in February? The goaltending market may be small, with Toronto and maybe Carolina as the only two teams searching for a netminder. Would the Penguins be willing to move Marc-Andre Fleury? Matt Murray is Pittsburgh’s goaltender of the future. Fleury, 31, has three years left at $5.75 million and the Penguins will have expansion draft considerations to make. The bigger question is whether Fleury, with a limited no-trade clause, would be willing to come to Calgary? Frederik Andersen and Jimmy Howard could also provide a nice stop-gap solution with Jon Gillies in the pipeline.
EDMONTON
Priority One: Right-shooting offensive defenceman
Scoop: Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse and Andrej Sekera are all left-shooting defencemen. The Oilers desperately need a right-shooting blueliner who can run the power play and get the puck to Connor McDavid - and whoever else remains from the current core - more efficiently next season. Look at the impact adding one puck-mover in Shayne Gostisbehere made on Philadelphia. Anaheim’s Sami Vatanen, a 24-year-old restricted free agent, would be the perfect fit. Colorado’s Tyson Barrie would also make sense, though the Avalanche should be looking to bolster the blueline, not subtract from it. Also, keep an eye on Stars defenceman Jason Demers. He isn’t a power play specialist, but as a pending UFA, he is a nice right shot to balance out the lineup - and Demers played for Edmonton head coach Todd McLellan in San Jose.
MONTREAL
Priority One: Scoring right winger with size
Scoop: The biggest knock against the Canadiens this year was that they were too easy to play against. GM Marc Bergevin needs to add a little size to Montreal’s lineup, particularly on the right side. Brendan Gallagher and Sven Andrighetto are both listed at less than six feet. The rival Bruins, on the verge of being bounced from the playoffs for the second spring in a row, are probably kicking themselves for not getting a return on Loui Eriksson. He remains unsigned. Eriksson isn’t enormous at 6-foot-2, but he would add a little size and a big scoring punch if he’d be interested in flipping to Montreal. Eriksson, 30, has racked up 29 goals and 61 points on Boston’s top line - two totals that would lead the Canadiens this year. Another intriguing UFA would be Kyle Okposo, who played with Max Pacioretty on Team USA’s 2008 World Junior entry.
OTTAWA
Priority One: Top six scoring help
Scoop: Erik Karlsson’s all-world season has only highlighted the lack of help he has around him in creating offence in Ottawa. Mark Stone will likely be the Sens’ only player to finish within 20 points of him on the roster. In three seasons in Ottawa, Bobby Ryan hasn’t come close to the 30-goal plateau he hit four straight years in Anaheim. He may, in fact, be the NHL’s most overpaid player at $7.25 million AAV. Mike Hoffman has delivered with 29 goals this year after a contentious salary arbitration case last summer. It remains to be seen whether the Sens will pay him this time, as a restricted free agent. They need his goals, even if most came in the first half of the season. And they need more of them. The Sens were the only team linked to Colorado in talks for Haliburton, Ont., native Matt Duchene in November. They were also deep in negotiation with Tampa Bay for Jonathan Drouin. They could circle back to both of those names this summer, or try and reel in a player like Okposo on the market.
TORONTO
Priority One: A true No. 1 centre
Scoop: Auston Matthews would go a long way toward answering the biggest question facing the Maple Leafs: Who is their No. 1 centre for the future? Is it William Nylander? He very well could be. Toronto is in the process of trying to figure that out. Can Mitch Marner play centre in the NHL? All we know is that Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri aren’t the answer to the question. Kadri, who will likely finish as the Leafs’ leading scorer this year, would make for an ideal second-line centre on a solid team. Brendan Shanahan and Co. are busy assembling pieces - but the ability to pencil in Matthews as a sure bet for the next decade after winning the draft lottery would provide a huge trickle-down effect throughout the organization.
VANCOUVER
Priority One: Successors to the Sedins
Scoop: With their top-notch hockey IQ and vision, 35-year-old twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin could well play into their 40s. But the No. 1 mission for Canucks GM Jim Benning this summer is to attempt to find a replacement, particularly for Henrik at centre. Winning the Auston Matthews sweepstakes might benefit the Canucks more than most other lottery teams, as they felt the gaping hole Henrik left down the middle with the eight games he missed this season. It wasn’t pretty. Bo Horvat, 21, has added 12 points year-over-year and is playing five more minutes a night, but he is also an ugly minus-33 this year. Is he shaping up to be a bona fide top-line centre? His current track would suggest he’d be a nice complementary piece on the second line. The same goes for Jared McCann, though he is two years younger. The Sedins have two years left on their deals at $7 million per season. The clock is ticking.
WINNIPEG
Priority One: Maturation
Scoop: The Winnipeg Jets probably don’t get enough acknowledgement for being such a young team. They entered the year with the fourth youngest lineup based on average age (ahead of only Edmonton, Buffalo and Tampa Bay). It was the main reason for their undoing. They’re even younger now without Andrew Ladd. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has a lot of the pieces in place already. Mark Scheifele, 23, has blossomed into a No. 1 centre with 27 goals. Nik Ehlers racked up 35 points as a 19-year-old. Jacob Trouba, 21, and Tyler Myers, 25, can anchor the backend for years to come. And Connor Hellebuyck, 22, will be asked to take the reins in net next year. The Jets don’t really need to add much more, they just need time and room to grow. The problem is that isn’t a luxury in the ultra-competitive Central Division.
Cobra.....being I`m a Leafs fan I`ll comment on them. So you need a #1 center eh Babs?...so who doesn`t. Apparently Mr Babcock hasn`t taken the time to ever watch his team try to defend......they are bad right across the board and their goaltending is their equal. They have no first pairing defenseman at this time although Reilly is a work in progress, the rest are NHL defensmen by default as far as #1 or #2 line pairings not talent. It should be noted that the much maligned James Reimer since moving to San Jose is flourishing with 2 shutouts in 8 games and a .938 save percentage. Mitch Marner isn`t even remotely NHL ready.
Shamefully not one of the 7 NHL teams based in Canada are going to be in the playoffs this season. While there are various reasons, various excuses etc etc the fact is they just weren`t good enough.....and please don`t feed me that "well all the teams are made up far and away by Canadian players anyway" garbage.
Here`s some of the drastic needs in the opinion of TSN writers for Canadian teams to right their ship going forward...
TSN
The autopsy for Canada’s Lotto 7 is well underway. We’ve already established the where it went wrong for Canadas teams where each team’s season veered off course.
But how will these seven clubs get back on track?
Here is a look at Priority One as each enters the offseason on Sunday:
CALGARY
Priority One: Starting goaltender
Scoop: This is no secret. GM Brad Treliving said three weeks ago the Flames would “cast a wide net” in search of a goaltender. James Reimer now has three shutouts and a .938 save percentage in eight starts for the Sharks. If Reimer were Calgary’s choice, why wouldn’t the Flames trade a fourth-round pick for him in February? The goaltending market may be small, with Toronto and maybe Carolina as the only two teams searching for a netminder. Would the Penguins be willing to move Marc-Andre Fleury? Matt Murray is Pittsburgh’s goaltender of the future. Fleury, 31, has three years left at $5.75 million and the Penguins will have expansion draft considerations to make. The bigger question is whether Fleury, with a limited no-trade clause, would be willing to come to Calgary? Frederik Andersen and Jimmy Howard could also provide a nice stop-gap solution with Jon Gillies in the pipeline.
EDMONTON
Priority One: Right-shooting offensive defenceman
Scoop: Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse and Andrej Sekera are all left-shooting defencemen. The Oilers desperately need a right-shooting blueliner who can run the power play and get the puck to Connor McDavid - and whoever else remains from the current core - more efficiently next season. Look at the impact adding one puck-mover in Shayne Gostisbehere made on Philadelphia. Anaheim’s Sami Vatanen, a 24-year-old restricted free agent, would be the perfect fit. Colorado’s Tyson Barrie would also make sense, though the Avalanche should be looking to bolster the blueline, not subtract from it. Also, keep an eye on Stars defenceman Jason Demers. He isn’t a power play specialist, but as a pending UFA, he is a nice right shot to balance out the lineup - and Demers played for Edmonton head coach Todd McLellan in San Jose.
MONTREAL
Priority One: Scoring right winger with size
Scoop: The biggest knock against the Canadiens this year was that they were too easy to play against. GM Marc Bergevin needs to add a little size to Montreal’s lineup, particularly on the right side. Brendan Gallagher and Sven Andrighetto are both listed at less than six feet. The rival Bruins, on the verge of being bounced from the playoffs for the second spring in a row, are probably kicking themselves for not getting a return on Loui Eriksson. He remains unsigned. Eriksson isn’t enormous at 6-foot-2, but he would add a little size and a big scoring punch if he’d be interested in flipping to Montreal. Eriksson, 30, has racked up 29 goals and 61 points on Boston’s top line - two totals that would lead the Canadiens this year. Another intriguing UFA would be Kyle Okposo, who played with Max Pacioretty on Team USA’s 2008 World Junior entry.
OTTAWA
Priority One: Top six scoring help
Scoop: Erik Karlsson’s all-world season has only highlighted the lack of help he has around him in creating offence in Ottawa. Mark Stone will likely be the Sens’ only player to finish within 20 points of him on the roster. In three seasons in Ottawa, Bobby Ryan hasn’t come close to the 30-goal plateau he hit four straight years in Anaheim. He may, in fact, be the NHL’s most overpaid player at $7.25 million AAV. Mike Hoffman has delivered with 29 goals this year after a contentious salary arbitration case last summer. It remains to be seen whether the Sens will pay him this time, as a restricted free agent. They need his goals, even if most came in the first half of the season. And they need more of them. The Sens were the only team linked to Colorado in talks for Haliburton, Ont., native Matt Duchene in November. They were also deep in negotiation with Tampa Bay for Jonathan Drouin. They could circle back to both of those names this summer, or try and reel in a player like Okposo on the market.
TORONTO
Priority One: A true No. 1 centre
Scoop: Auston Matthews would go a long way toward answering the biggest question facing the Maple Leafs: Who is their No. 1 centre for the future? Is it William Nylander? He very well could be. Toronto is in the process of trying to figure that out. Can Mitch Marner play centre in the NHL? All we know is that Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri aren’t the answer to the question. Kadri, who will likely finish as the Leafs’ leading scorer this year, would make for an ideal second-line centre on a solid team. Brendan Shanahan and Co. are busy assembling pieces - but the ability to pencil in Matthews as a sure bet for the next decade after winning the draft lottery would provide a huge trickle-down effect throughout the organization.
VANCOUVER
Priority One: Successors to the Sedins
Scoop: With their top-notch hockey IQ and vision, 35-year-old twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin could well play into their 40s. But the No. 1 mission for Canucks GM Jim Benning this summer is to attempt to find a replacement, particularly for Henrik at centre. Winning the Auston Matthews sweepstakes might benefit the Canucks more than most other lottery teams, as they felt the gaping hole Henrik left down the middle with the eight games he missed this season. It wasn’t pretty. Bo Horvat, 21, has added 12 points year-over-year and is playing five more minutes a night, but he is also an ugly minus-33 this year. Is he shaping up to be a bona fide top-line centre? His current track would suggest he’d be a nice complementary piece on the second line. The same goes for Jared McCann, though he is two years younger. The Sedins have two years left on their deals at $7 million per season. The clock is ticking.
WINNIPEG
Priority One: Maturation
Scoop: The Winnipeg Jets probably don’t get enough acknowledgement for being such a young team. They entered the year with the fourth youngest lineup based on average age (ahead of only Edmonton, Buffalo and Tampa Bay). It was the main reason for their undoing. They’re even younger now without Andrew Ladd. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has a lot of the pieces in place already. Mark Scheifele, 23, has blossomed into a No. 1 centre with 27 goals. Nik Ehlers racked up 35 points as a 19-year-old. Jacob Trouba, 21, and Tyler Myers, 25, can anchor the backend for years to come. And Connor Hellebuyck, 22, will be asked to take the reins in net next year. The Jets don’t really need to add much more, they just need time and room to grow. The problem is that isn’t a luxury in the ultra-competitive Central Division.
Cobra.....being I`m a Leafs fan I`ll comment on them. So you need a #1 center eh Babs?...so who doesn`t. Apparently Mr Babcock hasn`t taken the time to ever watch his team try to defend......they are bad right across the board and their goaltending is their equal. They have no first pairing defenseman at this time although Reilly is a work in progress, the rest are NHL defensmen by default as far as #1 or #2 line pairings not talent. It should be noted that the much maligned James Reimer since moving to San Jose is flourishing with 2 shutouts in 8 games and a .938 save percentage. Mitch Marner isn`t even remotely NHL ready.