wprager wrote:They are at 21 which is (barely) bottom-10. And they got there with Lucic and Savard still in the lineup. It's ludicrous to think that, losing two of their best players, they will suddenly turn around this (admittedly early-season) trend. So, although I can see how it can happen, at this point they are very much a bottom-10 team and there is little indication that that's going to change any time soon.
True, but I mean a bottom 10 team over-all, not a bottom-10 team through the first couple months of the season.
It's largely useless IMO to extrapolate results so far over a whole season. The Leafs, for example, could get some bounces, go on a three-game win streak, while the Sens could be overconfident and lose three in a row. All of a sudden the Leafs are only three points behind us.
Plus, losing a key player can cause other players to bond together and step up: see the Leafs of a few years ago when Sundin went down.
Boston is a team featuring a Jack Adams coach, a Vezina goaltender (and one of the best-ranked goalie prospects in the league), a Norris defenceman (and some good defensive depth in Wideman, Morris, Stuart, Ference and Hunwick) and a still respectable forward group.
So, you shouldn't necessarily think they
will reverse the trend sans Savard, but I don't think it's ludicrous to say they can.
What I mean is, don't go pencilling Fowler and Hall into the B's 2010 line-up yet. At worst, it's probably Fowler and Hishon. And then Adam Larsson in 2011.