Of the bottom 5 teams who makes the biggest leap forward?

The bottom five teams: Oilers, Leafs, Panthers, Blue Jackets and Islanders.

Who do you think improves the most and climbs up the standings? Who do you think has a legitimate shot at a playoff birth next season if any?

I personally think that the Leafs will be better but still miss the playoffs. The Oilers may very well be in the exact same spot next season along with the Isles. The Blue Jackets will improve IMO and perhaps some slight movement upwards by the Panthers. Sad to say but I think the Leafs make the biggest step forward out of this lot.

Columbus are stuck with the same roster unless they make moves. Although I think they underachieved. They might turn it around somewhat.

The Oilers are in a bad spot with an incredibly high payroll for such a Dung team. They don't even really have a goalie... Could be dead last again.

Panthers have a nice mix of indifferent fans, no revenue and a cast of malcontents on the roster. Status Quo for them.

I think the Isles may very well improve. Only not enough to make the playoffs.

The Leafs are destined for mediocrity. Look for Jurke to dig himself a deeper hole while his legions of fans in the media refuse to acknowledge that Emperor has no clothes.

Bottom line. Same bottom 5, different order.

I think Columbus, with a different coach and different direction, could go a long way towards climbing out of the bottom 5. You throw in Filatov and underachieving and that right there gives a ray of hope. Making some more roster changes will be needed as well of course. Also better results for Nash couldn't hurt either.

Columbus for no other reason than I think Edmonton's a couple of years away - even with the Bulin Wall. Panthers are going nowhere - and fast. Leafs traded everything away and are still close to the cap.

Maybe the Isles, they'll be halfway decent actually.

I'll say Columbus from the West and the Isles from the East.

The Leafs make the biggest jump. They won't have an entire roster's worth of injuries to start the season, which should be a bonus in and of itself. They also have oodles of cap space to sign free agents and make moves.

Leafs

Islanders, they are right there. Who knows what happens between now and camp though, too tough to say for either thread.

Islanders are probably icing 2 rookie defensemen next year. Or sign some UFAs I don't know. Depends, really.

PKC wrote:The Leafs make the biggest jump. They won't have an entire roster's worth of injuries to start the season, which should be a bonus in and of itself. They also have oodles of cap space to sign free agents and make moves.

I agree the Leafs should be much better. It wouldn't shock me if they finally advance to the Post Season Tournament or whatever it was called last time T.O. played in April. I don't get this oodles of cap space though. With Kadri in the lineup they have about 4M left without accounting for the Bonus Cushion. Mind you Capgeek.com has them at 1.4M over the cap this year, so I guess Jurkie doesn't need to adhere to any stinkin' cap.

Definitely the Oilers for me...this year they were plagued with injuries, and next year they will most likely have some fresh faces in Eberle and maybe some other prospects...I think they will finish on the playoff bubble, but who really knows

Oilers are going to be horrible for a while, dude. They have nothing resembling an NHL defense and their most effective PP weapon wants out, who knows if they deal other guys on that team.

As of right now, no defense, no goaltending, and probably 3 rookies in their top 6. Unless they pull a pheonix (they wont with Quinn) then they are a lotto pick again. Oilers are the last team I would expect to be anywhere near a playoff spot.

They will be better than last season's Oilers team. What you just wrote is exactly what people said about Phoenix and Colorado last season.

Colorado had a goaltender that got them there, same with Pheonix. Who do they have in Edmonton? Unless Bulin comes back at 100% health and plays like a Vezina candidate, they have no shot.

Both Anderson and Bryzgalov had career years, that's the difference. Both those teams actually have some vets that helped the team along. Jovonoski, Aucoin, Michalek, Lang in Pheonix, Foote, Liles, Tucker, and Hejduk in COlorado.

Who does Edmonton have? Hell, they are trying to move all their vets and get prospects and picks. That's a complete blowup in Edmonton. They cant be much worse though, so ya, they might be better, still a candidate for dead last though.

N4L wrote:Colorado had a goaltender that got them there, same with Pheonix. Who do they have in Edmonton? Unless Bulin comes back at 100% health and plays like a Vezina candidate, they have no shot.

Both Anderson and Bryzgalov had career years, that's the difference. Both those teams actually have some vets that helped the team along. Jovonoski, Aucoin, Michalek, Lang in Pheonix, Foote, Liles, Tucker, and Hejduk in COlorado.

Who does Edmonton have? Hell, they are trying to move all their vets and get prospects and picks. That's a complete blowup in Edmonton.

You don't have to have a Vezina goaltender to improve on your LAST PLACE position form last season. All I'm saying is they wil be better, I don't think they will finish last again. That rarely happens these days.

So no, maybe they don't have the biggest improvement out of the bottom 5 but they will be better. All I'm saying is you can't count a team out just by how they look on paper.

Big Ev wrote:

N4L wrote:Colorado had a goaltender that got them there, same with Pheonix. Who do they have in Edmonton? Unless Bulin comes back at 100% health and plays like a Vezina candidate, they have no shot.

Both Anderson and Bryzgalov had career years, that's the difference. Both those teams actually have some vets that helped the team along. Jovonoski, Aucoin, Michalek, Lang in Pheonix, Foote, Liles, Tucker, and Hejduk in COlorado.

Who does Edmonton have? Hell, they are trying to move all their vets and get prospects and picks. That's a complete blowup in Edmonton.

You don't have to have a Vezina goaltender to improve on your LAST PLACE position form last season. All I'm saying is they wil be better, I don't think they will finish last again. That rarely happens these days.

So no, maybe they don't have the biggest improvement out of the bottom 5 but they will be better. All I'm saying is you can't count a team out just by how they look on paper.

How do you think Chicago, Pitts, and Washington got to where they are? The only reason they might not finish last in The West or even in their division is because Minny is God awful too.

You dont need a Vezina goaltender to improve your team, but Edmonton needs one to get a sniff of the playoffs.