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

shabbs wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

shabbs wrote:I think the Leafs will actually make the biggest improvement out of those teams... I think Burke will be pretty active this summer. I still don't expect them to make the post season though.

I expect them to be in 9th place for years to come. Okay okay. I hope that happens. Seriously though they can be at the bottom of the league for a while too if they want to send us their first rounders.

I think we'll see them in the post season in a couple of years.

I guess they have to make it some time right?

Ya, I hussle. I made him that bet in Sept though.

Anyways, I thought The Sens were gonna come crashing down becayse of how they were playing and thought the way The Leafs were they were gonna pass The Sens.

N4L wrote:Ya, I hussle. I made him that bet in Sept though.

Anyways, I thought The Sens were gonna come crashing down becayse of how they were playing and thought the way The Leafs were they were gonna pass The Sens.

In September I had the Leafs finishing 13th in the East. They did even worse than I expected. Good for them.

Florida in the east, Columbus in the west. Florida has Vokoun, or whatever they get in a trade for them. They also missed Booth for most of the year. I think Columbus had to take a step back before they could go forward. Mason will rebound big next year.

Florida is an absolute mess. Until that locker rooms gets cleaned out and some new faces are brought in, that team is going stay where they are. I think they will get a few guys out of there but man, they are disfunctional to say the least.

I look to see Horton being traded in the summer, so Florida will take a step back. But who knows? stranger things have happened in the past...

My picks are Columbus in the West, and I'll go double whammy and say both Leafs and Isles will battle for the last playoff spot.

I have to agree that Florida's a steaming pile of...mess. Horton is a loser, and he'll need to be traded. Vokoun has a NTC, so that limits where he can go. Booth is damaged goods now. Kulikov is a bright spot though for sure.

Wiess overachieved in points this year. Ballard took a serious step back in his career, Reinprecht and Dvorak are band-aids, Stillman is slowing down big time.

Allen is average, McCabe is awesome, I'll give them that one.

Markstrom will be good, but who else is gonna step up other than Kulikov? Matthias? Nah.

Rust Olesz makes big money

N4L wrote:Islanders, they are right there. Who knows what happens between now and camp though, too tough to say for either thread.

I have to agree. The islanders had 24 games where they lost by one goal (whether in regulation, OT, or the shootout).

To me that screams of a team that is on the edge of turning it around. If for example they found a way to win 1/4 of those games, they would have had an extra 12 points which would have put them at 91 points and in 6th place (tied with Boston but they would have had more wins).

I'll pick the Islanders for the biggest turn around.

Devo

Devo wrote:

N4L wrote:Islanders, they are right there. Who knows what happens between now and camp though, too tough to say for either thread.

I have to agree. The islanders had 24 games where they lost by one goal (whether in regulation, OT, or the shootout).

To me that screams of a day that is on the edge of turning it around. If for example they found a way to win 1/4 of those games, they would have had an extra 12 points which would have put them at 91 points and in 6th place (tied with Boston but they would have had more wins).

I'll pick the Islanders for the biggest turn around.

Devo

assuming the 1/4 games they win weren't the ones that they lost in OT or shootout because that would only be an extra 6 points...

DirtyDave wrote:

assuming the 1/4 games they win weren't the ones that they lost in OT or shootout because that would only be an extra 6 points...

Ok, so my math may need som reworking, but essentially you all understand my point. More than 1/4 of their games resulted in 1 goal losses. That is still a pretty telling stat in my books.

I'll pick Toronto. I'm not sure they'll make the playoffs but I do see them being a lot better than last season. They have a very tough division to play in, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Another team to look out for would definitely be the Islanders too. If they shed some of the old guys they have there and infuse more young players they could definitely surprise. It all depends on the goaltending for them though, it's definitely holding them back and it could again this upcoming season. We'll see what they do in the off season.

SensGirl11 wrote:I'll pick Toronto. I'm not sure they'll make the playoffs but I do see them being a lot better than last season. They have a very tough division to play in, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Another team to look out for would definitely be the Islanders too. If they shed some of the old guys they have there and infuse more young players they could definitely surprise. It all depends on the goaltending for them though, it's definitely holding them back and it could again this upcoming season. We'll see what they do in the off season.

They should get rid of Streit - right to Ottawa.

Seriously though, they need Weight and guys like that to try to help along all their youth. They'll start to look good next year for sure, De Haan might play as well, that's pretty big for them. DiPietro makes me laugh though, will he ever play a full season again?

i'll pick TO... if it's sole based on the number of points a team increases.

SpezDispenser wrote:

SensGirl11 wrote:I'll pick Toronto. I'm not sure they'll make the playoffs but I do see them being a lot better than last season. They have a very tough division to play in, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. Another team to look out for would definitely be the Islanders too. If they shed some of the old guys they have there and infuse more young players they could definitely surprise. It all depends on the goaltending for them though, it's definitely holding them back and it could again this upcoming season. We'll see what they do in the off season.

They should get rid of Streit - right to Ottawa.

Seriously though, they need Weight and guys like that to try to help along all their youth. They'll start to look good next year for sure, De Haan might play as well, that's pretty big for them. DiPietro makes me laugh though, will he ever play a full season again?

Doug Weight is a good guy to keep for that, only if he's not going to slow them down. They could (if the goaltending allows it) be the surprise of next season like Phoenix was this year.

Toronto will be (sadly) better if only because it's impossible for them to get any worse.

I think Columbus will bounce back as well.

Florida should attempt at trading Vokoun to the flyers in the off-season, and fleecing them while they're at it. You can bet their fan base would have had enough with the lack of legitimate number one goalie hole they got going. Boucher's been a nice story, but vokoun would fit perfectly for them with the backup being boucher or one of the other 10 goalies they used this season.

Florida needs the youth revolution to start already. Booth, Kulikov, and Markstrom is a good start IMO.

Vokoun is right on track with Luongo in terms of being over rated. There is another guy who gets a ton of praise yet hasnt done a thing in The NHL, hell, he's never won a playoff round. Florida should trade him while his value is high because he isnt going to be the difference anywhere.