>1. Will the Avalanche trade a big-name blueliner? 2. Is Calgary going to be forced to blow up its core? 3. How will Brad Treliving put his stamp on the Leafs in a massive offseason? 4. Will Elias Pettersson and Auston Matthews commit to their teams long-term? 5. How will the hot goalie carousel play out, and will teams be afraid to pay big prices? 7. What will Winnipeg’s big-picture vision be after (likely) trading Dubois, Hellebuyck and Scheifele? 8. Can the Penguins take one last crack at a Cup with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang? 9. What direction will the Blues choose and could they be dark-horse buyers? 10. Can the Bruins save their Cup contention window? 11. How aggressive will rising powers Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit be this summer?
>>Buffalo has missed the playoffs for 12 consecutive seasons. Detroit has missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons. Ottawa has missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons. >All three Atlantic division teams have been through a painful rebuild, collected promising young talent, and are now on the rise, close to finally getting back to playoff contention. Each one of these teams has cap space and assets to make some serious additions this summer. >The Sabres are probably the furthest ahead on paper. They look like they might be a quality goalie and a top-four defenseman away from being a strong playoff contender. Buffalo has just shy of $17 million and plenty of assets to make a splash. >Ottawa is in a fascinating spot because Alex DeBrincat could be on the move as an RFA. That would create a major hole but you have to think they’ll take whatever assets and cap space they gain and deploy it some other way to help the immediate future. GM Pierre Dorion will be under the most pressure to make the playoffs, especially with a new ownership group, so they’re most incentivized out of these three teams to be aggressive. >Detroit is a bit behind Buffalo and Ottawa on paper but they have by far the most cap flexibility ($30 million) and trade assets (five picks in the first two rounds this year and two first-round picks in 2024) to make some noise. >Could the Red Wings pursue a top flight scorer like DeBrincat, Travis Konecny or Clayton Keller? Could they be aggressive and find a top-four right-handed defender to replace Filip Hronek? Steve Yzerman was very active last offseason when they signed Andrew Copp, Ville Husso and Ben Chiarot.
Udungoofedman
Freddie Anderson and Pesce and we roll right into the playoffs feeling real good about ourselves.
2 Comments
>1. Will the Avalanche trade a big-name blueliner?
2. Is Calgary going to be forced to blow up its core?
3. How will Brad Treliving put his stamp on the Leafs in a massive offseason?
4. Will Elias Pettersson and Auston Matthews commit to their teams long-term?
5. How will the hot goalie carousel play out, and will teams be afraid to pay big prices?
7. What will Winnipeg’s big-picture vision be after (likely) trading Dubois, Hellebuyck and Scheifele?
8. Can the Penguins take one last crack at a Cup with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang?
9. What direction will the Blues choose and could they be dark-horse buyers?
10. Can the Bruins save their Cup contention window?
11. How aggressive will rising powers Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit be this summer?
>>Buffalo has missed the playoffs for 12 consecutive seasons. Detroit has missed the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons. Ottawa has missed the playoffs for six consecutive seasons.
>All three Atlantic division teams have been through a painful rebuild, collected promising young talent, and are now on the rise, close to finally getting back to playoff contention. Each one of these teams has cap space and assets to make some serious additions this summer.
>The Sabres are probably the furthest ahead on paper. They look like they might be a quality goalie and a top-four defenseman away from being a strong playoff contender. Buffalo has just shy of $17 million and plenty of assets to make a splash.
>Ottawa is in a fascinating spot because Alex DeBrincat could be on the move as an RFA. That would create a major hole but you have to think they’ll take whatever assets and cap space they gain and deploy it some other way to help the immediate future. GM Pierre Dorion will be under the most pressure to make the playoffs, especially with a new ownership group, so they’re most incentivized out of these three teams to be aggressive.
>Detroit is a bit behind Buffalo and Ottawa on paper but they have by far the most cap flexibility ($30 million) and trade assets (five picks in the first two rounds this year and two first-round picks in 2024) to make some noise.
>Could the Red Wings pursue a top flight scorer like DeBrincat, Travis Konecny or Clayton Keller? Could they be aggressive and find a top-four right-handed defender to replace Filip Hronek? Steve Yzerman was very active last offseason when they signed Andrew Copp, Ville Husso and Ben Chiarot.
Freddie Anderson and Pesce and we roll right into the playoffs feeling real good about ourselves.