Pre-Season - How is Your Team Looking?

[RGM81]

I don’t know about you guys but this year’s Habs camp is a total 180 from last year. Some feel good stories happening and the team is actually playing well & winning some of these exhibition games. My expectations for the season are still that they won’t make the playoffs but they are markedly improved over last year right from the get-go.

And I think Kotkaniemi is going to force the brass to make a very hard decision.


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[creasecollector]

Leafs are looking good :) ! Still love seeing Tavares wearing the Blue & White.

And though I'm sort of forced to like the Calgary Flames, I've loved what I've seen from them so far and their group of young players.

[MR.M's Cards]

My sens look like the have a legitimate shot at the first overall pick next year............. @RGM81 do you see Suzuki sticking with the big cvlub? really hoping not :)

[Thick McRunfast]

With John Tavares out of the picture, many people are placing the Islanders out of the playoffs (yet still not bad enough for a chance at the #1 pick in the draft, which would definitely be an "Islanders" way to finish the season). However, hockey is a strange game, and I think the Isles can still make the playoffs. Mathew Barzal has a bigger weight on his shoulders for sure, but he's still got some good talent to help out.

I'm hopeful that Devon Toews and Kieffer Bellows (son of Brian) will somehow make the team out of camp. They've both looked really good. Jordan Eberle, Anthony Beauvillier, and Anders Lee will need to have big seasons, Nick Leddy and Brock Nelson will need to bounce back from a down year, and Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner will have to be above average in goal.

Also, they've got Barry Trotz behind the bench, which is a huge upgrade. His structure should help to reduce the huge number of goals that they allowed last season.

Looking forward to puck drop.

[Therealmahoney]

Ya my Sens aren’t looking the greatest, def on their way to handing Colorado a first overall pick. But preseason is funny, most teams that don’t do well in preseason go on to have a good year, so here’s hoping. And same, I’m forced to like the Flames, but they’ve got a lot of young, fast, skilled talent. They should be fun to watch.

[joshpackham]

My buddy planned the route for the stanley cup parade in June in the city of Toronto, needless to say the preseason doesn't translate to the regular season but its been fun watching the 3rd and 4th lines in the preseason as all of the young marlies look pretty good and they should do well again in the AHL this year

[RGM81]

My sens look like the have a legitimate shot at the first overall pick next year............. @RGM81 do you see Suzuki sticking with the big cvlub? really hoping not :)

His name has come up a couple times for all the right reasons. I don't think they're going to rush him. But I think both him and Kotkaniemi are potentially making the brass re-think their roster plan for this season, which would be awesome.

[LecavalierFan]

Caps are looking just as bad as they did last preseason, but we all know how that turned out

[26CRDS]

My Nuckleheads are rebuilding. Excited to see Pettersson and Boeser.

[Leafsman]

As a Leafs fan, their undefeated preseason run scares me. Usually, teams that do well in the preseason do horrible in the season.

Yes, we have the shiny new toy in John Tavares, but the defense needs a lot of work. The only legitimate defenseman on the team is Morgan Rielly in my mind. Jake Gardiner is fast but his play is iffy and not steady enough. Everyone else is either on the downswing in their career (Hainsey) or projects (Zaitsev might be good but still unproven).

I am hoping that some of Toronto's AHL defensemen like Justin Holl, Andreas Borgman, Calle Rosen, and Travis Dermott developed well enough to make it full time in Toronto. That might push Hainsey, Martin Marincin (who's on the bubble) and Zaitsev out.