Tampa and Nashville..but Nashville has a better chance of not making the playoffs.
Which top team will surprise and miss the playoffs?
The top 10 teams in the league last year were (by points):
1 Vancouver
2 Washington
3 Philadelphia
4 Pittsburgh
5 San Jose
6 Detroit
7 Boston
8 Tampa Bay
9 Anaheim
10 Nashville
Which one can you see missing the playoffs this year?
I will make a case for why each team may miss:
1. Vancouver - Hamhuis has battled injuries, Ehrhoff left, there will be more pressure than ever on Luongo
2. Washington - Hard to fault the Caps. Got a goalie, Ovechkin should bounce back, Carlson and Alzner should be better.
3. Philadelphia - Can they gel? There has been a massive change, with 2 core players leaving in Richards and Carter, a new goalie, and an aging defense. They also lost Leino and Versteeg, but picked up an aging Jagr and a feisty Max Talbot.
4. Pittsburg - The health of Crosby and Malkin is the biggest question of all. Crosby, Malkin and Staal played in the same game less than 10 times last year.
5. San Jose - More massive change, with the departure of Heatley and Setoguchi, and the addition of Burns and Havlat.
6. Detroit - With Rafalski gone and Lidstrom a year older is this the year that they falter?
7. Boston - Lost Ryder and Recchi, and swapped Kaberle for Corvo. You have to think with the core in place and Seguin getting better that they will remain strong.
8. Tampa Bay - The team is largely unchanged. The biggest question is whether they vintage Roloson can continue his strong play.
9. Will Hiller's health be an issue? Can Perry repeat his incredible season?
10. Nashville - The core of the team is still on defense and all are returning.
1 Vancouver
2 Washington
3 Philadelphia
4 Pittsburgh
5 San Jose
6 Detroit
7 Boston
8 Tampa Bay
9 Anaheim
10 Nashville
Which one can you see missing the playoffs this year?
I will make a case for why each team may miss:
1. Vancouver - Hamhuis has battled injuries, Ehrhoff left, there will be more pressure than ever on Luongo
2. Washington - Hard to fault the Caps. Got a goalie, Ovechkin should bounce back, Carlson and Alzner should be better.
3. Philadelphia - Can they gel? There has been a massive change, with 2 core players leaving in Richards and Carter, a new goalie, and an aging defense. They also lost Leino and Versteeg, but picked up an aging Jagr and a feisty Max Talbot.
4. Pittsburg - The health of Crosby and Malkin is the biggest question of all. Crosby, Malkin and Staal played in the same game less than 10 times last year.
5. San Jose - More massive change, with the departure of Heatley and Setoguchi, and the addition of Burns and Havlat.
6. Detroit - With Rafalski gone and Lidstrom a year older is this the year that they falter?
7. Boston - Lost Ryder and Recchi, and swapped Kaberle for Corvo. You have to think with the core in place and Seguin getting better that they will remain strong.
8. Tampa Bay - The team is largely unchanged. The biggest question is whether they vintage Roloson can continue his strong play.
9. Will Hiller's health be an issue? Can Perry repeat his incredible season?
10. Nashville - The core of the team is still on defense and all are returning.
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Tampa also lost depth such as Gagne, and Bergenhiem. Two key forwards. So yeah I can see them missing the playoffs.I also think either Philadelphia or Tampa Bay. I don't see how you can trade two proven top six centers and consider yourself as good as you were before. Plus Pronger's health is a question mark. And Tampa, I'm just not sold on their goaltending. Roloson was good last year, but he turns 42 in October, and Garon isn't the most reliable backup plan.
Boyes is with the Sabres now....Sooner or later the bubble has to burst.
I'm more inclined to think they haven't fallen back quite as much as the rest of the West has potentially caught up.
Division:
Chicago, should be much better not suffering a SC hangover. I see them as Div. Winners.
Columbus should be a bit tougher to put away with Carter and NAsh as opposed to just Nash. If Brassard and some of the other young talent step up they might make some noise.
St. Louis is a bit of a question mark to me. IS MacDonald a 70pt guy if healthy this year? Is Stewart a 35g powerforward? Boyes, Steen, Pietrangelo, Halak, the list of question marks goes on. Should they catch lightning in a bottle, they will be hell to play against any given night.
Nashville is always tough to play against. They need scoring, but everyone always says that.
Bottom line is that if Detroit has another bad bout of the injury bug the teams in their own division are better equiped to hand them a loss. Finishing 3rd in their Division could see them on the outside looking in in April.
1 - 3 of 13 Posts
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