2022-23 NHL Season Thread
T'Chenka:
New season, new thread.
T'Chenka:
Thoughts and predictions for all 32 teams by T'Chenka
ATLANTIC DIVISION
playoffs - Tampa Bay, Toronto, Florida, Boston
BOSTON BRUINS
Bergeron and Krejci came back for one more ride. This team is likely to regress a little bit next year, and possibly drop out of the playoffs going forward without shrewd trading or prospects overperforming expectations, but for THIS year, I think they sneak into the playoffs and maybe even do some damage. The defense and goaltending are very solid, but the center position has been the question mark recently. Assuming Bergeron and Krejci can still be a good 1-2 punch down the middle, they should be a threat in the playoffs and a team that other teams hope to avoid playing.
BUFFALO SABRES
Another young team on the rise. Several impressive rookies join the team this year, including Peterka and/or Quinn, Owen Power and Samuelsson. The goaltending is very questionable at this point, and the defense seems a little too inexperienced, but I predict this team will be better than last year and will be in the playoff hunt for most of the season. I think they miss this year, but from here on out, become part of the playoff hunt every year and are no longer one of the "bad" teams.
DETROIT RED WINGS
The slow climb continues. This team should improve from last season, having added a 2nd line center and a top 4 D via free agency. The real improvements should come when stud prospects like Edvinsson and Kaspar join the team, but that's probably a year away. It seems like every season, their roster becomes more and more solid and projectable and it becomes clearer that they'll be a playoff team soon. Probably 1 or 2 more years. Predicting missing the playoffs this time around.
FLORIDA PANTHERS
This is a team that IMO got worse over the offseason. They have cap issues, their left side D is very thin, and I don't know how good this team is gonna be in a few years. For right now, they've mostly very impressive and definitely a playoff team. I'm really worried about that defense though... they might have to trade for a left handed guy. They don't really have the picks and prospects for trades, but they can do an "NHL player for NHL player" deal. Should be exciting to see Matt Tkachuk in the Atlantic and playing with either Barkov or Bennett.
MONTREAL CANADIENS
The team should be a disaster, but the young players will be the focus. There will be at least one or two rookies on the blueline, including Guhle, and eyes will be on guys like Suzuki, Caufield, Dach, (and Slafkovsky if he makes the team) to see how the new core is shaping up. Playoffs are out of the question. Outside of the kids, there isn't much going on here. Price might be retiring as well, so the goaltending won't even be that good.
OTTAWA SENATORS
This team made a LOT of big improvements in the offseason. Their D needs a bit more work, but overall they look like a "real" team now. I'm predicting that they JUST miss playoffs due to Boston going all in for one last shot at a cup and stealing their spot. Sanderson is going to be a stud rookie on the blueline that might surprise some people.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
This is still a formidable and amazing team. The roster looks very solid at all positions, and any important losses due to the cap won't be coming until next summer at the earliest. These are still the guys to beat in the East. 100% a playoff team and VERY likely to make it past the first round IMO.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
My Leafs are in a tough position now. The cap crunch is getting serious now, and the team still looks a top 6 winger and top 4 D away from winning a cup. They're also counting on 2 big question marks in net to hopefully perform well. The next 2 years are going to be brutal from a cap perspective and players like Bunting and Kerfoot will be cap casualties. Unless the Leafs do very well in the playoffs this year, Matthews may also decide that he doesn't want to extend in Toronto, leading to a blockbuster sign and trade next summer (to the Kings?). It's really a make or break year, and the cap, roster, asset flexibility for the Leafs to make moves isn't very good either. Basically just cross their fingers hope for the best at this point. Definitely a playoff team.
METROPOLITAN DIVISION
playoffs - Carolina, NY Rangers, Pittsburgh, Washington
CAROLINA HURRICANES
This team lost some key players, but made some underrated additions as well. In my estimation, they're still definitely a playoff team and one of the better teams in the East. I predict playoffs for sure and probably moving past the 1st round as well. Not sure how great they'll be in a few years, but at least for now, they look impressive.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
This team looks very promising long-term, but this year I'm not 100% sure what will happen. Kent Johnson or David Jiricek forcing their way onto the team in training camp could be a good sign that playoffs are gonna happen against all odds. The depth is solid at every position, but the only question is if they have the right pieces at the top (1st line, 1st pair, 2nd line center).
NEW JERSEY DEVILS
This team is improving quickly. I don't have faith in the goaltending, and the left side D needs a bit of work, but the right side D looks really good now and the forward group looking impressive. Hopefully they can firmly establish a 1st and 2nd line center long term, as a lot of these guys play both center and wing. I expect them to miss the playoffs but improve, and to be a playoff team in the near future.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
The goaltending and D is playoff worthy. The forward DEPTH is playoff worthy... but something seems to be missing. Maybe it's the style they've been playing, or the way the players click together. Barzal and Nelson down the middle with a bunch of good wingers and solid depth forwards seems like it SHOULD be enough. It's hard to predict how good a team like this will do when you can't easily point to the roster weaknesses and figure out why they're losing games. We'll have to see what happens, but I suppose my prediction is that they improve from last year but narrowly miss the playoffs.
NEW YORK RANGERS
Another great team that's poised to make the playoffs and also make it past the 1st round. They'll run into cap issues next summer, but they have a great goalie and a great D core. The forward group isn't amazing but pretty good overall, and maybe Lafreniere and Kakko will show some big development this year.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
The Flyers will probably be a disaster again this year. The roster seems okay on paper, but it just can't win hockey games. If they were smart, they would trade some good players out for other equally good but different players and see if that changes things. Their entire D has issues... Ellis hasn't been healthy, Ristolainen is overpaid but management thinks he's Jesus on skates, DeAngelo is a bit of a headcase that's made racially problematic comments, Sanheim is good but his contract is almost up and Philly doesn't believe in him. Only Provorov and York are issue-free. Van Riemsdyk will be moved out at some point for picks and cap space before his contract expires. I expect them to miss the playoffs, but they could turn everything around fast with some trades that they won't make.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
The Penguins look good! They have wingers for Sid and Geno to play with, and they completely solidified their right side D this offseason. The left side is less solid but Dumoulin is no bum and Pettersson is a competent NHL player. Jarry hopefully continues to play well. They're gonna be going all in for the next few years as Crosby, Malkin and Letang approach their retirements. They look like a playoff team. A cup isn't likely but I wouldn't totally rule it out.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
This team is loaded up with forwards, with solid D and a decent enough goalie. Playoffs should happen. I suppose a cup is possible, but I wouldn't consider them one of the favourites. They have a few younger players, and they'll need them to cement themselves as long-term pieces as some of these guys become older and more irrelevant. Losing Backstrom to injury was a big loss, but they added A LOT of depth to make up for it. Defense seems alright.
CENTRAL DIVISION
playoffs - Colorado, St. Louis, Minnesota, Nashville
ARIZONA COYOTES
It will be another disaster year for the disaster team. Hopefully their NHL kids like Hayton, Moser look good, and kids that might break though like Soderstrom, Guenther look good too. Chychrun will probably be traded in the next 12 months. A lot of these players won't be on the Coyotes in 5 years and are just trying to keep their NHL careers alive with good play. Do NOT expect playoffs. Won't happen.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
A crappy team that's trading all of their half-decent players away and starting again from the beginning. They'll miss the playoffs. What they're looking for right now is building blocks for the future. Their D is build around Seth Jones, with Connor Murphy either moving soon or staying as a veteran for a few years. Mitchell is a promising D rookie who might become part of the new core. Forward seems like more of a crapshoot, with all the good high end forward prospects too young to make the NHL yet. Hopefully a few young guys establish themselves and the older guys bring back good trade value later on.
COLORADO AVALANCHE
The cup champs lost Kadri and some forward depth, and took a downgrade in goaltending. The D core is still unreasonably stacked. I wouldn't be surprised to see Girard traded for a forward soon, preferably a center. If they want to stay competitive, their biggest roster hole is 2nd line center. I'm also not sure that Compher is a long term solution at 3rd line center either. We'll see how it goes, but defense shouldn't be an issue. Wingers seem fine. Goaltending MIGHT be, centers likely will be.
DALLAS STARS
These guys will either make the playoffs or JUST miss. I predicted Nashville over them, because they were able to add a quality D in the offseason, and Dallas was not. The roster is solid, but the older core of Benn, Seguin, Pavelski, Suter make a lot of money and are slowing down. The younger guys like Robertson, Hintz, Heiskanen, Lindell and Oettinger are a good core moving forward. They could really use another stud D but they were unable to acquire one. They seem to have a whole handful of stud center/wingers coming up, and at least one or two of them look NHL ready. Perhaps they'll be able to move a good forward for a good D at some point and improve the playoff chances. This is a team to watch in the next few years, assuming they keep all of these talented young players.
MINNESOTA WILD
They've put themselves in a cap crunch from the next 3 seasons buying our Parise and Suter, but the roster looks decent enough considering. They have some good kids coming, a good roster top to bottom, and hopefully good goaltending (Fleury is ancient). I see them in the playoffs, but Dallas and Nashvile could overtake them possibly. They're expecting their rookie Marco Rossi to be a stud, so hopefully that comes to fruition.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS
Not sure how these guys will perform this year. Good team that will probably make the playoffs of JUST miss, but I don't know about chances to actually win the cup. I put 'em in the playoffs for now over Dallas, due to adding McDonagh. They improved their D and the rest of the roster looks pretty solid. I'm not a huge fan of the star forward group assembled, Johansen Granlund Duchene, but they seem to perform well enough. Excited about their kids Askarov and Kemell, but they aren't likely to make the team this year.
ST. LOUIS BLUES
One of the studs of the west. Team is solid and deep from top to bottom, with a few kids looking about ready to join the team as well in the next little while. They've unfortunately overcommited long term to too many defensemen, and Krug specifically should probably be moved out, but they gave him a No Trade Contract. We'll see how that develops over time. I'm expecting playoffs and I'm expecting further than the 1st round as well. Could win the cup.
WINNIPEG JETS
These guys have a fairly decent roster, but apparently aren't good enough to make the playoffs these days. Goaltending is great, forward situation looks mostly okay, but defense is lacking elite talent outside of Morrissey. They could really benefit from adding another stud on the blueline somehow. There are rumours about Wheeler, Schiefele and Dubois being moved in the near future, some of which are probably true and others are questionable. They could probably use a bit of a shake-up on this team, trading good players out and bringing new good players in. If they can bring in a stud D doing all of that while still maintaining a good C situation, they should improve.
PACIFIC DIVISION
playoffs - Calgary, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Vegas
ANAHEIM DUCKS
A rebuilding non-playoff team with a bad D core, but should be exciting to watch. McTavish and Zegras should be great forwards long-term and thrilling to watch play. Drysdale and some of their teenage D not in the NHL yet should also be solid additions to the team long-term. I wouldn't expect much from them in terms of winning games this year though, but the future is somewhat bright here.
CALGARY FLAMES
This is a REALLY good team, with great depth at C and D and a great goalie. They're gonna be in cap trouble in a few years, and none of their good players are particularly young, but for the next few years, they SHOULD be one of the contending teams... in theory. I could actually see them winning the cup this year possibly, if Markstrom can perform well in the playoffs.
EDMONTON OILERS
Edmonton looks pretty good, but they're now entering cap trouble territory and without a bunch of high quality kids with low cap hits coming up in the next few years. They're a good team and a playoff team, but I don't know how for how many more years. Will McDavid want to stay when his contract runs out? They need to be in the 3rd or 4th round of the playoffs every year, or this team could be considered a failure of sorts.
LOS ANGELES KINGS
I'm curious about the Kings this year. They're a good team and they seem to be getting better, but I want to see what kind of moves they make. They have two many right handed D and will have to move one or two out (Walker and... Durzi?) soon enough. They have two goalies with big cap hits... are they gonna stick to the plan and move on from Quick next summer, or is Petersen their guy? I guess this season is how they're gonna determine that. Should be a playoff team. My personally prediction is that Matthews is signed-and-traded to the Kings at the draft or free agency, and my trade prediction is Matthews and Muzzin for Danault, Kempe, Roy, Walker, Byfield and Clarke. We'll see what happens.
SAN JOSE SHARKS
The slow rebuild continues. They're slowly working kids into the defense, and the forward kids should be coming along very soon. Eklund might make the team this year. My biggest issue with the team is almost none of their young kids that are poised to join the team soon enough seem to be 1st line or 1st pairing guys. They have Couture, Hertl and Erik Karlsson to surround with kids, but I don't know how well that's gonna work out with this crop. Looks like a bad team or a mediocre team that can't make the playoffs. This rebuild will continue to be slow and (IMO) boring.
SEATTLE KRAKEN
The forward group is shaping up really nicely in Seattle. Some people don't realize how good Beniers was when he debuted at the end of the season. Beniers and Wright together should be a solid center group moving forward. Winger depth is improved as well. The goalies are good. The only two things keeping Seattle from the playoffs IMO are if Beniers or Wright have some struggles adjusting to the NHL, and most importantly, their subpar defense. Larsson, Oleksiak and Dunn are good top 4 defensemen, but their biggest team need is elite talent at the defense position. They'll be hunting for that player for a while, maybe the next few years. That's their ticket to the postseason.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Well, these guys are in a tough place. Not quite good enough to get in the playoffs (or do anything if they squeak in), but not really a bad team either. Their right side D is a disaster with hard to trade contracts (Myers, Poolman), no good young kids and no elite talent. They're stuck with Ekman-Larsson for the time being whether they like it or not, but he's a good player, just costs too much. They need to figure out their center position... is Pettersson gonna be a C long term? Are they going to be able to extend Horvat? They're supposed to be trading or extending J.T. Miller right? When is that happening and how is that going to affect the team? At least the goaltending is solid and the wingers are decent enough.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
The cap space and prospects are drying up, so this team is a few years from needing a rebuild probably. Can they win between now and then? Top to bottom, the team is actually very good. It's hard to complain about talent or depth at any position. Lehner is missing the season, but their young 3rd stringer Thompson was supposed to step in as the goalie of the future in a backup role next year anyways. Thompson should be just fine in net. The stars need to have good seasons... Eichel, Pietrangelo, Stone, Theodore. Hopefully Kessel can score a bunch of goals. This is a playoff team IMO.
T'Chenka:
Vegas acquires goalie Adin Hill from San Jose for a 2024 4th round pick
NOW:
Thompson, Hill and Brossoit fight it out for 2 roster spots
( likely outcome = Brossoit to waivers and then AHL )
NEXT YEAR:
Brossoit contract expires in the summer
Hill contract expires in the summer
Lehner and Thompson are the 2 NHL goalies
...with some possibility that Hill is really good in Vegas this year, which leads to a summer 2023 of them signing him to a new contract and trading one of Lehner / Thompson. Not likely necessarily but possible. The odds of Brossoit being extended beyond this contract on the other hand seem insanely small.
JGibson:
Ian Cole is in some hot water, as his team suspended him for sexual abuse allegations.
ESPN:
Quote
The Tampa Bay Lightning suspended defenseman Ian Cole on Sunday night pending an investigation into allegations made on social media that he sexually abused a woman when she was a minor.
In a statement, the Lightning said they are aware of the allegations against Cole and are cooperating fully with the NHL on an investigation.
"Our organization takes these allegations very seriously," the team's statement read. "While we continue to gather more details, we have decided to suspend Ian Cole pending the results of an investigation. No members of the organization, including players, will comment further at this time."
T'Chenka:
Rumours are that he was coerced at least one high school girl into having sex with him and then bragged about it to teammates.
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