Brendl Division Preview

The Brendl Division Preview

In this Division Preview we will breakdown each of the eight (8) organization which make up the division and how they rank in comparison to each other. The breakdown will include an assessment of the Front Office, Pro-Roster, (forwards, defense and goaltending) along with a look at each organization’s likelihood of future success with the assets they currently hold.

New York Rangers:

General Manager: Phill Grote

2012-13 Record: 43-30-9 (95 pts)

Last Portal Login: 23 minutes ago

Front Office:

General Manager Phill Grote has been patiently remodeling the Rangers. It appears  GM Grote is tinkering with his team to find the right blend of youth who should be ready to break out. Grote  moved out leading goal scorer Max Pacioretty along with Patrick Marleau and Marc Staal during the offseason bringing in Paul Stastny, Kyle Palmieri and Luca Sbisa. It looks like its going to be a re-tooling year in the big Apple.  

Score: 8/10

Pro Roster:

Forwards: The most glaring gap on the Rangers roster is no clear goal scorer. They have some quality two way players in PM Bouchard and Alex Steen but outside of Vaclav Prospal and Paul Stastny goals will be hard to come by. The Rangers are hoping Mikail Grigorenko will help address this but he is still a season away and will likley spend time with the farm team. The Rangers do have some depth at the bottom six.  They likely won’t cost the Rangers a lot of games but don’t expect them to steal any either.

Defense: Although Rangers may have a tough time scoring goals, so will every team they play. The back end is anchored by Ryan McDonagh who will likely be the future of the franchise. McDonagh is supported by a steady cast of grizzly veterans in Ron Hainsey, Matt Carle and Andrew Ference. Luca Sbisa and Ryan Murphy have played well enough to make the cut and look like they will both be leaned upon to play some minutes.

Goaltending:  With Marc-Andre Fleury in between the pipes the Rangers have a consistent netminder who can help them keep the games close. Cameron Talbot will  pick up the remainder of games and seems to be a competent backup. 

Score: 7/10

Future: The Rangers have some promising prospects in Calle Jarnkrok, Oscar Klefbom, Stefan Noesen, and recently drafted Morgan Klimchuck. Three of the four best prospects in the Rangers system are forwards which highlights thel back end deficiencies the Rangers will likely have in the future. Outside of Marc-Andre Fleury and Cameron Talbot the Rangers lack any semblance of a goaltender in their system.

Score: 8/10

2013-14 Prediction: 32-45-5 (69 pts)

Overall Score: 7.67/10

Carolina Hurricanes :

General Manager: Cameron Grewal

2012-13 Record: 27-44-11 (65 pts)

Last Portal Login: 3 hours ago

Front Office: One quote comes to mind when reflecting upon the past plight of the Carolina Hurricanes, that is: “the night is darkest before the dawn”. The previous ownership group ran the organization into the ground. When the league finally took over the franchise it became evident the biggest obstacle would be to hire a capable GM who could help turn the team around. Commisioner Dylan Wilson hired Cameron Grewal to run the team. Although the team only scrounged up 27 wins last season it was the moves off the ice that made it a huge success. General Manager Cameron Grewal helped rebuild the franchise, made some key signings, and was active on the trade front.

Score: 9/10

Pro Roster:

Forwards: Top line for the Hurricanes is centred by Brandon Dubinsky with Dany Heatley and Alexander Semin on the wings. This top line can fetch some goals and will likely be the focus of teams each night. The second line has Ryane Clowe providing some veteran presence helping to steady Mikael Backlund and talented rookie Sven Baertschi.

Defense: Top pair feature Derek Morris and Christian Ehrhoff , both are reliable and will play heavy minutes. Derek Morris’s best years are likely behind him and the Canes are hoping promising young defender Dmitry Kulikov will be ready to step into the top line. Bright spots include rookie Patrick Wiercioch who made the jump to the pro team. He has been playing well and does not look out of place. 

Goaltending: Corey Crawford helps to mitigate any defensive errors. GM Gerwal will have some decisions to make this offseason with Crawford in the final year of his contract. The Canes GM might be forced to pay up with real number one goaltender available.

Score: 7/10

Future: The future of the franchise looks brighter than ever. Holding onto his 1st round draft pick last year paid huge dividends as GM Gerwal was happy to select Seth Jones. The Canes knows the future of the franchise and blue line will be anchored by Jones. Many prospect have already made the jump to the farm team and it will look to compete for a roster spot next season barring any significant changes.

Score: 8/10

2013-14 Prediction: 35-39-8 (78 pts)

Overall Score: 8/10

New Jersey Devils:

General Manager:  JP Kiellerman

2012-13 Record: 51-26-5 ( 107pts)

Last Portal Login: 13 hours ago

Front Office:  As the old adage goes “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Well GM Kiellerman appears to have done just that with little in the way of changing the composition of his team. Only time will tell if this group of forwards will be able to capture some of the magic and chemistry of finishing top in the division last year.  If this team does not come hot out of the gate look for Kiellerman to shake things up.

Score: 7/10

Pro Roster:

Forwards:  One of the biggest surprises  of last year was the spectacular play of Steve Ott who racked up 45 goals and 72 assists in 82 GP.  While most of the familiar faces are back in New Jersey GM Kiellerman did little in the offseason to help support their superstar player. The acquisition of Matthew Lombardi only added additional depth. Outside of Mikkel Boedker offence  will  likely be generated from the back end.

Defense:  With Andrei Markov and Lubomir Visnovsky prowling the blue line its anyone’s guess who is actually playing defense. Both these guys will generate major scoring opportunities but the defensive responsibilities are likely to fall upon the grizzly veterans Bryce Salvador and Marek Zidicky.

Goaltending:  One of the few moves Kiellerman did make was to bring in Cam Ward. The Devils are placing a lot of responsibility on Cam Ward hoping he can help offset a potentially anemic offense.  Behind Ward the Devils look to be solid with capable back up Dan Ellis and breakout candidate Jhonas Enroth waiting in the wings. The goaltending future of New Jersey looks bright.

Score: 7/10

Future:  The addition of Cam Ward did not come cheap.  GM Kiellerman was forced to part with one of their most promising prospects in Beau Bennett along with a 1^st round pick. There are some bright spots for the devils they have a couple of young players that could help out the pro-club on the farm. Zac Dalpe, Jacob Josefson and Zach Boychuk will all likely compete for minutes next year.

Score: 6/10

2013-14 Prediction: 40-32-10 (90pts) against all rational arguments stated above the team will likely finish 60-18-4 (124pts)

Overall Score: 6.8/10

New York Islanders:

General Manager: Bill 

2012-13 Record: 44-26-12 (100pts)

Last Portal Sign-In: 1 Month and counting

Front Office: Since taking over the NY Islanders GM Bill “the Thrill” (yes Bill is his full name) has lived up to his nickname completing trades in spurts. In June and July he recently revamped the Islanders. A team which was a formidable force last year looks stronger heading into the 2013-14 season.  If anyone hears from Bill “the Thrill” let him know he has done some decent work.

Score: 7/10 (would have been higher but participation is a concern)

Pro Roster:

Forwards: This team is deep at centre boasting the likes of Ryan Kesler, Mike Fisher, Danny Briere and Maxim Lapierre – the Islanders will look to control each play by winning the draws.  Milan Michalek, Ryan Malone and Martin Havlat will help to generate scoring chances. The Islanders could benefit from additional legitimate top 6 forward to help aliveiate some pressure off these guys.

Defense:  The offseason acquisition of Dennis Wideman will help to complement the puck moving Mark Streit and mitigate any defensive lapses. Jonathan Ericsson, Andrej Sekera will be playing heavy minutes as the second unit and it has yet to be seen if they will be able to handle the work load down the stretch.

Goaltending:  With the best goaltender in the league the New York Islander have a two capable tenders that will likely never see the light of day. 

Score: 8/10

Future: There are some bright spots for the Islanders. Promising forward Emile Porier was a 1^st round selection the past draft and came over in a trade from the Phoenix Coyotes.  Another promising player is Johan Sundstrom who had a fantastic training camp but failed to make the cut this year. The Islanders are in need of quality defensive prospects since having to package Patrick Wiercioch in the Wideman deal. 

Score: 6/10

2013-14 Prediction: 48-26-8 (98pts)

Overall Score: 7/10

Columbus Blue Jackets:

General Manager:  Jerry Hussar

2012-13 Record: 50-27-5  ( 105pts)

Last Portal Sign-in:  1 Hour ago

Front Office:  GM Hussar has put together a pretty complete team which is evident in the 105 points they earned last season.  Columbus’ best players were just that, particularly Jason Spezza who tallied up 105 points and played all 82 games.  As long as the team continues to chug along as it did last year it is unlikely GM Hussar will make any massive roster shakeups.  

Score: 8/10

Pro Roster:

Forwards:  Overall the team did not change much.  The most notables were  veterans Brooks Laich, Dan Cleary and Toni Lydman incoming was  Dave Bolland and Sheldon Souray both great additions. Could use another legitimate goal scorer to take some of the pressure off the big three Parise, Spezza and Marchand. The bottom six could use some work on the wings however has many character guys and role players available to step up. 

Defense:  Very balanced defence core. Sheldon will bring his boom from the point while Seidenberg, Gleason and Martin can shut down the best of any team. 

Goaltending:  One of the strongest tandems in the league with Pekka  Rinne and Mike Smith.  With both UFA’s at the end of the year Columbus might want to decide who will be the starting goalie. Both Smith and Rinne will return a roster player that can help the team now or even down the line.

Score: 8/10

Future:  No wow factor here.  Some kids may develop but I wouldn’t do any succession planning around these kids.  Has yet to trade his  1^st round pick in the upcoming draft – could signal he is ready to stock the cupboards but highly unlikely.

Score: 5/10

2013-14 Prediction: ( 40-30-10 90pts)

Overall Score: 7/10

Pittsburgh Penguins:

General Manager: Brandon Bennett

2012-13 Record:  (39-30-13, 91pts)

Last Portal Sign-in:  2 months and counting.

Front Office:  Brandon “the busy bee” Bennett has put together a pretty balanced team. When the stars align and for some reason he wants to make a trade they usually work out.

Score: 7/10 (would have been higher but participation is a concern)

Pro Roster:  

Forwards:  This forward group is fantastic. They are skilled and deep. Top six is jam packed full of talent headlined by the Magician Pavel Datsyuk whom he signed in the offseason, Phil  Kessel, Martin St.Louis, Ryan Getzlaf …ok this is turning into a run on sentence but you get the idea this teams got serious talent.

Defense:  Almost as grand as the forwards. Led by Doughty and Boyle this blue line will light it up. Jake Gardiner learning the ropes this year will likely move up on the depth charts next year.

Goaltending:  Kipper’s last year with James Reimer set to take the reins this year. Could use a little more certainty in net but team is good enough to overcome any possible deficiencies.

Score: 9/10

Future:  Headlined by Evgeny Kuznetsov, considered to be the best player not in the NHL. Zack Phillips, Josh Leivo and Jon Merill show that they can make the jump to pro one day. With the defence core aging most notably Ohlund and Boyle picking up some more defense prospects couldn’t hurt.

Score: 7/10

2013-14 Prediction: ( 52-22-8. 112 pts)

Overall Score: 7.67/10

Washinton Capitals:

General Manager: John Vonk

2012-13 Record:  (39-30-13, 91pts)

Last Portal Sign-in:  2 days ago

Front Office:  John “smooth daddy” Vonk has been tinkering with his team trying to find get all the right pieces. He doesn’t want to build a one hit wonder – he is looking to build a dynasty.  Could a lack of patience could be his Achilles heel?  There is not definitive answer as we will need to wait and see how this team develops.   

Score: 8/10

Pro Roster:  

Forwards:  This team has potential – with a mix of season vets along with some young guns it could do some damage sooner than later. It is not a matter of if but when they will begin to get it together. Let by the veterns who still have some gas in the tank like Olli Jokinen and Johan Franzen, there is some talent up front to hold the fort while the young guns gain experience.  There is not clear leader, in the future this could be Schwartz or Etem but for now there is still the need for the capitals to have that high end go to guy.

Defense:  Could use a little work but solid top pairing in Campbell and Michalek.  Adding a top three guy will help to push the depth chart down. Sefan Elliott needs to get some experience and should be more helpful next season.    

Goaltending:  Vokun and Giguere are both reliable and capable goaltenders but for how much longer? Who cares!? Jake Allen will be ready to take the reigns and if not him Jack Campbell will.

Score: 8/10

Future:  This team is going to be good! Some great prospects close to being ready to go. Bonne Jenner, Nathan Beaulieu, Zemgus Girgensons, Jack Campbell – every position is covered. Don’t forget those rookies who are already on the pro roster.

Score: 9/10

2013-14 Prediction: ( 46-31-5, 97 pts)

Overall Score: 8.33/10

Philadelphia Flyers

General Manager:  Scott Davidson

2012-13 Record:  (44-33-5, 93pts)

Last Portal Sign-in:  17 days ago

Front Office:  Scotty “too hottie” Davidson has been searching for a dancing partner. Unfortunately its not always sunny in Philadelphia.  After failing to secure a playoff spot GM Davidson has not done enough to convince his fans this year will be any different.  A couple of minor moves and this team can be dangerous.

Score: 7/10

Pro Roster:  

Forwards:  Top six are solid with Lecavalier and Krejci down the middle with some solid wingers in Lucic, Neal and Horton to complement the Flyers have a very formidable top six. As we move into the third line we have some talent but it wouldn’t hurt to add a little depth to the bottom six.

Defense:  Probably the greatest concern for the Flyers, after their top 3 there is a drop off with Redden, Schlemko and Blum rounding out the4 – 6 spots.  The addition of one big body on the blue line would help alleviate the strain on these guys.

Goaltending:  Jonas Hiller is the man with Anton Khudobin backing him up between the pipes.  Hiller is more than capable of stealing some games for the flyers.

Score: 8/10

Future:  Alexander Wennberg and Scott Laughton headline this group. Flyers should start stocking the cupboards with some defensive prospects with Salo getting close to his expiration date.  Gustav Nyquist provides the Flyers with a shimmer of hope and optimism.

Score: 7/10

2013-14 Prediction: ( 39-37-6, 84pts)

Overall Score: 7.33/10

Martin Grech

Thk u for the read, well done

Brendl Division Preview
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Darren Males

awesome read. Thank you

Brendl Division Preview
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