2014-15 Bonsignore Division Preview

7. Edmonton Oilers

Last Year: Prediction (7) Actual (6)

Key Additions: Daniel Briere, Michael Raffl, Dany Heatley, Dan Boyle

Key Losses: Colin McDonald

The Good: There is no doubt that the Edmonton Oilers have upgraded the backend with the additions of Dan Boyle and the maturation of guys like Ben Lovejoy and Sami Vatanen. Up front it’s a similar story with the likes of Palat and Tarasenko, which will boosted by the additions of vets in Daniel Briere and Dany Heatley.

The Bad: The offense really counted on Weiss all of last year, and you can’t expect him to put up those kind of numbers. Second on the team Colin McDonald is not returning and it seems like number 1 goalie from last year, Viktor Fasth, is being pushed out of the pro team all together. The Oilers are seemingly going to rely on AHL All-Star Jeff Zatkoff and Niklas Svedberg to lead this team in between the pipes, which is not a recipe for success.

And the Verdict: The Oilers somehow managed to finish only five points out of a playoff spot last year.  With the division getting stronger, and goaltending and offensive numbers expected to drop – we predict a similar fate for the entire team, and once again predict a last place finish in the Bonsignore.

6. Arizona Coyotes

Last Year: Prediction (5) Actual (5)

Key Additions: Milan Michalek, Antoine Roussel, Andrej Meszaros, Nick Leddy,

Key Losses: Kyle Turris, Chris Kunitz, Marc Methot, Martin Brodeur

The Good: The defense in Arizona is a solid yet underrated core. The Yotes bled goals last year, placing them in the bottom half of the West in that category. The team boasts a strong compliment of vets in Meszaros and Garrison, while adding in a few guys who are a part of the wave of the future in Leddy, Gudbranson and Gelinas. Upfront the team while not outstanding has a good mix of skill and physicality on all four lines that will cause teams to really have to fight their way to a win.

The Bad: It’s hard to judge this team on last year’s merits. The Coyotes had one of the better spread out offenses in the league that had five 20 goal scorers. Not one of those players is returning.  Milan Michalek was a point per game player last season, but the rest of the roster doesn’t really have any track record, so quite a few players will have to step up this year. Ray Emery struggled in Detroit last year, but put up better numbers on a more structured system in Tampa, so Arizona will hope to have that Emery this year or else they could be in trouble.  

And the Verdict: I think the Coyotes know that it is a building year, but without a first – they hope it won’t be that bad. Even though last year’s team was only 3 points out of a playoff spot, this team is entirely different. They will have to gel quickly, which they had some issues with in pre-season.

5. Anaheim Ducks

Last Year: Prediction (3) Actual (7)

Key Additions: Brad Richards, Joe Pavelski, Alex Ovechkin, Corey Perry

Key Losses: Frans Nielsen, Gabriel Landeskog, Sergei Gonchar, Roberto Luongo

The Good: Last year the Ducks relied heavily on Andrew Ladd to get the scoring, with some pretty decent secondary scoring. This year one thing is apparent, and that is there are more weapons in SoCal. The four big additions up front alone combined for almost 400 points (382 to be exact). Expect a free running offense in Anaheim. The top six D all the while are not glamorous, they are each solid and responsible.

The Bad: While Roberto Luongo had a down year last season, expecting Brian Elliott to should the load can have some adverse effects. His numbers are not the greatest, and he has failed to even suit up for a game since the 2012-13 season. This could cause some high scoring games for Anaheim, and while they have elite talent at the top of the line-up, getting any scoring from the other 8 forwards could be a problem. The team seems to be banking on unproven youngsters (Killorn), past their prime snipers (Havlat) and inconsistent threats (Fleischmann) to provide the teams secondary scoring.

And the Verdict: It’s hard not to drool at the thought of what the top guys could do together, but the best course may be to tread lightly. The teams lacks secondary scoring and splitting up the big dogs might allow the scoring to spread out and limit some defensive deficiencies of an all-out attack. Though with a mediocre netminder and shallow depth, they Ducks could easily end up on the outside of the playoff picture.

4. San Jose Sharks

Last Year: Prediction (6) Actual (1)

Key Additions: Bobby Ryan, Braydon Coburn

Key Losses: Mike Ribeiro, Adam Henrique, Josh Bailey

The Good: Losing the team’s top scorer in Mike Ribeiro will hurt for sure, but the addition of Bobby Ryan should soften the blow. Add in the fact that Marleau and Gaborik had untraditionally down years last season, it should be better in San Jose this year – oh yeah, they finished 1^st in the division last year despite that. The defense is as strong as ever with the addition of Braydon Coburn, plus Jaroslav Halak continues to be a rock in net.

The Bad: Like in Anaheim, there seems to be a lack of secondary scoring in California. While the Sharks are a little better in this area, it’s still going to be an issue throughout the year. While Halak shouldered the load last year quite well, it would be nice to ease the pressure of him a tad. This is an issue as the back-up is Johan Hedberg who in 56 minutes as a Shark last year (season and playoffs combined), gave up a staggering 7 goals.

And the Verdict: The thing that will separate the Sharks from the Ducks and Coyotes is that the team is undeniable stronger on the backend with more depth up front.  Also the team just has a track record of winning that manages to trump what some of the teams with more talent could accomplish last season. There’s expected to be a touch of regression this year, but they still should be a strong threat for a good playoff position.

3. Los Angeles Kings

Last Year: Prediction (2) Actual (4)

Key Additions: None

Key Losses: John Mitchell, Craig Adams, Douglas Murray

The Good: The Kings have a lot going right for them. The have a young core of forwards complimented by a top of the line potential Hall of Famer vet in Patrik Elias. The defense has a combination of skill and just pure rugged defensiveness. And they have a starter who has only missed two games the past three years, and has won over 40 games each of those years in Kari Lehtonen.

The Bad: The thing that hurt the Kings last year, was their inability to really outscore their opponents. Patrik Elias led the way with a great year, but he isn’t getting any younger. The scoring from the bottom lines will need a boost this year as they only combined for 30 goals last year, which just isn’t enough. Also like other teams in the division, backup goaltending is weak – but that’s a problem if Lehtonen plays all 82 games again.

And the Verdict: The Kings are banking on one thing – that last year was just a bad year. After two straight trips to the finals, the Kings missed the playoffs last year and are going back at it this year with basically the EXACT same roster.

2. Calgary Flames

Last Year: Prediction (4) Actual (3)

Key Additions: Zach Parise, Jordan Staal, Alexander Semin, Marc Staal

Key Losses: Joe Thornton, Matt Duchene, Loui Eriksson, Luke Schenn

The Good: A ton of turnover upfront that has left the top 3 scorers of last year with plane tickets out of Cowtown. What is left is probably a more spread out scoring attack that was there before, that stretches all the way down to the 4^th line. Defense is solid with a top 4 that could rival most of the top teams in the league, with a bottom pairing that while is unremarkable – is still solid. The 1-2 punch of Varlamov and Bryz also gives the Flames two capable options, as the team tries to count on Varlamov as he finally takes the starting role.

The Bad: The fact that Varlamov only started 11 games last year, and put up mediocre numbers is a little worrisome when handing over the keys to the net. Matt Duchene and Joe Thornton were the catalysts to the offense last season, and both are gone (along with a late season trade of Thomas Vanek who was also a key player). While Jordan Staal and Zach Parise are potential successors to that, they both failed to figure in greatly to a much deeper Canucks attack last season.

And the Verdict: The Flames were a real strong contender last year, and once again Derek continues to changeover a roster that’s been successful. This roster has the pieces to be successful, but it’s hard to believe that this will be even the same roster come the end of the year.  If Varlamov can hold his own, this team should be at least a playoff team and a potential cup contender if the new pieces are able to carry the weight of those shipped out.

1. Vancouver Canucks

Last Year: Prediction (1) Actual (2)

Key Additions: Jonathan Toews, Matt Duchene, Brandon Saad, Cam Fowler, Andy Greene

Key Losses: Evgeni Malkin, Zach Parise, Jordan Staal, Brent Seabrook, Marc Staal

The Good: The Canucks continue to be elite at the top of the lineup, and we could probably copy and paste last year’s article in place of this. Stamkos, Duchene and Toews is pretty scary up front. Weber and Girardi with youngsters Cam Fowler and Tyson Barrie create a pretty dynamic defense mixture. Cory Schneider had a pretty solid year as a starter last year, and should build on top of that again this year.

The Bad: In the past we’ve always limited what the Canucks weaknesses were and that’s because there wasn’t many. This year definitely shows some deficiencies on the roster. After Stamkos, there isn’t a real top end threat to put the puck in the back of the net – not to say there isn’t guys that could, but not as many as there have been before. Due to cap constraints, the 4^th line is just awful and shouldn’t be trusted for than a handful of minutes per game – which puts a lot of strain on the other three lines.

And the Verdict: Hard to knock the level of talent that is in Vancouver. Elite talent at each position and a drive to always win, it’s crossing that last hurdle that seems to be a lingering issue and I’m just not sure they’ve solved it. Still, they should easily be playing games once the first 82 games finish.

Rino Di Antonio

As usual Well done.

2014-15 Bonsignore Division Preview
A look at the 3 California teams and the rest in the division

• 1 teams Like this  10 years

Clayton Hansler Agreed. Stellar effort!

10 years  0 teams Like this

Nico Gruner

very nice ..

2014-15 Bonsignore Division Preview
A look at the 3 California teams and the rest in the division

• 1 teams Like this  10 years

View all 3 comments

Clayton Hansler Dyl, I can do a division this weekend. Just let me know which one :)

10 years  0 teams Like this

Kody Duxbury

Very well done

2014-15 Bonsignore Division Preview
A look at the 3 California teams and the rest in the division

• 1 teams Like this  10 years

Robert Jacklin

What a great read! Well written!

2014-15 Bonsignore Division Preview
A look at the 3 California teams and the rest in the division

• 1 teams Like this  10 years

Nico Gruner You can read?

10 years  1 teams Like this

Ryan Schurman

very nice article!

2014-15 Bonsignore Division Preview
A look at the 3 California teams and the rest in the division

• 1 teams Like this  10 years