Season Preview: The Low 5

The five teams I highlighted earlier are all teams I expect to have a good season. These next five, well... not so much.

Low 5:

1) Calgary Flames – 

The Flames have finally acknowledged the need for a rebuild. It resulted in the trading of both Jarome Iginla and Jay Bouwmeester and the retirement of Miikka Kiprusoff. And as things go with a rebuild, there will be a number of years where the team is downright horrific. Let this be the first of those seasons for the Flames. They have no clear cut number one center, let alone anyone that would even be a competent number two on a decent team. Sven Baertschi will be given the chance to show that at age 21 he can be an offensive force. It might not happen this year, but I think he has the potential.  Defensively T.J. Brodie will continue to improve, and along with Mark Giordano give the Flames two solid two-way defensemen. With Kiprusoff retiring, goaltending is now a huge question mark. Karri Ramo comes over after four seasons in the KHL, Joey MacDonald is a career backup/AHLer, and Reto Berra has spent his entire career in Switzerland. One of the three will get the number one job, but don’t expect too much from any of them.

2) Florida Panthers – 

After a surprise playoff appearance two seasons ago, the Panthers are back in the basement and look to be just as young as usual. Jacob Markstrom finally goes from goalie of the future to goalie of the now. Unless he plays phenomenal, he’ll likely be the victim of a poor defense in front of him. Brian Campbell is a solid veteran presence, but actually defending is not his forte. In that regard the Panthers will rely on youngsters Dmitry Kulikov and Erik Gudbrason to improve their game and veterans Mike Weaver and Ed Jovanovski to bounce back from injury.  Offensively, Kris Versteeg should have a bounce-back season after missing most of last year to various injuries. Aleksander Barkov, the surprise number two pick in the past draft, will be given a chance to play top six minutes, and rookie-of-the-year Jonathan Huberdeau, barring a sophomore slump, should build his game to another level. Huberdeau has the potential to dominate, but he’ll need more help than the rest of the lineup can currently provide.

3) Winnipeg Jets – 

After coming so close to winning the Southeast Division, the Jets are beneficiaries of realignment, at least in terms of reducing travel. They now have to compete in a division with powerhouses like Chicago and St. Louis, and teams on the rise like Minnesota and Dallas. The Jets have a solid top line with Andrew Ladd, who’s shown he’s more than a role player, Bryan Little, and Blake Wheeler. Ladd is also a vastly underrated captain who can do anything asked of him. After that group though, the offense is a little questionable. Evander Kane has skill, but always seems to be getting in trouble with Jets fans and the media and who knows when that will start to affect his game. On defense, the fitness level of Dustin Byfuglien is a constant question. When he’s on, he can be a game changer. Tobias Enstrom is solid if unspectacular. Perhaps his best quality is you know what you will get, game in, game out. Goaltender Onderj Pavelec doesn’t inspire the same confidence, as his stats (2.80 GAA and .905 SP) are still questionable for a number one.

4) Buffalo Sabres – 

Like the Flames, the Sabres have entered rebuild mode. Both Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller could be moved by the end of the year. Vanek is an elite talent who carried the team some games last year, but needs more offensive support. With veterans Ville Leino and Drew Stafford absolutely failing to do that, it will be up to young players like Cody Hodgson, Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno, and Mikhail Grigorenko. After being a non-factor with the Sabres last year, Grigorenko could make good on a second opportunity. The gamble of reacquiring Henrik Tallinder to help Tyler Myers find his game is a good one that will look better if it pays off. Otherwise, the hope will be Myers can stop the regression that has occurred in his game since winning the Calder. Christian Ehrhoff is a reliable defenseman all over the ice, but its question marks with everyone else.

5) Colorado Avalanche – 

The Avs have been in the rebuild mode for a couple years and are starting to collect an assembly of good young players. Gabriel Landeskog has the potential to be an elite power forward. His challenge for this year is to stay healthy and continue to build his game. With Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly, and first overall pick Nathan MacKinnon, the center ice position has lots of offensive talent. O’Reilly is also great on the defensive side of the game.  While the forwards should be able to score, there’s no support for the blueline, which only scoring four goals last season. Jan Hejda is a decent defensive player, but the rest of the backend doesn’t look very good. As shown in the photo, the defense is no where to be seen. Semyon Varlamov and J-S Giguere are both good goalies that would look better with a decent defense in front of them. It will be interesting to see what effect Patrick Roy has as coach, especially on the goaltenders. His Quebec Remparts teams were always successful, so the NHL is a good new challenge for Roy.