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2014-2015 Habs lineup

GrandWazoo said:
I agree with you but I'm still expecting more! :) But we'll see, MB is a tough negotiator.
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Negotiations aren't a science so it could go either way. I just hope we don't have to deal with an offer sheet because that's the only thing that can inflate his salary way beyond his comparables.
 
habsss said:
Negotiations aren't a science so it could go either way. I just hope we don't have to deal with an offer sheet because that's the only thing that can inflate his salary way beyond his comparables.
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Actually I'm pretty sure it's a science! :)
 
GrandWazoo said:
Yep, the East is weak and we're as good a team as any others in the conference.
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Agreed. Florida got much better too. Don't count them out of a playoff spot. Their D is big and mobile, they got Luongo and have talent up front.
 
Habsy said:
Agreed. Florida got much better too. Don't count them out of a playoff spot. Their D is big and mobile, they got Luongo and have talent up front.
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Because of divisional playoff structure, I look at it more as:
- Leafs & Sens did nothing to improve from their non-playoff standing of this past season
- Wings were a last minute playoff team, and weakened themselves
- Bruins weakened themselves from being the class of the division
- TBay improved quite a bit IMO
- bottom dwellers Buffalo & Florida improved - meaning they will steal points from the other division rivals

There's still plenty of time for moves to take place, but Sens & Leafs could very well be bottom dwellers of the division, along w Sabres, w Wings & Panthers fighting it out for wildcard spots.

Habs, Bruins, and TBay should be significantly favored for taking the top-3 spots in the division - w TBay favored to win the division, based on paper rosters as of today.
 
I think Florida will compete to make the playoffs but will ultimately come up short.

I fully expect Philthydelphia & Washington to be near the bottom of the East this year.

Right now, ranking the best teams in the East with no regards for divisions:

1) Tampa Bay
2) Bawstun
3) Montreal
4) Pittsburgh
5) New Joizy
6) New York Rangers
7) Columbus
8) Detroit
9) Florida
10) NYI
11) Philthydelphia
12) Washington
13) Toronto
14) Carolina
15) Buffalo
16) Ottawa
 
Capitals and Canes will have better seasons this year....Trotz will give Caps structure....Staal brothers can't suck this much next year, and with a new coach, they will be more competitive....
 
GGpX said:
I think Florida will compete to make the playoffs but will ultimately come up short.

I fully expect Philthydelphia & Washington to be near the bottom of the East this year.

Right now, ranking the best teams in the East with no regards for divisions:

1) Tampa Bay
2) Bawstun
3) Montreal
4) Pittsburgh
5) New Joizy
6) New York Rangers
7) Columbus
8) Detroit
9) Florida
10) NYI
11) Philthydelphia
12) Washington
13) Toronto
14) Carolina
15) Buffalo
16) Ottawa
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Just a public service announcement to remind folks that it's absolutely OK (encouraged, even) to kick another team when they're down.
 
NYI should still be near the bottom because of that God-awful defensive core. Halak will have to be more miraculous than he was in his Hab's playoff run.
 
TB is the trendy pick for first but I'm not sold yet. Let's see if Bishop can put consecutive good seasons together, and their d-men, even with the additions of Stralman and Garrison, still don't look that great.
 
Krustchev said:
TB is the trendy pick for first but I'm not sold yet. Let's see if Bishop can put consecutive good seasons together, and their d-men, even with the additions of Stralman and Garrison, still don't look that great.
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Agreed.

People often overrate July 1st signings, they usually don't have as big an effect as you think.
 
I am not high on TB at all. Yeah, they added two defencemen but they also lost a few key players, especially St Louis, and it's going to hurt them up front. They haven't looked the same since St Louis left.

Unless Bishop continues to put up Vezina-like numbers, which I don't think he will, I expect them to drop in the standings from previous years.
 
wiseguy1 said:
NYI should still be near the bottom because of that God-awful defensive core. Halak will have to be more miraculous than he was in his Hab's playoff run.
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Well, way I look at it with them is if they can score the same amount of goals as they did this year and have Halak + Johnson put up .915 save %, which would be approximately 40 less goals allowed than last year, they have a good chance of pushing for a playoff spot. With Tavares back for a full year and some of their prospects a year older, I don't see how they'll score less goals.

I don't expect Halak & Johnson to get .915 save % for the reasons you mentioned, but if they can both do ~.910 or so, that should still be a roughly 30-35 goal difference from last year.
 
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