Almost forgot ... we can post mortem a few more teams.
Vegas ...
I mean, all in all the time means it's tough to take when you get bounced in Round 2, right? Seriously. They chose the wrong goalie, but the one they shipped off also lost in Round 2, so ... yeah. Hill just isn't really that guy, despite the Cup win, but they're Capped up pretty good going forward so I don't know what they're supposed to do about it. Health was an issue, again. Shocker. Honestly, they're ride or die with this core and only have enough money to tinker around the edges unless they pretty much freeze it out for two years and reload then. I don't see this team getting better any time soon, but they'll stay dangerous. I throw them in with Colorado. Not teams you want to get in your playoff bracket but maybe not as scary as everybody seems to assume. Plenty of cracks in that gaudy foundation.
Washington ...
Yeah, one assumes Ovechkin has another year in him because he's signed through next summer and they're pretty pot committed with this re-built group. They'll also lose the LTIR safety blanket from Oshie and Backstrom's contract this summer, so pretty much all of the vets at the end of their contracts won't be coming back. Seriously, they've got $8 million in space to play with and will have to conjure a third line from somewhere. That said, if they can squeeze another decent season out of Ovechkin (and Carlson, who may look older than Ovi at this point), then the top six is good enough, the D is pretty well set and they've got a decent goalie battery extended on reasonable deals. They've got Strome and Protas on absolute bargain contracts and another discount year on McMichael's deal. They also drafted well in their lost seasons and have a pretty deep influx of ELC guys coming. Hard to tell where their ceiling is, really. This year felt like a learning/growing year but the core group is still littered with VERY old guys with a ton of miles on the tires. Next year could go any number of ways, but they should be set for a decent recovery after Ovechkin, Carlson, Wilson and Dowd start to fade ... if they can get through the interim without chasing short term results.
The grim reaper stalks the Leafs and Jets next.
