Edited Sep. 5, 2021 at 1:13 a.m.
All lines are according to DailyFaceoff
Boston Bruins - 3rd in the East last year, have since swapped Nick Ritchie, David Krejci, Sean Kuraly, Ondrej Kase, Jeremy Lauzon, Tuukka Rask (kind of), Jaroslav Halak and Daniel Vladar for Nick Foligno, Erik Haula, Tomas Nosek, Derek Forbort and Linus Ullmark. At 1C, Patrice Bergeron is one of the most complete players in the NHL and a great 1C. On his LW, Bard Marchand is an all-offence elite 1LW and is one of the best LWs in the game. On his RW, David Pastrnak developed two-ways last year and became an even more dominant 1RW. Overall, one of the best first lines in hockey. At 2C, Charlie Coyle went from a solid 2C in 2020 to a complete tire fire in 2021. I think its more of an outlier than a sign of what's to come though so I expect solid 2C play next year. On his LW, Taylor Hall is a great 1LW who was completely snake bitten most of last year. Craig Smith on the RW is a solid two-way top 6 winger completing a great second line, providing a Coyle bounce back. At 3C, Erik Haula is just an acceptable, wildly inconsistent 3C. On his LW Jake Debrusk was a solid top 6 winger and then he got snake bitten last year. Providing a bounce back he'll be dominant in this role. Nick Foligno is a lockdown bottom 6 winger. Overall, not totally sure what to make of this line, Haula, from one year to the next is impossible to predict and I think we know what to expect from DeBrusk and Foligno but they don't really mesh. I think its just an average 3rd line. At 4LW, Trent Frederic is a solid defensive bottom 6 winger. Tomas Nosek is a decent offensive 3C. On the RW, Chris Wagner is a serviceable defensive 4RW who does all of nothing past that. Overall, its a good 4th line. The forward group has a terrific top 6, average 3rd line and good 4th line. Matt Grzelcyk is a solid two way 2-3 d-man who more than fits his role at 1LD. Charlie Mcavoy just finished his second Norris calibre season. Terrific top pair. At 2LD, Derek Forbort is a #6 PK specialist and has been for his entire career. Way over his head here. Brandon Carlo is a solid defensive #4. If you put a competent #3 beside Carlo, you have a solid second pair, but Forbort, being far from that makes this pair bad. Mike Reilly was actually a very good #3 d-man last year despite being garbage in every way before last year. If he can replicate that and replace Forbort then you have a great top 4. Connor Clifton at 3RD is a solid lockdown #6. Switch Forbort and Rielly which is likely inevitable if Rielly plays well again and then you have a great defensive core. In net, Linus Ullmark has had great success for two years, in Buffalo. If he can do that again half as well he's a great starting goalie. If Jeremy Swayman replicates last years success then you have a great tandem with two high end starting goalies, one of which could run at the Calder. On PP1 its Marchand-Bergeron-Hall-Pastrnak-Grzelcyk. If it had a PP QB its one of the NHL's best PPs. Overall this team is tremendous top to bottom besides the PP if you swap Rielly and Forbort. Great first line, really good second line, serviceable third line, good fourth line, great top pair, great tandem.
Buffalo Sabres - 8th in the East last year, have since swapped Sam Reinhart, Riley Sheahan, Tobias Reimer, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Linus Ullmark and Carter Hutton for Mark Pysyk, Will Butcher, Robert Hagg, Aaron Dell and Craig Anderson. At 1C, Casey Mittelstadt became a capable all-offence middle 6C last year who will fail at a 1C role, not because of his own faults, but Buffalo's for being a garbage organization. Jeff Skinner, realistically still has top 6 abilities but like most of Buffalo last year he was snake bit and has been for two years. If he can get lucky he's a solid top 6 winger but on this team, I see no way he could get any luck. Victor Olofsson is a middle 6 winger with a scoring touch. This first line is more like a bad 2nd line or a good 3rd line. Anders Bjork was good offensively in 15 games for Buffalo last year but is historically a black hole on offence. I expect more of the lockdown defensive, low event 3LW guy we've seen in the past this year. Dylan Cozens was an all-offence 3C last year who was, you guessed it, snake bit. I think with some more luck and progression he could be a 2C this year. On his RW, Tage Thompson had solid point production last year but I think he has more to give and could be a decent offensive 3RW. Overall, this 2nd line is a 3rd line. At 3C, Rasmus Asplund should be a solid middle 6C. Arttu Ruotsalainen looked to be a good middle 6LW last year in a small sample size. Vinnie Hinostroza is a solid middle 6RW. Overall, this could be a sneaky decent 3rd line. Looks bad on paper but may work in execution. Zemgus Girgensons has typically been a solid defensive 3LW and he should succeed at 4LW this year. Cody Eakin sucks and has for a long time. He got absurd puck luck in 18-19 but now that it is gone, he's back to a pretty bad 4C who just takes penalties. Drake Caggiula at 4RW is a solid 3RW who was absurdly unlucky last year. I think that with a Caggiula bounce back then its a decent 4th line that would be a 3rd line if not for Cody Eakins' awfulness. Overall, terrible top 6 and decent bottom 6. At 1LD Rasmus Dahlin is a solid all-offence #2 d-man. On his right side, Henri Jokiharju wasn't very good last year but should be a decent #5 guy. Way over his head on the top pairing though which makes this first pair pretty bad. At 2LD, Robert Hagg is a third pairing defensemen. His partner, Colin Miller is a solid second pairing d-man. Much like Jokiharju, Hagg drags down a pair that could've been good with a solid partner. On the third pair, Will Butcher sucked last year and while a bounce back is possible, it seems unlikely on Buffalo's third pair. That said, he should succeed in his role. Mark Pysyk is a solid second pairing defensemen. Overall a solid third pair. On D, they have a consistent theme of one good, one bad d-man. It seems that by not using DailyFaceoff pairs that you could have the pieces to build a semi-competitive d-core. As it is, the d-core sucks but it does have potential to be sub-par, yet still serviceable. In net, Dell-Anderson could be the worst tandem in the NHL. On PP1 its Cozens-Mittelstadt-Skinner-Dahlin-Olofsson. It isn't the worst PP1 in the NHL. It should be serviceable. Overall, the top 6 is horrible, bottom 6 is serviceable, top 4 is horrible, third pair is good, goalies are horrendous and the PP is serviceable. Pretty bad team top to bottom who's only actual bright spots are Dahlin and Cozens.
Detroit Red Wings - 7th in the Central last year, have since swapped Valterri Filpulla, Darren Helm, Luke Glendening, Bobby Ryan, Dennis Cholowski, Christian Djoos and Jonathan Bernier for Pius Suter, Mitchell Stephens, Jordan Oesterle, Nick Leddy and Alex Nedeljkovic. At 1C, Dylan Larkin is a good two-way, low-end 1C. On his LW, Tyler Bertuzzi is an all-offence top 6 winger. Jakub Vrana is an all-offence, great goal scoring 1RW. Overall this first line has three first line players, two of which are low end first liners, but still first line calibre. Solid first line. Robby Fabbri scores goals and doesn't do too much else. That said, he's a good enough goal scorer I think he'll be a solid 2LW. Pius Suter is a very complete two-way, 2C calibre player. Filip Zadina, a little like Fabbri doesn't do much but score goals. He slumped last year, but his QMJHL career and rookie year suggest he should rebound. That would make a solid middle 6 winger. Overall the second line is a serviceable second line. Vladislav Namestnikov is a wildly inconsistent player who slumped hard last year. Assuming a bounce back I think he's a solid middle 6LW. Michael Rasmussen at 3C, is very, very bad. One of the worst players NHL wide last season. Sam Gagner is a solid middle 6RW who randomly posted Selke level metrics last year. Once those fall back to earth he'll be solid yet unspectacular in a third line role. A would be solid third line is ruined by a horrendous 3C making this a bad third line. Adam Erne is typically a solid defensive bottom 6LW who saw an offensive surge last year that likely falls back to earth. Mitchell Stephens is a solid bottom 6C. Givani Smith is a capable 4RW making this a solid 4th line. Overall this forward group is solid top to bottom. 4 capable lines, yet all unspectacular if you could replace Michael Rasmussen who is really the only hole. Solid forwards other than Rasmussen. Danny Dekeyser is a solid third pairing option playing first pair minutes. Filip Hronek is a solid offensive second pairing d-man who is probably in over his head on the top pair. Overall, bad first pair. Nick Leddy is a third pairing PP specialist. Moritz Seider posted an NHLe of 32 last year. As a 19 year old defensemen. Which is mind boggling. Add progression to that and you probably have a 40 point top pairing d-man in his rookie year. Overall, decent second pairing all things considered. Marc Staal is hot garbage and shouldn't be in the NHL. Troy Stecher is a solid defensive second pairing d-man. Weak third pair because of Staal. Overall weak defensive core that is subpar on all pairs. In net, Nedeljkovic is a tremendous starting goalie and Thomas Greiss is a great backup making a great tandem. On PP1 is Rasmussen-Vrana-Zadina-Larkin-Hronek. One of the worst PP1s in the NHL. Overall solid yet unspectacular forwards, sub par defensive core, good goaltending and a horrendous PP1.
Florida Panthers - 2nd in the Central last year, have since swapped Alex Wennberg, Anton Stralman, Keith Yandle and Chris Driedger for Sam Reinhart and Joe Thornton. At 1C, Aleksander Barkov is one of the best two-way 1Cs in the NHL. One of the best offensively, very good defensively. His recognition last year was a long time coming. Carter Verheage is a great two-way 1LW who should regress slightly from last year but will remain a great 1LW. Sam Reinhart had an elite 1RW season last year with Selke level defense and to be honest, I expect him to replicate. Overall this is debatably the best two-way line in hockey. Jonathan Huberdeau is one of the best offensive wingers in hockey who is remarkably consistent. You can expect, all-offence, great playmaking and elite goal scoring year after year. Elite 1LW who is playing 2LW. Sam Bennett is a solid two-way middle 6C. Anthony Duclair is a terrific all-offence 2RW who has progressed exponentially in the past two years. Overall this a good second line made great by Huberdeau. At 3C, Anton Lundell posted an NHLe of 35 last year. With progression he's likely a solid middle 6, 40-50 point C. On his LW Frank Vatrano is a solid top 6 winger with an elite scoring touch. On the RW, Owen Tippett posted solid 3RW results last year. Overall this is a very good 3rd line. Mason Marchment is a solid defensive bottom 6 winger. Noel Acciari is a decent 4C. On his RW Patric Hornqvist has been on a steady decline for 3 years now. At this point in his career he's a 3RW. Overall its a solid 4th line completing a terrific forward group. Mackenzie Weegar is one of the best two-way 5v5 defensemen in hockey and he's one of the best if not the best defensive defensemen in hockey. He may regress slightly this year but I don't expect anything huge. His year last year was more inevitable than unsustainable given his steady progression and age. Terrific #1 d-man. I'm not sure what Ekblads injury effects will be, but I think #1 d-man quality, elite offensive play with solid defensive play should be expected. One of the best first pairs in hockey and one of the only ones with two #1 d-men. Markus Nutivaara is a solid defensive 4-5 d-man. Brandon Montour is a third pairing d-man at the best of times. Weak second pair. On the third pair, Gustav Forsling took a year in the AHL and came back as an elite first pairing defensemen. Wether it is unsustainable or not, nobody knows but at the very least he'll beat out Nutivaara for the second pair in short order and should be dominant there. Radko Gudas is a solid two-way #3 d-man who should replace Montour in short order. Once the second and third pairs flip you have a really good second pair and a really good third pair making an elite defensive core. Spencer Knight should be a solid 1A goalie this year. Bobrovsky should be solid backup. Not a great tandem with no true #1 but one that will certainly do the job. PP1 is Hornqvist-Bennett-Huberdeau-Ekblad-Barkov. All are elite PP performers besides Bennett who should be solid when given capable teammates. Overall its a great team top to bottom. Great top 6, great bottom 6, great top 4, great third pair, great PP. Only flaw is below average goaltending.
Montreal Canadiens - 4th in the North last year, have since swapped Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, Corey Perry, Eric Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jon Merrill for Mike Hoffman, Mathieu Perreault, Cedric Paquette, Christian Dvorak, David Savard and Chris Wideman. At 1C, Nick Suzuki is a Selke quality, great two-way 1C. On his LW, Tyler Toffoli is an all-offence elite sniper and elite play driving 1LW. Cole Caufield at 1RW was a solid middle 6RW quality player in small NHL sample sizes last year. I expect more 2RW quality play this year. Keep in mind, he's only 20 years old, the superstar play will come but you may be 1-2 years out. It probably isn't this year. Overall strong, first line. Not an elite one but a middle of the road type first line. At 2C, Christian Dvorak is a solid offensive top 6C who is a great fit at 2C. On his LW, Jonathan Drouin is a solid all-offence 2LW. On the RW, Brendan Gallagher is a consistently elite two-way 1RW. Overall, great second line. Dvorak and Drouin are high end 2nd liners and Gallagher is a first liner. At 3C, Jake Evans is a decent enough 3rd line option. On his LW, Mike Hoffman is a pure sniper 2LW. Josh Anderson is also a goal scoring 2RW. Overall, really good third line. Two of these players are easy second liners. Only problem I have are that none of the 3 are particularly good play drivers but it should still be one of 4th NHL's more effective 3rd lines. At 4C, Cedric Paquette is a decent enough bottom 6C. On his LW, Arturri Lehkonen is a elite defensive middle 6LW who is way too low in the lineup. On 4RW Joel Armia is a solid offensive middle 6RW. This is a really good 3rd line that is playing 4th line. Overall this forward group is very strong on every line, the first line however is just adequate because I have reservations about Caufield's ability to play first line minutes this season. At 1LD Joel Edmundsson is a solid second pairing defensive defensemen. His partner, Jeff Petry is an elite two-way #1. Overall, really good first pair. At 2LD, Alex Romanov is a good offensive #4. His partner, David Savard is a lockdown defensive #4. Solid second pairing. On the third pair, Ben Chiarot is a solid, yet wildly inconsistent #3 defensemen. Chris Wideman at 3RD is 31 and 5 years removed from his second and last full NHL season where he put up decent #4 d-man results. That said, last year he put up an NHLe of 44 on a very mediocre team. That seems unsustainable but if he can have a season half as good he's a good top 4 d-man. Overall this is a solid second pairing as opposed to a third pair. In net, Carey Price is still a solid starting goalie but he isn't the all-world superstar we see in the playoffs. His backup, Jake Allen is a good 1B guy. Overall, solid tandem. On PP1 its Gallagher-Suzuki-Hoffman-Caufield-Petry. Not a tremendous PP simply because I don't like Petry as a PP QB. Overall this team is very good top to bottom, strong first line, great second line, great third line, great fourth line, great first pair, solid second pair, great third pair, good tandem. Only weakness is the PP.
Ottawa Senators - 6th in the North last year, have since swapped Evgenii Dadonov, Derek Stepan, Ryan Dzingel, Marcus Hogberg and Joey Daccord for Michael Del Zotto and Nick Holden. At 1C, Josh Norris is a solid two-way goal scoring 1C. On his LW, Brady Tkachuk is an all-playmaking elite 1LW. He is one of the best playmakers in the NHL. On the RW Drake Batherson is an elite offensive 1RW. Strong offensive 1st line. At 2C, Shane Pinto looked strong in his NHL games. I think middle 6C to low-end 2C is a good expectation. Tim Stutzle is a solid 2LW for this upcoming season. Connor Brown is a solid middle 6RW who got lucky last year. Overall, low-end second line. Nick Paul is a no event 3LW. At 3C Logan Brown is impossible to predict as he has bounced between the NHL and AHL for 3 years now. I think its fair to expect 3C performance but I don't really know. On his RW Colin White has been impressively inconsistent for 4 years now. I think 3RW should work for him but you really never know. Overall its an unpredictable yet potentially serviceable third line. Alex Formenton is a solid 3LW playing 4LW. Chris Tierney is pretty bad, even for 4C. Auston Watson is a solid PK specialist. Overall its a decent 4th line. It'll do the job. The forward group as a whole should work, its unspectacular because what I think will be a sneaky dominant offensive first line but past that, every other line is just acceptable for its role and no line really dominates. Thomas Chabot is an elite all-offence #1 d-man. Nikita Zaitsev has been a solid defensive #4 for 2 of the last 3 years. If he can do that this year you have a solid first pair. Michael Del Zotto is a decent all-offence second pairing d-man. Artem Zub is a solid defensive #4. Sub-par but serviceable second pair. Overall this top 4 has 3 #4s and only 1 #1. Not great but likely does the trick.. Nick Holden is a solid top 4 d-man playing on 4th third pair. Erik Brannstrom is a decent all-offence third pairing d-man. Solid third pair. The defensive core is low-end but serviceable. In net, Matt Murray is barely an NHL goalie. Anton Forsberg is an unpredictable backup. Overall the goaltending is hot garbage. PP1 is Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson-Stutzle-Chabot. Terrific PP1. Overall this team has a good 1st line, low-end 2nd line, decent 3rd line, solid 4th line, solid 1st pair, low-end 2nd pair, solid third pair, a great PP and terrible goaltending.
Tampa Bay Lightning - 3rd in the Central last year, have since swapped Yanni Gourde, Tyler Johnson, Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow, Mitchell Stephens, David Savard, Luke Schenn and Curtis McElhinney for Corey Perry, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Zach Bogosian and Brian Elliott. At 1C, Brayden Point is arguably the best two-way 1C in hockey. On his LW Ondrej Palat is wildly unpredictable year-to-year. I think 2LW is a reasonable expectation which would make his role here a bit in over his head. On the RW, Nikita Kucherov is the best offensive winger in hockey and debatably the best winger in hockey. Overall, Palat is a bit in over his head but should be serviceable here but this line is still one of the best lines in hockey thanks to two players who are top 5 in their respective positions. Steven Stamkos is one of the best goal scorers in hockey. Great 1C playing 2C. On the LW, Alex Killorn is a solid two-way top 6 winger who should be fairly good at LW2. On the RW, Alex Barre-Boulet is a solid defensive 3RW who is in over his head here. Overall, good second line. One third liner playing with two first liners, one of which is elite makes this a really good second line. At 3C, Anthony Cirelli had a down defensive year for whatever reason. If it rebounds, which it likely will now in a more defensive role, he's a great two-way top 6C who will dominate at 3C. Ross Colton is a solid two-way, goal scoring winger who I believe can play top 6 minutes if necessary. Mathieu Joseph is a good fit at 3RW. Overall its a very good third line that could be a low-end second line. Patrick Maroon had a down year last year. If he can rebound he's a solid defensive middle 6 winger. Either way he will fair well in his role here. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is a Selke calibre defensive forward who would make a great 3C. Corey Perry developed defensively last year into a solid defensive bottom 6 winger. Overall this 4th line would be a really good lockdown 3rd line and it should dominate on the 4th. It really frees up the top 3 lines to play a more offensive game if the 4th line can play the defensive assignments. This forward group as a whole is dominant on every line. Every line is one of the best at their respective jobs, league wide. At 1LD, Victor Hedman is the NHL's second best defensemen. On his right side Jan Rutta is a solid second pairing offensive defensemen. Hedman makes this a terrific first pairing. Ryan McDonagh is a solid two-way #2 d-man and his partner, Erik Cernak is a lockdown second pairing guy completing one of the best second pairs across the league. On the third pair, Mikhail Sergachev is a great two-way #2 d-man playing on the third pair. Cal Foote is a decent enough third pairing option. Overall this defensive core is elite top to bottom, every pair being dominant in its role. Sounds a lot like what I said about the forwards. In net, Andrei Vasilevskiy is the best goalie in the NHL. His backup, Brian Elliott, sucks. Vasilevskiy is headed for another 70 game season I guess. Vasilevskiy makes goaltending a strength for this team despite Elliott's best efforts. On PP1 its Killorn-Point-Kucherov-Stamkos-Hedman. Debatably the NHL's best PP. Kucherov is basically a guaranteed PP goal and Hedman might be the best PP QB in the league. Overall, top to bottom, dominant team. great first line, great second line, great third line, great fourth line, great first pair, great second pair, great third pair, great starting goalie, great PP. Only weakness is the backup goalie.
Toronto Maple Leafs - 1st in the North last year, have since swapped Zach Hyman, Nick Foligno, Joe Thornton, Alex Galchenyuk, Zach Bogosian, Frederik Andersen and David Rittich for Nick Ritchie, Michael Bunting, Ondrej Kase and Petr Mrazek. At 1C, Auston Matthews is an elite offensive play driver and quite possibly the best goal scorer in the NHL. Might be the best non-McDavid, non-MacKinnon player in the NHL. He's in that third tier with Crosby, Draisaitl, Point and Barkov and he's the best there for my money. On his LW Nick Ritchie is a solid enough top 6LW who should be fine at 1LW. On the RW, Mitch Marner is elite two-ways and is one of the best playmakers in the NHL. One of 4th NHL's best first lines. At 2C, John Tavares is still an elite offensive 1C. On his LW Alex Kerfoot is a bottom 6LW. In over his head here. On the RW, Nylander is an elite 1RW who is competent two-ways. Overall, one of the NHL's best second lines despite Kerfoots short comings because of Tavares and Nylander's dominance. At 3C, David Kampf is coming off down year but only two years ago he was a Selke calibre player. If he can get halfway back to that he's a great bottom 6C. On his LW Michael Bunting was a good two-way goal scoring 2LW in small sample sizes last year. Although likely unsustainable he should make a great 3LW. On the RW Ilya Mikheyev is a great two-way middle 6RW. Overall great lockdown 3rd line that can play offense if needed. At 4C, Jason Spezza is still a great two-way middle 6C. On his LW, Wayne Simmonds is in a similar boat. Great two-way middle 6LW. On the RW Ondrej Kase has tons of potential if he can return to his pre injury form. I think for this year, much like Spezza and Simmonds he's a solid two-way middle 6RW. Overall this is a great 4th line that could be a very good 3rd line or really bad 2nd line if it needed to be completing a terrific lockdown bottom 6. The forward group as a whole is great. One of the NHL's best top sixes and a terrific defensive bottom 6 that is still capable offensively. At 1LD, Morgan Rielly is an elite all-offence top pairing d-man. And now time for an unpopular opinion about his partner. For years, TJ Brodie was a model of inconsistency. From one season to the next, from one game to the next, from one shift to the next. But for the last two years he has been a tremendous defensive and good offensive #1 d-man, completing one of the best first pairs in the NHL. At 2LD, Jake Muzzin is a tremendous two-way #1 d-man. His partner Justin Holl is a capable 4-5. Muzzin makes this pair a great second pairing. At 3LD, Rasmus Sandin is capable of playing top 4 minutes if you need it. His partner, Travis Dermott is a great lockdown 3-4. This third pair would make a decent second pair. In net, Jack Campbell is a good 1A starting goalie. His backup, Petr Mrazek is also a capable 1A. That makes for a great tandem. On PP1 its Matthews-Marner-Tavares-Ritchie-Rielly. One of the NHL's best PP sifters it can bounce back form last year where it was unexplainably bad for the talent. Overall tremendous team top to bottom. Great top 6, great bottom 6, great defensive core with 3 #1 d-men, great tandem, great PP.
1. Tampa Bay
2. Toronto
3. Florida
4. Boston
5. Montreal
6. Ottawa
7. Detroit
8. Buffalo
Saskleaf liked this.
Best team in the world. #Let'sGoLightning
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