Banned
Joined: Sep. 2021
Posts: 12,418
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I will be shocked if Carolina doesn't win the Metro again.
Trocheck is most definitely an upgrade over Strome. Not a huge upgrade, but definitely not a wash either. I couldn't agree more that the Rangers 5 on 5 play leaves a lot to be desired, that's why I don't consider them to be cup contenders, but I still see enough game breaking talent on their roster to be able to lock in for another post-season birth, and maybe go on another deep run with the new found experience they have under their belt. Not sure I agree with Kreider falling back down to earth but okay.
I think the Islanders will bounce back to a degree, but I don't know if I see them being a lock for the playoffs. Yeah, Sorokin is really good, but there are a lot of ageing players in front of him.
I'm curious how you think people are sleeping on the capitals. Yeah, they put on a couple of band-aids in the forms of Dylan Strome and Connor Brown, but they're undeniably a weaker team than last year being without Backstrom and missing Wilson for an extended period of time.
I agree that the Devils aren't quite there yet, there are just too many other competitive teams in the Metro with a defensive and/or goaltending edge on them. If the Devils don't make it, I honestly wonder if Fitzgerald's job will still be safe
Agree that Columbus will be fun to watch, even though it likely won't translate to much results. Expecting to see lots of run and gun hockey
As for Philadelphia, I think their roster is a mess, might even say the same about the front office. I don't see how Torts is gonna be able to get many results out of it, and I can see a house cleaning in upper management being virtually imminent. Honestly, the organization as a whole needs to make some fundamental changes to itself if they ever want to be relevant in this league again, cause Torts just feels like a band-aid to me, a volatile one at that.