Will always be too strong for MTL if they don't try to get better now, meaning providing the current young NHL players with the proper supporting cast to at least start heading towards competition. It seems that's what they are trying to do without rushing things.

-Tampa, Boston, and Toronto are gonna fall hard sooner than later. MTL has debatably a top 5 future in the league, and 2nd or 3rd in the Atlantic, behind BUF and possibly DET.

they have a VERY deep prospect pool, but they dont have very high offensive prospect. hopefully next draft they get a top 7 pick again and grab a foward.

Suzuki, Slaf, Caufield, Dach, Mailloux, Hutson, Rienbacher, Guhle. Maybe no top 10 players in the league, but they can have 2-3 top 30s. Theres a couple out there that can be top 5 or top 10 for their positions

most of these guys are nhlers, not prospect. the other halfs are dman. I said an high end offensive prospect is probably what they lack the most. the big foward guys are already in the nhl.

True, but we already got the guys in the league, we don't really need the prospects then. We don't have a high end prospect, but we have 4 NHLers with pretty high end potential that are U24

well, we'll see, maybe they pant out, maybe not. with the uncertity its be good to have up and coming high end foward talent.

I think the only realistic way for MTL to have another high-end forward in the prospect system is if they use the 2025 CGY pick to move up from the 2024 MTL. I think it unlikely MTL finishes the bottom 10 unless they get injured a lot again. If we can move up to lets say 6th, this could be the final piece

who do you think is gonne be bottom 10 in the leage then? im just curious, to me they are definitly bottom 10. i would like to keep the calagry pick, they might end up bad with lots of ufa leaving this year.

In no specific order:

-San Jose
-Philly
-Chicago
-Arizona
-Washington
-Winnipeg
-Columbus
-St. Louis
-Possibly Nashville
-Possibly Calgary
-Possibly Pittsburgh
-Possibly Detroit
-Possibly Vancouver
-Maybe Boston

Not saying its a lock to not be bottom 10, but I think there are true possibilities of drafting 11-16

i agree with the top 5, abd we might beat a team ot 2.more, but most of them to me is almost a stretch to me. all these teams outside of the bottom 4 tried to get better. our only addition is newhook and hopefully a bit of developpment on some.prospect. dont think it will bring us out of the top 10 personally. thanks for sharing your view!

I think the main difference between last year and the upcoming year is that I believe that MTL will be a much more healthy team than last year. MTL would've drafted much lower if the team was healthy for the most part. With the development of some guys, and possible acquisitions, MTL could be a lot better than expected

The thing about Tampa, Boston, and Toronto is that they all (for now) have pieces that can compete for the next 5 years+. Toronto currently does not have those players locked up so perhaps they do fall off sooner rather than later. Boston has some major issues down the middle, but they do have some solid pieces in Pastrnak, McAvoy, and Carlo locked, and a ton of cap space to work with in the coming years. So, if they do fall off they are likely going through a quick rebuild before MTL even hits their peak. Then there's TB, they have a ton of pieces locked with varying ages, so they could be competitive for a long while or they might fall off but their draft capital probably replenishes before they do. So, long story short probably at least one of these teams are good when MTL starts to peak. You also have Florida who is in a situation between Boston and Toronto in terms of their roster.

As for teams that would be on the rise in the Atlantic, you forgot about Ottawa who probably currently has the second best chance of making the playoffs after Buffalo.

As for top 5 in the League, I like NJ, BUF, LA, CHI, and ARZ's chances better if we are talking like 6+ years from now. I do think at least one of the current top 5 teams will remain there.