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Predictions - Western Conference Standings


Lui's Knob

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Everyone who's picking Vancouver to be near the bottom needs to give that some more thought. In reality who was lost? Lack/Bieksa and Kassian, as well as Richardson and Mathias, none of these players, nor the sum of their combined efforts were the reason the Canucks had a 101 point season last year. The reality is the Canucks under the Sedins/Edler/ and Miller, along with some youth and depth will still be competitively fighting out for a spot anywhere from 5-10 in the conference.

Sure they might wind up missing the playoffs, but they are not gonna be a total tank show as most here seem to think.

I predict they'll be in the hunt basically down to the last week or two, and it wouldn't at all surprise to me see them make the playoffs again. Like I said anything between 5/6-10 in the west is where I expect the Canucks, unless Miller goes down for a long time with an injury and Markstrom can't step up.

Well Calgary, you may be right, but my opinion is based on 2 factors, that are not on that list.........

#1. Our core is one year older, one year slow than last year........that is the reality of us.

#2. The teams that have younger cores in their 24 to 28 years of age, will be one year stronger.....that is the reality of them.

It is the understanding that nothing stands still and 2 objects going in opposite directions get further apart as time passes......not slamming anyone......that is just how I see it!

1. Anaheim........You have to ask?

2. Nashville.......If they avoid their injuries, they will compete with Anaheim

3. Chicago........Their core is just too strong

4. Minni.............very young and talented.....depends on their goalie

5. LA.................off year last year..........not as strong, but the players are at the peak of their careers

6. St. Louis........dropping but not that far

7. Winnipeg.......young and big, lots of high end prospects

8. Calgary..........didn't have Bennett or Hamilton last year

9. Colorado.....just need a dman to push for the playoff berth

10. Dallas..........just need a dman to push for the playoff berth

11. Edmonton * If Edmonton trade either their 2016 1st or Draisaitl for a Dman, they are gone! (OEL.....would Arizona do that?)

12. San Jose.........old, will battle Vancouver

13. Vancouver.......old, will battle San Jose

14. Arizona............their youth could surprise!

That is may take on it, anyways

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Eastern Conf.

1. Tampa

2. NYR

3. NYI

4. Wash

5. Montreal.................will be looking at Vrbata before the deadline

6. Columbus

7. Detroit.....................will be looking at Edler at the deadline

8. Florida.....................will be looking for a veteran Dman at the deadline

9. Pitts

10.Ottawa....................will be looking for a veteran Dman at the deadline

11. New Jersey

12. Phili

13. Buffalo

14. Boston

15. Toronto

16. Carolina

I just want to add that it is going to be a dog fight for 7, 8 and 9th

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1 VAN

2 ARI

3 EDM

4 COL

5 DAL

6 MIN

7 CAL

8 LAK

9 SJS

10 STL

11 WIN

12 NSH

13 ANA

14 CHI

First round Vancouver sweep LA in four games, posting three shutouts. Drew Doughty cries and retires from the NHL the day after.

Second round we face Arizona and the Sedin's set a new record for points in a series in only four games. Daniel also wins his first career fight.

Third round we face Colorado and Prust scores back-to-back hatricks, assisted by Bo Horvat.

In the finals we face off against Buffalo and also win in four close games between the two most elite teams in the NHL. Each game is decided 1-0, but Vancouver still pulls out the sweep, setting a new league record for GAA, with 0.0 and a 100SV%.

Henrik, Daniel, Linden, and Benning have their faces carved on the side of the Stawamus Chief, much like Mt Rushmore.

We then go on a 3 year Stanley Cup winning streak after that.

You heard it from me first folks.

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Everyone who's picking Vancouver to be near the bottom needs to give that some more thought. In reality who was lost? Lack/Bieksa and Kassian, as well as Richardson and Mathias, none of these players, nor the sum of their combined efforts were the reason the Canucks had a 101 point season last year. The reality is the Canucks under the Sedins/Edler/ and Miller, along with some youth and depth will still be competitively fighting out for a spot anywhere from 5-10 in the conference.

Sure they might wind up missing the playoffs, but they are not gonna be a total tank show as most here seem to think.

I predict they'll be in the hunt basically down to the last week or two, and it wouldn't at all surprise to me see them make the playoffs again. Like I said anything between 5/6-10 in the west is where I expect the Canucks, unless Miller goes down for a long time with an injury and Markstrom can't step up.

I think it's fairly simple to just say "we lost these guys, therefore we're basically as good as we were last year". The problem with our team is that we're not really getting any younger, while other teams have gotten a lot better and a year wiser (like the inexperienced Flames team.) Dallas had the Art Ross Winner last year, but they still didn't make the playoffs. It will be even tighter next year to make the playoffs, and this team isn't really getting any better.
Reasons why i think we will have a bad year:
Vrbata will not be as good this year, he had a great season last year (30 goals) , so it will be tough for him to top that.
The Sedins production will drop, not by a lot but it will still drop (they will be 35 in September, so nothing weird about that.)
Our defence is probably looking worse than last year.
Miller will not be better this year.
I think we've lost scoring depth.
We don't really have any youth that can step in and make a difference (i do think that Baertschi will be a good fit, but it won't be enough.)
I listed the Canucks at the 12th spot on my list. I could see us climbing to maybe 10th or in a "best case scenario" (right?) 9th.
We will have a good chance of getting a top10 pick IMO. The way things have been going lately, i think we're destined to have a bad season. It doesn't give me any good vibes at all.
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It will be similar for the Canucks to last year. A win or two either way will move us between 3rd or 10th. I'm expecting a wildcard fight until the last week of the season.

13th? Are you kidding me?

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I think we'll be slightly worse this year and miss the playoffs. I don't really see where we could rank right now, but we could just miss, or be very close to the bottom. There was a lot of competition for the last playoff spots last year.

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We basically have the same team we had last year (except with a couple spots open for our prospects to make the jump) and most are predicting that we're gonna finish 2nd or 3rd last in the standings. Give me a break. The negativity around here is ridiculous. I predict a similar outcome to last year. A tight race between the top dozen or so teams with the Canucks either making the playoffs or being eliminated in the last week of the season.

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I would love to be looking at a top 5 pick next year. The problem is we are still a playoff team. The twins have a lot left in the tank. I think the D is better with Corrado and Clendening over Kevin. We will be tougher to play against with Prust and a full year of Kenins. Markstrom may blow us all away and be better than Eddie.(sorry)

If some more youth push for spots we may see more changes yet. We might score less but be better defensively.

Now if Millar struggles(or gets hurt) and Markstrum sucks then we are in on Matthews in a big way. I think it will come down to goal tending.

That's just my thoughts.

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Draft is over, and the free agency frenzy is nearly complete. As it stands now, where do you think teams will end up in the West?

1) Anaheim

2) Minnesota

3) Calgary

4) Nashville

5) Chicago

6) St. Louis

7) LA

8) Winnipeg

--------------------

9) Dallas

10) Colorado

11) Edmonton

12) San Jose

13) Vancouver

14) Arizona

Top 7 pick for Vancouver?

1) Anaheim

2) Chicago

3) Calgary

4) Nashville

5) Minnesota

6) St. Louis

7) LA

8) Edmonton

--------------------

9) Winnipeg

10) Dallas

11) San Jose

12) Colorado

13) Vancouver

14) Arizona

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We basically have the same team we had last year (except with a couple spots open for our prospects to make the jump) and most are predicting that we're gonna finish 2nd or 3rd last in the standings. Give me a break. The negativity around here is ridiculous. I predict a similar outcome to last year. A tight race between the top dozen or so teams with the Canucks either making the playoffs or being eliminated in the last week of the season.

Basically the same team? Losing your heart and soul defenseman, losing your only power forward on the team, losing your best PKer......still the same team??

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Cool lists guys, for the most part I agree, I think the Canucks will be from 8 to 10th overall, depending on how we do in the new OT format, it could really kill us.

My sleeper team in the West this year is Dallas, book it, you heard it here first :). Seguin and Benn healthy, and they will fix their goaltending issues.

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The interesting thing about the West this coming year is that there are no crappy teams. Well, maybe Arizona. Since there are a finite number of points to go around, the top half will likely have less as a result. So, 4, 5, 7 points less will be a similar rank.

Where do the Canucks finish? How have they changed?

Forward: Out: Kassian, Matthias, Richardson

In: Baertschi, Prust, (Viratnen or Grenier)

Defense: Out: Bieksa, Stanton

In: Clendening, Corrado, Bartkowski

Goal: Out: Lack

In: Markstrom

This team is no worse, it will remain to be seen if it will be better. Same prediction as last year :P 6-10

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I hope I'm wrong but I don't think Canucks have improved as much as the other teams in our division. We've added some reliable grit and maybe became better at moving the puck out of our end, but we've had problems in the offensive zone putting the puck in the net the last 4 or 5 seasons. I don't see an improvement in the shot from the point or the front of the net presence. We can cycle the puck better than any team out there, but we still have problems putting the puck in the net. Addition of Verbata helped last year but where's the next level going to come from this year? Because of this, I think the boys will miss the play offs and come somewhere from 12th to 14th place in the west.

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1) ANA

2) LAK

3) NSH

4) STL

5) CHI

6) CGY

7) DAK

8) COL

---------

9) MIN

10) WPG

11) EDM

12) VAN

13) SJS

14) ARI

No way SJS finishes after us without some major injuries, they got better this off season with additions of Martin and Ward, if jones has a solid season, they will make the playoffs no prob
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