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2016-17 Dark Horse Predictions?


Boddy604

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The 2015-16 Season didn't go as planned right out of the gates.

At this time last year, the predicted lineup was:

Sedin-Sedin-Vrbata

Baertschi-Sutter-Virtanen

Higgins-Horvat-Hansen (remember all that hype of the "Triple H" line?)

Prust-Vey-Dorsett

Edler-Tanev

Hamhuis-Weber

Sbisa-Bartkowski

Miller

Markstrom

 

Then Vey disappointed. Corrado disappointed. Hutton came outta nowhere.  Cracknell wound up looking like a great option as a 4C. And McCann made a solid case for himself.

 

And nothing went according to plan.

 

So do you guys think we'll see anything like that again this year?

Guys we can expect to see at young stars and preseason include:

 

(I'll include pending RFA's for the sake of the hypothetical)

 

Dubois/Tkachuk

Pavel-Laplante

Grenier

Zalewski

Friesen

Nilsson

Stecher

Subban

Cassels

Demko

Garteig

 

I know there's a few more but I'm running off memory here.

 

I'm predicting (if any) we'll see a big surprise out of Cassels. The guy has all the talent he needs but didn't put it together in his first pro season. Largely, in my opinion, because of injuries which caused him to try and play catch up all year. Tough to do, especially in your first year outta junior. But Utica has a long offseason and I'm sure he knows if he disappoints again, that's probably it for his shot at the bigs.

 

Another is Subban. Knowing the Canucks are bringing in Larsen to score goals on the back end probably fuels him to go "hey guys, don't forget about me!"

 

Who do you guys think, if any makes a surprise showing on opening night?

 

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Sedin Sedin Hansen

Baerschi Horvat Brouwer

Ladd Sutter Virtanen

Dorsett Granlund Burrows

 

Vey

 

Hamhuis Trouba

Hutton Gudbranson

Tryamkin Sbisa

Pedan Larson

 

Miller

Markstrom

 

 

My Candidate for Dark Horse of the year.....Benning. :)  He trades Tanev to Winnipeg for Trouba, Edler to Montreal for picks, signs Ladd and Brouwer, and Hamhuis for veteran leadership on the back end while quietly showing Dan scenes of how he used to check back in the day.

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I think last year you need to include Burrow if you included Higgins.

 

Other than signing UFA's, I don't really see any surprises coming out of camp this year.  

Maybe Rodin makes the lineup, but I don't know if that would be a surprise.

 

 

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On 6/5/2016 at 1:30 PM, Spotted Zebra said:

I think Etem will score 15-20 goals, and Rodin won't do as good as people are hoping

I could see Etem scoring more, just with the way he finished last season, he looked great with Horvat..he is a former first round pick, he has some skill along with his speed and grit..

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On defence, I look for Jordan Subban to have a really strong camp. Three possible results would be: 1) He stays up and starts the season with Vancouver, 2) He is traded for a roster player or 3) He is sent down to Utica where he becomes one of the top offensive defencemen in the AHL. I would really like to see Subban get five or ten games in the NHL just to see if his skills translate, but it doesn't look promising at the moment.

 

At forward, I expect Brendan Gaunce to also have a great camp. While I'd love to see him with Horvat and Virtanen, it's more likely he plays the left side with Granlund and Dorsett.

 

On defence, Tryamkin will make the team, unless he isn't in NHL condition when he arrives in September. I'd really like to see him tossing the Ducks, Sharks and Kings around like ragdolls.

 

Finally, the penalty kill. Gudbranson and Tryamkin, Hansen and Horvat. Tanev and Edler, Granlund and Sutter.

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15 minutes ago, Curmudgeon said:

On defence, I look for Jordan Subban to have a really strong camp. Three possible results would be: 1) He stays up and starts the season with Vancouver, 2) He is traded for a roster player or 3) He is sent down to Utica where he becomes one of the top offensive defencemen in the AHL. I would really like to see Subban get five or ten games in the NHL just to see if his skills translate, but it doesn't look promising at the moment.

 

At forward, I expect Brendan Gaunce to also have a great camp. While I'd love to see him with Horvat and Virtanen, it's more likely he plays the left side with Granlund and Dorsett.

 

On defence, Tryamkin will make the team, unless he isn't in NHL condition when he arrives in September. I'd really like to see him tossing the Ducks, Sharks and Kings around like ragdolls.

 

Finally, the penalty kill. Gudbranson and Tryamkin, Hansen and Horvat. Tanev and Edler, Granlund and Sutter.

The canucks usually run 3 forward pairings on the pk and 2 paring defense pairings.

It will probably be

Horvat- Hansen

Sutter- Etem

Granlund - Dorsett

 

Edler - Tanev

Hutton - Gudbranson

 

Just because hutton isn't a rookie and couple of years older he will be on the pk over Tryamkin.

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1 hour ago, hockeyking said:

The canucks usually run 3 forward pairings on the pk and 2 paring defense pairings.

It will probably be

Horvat- Hansen

Sutter- Etem

Granlund - Dorsett

 

Edler - Tanev

Hutton - Gudbranson

 

Just because hutton isn't a rookie and couple of years older he will be on the pk over Tryamkin.

Not sure about Hutton over Tryamkin? I remember a certain pk where Hamhuis and Tryamkin stayed out to kill the entire 2 minutes.

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I'd like to see Larsen and Stetcher make some advances this year. I don't think either will see time in the bigs (other than for management to have a look). I guess I'm not making any dark horse predictions but it'd be nice if some of the developing players pan out and achieve their potential in the next two years.

I've said it about Subban before, but while I hope he turns out to be an offensive threat on the back end he has a lot to work on. If he does end up making a difference for our team it will be after a few more years of development.

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On 05/06/2016 at 0:44 PM, pctlai@gmail.com said:

Yes,Cassells could be the dark horse

In Utica maybe. 

I'm not writing him off, but he's done nothing yet to show he belongs in the NHL.

I give him a pass last year because of the previous Memorial Cup run & associated injuries,  but he needs a bounce back season.

 

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18 hours ago, McIlhargey the Lesser said:

 

I've said it about Subban before, but while I hope he turns out to be an offensive threat on the back end he has a lot to work on. If he does end up making a difference for our team it will be after a few more years of development.

I'm not writing Subban off, nor am I even close to penciling him into the line up like some people here.

At his size, in this conference,  as a defenceman,  you need elite skill to make it without being exposed,  and he's not there yet imo. 

Does anyone think he's ready for the Kopitars and Benns of the league.....?

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