Kukla's Korner Hockey
Oh boy, off-season power rankings!
by George Malik on 08/13/15 at 05:52 PM ET
Comments (5)
I have little time for power rankings, but for those of you who are interested in such lists, Sportsnet's Luke Fox penned a list of rankings based upon NHL teams' offseason moves or the lack thereof:
1. Edmonton Oilers: Any off-season that begins with Connor McDavid should be half decent. But it's what happened before the draft (but after the lottery) — securing a bona fide GM in Peter Chiarelli and head coach in Todd McLellan — that should give the Oilers faithful the most hope. Chiarelli wasted no time addressing the team's weaknesses in net (Cam Talbot) and along the blueline (Andrej Sekera). Mark Letestu is a wise depth signing, and playing hardball with Justin Schultz shows the new-look Oilers are to be taken seriously. Also: Their new alternate sweaters look sick.
Previous: 28
2. Dallas Stars: Trader Jim went after it again, this time landing Patrick Sharp from the Blackhawks, goalie Antti Niemi from San Jose, and inking Johnny Oduya in free agency. An already loaded offence just got scarier. “We have as good a team on paper as anybody in the league," says Tyler Seguin.
Previous: 19
3. Buffalo Sabres: Landing franchise pivot Jack Eichel in the draft immediately puts the Sabres in the upper ranks here, but the trades for Robin Lehner and Ryan O'Reilly have instilled faith that GM Tim Murray — aggressive in pursuit of his targets even if he doesn't always land them (McDavid, Babcock) — is rebuilding the right way. Nice opportunity for Dan Bylsma to get his coaching career back on track with low expectations.
Previous: 30
Fox continues, and if there was any doubt that these rankings are arbitrary...
20. Detroit Red Wings: Bad news: Try as they did, the Red Wings lost Mike Babcock. Good news: They had coach Jeff Blashill waiting in the, er, wings (sorry). Re-signing Gustav Nyquist for a fair price and hiring help from veterans Mike Green (too expensive at $6 million per season) and Brad Richards shows fans that the playoff aspirations won't die with Babcock's departure.
Previous: 12
Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: andrej+sekera,
antti+niemi,
brad+richards,
buffalo+sabres,
cam+talbot,
dallas+stars,
detroit+red+wings,
edmonton+oilers,
jack+eichel,
johnny+oduya,
mike+babcock,
mike+green,
patrick+sharp,
peter+chiarelli,
robin+lehner,
ryan+o'reilly,
todd+mclellan
Comments
What’s the onomatopoeia for the jerking off hand motion?
Posted by Mistercristo from Cameron Frye's garage, circa 1987 on 08/13/15 at 09:39 PM ET
12. Minnesota “Consider Dubnyk — arguably the NHL’s second-best goalie last season — is only the league’s 22nd highest-paid.”.
Let’s take a moment and think about that. Minnesota is number 12 in the fricken power rankings because they resigned Devan Dubnyk.
Does anyone else feel like laughing uncontrollably?
Posted by bigdee89 from The Great White North Eh? on 08/13/15 at 09:50 PM ET
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Dumb rankings are dumb.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 08/13/15 at 06:54 PM ET