Wednesday, October 7, 2015

NHL 2015 Pre-Season Storylines to Watch (Part One)

The NHL season is here, and, as usual, it’s been a turbulent off season of player and official movement, and, of course, the Patrick Kane mess in Chicago. Thankfully, it’s time to play hockey in a season that sees the return of the World Cup of Hockey. Here are some storylines to watch as the 2015-16 season begins!

Will Brandon Saad elevate the Columbus Blue Jackets?

After weeks of talk about how the Chicago Blackhawks would lock up their promising young star, the shocker of the trade period was Saad being traded out to Columbus.

The Blue Jackets paid a lot of money for Saad – and I tend to think that they’ve grossly overpaid for what they’re getting. There’s no doubt that Saad is a talented forward, and he’s come from a good team, with two Stanley Cup rings on his fingers, and a wealth of experience in a winning culture.

The problem is that, in Chicago, Saad was never forced to be the main guy. That was always Kane and Toews and Hossa and Crawford. Saad didn’t see top-line minutes against top-flight defencemen. In Columbus, he certainly will. And the franchise has pretty much put all their eggs in his basket – his contract is six years for $36 million – and will be banking on extraordinary production against the best defencemen in the league. He and Ryan Johansen are the young faces of the Blue Jackets franchise, and there’s a lot riding on their young shoulders.

Despite the addition of Saad, I don’t think Columbus is an absolute lock to make the playoffs in 2015-16 – and if they do, they’ll likely just sneak in, and probably be quarter-final round cannon fodder for someone.

Can Chicago win another Stanley Cup?

It’s been a rough off-season for Chicago, what with the Patrick Kane Buffalo rape saga and the trade of Brandon Saad dominating headlines across the Midwest, but the core that’s been so successful in the Windy City remains intact, so there’s every reason to believe that the Blackhawks can capture Lord Stanley once more.

If Kane remains on the ice – and there’s no reason, at this point, to think otherwise – it goes a long way to propelling Chicago towards the top of the Western Conference. Their back end is secure, with Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook likely to eat up enormous minutes once more, and net-minder Corey Crawford is doubtless thankful for that.

Some of Chicago’s depth departed last year, due to salary cap constraints. Gone, in a high profile manner, are both Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad. Brad Richards, who had a good season on a one-year deal, is also gone. With Sharp in Dallas, the Blackhawks get Ryan Garbutt and Trevor Daley, and Artem Anisimov, a guy I liked when he was with my Rangers, is a capable replacement for Richards. Of course, Marian Hossa is still hanging around, and although he’s getting older, he’s still got enough speed and scoring touch to give opposition defencemen fits.

Everything in Chicago runs through Kane and Toews, and as long as they stay healthy, I have the Blackhawks seriously figuring in proceedings once spring brings Stanley Cup Playoffs. And, anyway, it’s not like the Blackhawks haven’t had to torch their roster before, and managed to come back and win another Cup not too long down the track. GM Stan Bowman is getting good at it.

How much better will Pittsburgh be with Phil Kessel?

Offensively, the Pens figure to be vastly improved. I mean, for all his prickliness towards the Toronto media – and, really, the entire setup in Toronto – Kessel is still as gifted a scorer as there is in the League. Now, you go ahead and plug him in with a team like Pittsburgh, who already boast Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, arguably the best one-two offensive punch in hockey, and there’s a potential for them to light up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree.

My concern for the Penguins remains at the other end of the ice. On his day, Marc-Andre Fleury can be a very good goalie. Alas, on days that aren’t his, Fleury can be as bad as there is in the league. There’s no net-minder quite like Marc-Andre for giving up a horrendous goal at the most inopportune moment. Their defense looks a little thin to me, as well.

Ultimately, Pittsburgh, who have been hyped to ridiculous amounts since acquiring Kessel, are going to only go as far as their defence lets them, and it all starts with Fleury. There is some talent on the defence, for sure – Kris Letang, chief amongst them – but there’s age and injury concern, too. It will be an interesting season in the Steel City.

How long will Claude Julien last in Boston?

New General Managers like to work with the guys they’ve hired, and vice versa. That isn’t happening in Boston. GM Peter Chiarelli was relieved of his duties at the end of a lacklustre 2014-15 season that saw the Bruins fail to make the playoffs for the first time in what seems like an eternity. Julien was lucky to stay on when many others, including fan favourite Milan Lucic and rising star Dougie Hamilton didn’t.

In comes a new GM in Don Sweeney, and you can bet that he’s got his eye on Julien, a holdover from the previous regime in Boston, and on shaky ground as a reuslt. No doubt, Sweeney will have Julien on a short leash to start the year. A few early losses – and bad ones – and the coach might find himself cashing an unemployment docket.

That said, the core of a good Boston team remains. Zdeno Chara is there. Brad Marchand is there. Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask remain, as does David Krejci. If everything goes well, and newcomers like Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes can contribute, the Bruins might yet worry a few teams in the East, and save Julien his job.

I get the feeling, though, that with this squad, it could go either way.

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