Last week Bob and Brendan were talking about how they would rank the Canadian teams going into 2018/19 on Oilers Now and I wanted to get into it then but I was under the weather. So what better time to dig in than now?
Check out Part 1 here.
Click here to go directly to team #2 in our rankings!
Before we get into it I want to point you in the direction of THE MOST comprehensive “Who to Watch” guide for the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup going on in Edmonton and Red Deer right now!
You’ve got to check it out. You won’t find a better checklist of players to watch for each team!
WHO TO WATCH AT THE 2018 HLINKA GRETZKY CUP
Who will be the best Canadian team next season?
By “best” I don’t necessarily mean where they’ll finish in the standings at year’s end. I’m just looking at the rosters at the moment and letting you know how I’d rank them in terms of roster talent.
Of course, we all know that a good roster on paper might not mean f*ck all when it comes to how it performs on the ice.
Here are my rankings. If you click on the links you’ll be taken to their line combinations on Daily Faceoff’s site.
I’ve probably lost a good portion of you already putting the Flames ahead of the Oilers and I was hard pressed not to put Calgary at no.1 because I like their forward group more than any of the other teams in Canada from a depth perspective but Winnipeg’s top-6 is simply miles ahead of any of the other teams’ coming from a production POV. Yes, even better than Toronto’s…
On the whole, I like Toronto’s forwards more than Edmonton’s but I like Edmonton’s defense more than Toronto’s. At their peaks, Talbot and Andersen are a wash. So it’ll probably come down to special teams but the Oilers and the Maple Leafs are in their own bracket.
I think that Vancouver will be competitive but not quite there yet. There’s a big gap between them and Edmonton but they’ve got some really nice young talent coming up to play for them next season in Elias Pettersson, Adam Gaudette, and perhaps Jonathan Dahlen will join them as well.
Montreal is just a shit show right now. I can’t make heads or tails of their roster and its direction. They’ve got probably the best goalie in the world on their team but they’ve got nothing dynamic going on in the forwards or the defense. If Shea Weber can get healthy, that’ll help but I’m not sure how much, to be honest.
Ottawa… Well all I can say about them is that at least the tire fire has moved East and folks are talking about them instead of Edmonton.
NO.2 – CALGARY
What I like: Three dangerous scoring lines and a very astute 4th line. The middle 6 is capable of providing offense and/or shutting down the opposition’s offense is what I like best about this roster I think.
The reason I like it better than Toronto’s is because I feel that Calgary has more firepower/talent in their bottom 6. It’s a bit more fluid meaning that you’re shouldn’t see players like Nylander or Marner in the bottom 6 but you might see Neal, Frolik or Lindholm pop down there to provide some depth scoring.
Elias Lindholm had a bit of a breakout season before getting traded and a lot of my decision here lies with how I feel he’ll play next year. To me he looks to be an excellent secondary scorer for the Flames. I don’t think that 20 goals and 30 assists is out of the question for the former 5th overall pick.
James Neal also changes the equation a bit for Calgary too. He’s not put up numbers all too different to those of Milan Lucic’s in recent years but he’s a dangerous player when he’s on the ice be that as a scoring threat or a dirty hit threat. Either way, he can change games for his team.
Calgary’s centre depth may not be as potent scoring-wise at the top-end but the signings of Derek Ryan and Austin Czarnik, as well as the emergence of Mark Jankowski, is where I put them over the rest of the field. All three of those players have the potential to put up over 35 pts and make an impact on Calgary’s special teams.
Their defense was a disaster last year but tight the year before. Losing Dougie Hamilton didn’t help but I think Carolina made a mistake giving up on Noah Hanifin. He’s a stud in the making but they should probably hurry up and get him under contract. Brett Kulak is the weakest of the bunch but they’ve got Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington, Juuso Valimaki, and the hard-hitting Josh Healey ready to jump in.
What I don’t like: The goaltending. Mike Smith is a cross-ice pass away from retirement. He’s the epitome of “Hot and Cold” and he’s not quite as tough as he once was. Lucic saw to that at the end of last season.
If the Flames don’t get Mike Smith at the top of his game for the entire season, all of the things I talked about above will not matter. Their backup is Jon Gillies or David Rittich and while they showed flashes of potential, they’re not ready for the no.1 job.
I’m also not sold on the coaching. Recycling Carolina’s old treads doesn’t shout playoffs to me but stranger things have happened. Between Gulutzan and Peters, I think Edmonton got the right guy for the job.
Prospects coming? Yes, Andrew Mangiapane, Dillon Dube, Spencer Foo, and Hunter Shinkaruk on forward as well as the aforementioned Kylington, Valimaki, Andersson on the blueline are closer than not. They’ve got Mason MacDonald and Tyler Parsons in the nets of their minor league affiliates but it’ll be a while before we see them manning an NHL net.
Free agents after this season: Sam Bennett (RFA), Matthew Tkachuk (RFA), Curtis Lazar (RFA), Garnett Hathaway (UFA), Brett Kulak (RFA), Dalton Prout (UFA), Mike Smith (UFA)
In a 7-game series, would they beat the Oilers? Tough call, Edmonton has had some luck against the Flames most recently and I like Edmonton’s goaltending a bit better but Calgary’s got that extra veteran forward depth right? I also like Edmonton’s defense a bit better now that the Flames are sans Hamilton.
I take the Oilers in 7 due to the McDavid factor.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
