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?
Part 1 is here.
Part 2 is here
Click here to go directly to team #3 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.3 – TORONTO
What I like: High-end offense. Between Marner, Nylander (If he stays with the team), Matthews, Tavares, and Marleau, that’s a very exciting forward core going into the season. Zach Hyman is an underrated two-way forward who does a lot of the dirty work for the kids, I respect his role on the team. Having one of the league’s premier two-way pests on the team lining up at 3C is never a bad thing.
The Goaltending is tight. Freddy Andersen is a beauty between the pipes and even on his bad days is better than the average goalie. Toronto lucked out being able to swing that deal.
What I don’t like: I’m not swayed with their defense. Morgan Rielly has been really good since breaking into the league and Jake Gardiner has settled into his role on the team nicely but after those two the defense isn’t that good.
A near 40-year-old Ron Hainsey carrying that PK won’t happen again. Nikita Zaitsev scored 13 points last season, as if he’s worth the $4.5M Dubas and Co. gave him. After that it’s Connor Carrick and Travis Dermott?
Nah, that defense isn’t going to cut it. They’re going to have to upgrade that in a massive way.
Josh Leivo, Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, Connor Brown, Tyler Ennis, and Par Lindholm… Toronto is really relying on these players to hold their own in the bottom 6and to me, that sounds like a risky proposition. What will stop opposing teams from putting their big boys out there versus these players and simply overpowering them?
I also wonder how long Babcock will be the coach of the Maple Leafs. Mack Daddy Matthews isn’t happy with him I guess and the Leafs would be good to keep Auston happy in his early years with the team. Arizona is keeping all of that cap space handy just in case…
Prospects coming? A few. Tim Liljegren, Carl Grundstrom (personal fav), Jeremy Bracco, newly signed Igor Ozhiganov, and Andrew Neilsen are some of the more notable names coming up through the Leafs’ system. I think that Calle Rosen and Andreas Borgman could count here too and I like them but I’m not sure if they’ll get the call-up or not.
Free agents after this season: Josh Leivo (RFA), Auston Matthews (RFA), Mitch Marner (RFA), Kasperi Kapanen (RFA), Andreas Johnsson (RFA), Connor Carrick (RFA), Tyler Ennis (UFA), Par Lindholm (UFA), Curtis McIlhenney (UFA)
In a 7-game series, would they beat the Oilers? This would be a fun Stanley Cup final eh? The Leafs have more or less dominated the Oilers since the end of the 80s. The Oilers only winning 2 out of their last ten meetings.
I’d have to give it to the Leafs in 6 games. Edmonton would hang in there but Toronto’s built a bit better for a long series.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
