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.
Part 3 is here.
Part 4 is here.
Click here to go directly to team #5 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.5 – VANCOUVER
What I like: The forwards I like. From impact youngsters Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, and potential Calder Trophy candidate Elias Pettersson to vets like Loui Eriksson, the newly signed Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, the mix of vets and young players is nice. Let’s not forget about Nikolai Goldobin, Jonathan Dahlen, and Jake Virtanen either.
I really feel like the Canucks will be able to at least compete with most teams next season. They don’t have the talent to overcome the better teams but they’ll make it very difficult for said better teams to get the 2pts night after night.
What I don’t like: Basically everything else.
The goaltending is below average at best. Between Markstrom and Nilsson, I don’t think they’ve got a hope in hell of stealing the Canucks many games next season. Lucky for them Thatcher Demko is coming…
The defense leaves you wanting to put it politely. Five out of their six starting dmen are probably better suited for bottom pairings on other teams. Half of those guys have VIP status on the IR, and the rest are simply deployed over their heads. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have Chris Tanev or Troy Stetcher on the Oilers but I don’t see that group of defenders being the ones to carry the Canucks into the playoffs any time soon.
Prospects coming? YES! Quinn Hughes baby! Unlucky for Vancouver that he’s going back to college this season but I watched a lot of him last year and I was really hoping the Oilers would do anything to get him. He’s a zone entry machine and he’ll be a revelation on Vancouver’s blueline for year’s to come when he joins the team in 2019.
I don’t know if Jonathan Dahlen will play for the Canucks this season but he’s bound to sooner or later. They’ve also got Adam Gaudette, sniper Kole Lind, and burgeoning power forward Jonah Gadjovich coming down the pipeline on forward.
As for their dmen, the aforementioned Quinn Hughes and Olli Juolevi are probably the most notable defenders who should be joining the Canucks in the next season or two.
Thatcher Demko is their big goalie prospect who’s quite close to breaking into the Canucks squad. They’ve also got Michael Dipietro coming but he’ll be a good 5 years down the road before we see him I reckon.
Free agents after this season: Brock Boeser (RFA), Brendan Gaunce (RFA), Markus Granlund (RFA), Brendan Leipsic (RFA), Alex Edler (UFA), Ben Hutton (RFA), Michael Del Zotto (UFA), Derrick Pouliot (RFA), Anders Nilsson (UFA).
In a 7-game series, would they beat the Oilers? Noooooo… Not even close. That’s a 4-game sweep for the Oilers. Edmonton’s roster as a whole is far more talented that the Canucks right now.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
