Newfie John
8-27-05, 12:07 PM
I've been thinking about it, and doing a little research and I've found that our team isn't going to be much worse then our last team was. The team that got us 103 points and just one point out of the division lead(iirc).
Sure, we lost Alexander Mogilny. He was injured for the majority of the season anyway and when he did play, he was not effective.
Sure, Owen Nolan is gone also. He's in the same boat as Mogilny, IMO.
The guys that really hurt were Roberts and Nieuwendyk.
Jeff O'neill has come in coming off and off year. I think he will come back to form as some guys just have that one off year and back they go again to their normal status. O'neill replaces Gary Roberts production, and maybe a little more since Roberts will be turning 40 soon and he is quite injury prone. So that little bit of extra production could account for Nolan's or Mogilny's, but not quite all of it.
Then there is Jason Allison. I think its a safe bet to assume that Allison will get the 54 points that Newy scored. Remember, in the entire time he has played in the NHL, he has been great. After A LOT of time off(thanks to the lockout) he should be 100% and ready to go. This guy scored 95 points in his last season, so replacing Newy's 54 should be a safe bet. Who knows, he may score 70-80, but I won't hold my breath. If he does, Nolan's production is also covered.
Sure, we lost Brian Leetch. He only played 20 games for us anyway. Having Alexander Khavanov for 80 games should replace the production of Brian Leetch for 20 games.
That leaves us with the youngsters. Matt Stajan will only get better, hopefully Antropov will, Poni will only get better and Carlo Colaiocovo is ready to step in. Carlo will surely help our D.
Eddie is Eddie, but he had his injury troubles last season. We can't expect him to go injury free. Still though, despite a lot of injuries last year for Eddie, we still managed 103 points with Trevor Kidd as our backup, who was just horrible. Now we have Tellqvist ready to step in. In his limited time in the NHL, he's played well and in the AHL he's been just great. It's a VERY safe bet to assume Telly will be better then Kidd.
After ALL that said, we still have Eric Lindros. If you look at his stats, in the time he has played he has played well. Worst case scenario is 40 points from him, IMO. His injuries are a concern but really it was his shoulder that has ailed him recently, not his concussions. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this guy has only missed an average of 5(or was it 3?) games per season over the last 3 years due to concussion. He seems to have learned his lesson and has found out how to cope and how to avoid getting concussions. It's about time, he's had 8 of them. His shoulder should be back at 110% since he's had 2 years to recover and rehab it. Like I said, worst case scenario for Lindros is 40 points, but he could get 60. If thats the case we have even more talent up front then we did last season
Also, one last little tidbit, we have kept 20 goal scorer and super pest Darcy Tucker.
So, I'll ask the question again, is this team really going to be that bad? I think not. I think we could still get 90 points, maybe even get 100 again. To be safe, I'm going to predict 94 points, but lets remember getting 103 or 105 points isn't out of the question. Remember, last season we were playing in one of the toughest divisions, if not the toughest in hockey. This season only Ottawa has gotten better or stayed the same(depending on Hasek, getting worse). Boston isn't as good and Montreal is around the same thing, but a little better with their kids growing a little more. Buffalo still sucks.
Leaf fans, the sky is not falling.
Sure, we lost Alexander Mogilny. He was injured for the majority of the season anyway and when he did play, he was not effective.
Sure, Owen Nolan is gone also. He's in the same boat as Mogilny, IMO.
The guys that really hurt were Roberts and Nieuwendyk.
Jeff O'neill has come in coming off and off year. I think he will come back to form as some guys just have that one off year and back they go again to their normal status. O'neill replaces Gary Roberts production, and maybe a little more since Roberts will be turning 40 soon and he is quite injury prone. So that little bit of extra production could account for Nolan's or Mogilny's, but not quite all of it.
Then there is Jason Allison. I think its a safe bet to assume that Allison will get the 54 points that Newy scored. Remember, in the entire time he has played in the NHL, he has been great. After A LOT of time off(thanks to the lockout) he should be 100% and ready to go. This guy scored 95 points in his last season, so replacing Newy's 54 should be a safe bet. Who knows, he may score 70-80, but I won't hold my breath. If he does, Nolan's production is also covered.
Sure, we lost Brian Leetch. He only played 20 games for us anyway. Having Alexander Khavanov for 80 games should replace the production of Brian Leetch for 20 games.
That leaves us with the youngsters. Matt Stajan will only get better, hopefully Antropov will, Poni will only get better and Carlo Colaiocovo is ready to step in. Carlo will surely help our D.
Eddie is Eddie, but he had his injury troubles last season. We can't expect him to go injury free. Still though, despite a lot of injuries last year for Eddie, we still managed 103 points with Trevor Kidd as our backup, who was just horrible. Now we have Tellqvist ready to step in. In his limited time in the NHL, he's played well and in the AHL he's been just great. It's a VERY safe bet to assume Telly will be better then Kidd.
After ALL that said, we still have Eric Lindros. If you look at his stats, in the time he has played he has played well. Worst case scenario is 40 points from him, IMO. His injuries are a concern but really it was his shoulder that has ailed him recently, not his concussions. I've said it before and I'll say it again, this guy has only missed an average of 5(or was it 3?) games per season over the last 3 years due to concussion. He seems to have learned his lesson and has found out how to cope and how to avoid getting concussions. It's about time, he's had 8 of them. His shoulder should be back at 110% since he's had 2 years to recover and rehab it. Like I said, worst case scenario for Lindros is 40 points, but he could get 60. If thats the case we have even more talent up front then we did last season
Also, one last little tidbit, we have kept 20 goal scorer and super pest Darcy Tucker.
So, I'll ask the question again, is this team really going to be that bad? I think not. I think we could still get 90 points, maybe even get 100 again. To be safe, I'm going to predict 94 points, but lets remember getting 103 or 105 points isn't out of the question. Remember, last season we were playing in one of the toughest divisions, if not the toughest in hockey. This season only Ottawa has gotten better or stayed the same(depending on Hasek, getting worse). Boston isn't as good and Montreal is around the same thing, but a little better with their kids growing a little more. Buffalo still sucks.
Leaf fans, the sky is not falling.