In the world a professional sports we often live in the reality of “What have you done for me lately?” There was a time when General Managers could have a five-year plan and stick with it. Yet lately, a three-year plan seems almost too long for the short attention spans and patience of the modern day hockey fan. So taking that into account, and in honor of the US Election tomorrow, over the next four days, along with rumor updates, I will ask a question most famously uttered by Ronald Reagan years ago:
“Ask yourself this question: Are better off now than you were 4 years ago?”
It’s not an easy question to answer. And it’s fascinating sometimes to see the development, so today we will look at teams as they had it approaching the 2016-17 season.
Let’s start today by looking at the Atlantic Division.
The Boston Bruins.
The Bruins were pretty much a hot mess heading into the 2016-17 season. In '15-16 the Bruins finished fourth in the Atlantic...out of the playoffs by three points. The Bruins also suffered an embarrassing 5-1 loss at the winter classic in 2016. In the off-season Boston’s big signing that summer was David Backes. The '16-17 season would see the end of the Claude Julian era in Boston, as Butch Cassidy took over in February. At the time of Julien‘s firing, he was the NHL coach with the longest tenure. In '16-17 the Bruins did manage to sneak back into the playoffs finishing third in the Atlantic, only to lose the Ottawa Senators, yes the Sens, in the first round.
Are they better off now? A whole Lotta yes!
The Buffalo Sabres
In 2015 the Buffalo Sabres finished second to last in the Atlantic division, with 81 points. Their failure to be REALLY bad saw them losing out on Auston Matthews, after losing out on Mike Babcock the year prior. This came out a year after they lost out to Edmonton on Connor McDavid...but they did draft second...and that meant Jack Eichel.
The big news heading into '16-17 was the hiring an assistant coach in Tom Ward, and the renaming of the arena to Key Bank. Not very big news..In '16-17 Sabres finished last in the division with 78 points.
Are the Sabres better than they were for years ago?
Yes. the team has been trending albeit slowly, in the right direction, and the addition of Taylor Hall makes this an exciting season already... the playoffs are within reach.
Detroit Red Wings
2015-16 was coach Blashill’s first campaign, and the team’s 25th consecutive playoff appearance, as the Red Wings finished third with 93 points in the Atlantic. But there were issues creeping in...Team scoring was way down and '15-16 was also the final year of Pavel Datsyuk, who finished second in scoring with 49 points in 66 games. Zetterberg finished tops in points with only 50 in 82 games.
Heading into '16-17, the Wings were sort of expecting to fall off, and they did…. finishing seventh in the division with 79 points in 82 games-- Z again led the team in scoring with 68 points in 82 games.
Are the Red Wings better off?
I guess so, but it’s really hard to say a team is “better off” after the awful season they just had. The '16-17 Wings was a team heading down and I guess this is a team heading up...nowhere to head but up.
The Florida Panthers
2015-16 was an amazing year for the Florida Panthers. They finished first in the Atlantic with 103 points, and everything seemed to be going the right direction until they were upset by the New York Islanders in the opening round of the playoffs. Dale Tallon had them going in the right direction, and yet after that successful season ownership decided to take less of Tallon’s advice,
The '15-16 Panthers were led heroically by Jagr who scored 66 points in 79 games to lead the team in scoring. Roberto Luongo was also spectacular posting a 2.35 goals against average AND a .920 to save percentage. In the playoffs Luongo continued to be outstanding, with a 2.05 goals against average in a .930 save percentage, but the Panthers couldn’t score goals to save their lives against the Islanders and lost in 6.
The '16-17 Panthers were a mess finishing sixth in the division with 81 points 12 below their season previously.
Are they better off now?
Yes. Bill Zito is a very smart GM...as we have already witnessed.
The Montréal Canadiens
The '15-16 Montréal Canadiens story was really sad. Tons of injuries highlighted by Carey Price who missed all the 12 games...by the way he did go 10-2 in 12 games played. This was a season of Mike Condon in Montreal.
But hope springs eternal in Quebec and Montreal made a few big trades leading into '16-17, the most important of which was moving PK Subban for Shea Weber on June 29. The big free agent signing heading into the season was Alex Radulov.
As terrible as '15-16 was, '16-17 was awesome. The Canadians finished in first place in the Atlantic surprisingly with 103 points only to lose in six games to the New York Rangers, a wildcard team. Also surprising was the changing coaches from Micheal Therien to Claude Julian. In February. Therien was fired with the Canadians in first place.
Are the Canadians better off?
Since no one could have seen the success of '16-17 I’d have to say this Canadiens team is better off...it's a truer, slower build...but more solid.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators finished out of the playoffs in 2015-16, 5th in the Atlantic. This caused the team to make massive changes as they replaced the coaching staff and promoted Dorian to General Manager. They brought in the Boucher to coach. In July they traded Zibanejad to the Rangers for Derrick Brassard. In '16-17 it looked bleak, and, with almost everyone picking them to go nowhere in the regular season, the Senators finished a surprising second behind the Montréal Canadiens with 98 points despite having a negative goal differential of -2. But that wasn’t the crazy part...The Sens went on to win two rounds of the playoffs and lose in the third round in a game seven to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Are they better off now?
Yes...see the same reasons given for the Habs above.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa finished second place in '15-16 behind Florida with 97 points. And things still looked pretty good heading into '16-17. Heading into the season the Lightning took care of their own business in a big way extending contracts for Stamkos Hedman, Vasy, Killorn and Paquette... But '16-17 turned into a disaster. This was the first year of Stamkos injuries, and he only played 17 games. They ended up missing the playoffs...It wasn’t until June 15th things started to turn around when they made what turned into be an absolute blockbuster trade for them. Moving Jonathan Druin to Montreal for Michaela Sergachev
Are they better off? Of course. They just won a Cup!
Toronto Maple Leafs
After attempting to win through tanking in '14-15 Toronto tanked correctly in '15-16 landing Auston Matthews as the prize. And what a prize he was. Heading into '16-17 there was a lot of hope, despite Toronto management still playing it down and predicting more pain..., the Leafs did in fact make the playoffs finishing third in the Atlantic with 95 points, only to lose in the first round 4-2 to Washington. Heading in to '16-17, they really didn’t do much via trade, and their big free-agent signing was Matt Martin. This would be Babcock’s second season in Toronto...and a good improvement.
Are they better off?
Absolutely...The lineup additions are remarkable...The playoff success will at some point follow…
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