It wasn't so much about Yakapov not being a decent expansion selection, it was more about Edmonton being blessed by losing a player that has done nothing and has worn out his welcome as opposed to losing a true top prospect like Reinhart or quality players like Pouliot or Marroon.
- jaydogg1974

That's a very hard statement to make

Lol!! Whoever wrote this should never be allowed to write about sports again.
- Razzdazzle1

that would be this douche canoe

Justin Cuthbert
@jccuthbert

that would be this douche canoe

Justin Cuthbert
@jccuthbert
- DDM-Coga

I really like his stuff here. He knows what's up.

Apparently, the Coyotes are the 14th best team in the NHL.

Also, he has Las Vegas behind Columbus, which is just wrong.
- jmatchett383

The article actually had LV list as N/A to exclude them from the rankings because they didn't actually have a team yet, I'm sure that's the only reason they finished behind Columbus.

I really like his stuff here. He knows what's up.
- SolidGoldBricks

I got into a twitter debate with him, hes no the sharpest tool in the shed.
His argument about the Avs is that they didnt trade any of their core guys to get better so their management group sucks and refused to get better....yeah trading away top end talent is always a sound way to make your team better

I got into a twitter debate with him, hes no the sharpest tool in the shed.
His argument about the Avs is that they didnt trade any of their core guys to get better so their management group sucks and refused to get better....yeah trading away top end talent is always a sound way to make your team better
- DDM-Coga

I was just joking, most of these are pretty oddly selected. How are Toronto and Buffalo so far apart? I feel like they are up to the exact same thing.

I was just joking, most of these are pretty oddly selected. How are Toronto and Buffalo so far apart? I feel like they are up to the exact same thing.
- SolidGoldBricks

how does he have vegas listed as the 14th best GM in the league right now. They hired a guy, thats it.

The article actually had LV list as N/A to exclude them from the rankings because they didn't actually have a team yet, I'm sure that's the only reason they finished behind Columbus.
- jaydogg1974

I think that N/A is actually better than Columbus, the same way that 0 > -1

how does he have vegas listed as the 14th best GM in the league right now. They hired a guy, thats it.
- DDM-Coga

He hasn't made ANY bad moves yet.

When you refer to LA's exposed forwards as " blah middle nine players" it just shows what an asshat you are. No wonder no one respecys fancy stat people.

When you refer to LA's exposed forwards as " blah middle nine players" it just shows what an asshat you are. No wonder no one respecys fancy stat people.
- Grinder47

If you think losing King or Clifford is anything resembling a serious step backwards and anything more than just an unpleasant stumble, the only asshat here is you. Its not even on par with us losing Sheary or Rust which in all seriousness wouldn't be the biggest deal in the world.

LA: gaborik would be exposed...

Ottawa will lose Marc Methot

Finally have a good top 4 and Vegas going to (frank) it all up

I was just joking, most of these are pretty oddly selected. How are Toronto and Buffalo so far apart? I feel like they are up to the exact same thing.
- SolidGoldBricks

Better Coach. Better GM. Richer ownership(doesn't matter who owns TML though, they can afford to do things like trade CLarkson for Horton and then pay Horton the $30 million without it taking up cap space.

Easily the best(loyal and $$$) fan base and I'd say our prospect pool is deeper than Buffalo's but I don't know their B grade prospects? I mean we just have a guy like Connor Brown who won the OHL MVP and the next season was the leading rookie scorer in the AHL. That's our B grade guy that should be unknown to other fan bases. Does Buffalo have that? maybe?

At the end of the day, the article isn't "Who will win the cup in 2017?" It is what is the best organization in hockey. I'd put the Leafs up in the top 5 for sure.

Oh yeah, I was forgot about Mark Hunter and our future GM Kyle Dubas. Things are looking real good. But the could easily be ranked in there with a bunch of other teams. It's subjective. TO try and be accurate they best way would just be to bunch teams in groups of 5.

Ottawa will lose Marc Methot

Finally have a good top 4 and Vegas going to (frank) it all up
- Erik6Karlsson5

As long as I can still get Ottawa NHL tickets for than an Ottawa OHL ticket I'm happy. Plus I'm a Leafs fan...so OTtawa sucking is all good.

It does look like we are one of the teams most likely to lose a significant asset.

Going to be forced to sell low on Fleury because of expansion - though may be right decision based on cap issues to.

If Pouliot has a breakout year we are in a huge bind. Lets not debate whether Pouliot will do this, I certainly think he has top 4 D talent. If he becomes a must protect then we lose a good 2nd line/mid-9 guy. Hagelin/Hornqvist. If pouliot simply has a respectable year solid 3rd pairing guy then it becomes a toss-up on protecting him. And we lose a costs-controlled 3rd pairing guy who has a fairly high ceiling.

If pouliot blows and is worthless. Then we get to protect all of the current core. If Fehr is the guy we lose then its no-big loss. Clear some cap, but lose a solid contributor with only 1 year of term. Or we lose the worst player out of Rust, Wilson, Kuhnakl. I guess that is fine too.

I guess I just wrote a ton to say if Pouliot has a good year we lose fairly big. And we are forced to make a goalie move under-time pressure. Sometimes its better to make a move earlier than later so could be decent to have pressure.

....so just (frank) McDavid, yeah?

How could you not see that coming though? Did you see how they are "calculating" their conclusions? Management, coaches, farm system, & owners. If they looked at current roster then the Leafs would have been much further down on this list but I'm guess that wasn't the point of this little article.

I mean this article is ridiculous but it was pretty obvious what they were going for.
- Steven_Dean

I guess you saw more than I did because I see a team that hasn't won anything for 60 years, that has only one playoff series in the entire salary cap era, that came in dead last last year he picked as the best franchise in the freaking league?!?!? Yes they have some good prospects but playing in that market has never been good for young players and that fan base and media base is going to burn them out and chew them up. Nothing is a sure thing yet and all those kids could just as easily bust as turn out to be even average NHL players. To call the Leafs the best franchise in the NHL this year after being called the worst franchise in professional sports last year is getting ahead of yourselves at a monumental rate. Let's see this team win more than 30 games before they get heralded as anything more than the latest chapter in a poorly run franchise worshipped by ridiculous fans.

I guess you saw more than I did because I see a team that hasn't won anything for 60 years, that has only one playoff series in the entire salary cap era, that came in dead last last year he picked as the best franchise in the freaking league?!?!? Yes they have some good prospects but playing in that market has never been good for young players and that fan base and media base is going to burn them out and chew them up. Nothing is a sure thing yet and all those kids could just as easily bust as turn out to be even average NHL players. To call the Leafs the best franchise in the NHL this year after being called the worst franchise in professional sports last year is getting ahead of yourselves at a monumental rate. Let's see this team win more than 30 games before they get heralded as anything more than the latest chapter in a poorly run franchise worshipped by ridiculous fans.
- Dcoms

BOOM!

Better Coach. Better GM. Richer ownership(doesn't matter who owns TML though, they can afford to do things like trade CLarkson for Horton and then pay Horton the $30 million without it taking up cap space.

Easily the best(loyal and $$$) fan base and I'd say our prospect pool is deeper than Buffalo's but I don't know their B grade prospects? I mean we just have a guy like Connor Brown who won the OHL MVP and the next season was the leading rookie scorer in the AHL. That's our B grade guy that should be unknown to other fan bases. Does Buffalo have that? maybe?

At the end of the day, the article isn't "Who will win the cup in 2017?" It is what is the best organization in hockey. I'd put the Leafs up in the top 5 for sure.

Oh yeah, I was forgot about Mark Hunter and our future GM Kyle Dubas. Things are looking real good. But the could easily be ranked in there with a bunch of other teams. It's subjective. TO try and be accurate they best way would just be to bunch teams in groups of 5.
- Njuice

You know, I think the Leafs are rebuilding fairly successfully, but I'd choose Buffalo over the Leafs right now any day. Maybe Matthews is so spectacular that he changes things, but right now, I think Buffalo has done the better job of rebuilding. Yes I know Bylsma sucks, but coaches are really easy to replace.

I guess you saw more than I did because I see a team that hasn't won anything for 60 years, that has only one playoff series in the entire salary cap era, that came in dead last last year he picked as the best franchise in the freaking league?!?!? Yes they have some good prospects but playing in that market has never been good for young players and that fan base and media base is going to burn them out and chew them up. Nothing is a sure thing yet and all those kids could just as easily bust as turn out to be even average NHL players. To call the Leafs the best franchise in the NHL this year after being called the worst franchise in professional sports last year is getting ahead of yourselves at a monumental rate. Let's see this team win more than 30 games before they get heralded as anything more than the latest chapter in a poorly run franchise worshipped by ridiculous fans.
- Dcoms

All true....but this time does seem different for them. Building the right way with some patience for the draft. The management team is the best money can buy because well it was the best performing for a long time. For a cap league their financial power is unmatched. They have a lot of advantages. Number one franchise might be a bit homerish but that article didn't have a ranking for current nhl roster. If you are ranking management, ownership financial strength, and farm system then they do look very good.

Biggest negative I can think of for Toronto is I'm not sure they have generational talent. I mean is Matthews considered Crosby, Lemieux, Gretzky, Mcdavid quality? Probably not. Good chance they have in their system a top 15 D, top 15 c, top 15 wing etc. easier to win championships when you have a couple of the top ten players on the league, and no real guarantee they have that.

All true....but this time does seem different for them. Building the right way with some patience for the draft. The management team is the best money can buy because well it was the best performing for a long time. For a cap league their financial power is unmatched. They have a lot of advantages. Number one franchise might be a bit homerish but that article didn't have a ranking for current nhl roster. If you are ranking management, ownership financial strength, and farm system then they do look very good.

Biggest negative I can think of for Toronto is I'm not sure they have generational talent. I mean is Matthews considered Crosby, Lemieux, Gretzky, Mcdavid quality? Probably not. Good chance they have in their system a top 15 D, top 15 c, top 15 wing etc. easier to win championships when you have a couple of the top ten players on the league, and no real guarantee they have that.
- sditulli

Most teams don't have generational talents. Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Karlsson, Jagr, Lundqvist, McDavid, and Ekblad are the only generational talents in the league right now. Out of those, only Crosby, Ovechkin, Karlsson, and maybe Malkin are playing at generational levels. You don't need a generational talent to win, you just need superstars, and Toronto has several players with superstar potential in Matthews, Nylander, and Marner.

The biggest pitfall I see in Toronto is their 1D situation. I just don't think Riely/Gardener can hit that threshold and 1D's are insanely important to winning a cup. That's why right now I'd take Buffalo over Toronto. Buffalo's young talent might not be as sexy as Toronto's but they have Ristolanen, and I will stake money on Risto being a top 10 defensemen in the near future.

Most teams don't have generational talents. Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Karlsson, Jagr, Lundqvist, McDavid, and Ekblad are the only generational talents in the league right now. Out of those, only Crosby, Ovechkin, Karlsson, and maybe Malkin are playing at generational levels. You don't need a generational talent to win, you just need superstars, and Toronto has several players with superstar potential in Matthews, Nylander, and Marner.

The biggest pitfall I see in Toronto is their 1D situation. I just don't think Riely/Gardener can hit that threshold and 1D's are insanely important to winning a cup. That's why right now I'd take Buffalo over Toronto. Buffalo's young talent might not be as sexy as Toronto's but they have Ristolanen, and I will stake money on Risto being a top 10 defensemen in the near future.
- Victoro311

Its funny, in poll of blogger's a few days ago not one had Malkin in the top 5 centers. He does not get the credit he deserves as the 2nd best center in the NHL (injuries and Crosby being the primary reasons)... Ill take him over Toews, Kopitar and Bergeron any day of the week!!!!

Most teams don't have generational talents. Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Karlsson, Jagr, Lundqvist, McDavid, and Ekblad are the only generational talents in the league right now. Out of those, only Crosby, Ovechkin, Karlsson, and maybe Malkin are playing at generational levels. You don't need a generational talent to win, you just need superstars, and Toronto has several players with superstar potential in Matthews, Nylander, and Marner.

The biggest pitfall I see in Toronto is their 1D situation. I just don't think Riely/Gardener can hit that threshold and 1D's are insanely important to winning a cup. That's why right now I'd take Buffalo over Toronto. Buffalo's young talent might not be as sexy as Toronto's but they have Ristolanen, and I will stake money on Risto being a top 10 defensemen in the near future.
- Victoro311

It's possible without. Easier with. I would consider Kane just barely below. If the caps beat us they would have been the favorite and have one. It can be done. Definitely 3-4 guys who are top 15 players. Boston was probably weakest recent winner with chara in prime and a few other pretty good players. Kings had dought and kopitar. Red wings teams were loaded lidstrom datsyuk and zetterberg who were all top 15/20 players that year. Bottom line Toronto has 3-4 guys who could be superstars but need to hit on a bunch of them.

Its funny, in poll of blogger's a few days ago not one had Malkin in the top 5 centers. He does not get the credit he deserves as the 2nd best center in the NHL (injuries and Crosby being the primary reasons)... Ill take him over Toews, Kopitar and Bergeron any day of the week!!!!
- Brianandr1

Malkin has a serious issue with health. Malkin's one of those guys that has to get into a groove, and the past couple of years every time he gets into his groove he gets hurt soon after, takes a long lay off, and then has to start at square one. Geno, despite being 30, is certainly capable of playing at a generational level still, but he hasn't been healthy enough to get there consistently. That's why I don't hold it against people when they don't include him in their top 5 because he just doesn't hit that generational level frequently anymore. But man when he's on, he's the most offensively dominant player in the league and that includes Sidney Crosby.