Todd Cordell: Taking stock of an all-Canadian division

I see it coming down to either the Flames or Leafs winning the division. The Oilers goaltending isn't good and it looks like Klefbom may never even play again with that injury. Oilers can contend if they score 10 goals per game.

I see it coming down to either the Flames or Leafs winning the division. The Oilers goaltending isn't good and it looks like Klefbom may never even play again with that injury. Oilers can contend if they score 10 goals per game.
- FlamesFan1230

Kosk had the same numbers as MVP Markstrom last year. People are saying we will miss out because of our goaltending which is fair.. but we have the same two goalies as last year who brought us to 2nd in the pacific. I'm not sure why something that wasn't a huge issue last year is all of a sudden going to cripple us this year. Kosk is more solid than a lot give him credit for. Consistency is key for him. Our scoring depth was a huge upgrade and Klef for Barrie is a wash. Klef was -17 last year while the next worse defenseman the rookie Bear was -4.. I take Barrie at this point all day.

Kosk had the same numbers as MVP Markstrom last year. People are saying we will miss out because of our goaltending which is fair.. but we have the same two goalies as last year who brought us to 2nd in the pacific. I'm not sure why something that wasn't a huge issue last year is all of a sudden going to cripple us this year. Kosk is more solid than a lot give him credit for. Consistency is key for him. Our scoring depth was a huge upgrade and Klef for Barrie is a wash. Klef was -17 last year while the next worse defenseman the rookie Bear was -4.. I take Barrie at this point all day.
- Leichs

If you look at how they ended the season, they were not boasting great stats. Koskinene was 4-5-1 in the last 10 before the playoffs. Smith was 5-3-2 in the last 10. In the playoffs, Koskinene was 1-2 in 3 starts, while Smith was 0-1 with 5 gaols against in 26 minutes.

Klefbom was a minus 17, playing with more than just the top 6 players. McDavid (-6) and Draisaitl (-7) were far worse off. Saying that Barrie is a wash isn't quite accurate. He's less sound than Klefbom.

Kosk had the same numbers as MVP Markstrom last year. People are saying we will miss out because of our goaltending which is fair.. but we have the same two goalies as last year who brought us to 2nd in the pacific. I'm not sure why something that wasn't a huge issue last year is all of a sudden going to cripple us this year. Kosk is more solid than a lot give him credit for. Consistency is key for him. Our scoring depth was a huge upgrade and Klef for Barrie is a wash. Klef was -17 last year while the next worse defenseman the rookie Bear was -4.. I take Barrie at this point all day.
- Leichs

Enjoy next season.

Ok Todd let me get this straight.
You’re saying,
Toronto
Calgary
Edmonton
Montreal
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Ottawa

Battle of Alberta first round!

I’m a biased Jets fan but I have no problem with people sleeping on them.

We only got to enjoy Demelo bring some much needed stability to our blue line for 13 games last year. A full season of Demelo will help. If Maurice can hopefully change his ways and allow our far better young D in Samberg and Heinola To play over the likes of Forbot and Beaulieu with this three new faces alone our D is drastically improved

Stastny should help the top 9 and Players like Perfetti, Gustafson and Vesalainen are still wild cards that may help an already stacked forward group. Winnipeg was the only team in the NHL with 5 - 20 goal scorers last year.

I have hope anyway

If you look at how they ended the season, they were not boasting great stats. Koskinene was 4-5-1 in the last 10 before the playoffs. Smith was 5-3-2 in the last 10. In the playoffs, Koskinene was 1-2 in 3 starts, while Smith was 0-1 with 5 gaols against in 26 minutes.

Klefbom was a minus 17, playing with more than just the top 6 players. McDavid (-6) and Draisaitl (-7) were far worse off. Saying that Barrie is a wash isn't quite accurate. He's less sound than Klefbom.
- Traveldude

I don't take too much stock out of the play in series. Chicago had our number even during the regular season. We weren't prepared and we got whooped like the Leafs and Pens although I do remember the Oil slapped the Flames around pretty good in the warm up game prior It sucks as an Oiler fan but it doesn't take away from the fact that we had a pretty decent regular season considering there was a point in the season where our second line was Sam Gagner, RNH and Khaira. A deeper forward group will lead to less defending and less pressure on the D and goalies, hopefully. It wouldn't shock me to see Leafs and/or Flames finish ahead but I'm not sold on the rest at all. Nucks downgraded at virtually every position even with the Schmidt addition.

I think it'll be:

Toronto
Edmonton
Calgary
Winnipeg
Vancouver
Montreal
Ottawa

Top-3 will be jostling the whole time - toronto will pull away ~three quarters through the season and Flames and oil will be fighting till the last week for 2nd. Ultimately I think McDavid and Drai will carry again consistently and steal points they don't deserve while Flames will go through waves and lose some easy points.

Winnipeg fairly comfortably wins 4th, Van and Mtl fight for 5th and Ottawa hasn't been found since the first quarter of the season.

Todd Cordell: Taking stock of an all-Canadian division
- ToddCordellCGY

I'm not sold on Toronto's "Upgrade's" on D. Barrie's off year was still not too bad, and I still like him more than Brodie. Brodie will not fare any better defensively, and seems to disappear for clusters of games. That Lehtonen signing was a fantastic risk. A KHL star for that price was a no-brainer. Holl and Dermot are great depth D as well. Down Kapanen and Johnson means they need their top 6 to stay healthy. Those boys were plenty capable of jumping into the top 6 when needed, and now they will be leaning on some unproven depth that need to make an impact.

As for Freddy. He's a fantastic goalie every year, but can he maintain those numbers? He's not getting younger and needs a better structure or this team could become exposed.

I think it'll be:

Toronto
Edmonton
Calgary
Winnipeg
Vancouver
Montreal
Ottawa

Top-3 will be jostling the whole time - toronto will pull away ~three quarters through the season and Flames and oil will be fighting till the last week for 2nd. Ultimately I think McDavid and Drai will carry again consistently and steal points they don't deserve while Flames will go through waves and lose some easy points.

Winnipeg fairly comfortably wins 4th, Van and Mtl fight for 5th and Ottawa hasn't been found since the first quarter of the season.
- LittleBroDougie

Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Ottawa, Mtl.
Edmontons additions of Barrie and Turris could fill some major voids from last season. Kosk needs a big season tho, Smith can't do this.

I'm not sold on Toronto's "Upgrade's" on D. Barrie's off year was still not too bad, and I still like him more than Brodie. Brodie will not fare any better defensively, and seems to disappear for clusters of games.
- bikeguy99

That couldn't be more inaccurate.

Brodie is very sound defensively and as consistent as they come. He's just prone to some bad mistakes once in a while.

I think it'll be:

Toronto
Edmonton
Calgary
Winnipeg
Vancouver
Montreal
Ottawa

Top-3 will be jostling the whole time - toronto will pull away ~three quarters through the season and Flames and oil will be fighting till the last week for 2nd. Ultimately I think McDavid and Drai will carry again consistently and steal points they don't deserve while Flames will go through waves and lose some easy points.

Winnipeg fairly comfortably wins 4th, Van and Mtl fight for 5th and Ottawa hasn't been found since the first quarter of the season.
- LittleBroDougie

So you think the most gifted offensive teams that has 0 defense side are gonna be 1 and 2? Yea no.

Teams like Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary will be before those 2. You might get one of Edmonton or Toronto in the top 2 (Most likely Edm) but one of them won't past 4th. I could see Calgary or Winnipeg first, second will be almost equal to Edm and or Mtl. Vancouver and Toronto to 5th and 6th and Ottawa last. People need to remember that each game will be worth 4 points since it's only against division rivals so that weights in a lot.

Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal near Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa

That couldn't be more inaccurate.

Brodie is very sound defensively and as consistent as they come. He's just prone to some bad mistakes once in a while.
- redseerpf

He will be victimized by Toronto media. Sorry, but Barrie wasn't as bad as they made him out to be. Brodie will have similar issues. It's not fair, but Toronto is a magnifying glass. The guy might play 22 sound minutes, but have a 10 second clip where he fails to clear the zone and the entire loss is his fault somehow. Last year was Barrie, 3 consecutive years before was Gardiner, and who can forget Brian "McCluts" McCabe. The guy notched nearly a point a game and 20 goals in a season and was still boo'd out of town.

Coming off a 19 point season, the media won't give him a very long leash either, and Holl and Bogo aren't the greatest supporting RD's

Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Ottawa, Mtl.
Edmontons additions of Barrie and Turris could fill some major voids from last season. Kosk needs a big season tho, Smith can't do this.
- bikeguy99

That's asking a lot from those guys. Barrie was a train wreck in Toronto and underperformed playing with an all-star forward group.

Turris isn't expected to carry but he's not the solution to bottom-6. It's McD and Drai vs the world on that team (feat. a supporting cast). Smith will be throwing hissy fits till he gets starts again.

So you think the most gifted offensive teams that has 0 defense side are gonna be 1 and 2? Yea no.

Teams like Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary will be before those 2. You might get one of Edmonton or Toronto in the top 2 (Most likely Edm) but one of them won't past 4th. I could see Calgary or Winnipeg first, second will be almost equal to Edm and or Mtl. Vancouver and Toronto to 5th and 6th and Ottawa last. People need to remember that each game will be worth 4 points since it's only against division rivals so that weights in a lot.

Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal near Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa
- koarik91

Edmonton is gonna have a "defies logic" season because of McD and Drai. Toronto is too top-heavy and solid in net to finish behind any question marks.

Every other team will need to be running on their best in my opinion if they want the crown. And from a Flame fan POV they're not doing much at the start of the season they always start slow.

Ok Todd let me get this straight.
You’re saying,
Toronto
Calgary
Edmonton
Montreal
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Ottawa

Battle of Alberta first round!
- K-man25

All Canadian divisive stinks. Should just have the teams all play in the States... Pick 7 temporary cities for the Canadian clubs to play out of...

All Canadian divisive stinks. Should just have the teams all play in the States... Pick 7 temporary cities for the Canadian clubs to play out of...
- MisterBrown

There is not a chance that the players agree to that. That’s worse than the bubble. Could you imagine, “bye honey, see you in 8 months. Send pictures of the kids when you can”.
Stupid idea imo but I can see how Toronto fans might be fearful of the other Canadian teams.
If they don’t get their sh!t together soon.there won’t be a season and we won’t have to worry about any final standings.
This is how I see the Canadian division shaking out,
Calgary
Flames
Team Giordano
And the rest of you losers.

Barrie was awful. The 40 points he scored didnt matter, he didnt have any ability to defend and he was a complete liability out there.

Once playoffs came he was the Leafs most sheltered d man and still looked bad out there. He was above average on the PP but his constant use of point shots were annoying as (frank).

And Freddy had his worst season of his career last year.

I think it'll be:

Toronto
Edmonton
Calgary-Vancouver
Montreal
Winnipeg
Ottawa

Top-3 will be jostling the whole time - toronto will pull away ~three quarters through the season and Flames and oil will be fighting till the last week for 2nd. Ultimately I think McDavid and Drai will carry again consistently and steal points they don't deserve while Flames will go through waves and lose some easy points.
close but fixed.
Winnipeg fairly comfortably wins 4th, Van and Mtl fight for 5th and Ottawa hasn't been found since the first quarter of the season.
- LittleBroDougie