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DoobeeDoobeeDoo
The Doobster
Personally think we'll be on the cusp of the wildcard. I feel that the Rangers, Flyers, & Blue Jackets will be better teams this upcoming season. Main reason I feel this way is because of the way we played following the Olympic break where our offense started looking mediocre & our defense was just hopeless.
We gave up James Neal (27 goals, 34 assists, 61 points) for Patric Hornqvist (22 goals, 31 assists, 53 points). Although I expect Hornvist's stats to go up and Neal's stats to go down, this was a major setback IMO. We lost a top 6 forward and our best sniper in exchange for a 3rd line grinder.
We lost Matt Niskanen (10 goals, 36 assists, 46 points, +33) and we replaced him with Christian Ehrhoff (6 goals, 27 assists, 33 points, -27).
We also fired a coach with a 0.669 win % for a coach who is unproven in this league. Many could point to Mike Johnston's record in the WHL but let's not forget how much talent his Winterhawks have had during his tenure. I'm not saying Mike Johnston can't succeed, but we really don't know what to expect from him at this point, and chances say he won't do as well as Bylsma has done as Penguins' coach.
Now more than ever, our success & failure depends on MAF. He will have to have a career season for us to remain on par. Add to that, this is his final season under contract so that should give him added motivation. However if he fails, he will probably be traded by the deadline and we will officially be in rebuilding mode. I think this will be the wildcard here. In MAF we trust
We gave up James Neal (27 goals, 34 assists, 61 points) for Patric Hornqvist (22 goals, 31 assists, 53 points). Although I expect Hornvist's stats to go up and Neal's stats to go down, this was a major setback IMO. We lost a top 6 forward and our best sniper in exchange for a 3rd line grinder.
We lost Matt Niskanen (10 goals, 36 assists, 46 points, +33) and we replaced him with Christian Ehrhoff (6 goals, 27 assists, 33 points, -27).
We also fired a coach with a 0.669 win % for a coach who is unproven in this league. Many could point to Mike Johnston's record in the WHL but let's not forget how much talent his Winterhawks have had during his tenure. I'm not saying Mike Johnston can't succeed, but we really don't know what to expect from him at this point, and chances say he won't do as well as Bylsma has done as Penguins' coach.
Now more than ever, our success & failure depends on MAF. He will have to have a career season for us to remain on par. Add to that, this is his final season under contract so that should give him added motivation. However if he fails, he will probably be traded by the deadline and we will officially be in rebuilding mode. I think this will be the wildcard here. In MAF we trust