BBKL 2021 Power Rankings

[Bruyns]

31 - CAR - Hello darkness my old friend, I've come to rank you last once again. Paul has proven in other leagues he isn't inept, but when it comes to BBKL the hole he has dug himself was deep enough that there are no quick fixes. On the positive side he has his 1st for the first time ever? Unfortunately it's in a year with no generational talent so moving it won't get the haul we have seen in past years. There are actual NHL caliber prospects in his minors so the era of trading them to Steve for his cast offs seems to be over. There seems to be more promise for the future in CAR than ever before so credit to Paul for sticking with his tire fire of a team.

Surprises - Sutter (for playing everyday)
Disappointments - Bemstrom

30 - NYR - I feel confident that this is rock bottom for Kyle and he should begin a slow climb up the rankings. Similar to Paul this was a team that spun it's wheels for way too long before deciding to embrace the rebuild. Some shrewd moves are already beginning to pay off and with a war chest full of picks to add to one of BBKL's stronger minor league systems this is a team that could improve rapidly if some prospects hit and the right moves are made.

Surprises - POJ, Varlamov
Disappointments - Skinner, Dahlin

29 - NYI - Tony deciding to move on felt like the death of a legend. If BBKL ever decided to do a Hall of Fame to honour past GMs, Tony would be a first ballot HOFer. For years he squeezed every little bit out of his lineups stringing together winning seasons with a rag tag bunch of nobodies and a few Sharks, while simultaneously being the most entertaining poster on our boards. Eventually the league shifted to giving no value to players over 30 and with Tony's teams usually averaging an age of 36.7 the writing was on the wall that the inevitable fall was coming. To his credit he tried to begin holding onto assets, but the trade for EK was the perfect storm of an older, but productive player and a Shark and he couldn't resist temptation.

Surprises - Thornton
Disappointments - Domi, SJ goalies

28 - MTL - Another team who would be expecting a low ranking and is all in on the rebuild. Not much to get excited about on the active roster outside of Farabee, but a look at his minors shows a large wave of NHL depth should be on the horizon. Zegras is a top prospect and for MTL to really start turning the corner they will need other prospects to overachieve and be impact players not just NHL depth. With the amount of prospects there's a good chance this could happen, but with his penchant for trading will Chuck make the right moves to cash in the right assets and build a competitive team like he has in the past.

Surprises - Farabee, Leddy
Disappointments - Talbot, Montour

27 - WPG - That makes it five in a row for GMs with very long BBKL tenures ranked at the bottom. Monk is a GM who is usually middle of the pack, but this has been a tough year for Winnipeg. His skaters rank 29th in Fantrax's ratings and it doesn't help that he isn't getting a lot of GP. A very patient GM who doesn't make a lot of terrible deals means there are some nice pieces marinating in the minors, but with less prospect depth than other low ranked teams it will be important that there are more hits than misses. Two 1sts and three 2nds will add more needed depth and ensure this franchise stays steady and doesn't bottom out.

Surprises - N/A
Disappointments - Labanc, Smith

26 - VGK - Unfortunately this is the 2nd team near the bottom of the rankings that does not currently have a GM. Future GMs will be taking over some teams that need a lot of improvement, but these rankings are based on just this season not the future. They might be 30th in the standings, but owning the 24th ranked skaters shows there has been some bad luck. Luckily for whoever takes over VGK they are set up with quality picks and prospects to put their own stamp on the team. If it were franchise value rankings I would have VGK ranked a little higher so it's not a bad starting point for whoever inherits this team.

Surprises - Sharangovich
Disappointments - Slavin, Krejci

25 - BOS - Dan has been pretty quiet during his BBKL tenure outside of taking Quinn 5th overall shocking quite a few GMs. After BUF also reached taking him 8th maybe it will be the consensus rankings that were wrong not BOS/BUF. The draft will be important again this year since having an old team with not much in the pipeline means busts will be much more difficult to overcome and a regular spot near the bottom of the rankings could be in Dan's future. For a positive he won't lose much value in the expansion draft and could be active in the trade market as a team with cap space heading into what should be a busy offseason for player movement.

Surprises - Pavelski, Hakanpaa
Disappointments - N/A

24 - DET - This might be the highest I've ranked Shoalzie which isn't really much to brag about, but it does show there's been some modest progression this season. 25th in the standings with the 22nd ranked skaters there has been some positives, but still not as close to being a playoff team as I'm sure Shoalzie hoped. His minors are filled with a lot of names, unfortunately they are names of has beens with no NHL future. That's a little harsh, but it remains the biggest issue in DET. Not enough quality depth coming up from the minors and not enough high picks to provide it. Shoalzie has found some gems with guys like Suter, but I think the amount of trades he's probably looked back on with regret are pretty high. I definitely do root for DET to improve though as Shoalzie brings so much to this league and the amount of work he does behind the scenes in the CC forums is invaluable and goes unnoticed by the majority.

Surprises - JVR, Suter
Disappointments - Gusev

23 - CBJ - Dave will never be accused of making too many trades, but this team is starting to spin it's wheels. It's been multiple seasons of ranking in the lower half of the league and while 23 might be an improvement CBJ's still not really a playoff threat at this point. 33 year old Kopitar is producing another elite season with a 5th overall skater ranking on Fantrax, but with a 10M salary and contenders not having that type of space I'm sure it becomes difficult to get offers resembling any semblance of fairness. I'll give you Marchessault + Cole + Armia for Kopitar + Bogo? You get younger and an extra NHLer? There has to be some creative ways to capitalize on top assets before their value drops. Someone make a better offer before he decides that's the best he can do.

Surprises - Hagel, Boqvist
Disappointments - DeAngelo (ouch)

22 - CHI - Big props go out to Mark who has already risen in the rankings this far. He took over a terrible franchise for asset value and has already started to turn things around. They aren't a playoff team and they are still shit, but having the 23rd ranked skaters and sitting 22nd overall is a huge improvement in one year. Still not much in the minors and I'd rather take a handful of teams behind him if I was starting a team, but it's impressive none the less to be at the point he's at already. No power rankings offers like Dave got, but Myers is really rotting away on your team. I know he's a garbage player, but damn he puts up some nice stats.

Surprises - Stuetzle, Faulk
Disappointments - Bailey

21 - PHI - Shep strategically added injured Kuch and Klef and discount prices so this team was destined to be lower ranked when looking at just this season. PHI has been barely keeping his head above water while missing those studs, so while adding them will be a huge boon to his lineup it likely isn't enough to vault them into contender status. It would be interesting to see just how much higher this team would be if they were fully healthy, top 10? Looking at the roster they have a lot of underperforming players so a bounce back year next season could be expected.

Surprises - Niederreiter
Disappointments - Duchene, Koskinen, Saros, Orlov, Coyle

20 - FLA - This is a pretty big drop for Florida this season as for years they seemed to be right on the cusp of contention, but just couldn't break through. 21-17 are all pretty close in the rankings and are pretty interchangeable so they could be a few spots higher. Still a disappointing start to the season for what is usually a reliable team that wins the games it should who now finds themselves in a fight for the playoffs. Defensive depth has been an issue with the emergence of Knyzhov in SJ being the only reason he has six everyday Dmen. With no help coming from the minors it should be an area Chris will look to address in the offseason with the expansion draft looming there should be more D available for trade.

Surprises - Verhaeghe, Driedger
Disappointments - Frk (injured, but Chara would have filled a big hole)

19 - SJS - Josh is a great GM who has had some success, but his BBKL team is pretty forgettable. Maybe it's just me, but do people know if his team is good or bad? Rebuilding? Who is on his roster? A lot of teams I have a general sense of, but definitely needed Fantrax's help with this one. 17th ranked skaters and 20th in the standings means his team is underperforming. I don't give a lot of value to goalie rankings since they are so unpredictable week to week and year to year, but when you are paying 14M+ for goaltending ranked 27th that's a killer to your team's chances. Some better performances could help in the standings. This team has some depth and isn't bad it's just a little too mediocre this season.

Surprises - Chychrun, Petry
Disappointments - Price, Zadina

18 - OTT - For all the moves Billy made to compete this season it looks like it will be another year outside the playoff picture. He's better this season than he has been in years past, but the same issues of lack of depth and young talent continue to plague this franchise. There's still something to be said for going out and actively trying to improve your roster and land at 18 instead of being actively bad in the late 20s and hoping prospects pan out so I do respect Billy for continuing to try and win when it's a free league and winning is more fun then losing. Chances are this team will start to slide back eventually, but somehow he has continued to improve so I won't count him out if he continues to capitalize on winning trades that the majority of the league won't do because a player is "old". Turning high picks into good players instead of hoping those picks become good players doesn't have to be a bad strategy.

Surprises - Spezza, Hornqvist
Disappointments - Hall, Severson

17 - ARI - Our first team with a winning record we have new GM Duncan's Yotes. With the 19th ranked skaters this team has been riding some good goaltending, but also lead the league in goalie GP and won't be able to run out two goalies every week which could hurt down the stretch, but a finally healthy Seguin will help. This is undoubtedly a team on the rise and no longer a bottom feeder as they have been for a long time. With a strong GM at the helm for the first time ever (Sorry Cliff, good guy, terrible GM) it will be interesting to see if years of being bad and collecting assets can transform this team into a contender in short order as we have seen with teams like DAL and BUF or will Duncan go the patient route and continue the youth movement?

Surprises - Holl, Kaprizov
DIsappointments - Kunin

16 - PIT - Teams ranked 16-11 I would put in the same tier as they are also not separated by much. PIT is ranked 10th in the standings so their inclusion as the last place team of this tier may come as a surprise, but Mike is used to his team being underestimated. When I look at PIT I don't see a top 10 team, Fantrax has my back as they have them ranked 15th for skaters and 26th for goaltending. The record isn't a mirage, they are a decent team, but there must be some strength of schedule metric to show he has had an easy schedule so far since I don't have any other explanation for his good record. Sometimes fantasy hockey it's who you match up with on your hot weeks and your cold weeks and Mike seems like he has had luck on his side.

Surprises - Copp, Kapanen
Disappointments - Toews, Haula, Johansson

15 - TBL - A quiet and calculated GM, Jimmy recently made a move acquiring McDonagh to shore up his back end. This is a team that has been good, but not great for years and continues on that trajectory. I do see TB as well positioned to take advantage of the player movement coming this offseason with the expansion draft. Not many teams in the top half of these rankings possess the cap space to play with that Jimmy does and if we continue to see hamstrung GMs with cap issues this is a team that could take advantage and get back into contention. For now they are a middle of the pack team that isn't all in, but doesn't have great prospect depth so they are going to have to decide on a future direction.

Surprises - Tuch, Appleton
Disappointments - Palmieri, Steel

14 - NJD - Similar to PIT we see Brendon's Devils really outpacing their stats with their standings position. NJD are a good team, but they are not the 9th best team in BBKL as the standings would have you believe. They are ranked 14th in skater stats and that's about where I would peg them as well. It's possible that multiple games against divisional teams BOS, CBJ, NYR and NYI are skewing their results, but I'm not putting in the work to check if they have played those teams a lot early on. This is a team that has been steadily improving and if they aren't already viewed as a contender they should be soon. There is a good mix of young and old and no real bad contracts. A minor complaint would be the farm's looking a little bare, but overall no one could complain about the job Brendon has done since taking over a weak NJ franchise.

Surprises - Brown (just keeps going)
Disappointments injuries, E Staal

13 - MIN - As opposed to NJD here we have a team that is better than it's record. Hong sits 17th but deserves better. When he's not ranting about the "China Virus" you will often hear how much WSH's goalie situation is fucking him over this season. It was a rough season for goaltending with acquiring Smith + Lundqvist for arguably more than he received for Holtby and injury/Covid causing Lundqvist/Samsonov to give him next to no starts to start the season. This is still a team ranked 12th in skater stats that if they make the playoffs could give a scare to their opponent with a lineup scattered with impact players. A look at his minors shows he is still set up really well for the future with multiple blue chip prospects so this is a team that's window hasn't closed yet.

Surprises - Blueger, Toffoli
Disappointments - Hayton

12 - CGY - A team that has always been very deep, but maybe lacks the gamebreakers to solidify themselves among the leagues elite, Josh is turning in another solid campaign. Despite feeling the CC's wrath for not trading players quickly enough after exceeding 50 contracts this is a team that has a minors filled with potential NHLers so he is working from a position of strength to make trades to upgrade his roster. Always a strong periph team, if the offence gets hot for a week they are capable of taking down any of the top teams which makes them a dark horse come playoff time. The return of Pastrnak means he is much better offensively now than the first few weeks and improving on their 12th spot in the standings seems possible.

Surprises - Doughty ("The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated")
Disappointments - Kuznetsov

11 - STL - Just missing out on the top 10 we have Nick's Blues. This is a team I wouldn't have ranked this high heading into the season and they kinda fly under the radar. A quick glance at their roster shows a lot of real quality pieces and minor league depth to support injuries. Goaltending will need to be addressed in the near future, possibly as early as this off season when teams with two goalies will have some tough protection decisions and might prefer not to lose the other guy to Seattle. The pieces are there for this team to remain in the playoff picture for years to come whether or not they can compete with the big boys remains to be seen, but if Cozens can emerge then him, Stone, Tkachuk, Nurse and Krug is a nice core to build around.

Surprises - Paul
Disappointments - Cousins

10 - TOR - The first of the teams in our top 10 are Tyler's Leafs. This is a scary team and not one you want to see in the playoffs, but this is still the lowest ranked Leafs team I can remember. The huge trades to land star players Matthews and McDavid are starting to be felt as the team that was usually stocked full of waiver exempt NHLers is now starting to run into depth issues with some part time players in their lineup and not a lot of depth. This is still a team with real quality prospects and lots of picks including a couple 1sts so by no means are they losing their contender status. With 53M tied up in six players this team runs into a similar dilemma as their real life counterparts in trying to surround the star talent with enough cheap contributing pieces. This team can still outscore anyone on a hot week, but the periphs aren't among the elite this season. Still wouldn't shock me to see this team deep in the playoffs, but others are having better seasons despite the Leafs sitting 5th overall in the standings.

Surprises - McDavid and Matthews averaging 1+ hit per game
Disappointments - Howden, Brannstrom

9 - DAL - Another team that has been higher in the rankings recently and is also struggling a little bit with depth with skater GP coming in middle of the pack. When their skaters do play they are still putting up elite production, but 29th ranked goaltending has been costing this team some standings points which is a surprise for a team with Hart as their #1. Hart, Askarov and Knight is probably the best potential goaltending depth in the league so it shouldn't be a long term concern and this season is more likely an aberration. Will is also a GM who is always trying to make deals or at least give off that impression by the amount of blocks he makes. With a pretty weak minors system this is still a team in win now mode and they have the pieces that winning wouldn't be a shock.

Surprises - Trocheck, Kyrou, Chara
Disappointments - Arvidsson, Dermott

8 - ANA - Coming in ahead of a couple early season favourites are Matthew's Ducks. I struggled with where to rank this team as they are currently sitting 14th in league standings which I would think sounds like a pretty good year for the Ducks. I have to get away from preconceived notions that Matthew is the GM of a bad rebuilding team since he has shown he is turning the corner and has transitioned into contention. His skaters are currently ranked 7th and although his team isn't the strongest for hits/blks/shtoi it's surprising that his record isn't much better considering he has been getting great goalie stats as well. Unfortunately the loss of Lee for the season and Parayko's status still unknown this team might find itself fighting for the playoffs and 8th in the rankings might look high at the end of the season they still deserve the recognition for the stats they have accumulated thus far. Another team that has taken a garbage roster and built it into respectability, always fun to see teams start to try and win.

Surprises - Batherson, Smith, Kahkonen
Disappointments - Benn, Johnsson

7. COL - The 2nd team in a row where I don't think the standings tell the whole story. Casper finds himself sitting 13th in the standings, but with the fourth ranked skaters this is a team that will be a handful for whoever they match up with in the playoffs. I know the standings are pretty close 5 through 15, but there must be some weird strength of schedule or bad luck involved to have teams performing as well as ANA & COL sitting 13 and 14th. It's too bad the bet that was discussed preseason wasn't made since it would have been fun to follow up until this point so far. With no standout stat the Avs have been a very well rounded team performing well in most stats. Although Casper will let you know how much smarter he is than the "experts" prospect rankings, his drafting has been a bit of a sore spot with not as many bright spots in the system as some other GMs. Caufield, York and Hoglander are blue chip prospects, but there are a lot of misses and with roster full of good players this team is going to need to make trades and start cashing in on quantity for quality to really take the final step and put itself in a position to win. With Casper's tenacity in negotiating deals that favour him rivalled by few GMs here it will be interesting to see how this offseason plays out.

Surprises - Zacha, Ek
Disappointments - Fiala, Spurgeon,Virtanen

6 - VAN - Fraser's Canucks once again find themselves near the top of the rankings and are having a really strong season. Pre-season I probably would have ranked a few more teams ahead of them, but very strong periphs and elite goaltending have them 3rd in the Fantrax rankings and 6th in the standings. With only a few noteworthy prospects this team is squarely in win now mode and have put themselves into a position where that is very possible. They have had luck on their side in the injury department so far as they don't have a lot of depth, but when healthy like they have been there are few rosters that can beat them on a weekly basis if they win the periphs and goaltending as they usually do. Fraser was a GM who came into this league guns blazing, he was active, made trades and really put his stamp on his team. It's clear that he hasn't been quite as active for a while now, but it's also clear he is still one of BBKL's stronger GMs who knows what it takes to build a winner.

Surprises - Boeser
Disappointments - Dubois

5 - NSH - Even though 5th is a great ranking it almost seems to low for Mik's Preds who continue to be the best BBKL franchise to have never won. Every year it seems like they are set up to maybe finally win it all and this season is no different. If these rankings were completely objective then 5th is actually a little on the high side, 9th ranked skaters, 23rd ranked goalies and 7th in the standings shows that he hasn't really been as good as the other teams around him in the rankings. Mik gets the benefit of the doubt and with enough depth to cover any injuries I believe they are still a scarier opponent to face in the playoffs than most. If we were ranking for organizational value Mik is still easily number 1, the amount of NHL players and NHL caliber prospects he has is ridiculous and then he has a bunch of 1sts and 2nds again because of course he does. In professional leagues they sometimes argue whether a player is HOF worthy based on their playoff or lack of playoff success and although Mik is unquestionably an elite GM in our league until he breaks through he will continue to have the dark cloud over him and questions about if he is willing to sacrifice and lose trades to turn his almost unbeatable team into an unbeatable one.

Surprises - Roslovic, Zuccarello, K'A .Miller
Disappointments - Kaako, Larkin

4 - EDM - Arian's Oiler's are one of BBKL's better success stories. We have seen a young and flawed Oilers team grow over the years through good drafting, patience and smart trades into now the 3rd ranked skaters and 4th in the standings. This is a team positioned to have a long run at the top of BBKL's standings with Gallagher and Gaudreau as the oldest forwards and 32 year old Muzzin the elder statesman of the team. Having graduated or traded a lot of prospects we now see what was once a formidable minors system is now not this team's strength. Thankfully with most roster spots filled with quality players there isn't as much need for players to come up through the ranks so the handful of strong prospects Arian still possesses are a luxury. I don't believe EDM has had much playoff success, but this team is now at the point where not winning rounds are going to be seen as a disappointment. Also it should be noted that of the last 10 teams in the rankings 9 have been in the West, with LA still to come that means some really good teams will miss and there are no easy first round match-ups in the West. The balance of power has now been firmly pushed in favour of the West and it doesn't look like it's changing anytime soon.

Surprises - McAvoy, Evans
Disappointments - Strome, Lehner

3 - LAK - Despite Steve's claims that his team has no chance of winning and saying he is in sell mode. His team is still elite and one of the best in the league to the surprise of absolutely no one. Sure Eichel is done for the year, but his team has the 3rd best skater rankings and sits in 3rd in the standings despite a bad year from Eichel so it's not like he needs his stats to carry him. We have seen this story before where Steve "re-tools" and then all of a sudden he's back in the finals the following season with a team filled with elite young talent. More than ever before there are cracks beginning to show in this team and there are hungry teams nipping at his heels looking to pass him by which seems possible for the first time since I joined. I hope we see Steve stick around and reinvent his team once again, but I do worry with the way our league has shifted to way less trades than before we could see our resident television star get frustrated that his hands seem to be tied and he can't do the wheeling and dealing he is used to. I am hopeful this offseason will be a fun one with Seattle joining we should see cap freed up and I'm optimistic we will see the amount of player movement that harkens back to days of old where we would see multiple trades per day and teams cycling through players.

Surprises - Pionk, MAF
Disappointments - Eichel, Lafreniere, Beauvillier, Danault

2 - WAS - This is the one team that could have taken offence to me calling Mik the best team that has never won. Thom has guided his team to a regular season power house, winning a President's Trophy (I think) and being a fixture at the top of the standings for years. This team has also choked against inferior opponents in the playoffs for years and hasn't been able to get over that hump. In Thom's defence having to get through BUF/TOR has always been tough, but I think he's lost to other teams as well. It's been impressive the staying power he has had at the top of the standings and he once again finds himself 2nd in the standings and 2nd in the skater rankings. His 31st ranked goalie stats helps lend credence to my opinion that you don't need goaltending to be successful, being 2nd in the standings with only 15 games of bad goaltending shows just how good his team really is. Unfortunately for Thom in what should be an easy trip to the conference finals based on the standings the only team performing better than his is also in his division so we will see if the playoff futility continues or if this is finally his year.

Surprises - Palat
Disappointments - Zibanejad, Marino

1 - BUF - No surprises here and I'm a pretty modest person, but I'm pretty proud of the moves I've made and the team I've built over the years going from a bottom dweller to a dynasty in a few years. I am undefeated in the playoffs since losing a razor thin matchup to TOR 8-7-1 five years ago in March 2016. One would think after years of trading away pieces to marginally improve my team that five years later I would be starting to decline and needing to rebuild. Although my minors is the weakest it's ever been, so there is some truth to that I am also having my most statistically dominant season leading almost all offensive stats as well as hits and PIMs. There has been some good luck with only a couple injuries so far, but it's pretty much impossible to argue anyone is having a better season so far. I know it will all start crashing down eventually and I could easily lose in our playoffs, but I'm still really happy with how this season has played out and I'm claiming the vacant championship from last year and saying I've been Champ from 2017 until whenever someone wins again.

Surprises - Barrie, Lankinen
Disappointments - Cole

[KapG]

Woohoooo these are always a blast to read. As always, I greatly appreciate you guys writing stuff like this out .


I fully agree with my power ranking position. Also agree with a lot of the write up too.

[kyuss]

ahahah read through the first 3 teams and I'm loving it already

[Da_Hawks]

Hawks are working hard to improve - did not expect my team to do as well this year, but I suppose this is what happens when you have a full-time GP team at almost every position.

This year was all about covering for my young players growth. I should be able to sell a good amount of vets in the off-season to make room for the next wave of young players and add in a few more draft picks to keep the wheels in motion.

Fun times!

[dave1959]

Yeah...DeAngelo...sigh

how quickly one can fall...

[Matthew]

Lol we all know Dave isn't ever going to trade Kopitar.

Awesome rankings, bruyns.

[Bruyns]

For newer GMs who want to see how things have gone over the years.

2013 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9960 (I was last haha)
2015 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12764 (I wrote halfway down page 2)
2016 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13850 (Paul's GM rankings)
2016 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13864
2019 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15385

Anyone know of anymore can post.

[dave1959]

Lol we all know Dave isn't ever going to trade Kopitar.

Awesome rankings, bruyns.

not for nothing, that's for sure

[Matthew]

For newer GMs who want to see how things have gone over the years.

2013 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9960 (I was last haha)
2015 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12764 (I wrote halfway down page 2)
2016 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13850 (Paul's GM rankings)
2016 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13864
2019 http://bbkl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15385

Anyone know of anymore can post.

Nice!

[Loki]

These are great so far, looking forward to seeing the rest

[Sensfanjosh]

Those old threads were a blast to read. Crazy to think how much the league has turned over.

[Chuck Norris]

Such a great post Matt. Well done!

[Handsome&FairMike]

Awesome work Matt - great post!

[Shoalzie]

I have no gripes with any criticism of my team, Matt. Fair assessments on the bottom-third group of teams.

What I've done is acquire guys that would've been good depth pieces for contenders but I've lack the difference-makers that would elevate my team out of the mushy middle. The best player I've had in recent years was Malkin and for all the good he did for my team, he was basically doing it all by himself offensively. I look at any of our legitimate playoff/title contenders...you need a few difference-making offensive players. Depth and balance is nice but you need difference-makers in a weekly format.

What you need is a group of steady players that drive your offense weekly and give you a chance. Periphs are nice and I'll get some nice weeks in the faceoff category but that leaves a lot of offensive categories ripe for the other team to dominate. I've not had the firepower to hang with the better teams so it's best to play more of a patient game with my roster and transition back to a draft-and-development team.

As I like to call it, I want to build a "self-sustaining" roster. I want to keep a functioning group of NHLers that can hold down the fort while I draft and allow my prospects to cook. I want more of my roster turnover to come from within. Building a team through trades is just a drain of my resources. The best luck I've had with trades are the buy-low options...taking a chance on Burakovsky and acquiring the likes of Stephenson, Lazar and Archibald for mid-round picks. I went back in time and looked at the team I could've had if I didn't trade away prospects...it would've been pretty good. The model of roster building I want to do going forward is what I should've done all along.

[Bruyns]

Updated

[Matthew]

Imo,

Sjs Josh was in the playoffs until Panarin went down. He definitely misses the extra offense.

Billy would possibly be in the playoffs if we hadn't changed the conferences.

[dave1959]

love it Matt.

[foofnik]

Imo,

Sjs Josh was in the playoffs until Panarin went down. He definitely misses the extra offense.

Billy would possibly be in the playoffs if we hadn't changed the conferences.

With lackluster goalies and no Panarin, and an extended absence from Bertuzzi, I'm toast. And that's before guys like Zadina not helping me much yet.

[koomzzz]

11 - STL - Just missing out on the top 10 we have Nick's Blues. This is a team I wouldn't have ranked this high heading into the season and they kinda fly under the radar. A quick glance at their roster shows a lot of real quality pieces and minor league depth to support injuries. Goaltending will need to be addressed in the near future, possibly as early as this off season when teams with two goalies will have some tough protection decisions and might prefer not to lose the other guy to Seattle. The pieces are there for this team to remain in the playoff picture for years to come whether or not they can compete with the big boys remains to be seen, but if Cozens can emerge then him, Stone, Tkachuk, Nurse and Krug is a nice core to build around.

Surprises - Paul
Disappointments - Cousins

maybe

[Loki]

Pretty spot on with my assessment, happy to have turned the team around in the last few years but there wasn't a heap there to work with so the farm system is still pretty barren. I'm lucky that what I've drafted has hit so well but I'm going to need a lot more depth to stay competitive and not take steps back in the future.