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MisterHyd3
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Ladies and gents, I'm getting more excited for this upcoming season everyday, and after seeing a similar thread at Hockey's Future, I wanted to see what everyone here at SH thought about things. I saw basically this exact top-10 in that thread, and agree with basically every point, so here are MY top 10 bold predictions for the upcoming year based on those (with my own commentary):
I could keep going, but in the interest of everyone's time, that's all I've got for now. Thoughts? Looking forward to reading YOUR 10 (bold or otherwise) predictions for this team this season!
1. The Flyers become a respectable team 5 on 5 again. With a Top-9 as balanced as any in hockey (and two bona fide offensive defensemen in Timonen and Streit in the Top-4), as long as the team stays healthy they'll be able to put pressure on opposing goaltenders and score goals when NOT on the man advantage.
2. The additions of Streit, Lecavalier, and Emery lessen the leadership burden on Claude. Though I believe that he is a fine leader (see: Game 6 of the playoffs against the Pens the year before last when he lit up Sid and then scored less than a minute later), it's never a bad thing to add players with a history of strong leadership to supplement your captain. By my count, we now have 5 players on this team who could be captains elsewhere in Claude, Vinny, Streit, Kimmo, and Emery, and that's a beautiful thing.
3. Both Mason and Emery have strong seasons with the team with a nearly 50/50 split in starts. As a team, we'll finish in the top-10 in the league in save percentage and GAA, with one of the two inside a 2.3 GAA and .920+ save percentage, and the other around a 2.6 GAA and .905%.
4. Coburn and Schenn split time on Timonen's pairing. Kimmo is such an asset to this team not only for his elite passing and defensive abilities, but also for his leadership abilities and propensity to make the man he's playing with better. Schenn took large strides last year, and I believe he'll start the year on Kimmo's pairing, but Coburn has historically been at his best when playing with a true puck-moving defender who can shut down the opposing team's best players.
5. Coburn has a renaissance of sorts, and bounces back nicely from last year's abomination of a season. He's never been a great defender, but he's NEVER been as awful as he was last year. Also, the team sees Schenn and Gustafsson develop nicely as the 3rd and 6th defenders on the team.
6. Sean Couturier takes positive steps forward and improves upon a season in which he experienced the sophomore slump. I believe him to be a blossoming two-way stud who is in the conversation for the best overall 3rd line center in the NHL. He'll finish with 15 goals and 25 assists, for a solid 40 point season at only 21 years of age.
7. The second line of Brayden Schenn, Vincent Lecavalier, and Wayne Simmonds struggle at first as they develop chemistry, but eventually blossom into something dominant. Even at Lecavalier's size, no one has ever accused him of being a power forward, but Simmonds will fill that role nicely posting up in front of the net and causing havoc in the crease. This line should finish the year with 3 20+ goal scorers on it, as Schenn really progresses shooting the puck, Simmonds deflects his share of shots into the net, and Vinny capitalizes on both his time being the veteran presence on a line with two pups and his time on the 2nd powerplay unit.
8. Peter Laviolette rebounds after a year that saw him handily out-coached. He adds some wrinkles to his brand of dump and chase hockey, as he finally has more than one defender who can excel taking shots from the point, and I expect him to utilize Streit's big blast, allowing his players to capitalize on rebounds. What I love about the threat of a shot from the point is that once teams begin expecting Streit/Timonen to shoot from the point more, the team can set themselves up for some beautiful tic-tac-toe plays that see a guy within the slot pass it back to the point, the goaltender and defenders (expecting the one-time shot to come) cut down the angle toward the shooter by moving toward him, and the defenseman (receiving the pass) winds up as though he will take a shot before bringing the stick down in a shot motion but passing the puck to the opposite slot to the waiting winger who now has the angle on the goaltender who had been challenging the shot from the point, hopefully resulting in a pretty goal.
9. Max Talbot has a nice bounce back season after struggling in his last season with the team. I expect he and Tye McGinn (who I think will spend 40-50 games with the big club this year) to develop a nice chemistry as hustle players with a knack for scoring dirty goals. I expect he and McGinn to both break the 20 point mark, making them valuable bottom-6 players for this team.
10. Finally, I believe Rinaldo continues developing into a guy who draws penalties and benefits the team with his ability to get under the opposing players' skin. I'm looking forward to seeing him spend time in the box after goading the opposing teams' best players into tussles, creating an imbalance of power on the ice. I can't tell you how much I love seeing that guy irritate guys like Chris Kunitz and James Neal so much that they end up in the box with him, taking one of the opposing teams' best players off of the ice.
2. The additions of Streit, Lecavalier, and Emery lessen the leadership burden on Claude. Though I believe that he is a fine leader (see: Game 6 of the playoffs against the Pens the year before last when he lit up Sid and then scored less than a minute later), it's never a bad thing to add players with a history of strong leadership to supplement your captain. By my count, we now have 5 players on this team who could be captains elsewhere in Claude, Vinny, Streit, Kimmo, and Emery, and that's a beautiful thing.
3. Both Mason and Emery have strong seasons with the team with a nearly 50/50 split in starts. As a team, we'll finish in the top-10 in the league in save percentage and GAA, with one of the two inside a 2.3 GAA and .920+ save percentage, and the other around a 2.6 GAA and .905%.
4. Coburn and Schenn split time on Timonen's pairing. Kimmo is such an asset to this team not only for his elite passing and defensive abilities, but also for his leadership abilities and propensity to make the man he's playing with better. Schenn took large strides last year, and I believe he'll start the year on Kimmo's pairing, but Coburn has historically been at his best when playing with a true puck-moving defender who can shut down the opposing team's best players.
5. Coburn has a renaissance of sorts, and bounces back nicely from last year's abomination of a season. He's never been a great defender, but he's NEVER been as awful as he was last year. Also, the team sees Schenn and Gustafsson develop nicely as the 3rd and 6th defenders on the team.
6. Sean Couturier takes positive steps forward and improves upon a season in which he experienced the sophomore slump. I believe him to be a blossoming two-way stud who is in the conversation for the best overall 3rd line center in the NHL. He'll finish with 15 goals and 25 assists, for a solid 40 point season at only 21 years of age.
7. The second line of Brayden Schenn, Vincent Lecavalier, and Wayne Simmonds struggle at first as they develop chemistry, but eventually blossom into something dominant. Even at Lecavalier's size, no one has ever accused him of being a power forward, but Simmonds will fill that role nicely posting up in front of the net and causing havoc in the crease. This line should finish the year with 3 20+ goal scorers on it, as Schenn really progresses shooting the puck, Simmonds deflects his share of shots into the net, and Vinny capitalizes on both his time being the veteran presence on a line with two pups and his time on the 2nd powerplay unit.
8. Peter Laviolette rebounds after a year that saw him handily out-coached. He adds some wrinkles to his brand of dump and chase hockey, as he finally has more than one defender who can excel taking shots from the point, and I expect him to utilize Streit's big blast, allowing his players to capitalize on rebounds. What I love about the threat of a shot from the point is that once teams begin expecting Streit/Timonen to shoot from the point more, the team can set themselves up for some beautiful tic-tac-toe plays that see a guy within the slot pass it back to the point, the goaltender and defenders (expecting the one-time shot to come) cut down the angle toward the shooter by moving toward him, and the defenseman (receiving the pass) winds up as though he will take a shot before bringing the stick down in a shot motion but passing the puck to the opposite slot to the waiting winger who now has the angle on the goaltender who had been challenging the shot from the point, hopefully resulting in a pretty goal.
9. Max Talbot has a nice bounce back season after struggling in his last season with the team. I expect he and Tye McGinn (who I think will spend 40-50 games with the big club this year) to develop a nice chemistry as hustle players with a knack for scoring dirty goals. I expect he and McGinn to both break the 20 point mark, making them valuable bottom-6 players for this team.
10. Finally, I believe Rinaldo continues developing into a guy who draws penalties and benefits the team with his ability to get under the opposing players' skin. I'm looking forward to seeing him spend time in the box after goading the opposing teams' best players into tussles, creating an imbalance of power on the ice. I can't tell you how much I love seeing that guy irritate guys like Chris Kunitz and James Neal so much that they end up in the box with him, taking one of the opposing teams' best players off of the ice.
I could keep going, but in the interest of everyone's time, that's all I've got for now. Thoughts? Looking forward to reading YOUR 10 (bold or otherwise) predictions for this team this season!