Tell us about your team`s needs

[donpaulo]

Its August, its hot and humid. Yet hockey is on the radar and getting closer every day.

So I thought it would make for an interesting thread if folks could post what they feel would reasonable best improve their team heading into next season.

I`ll start for the NYR
Their window on cup contention is now or never unless they find a replacement for Hank at some point. They are fairly young and deep at the pro level so I think Jeff Gorton has to make a plan for NEXT offseason when Dan Boyle comes off the books and
Chris Kreider
Kevin Hayes
Emerson Etem
and Keith Yandle have to be retained

So the answer for NY is to do nothing. They fell one game short of the finals while playing without Zucarello and McDonagh having a broken foot

note* perhaps this post is in the wrong thread on the forum ?

[Fighting_Emu]

The Jets:

Pros-

That topline- The fantastic thing about their topline is that- they are all responsible two way players and Maurice can freely match them against other toplines in a shutdown capacity- while they still put their points on the board. Ladd/Little/Wheeler is a really underrated group imo. Maybe not in fantasy but in ACTUAL hockey they basically get everything done with very little support.

Defensive depth- F*ck the haters BB is the gaddamn man!! hes a Norris consideration in a year he spent 30+ games at forward- lol! I hope like crazy they resign him. Hes a leader, a fan favorite and a unique talent that can man handle games. The Myers add has paid off dividends already and when you add him to an emerging Trouba and a great bounceback candidate in Enstrom- you start to see some real depth. Stuart is fantasticallyplacedas a 5th d-man and Chiarot was a revelation.

Cons-

Scoring Depth/Internal development- Scheif/Stafford/Perrault performed admirably- maybe better than expected- but imho you need some serious scoring prowess to take some of the heat of that topline. Scheif should hopefully take a step forward and they might have a potential gamebreaker in Ehlers. I know they also have more in the systemand dont want to rush things- but partof me was sad they let Frolik walk without any real replacement. Cue the Ehlers videos!!

Goaltending- Hutch was pretty solid- and Pavelec even redeemed himself a bit- but they need a solid 1a goaltender. Hellybucks arrival cant come fast enough.

[mojavedesert]

The Nordiques - need a team.

[PenguinHunter]

Flyers -

Need a LW that can play with Giroux and Voracek.

Need Couturier to play like a true #2 centre now that he is getting paid like one.

Need Mason to stay healthy for a full season.

Need two young defenseman to step in and play an important role as the other d-men are getting old.

[rufio.85]

Good idea Don! I'll take a run at the Habs...

Marc Bergevin has done an excellent job at adding depth to its line-up in the past two years and has locked-up its three most important players with long-term contracts (Price, Subban, Pacioretty). In order to take the next step, he will need to address its center position, which is congested at the moment. I'm not announcing anything new, but the Habs are truly missing a number 1 centre. However, Desharnais, Plekanec & Eller don't hold much value on the market so the trade route is essentially a non-given, unless the Habs are willing to sacrifice their best prospects. Is the solution Galchenyuk? There's only one way to know it, and it's to let the youngster play a full season at that position. I think the sooner the management realizes that and decides to go that way, the better. If he doesn't pan out at that position, you have the time to search for another solution while your top players are still at their peak.

The Habs are built from the net out (obviously) with perennial contenders for the Vezina and the Norris. They've got serviceable support players and even added some grit with Weise, Kassian and Petry. We'll see how Semin fares, but let's not get crazy about the player. They're not very far from the top (almost reached the finals two years ago without Price), but that true game-breaker in the middle would surely put them among the serious contenders.

[reeveta]

The Leafs:

I will tell you my biggest fear as a Leaf fan: Winning. Last year was a disaster and they still were better then 3 other teams. Without the team giving up half way through the season, the team would have done their usual finish just out of the playoffs. With the new coach and a few 'hungry' players fighting for their careers, I fear they win too much and ruin their draft pick. With that in mind they need to:
1. Play the high risk defencemen a lot. It will make for fun to watch scoring chances on both ends which will make sure they don't grind out too many wins.
2. Play guys with their next contracts in mind. Play Kadri in a shut down roll so when it comes time to re-sign him he won't cost much. Same for Reilly. Also remember the longer a guy plays in the AHL the more money you will save on his next contract.
3. The goalies are trade chips. If you can net something good for a hot goalie, do it. Don't fall in love with average or sometime slightly above average goalies. They are replacable.
4. Everyone not going to be in their prime in 5-8 years is only here to either mentor the young guys or exchange for futures.

[Daydream Nation]

Blackhawks needs for 2016-17:
1) They need to resign Brent Seabrook. A 4 or 5 year deal for 40 Mil would be ideal but that is not going to happen. If you have to go 8 years, nothing more than 7 per.
2) Continue to find cheap talent such as Panarin and Tikhonov.
3) Try to find young dmen such as college players that can create some depth for the Hawks.
4) If Darling continues to play lights-out, consider trading Crawford.
5) Buyout Bickell if he is still on the team.
6) Hope the salary cap goes up.

There's not much the Hawks have to do. Their core is in place and besides Seabrook, everybody is locked in long term. Keith will still be at his peak for a couple more seasons and Toews and Kane (if he's not in jail) will be in their prime for 5 -6 more seasons. Hossa has started his slow decline but he will continue to be an asset for a few more season. Hjalmarsson and Keith will be some of the best dman values for the next 3 seasons. What is going to determine if the Hawks can still contend for Cups will be the development of their young players. If one of TT, Dano, and Panarin become all-stars they will contend for more Cups. If two or all of them pop then I see a 4th Cup in the next two seasons. But if Kane is in prison, they'll be playoff fodder.

[chuckcouples]

I am an Oilers fan first but I don't have enough time to write them up so I will do the Wild who are my next favorite team.

1) Figure out a way to score on the PP
2) Hope the kids (Nino, Coyle, Granlund, Zucker, Brodin, Dumba, Folin, Reilly) take another step forward
3) Hope that Dubnyk is an elite #1 goaltender
4) Hope the vets (Vanek, Koivu) return to form.
5) Hope they don't play Chicago in the playoffs

In reality, there is not much for this team to do at the pro level except hope. They have all the pieces in place to be very successful. The biggest thing they need to do is add depth in the minors. Their farm team has been the worst team in the AHL over the past few years and that needs to be changed.

[ptaylorgoon]

Anaheim-Learn how to win a game seven and make a season long commitment to the 3rd guy with Getzy and Perry.

[Hoopo]

I feel like we need to stop shipping out goalies. Anderson is a gem and that trade worked out alright, but first Bishop and then Lehner? I really expected us to hang on to at least one of them. Sorry Hamburglar, I just think you're a backup at best whereas Bishop and Lehner have starter potential

[yougo]

Good idea Don! I'll take a run at the Habs...

Marc Bergevin has done an excellent job at adding depth to its line-up in the past two years and has locked-up its three most important players with long-term contracts (Price, Subban, Pacioretty). In order to take the next step, he will need to address its center position, which is congested at the moment. I'm not announcing anything new, but the Habs are truly missing a number 1 centre. However, Desharnais, Plekanec & Eller don't hold much value on the market so the trade route is essentially a non-given, unless the Habs are willing to sacrifice their best prospects. Is the solution Galchenyuk? There's only one way to know it, and it's to let the youngster play a full season at that position. I think the sooner the management realizes that and decides to go that way, the better. If he doesn't pan out at that position, you have the time to search for another solution while your top players are still at their peak.

The Habs are built from the net out (obviously) with perennial contenders for the Vezina and the Norris. They've got serviceable support players and even added some grit with Weise, Kassian and Petry. We'll see how Semin fares, but let's not get crazy about the player. They're not very far from the top (almost reached the finals two years ago without Price), but that true game-breaker in the middle would surely put them among the serious contenders.

Agree with all of this. I'd add that Bergevin actually needs to step up and trade a center before the regular season begins. In an ideal world, it would be Desharnais. Galchenyuk is probably not ready to play tough minutes like Eller or Plekanec but he can easily fill in Desharnais shoes, he did for a small number of game last season if I remember correctly.

The Habs also need to find a coach willing to take risk. This means Beaulieu playing closer to 20 minutes per game than 15. Emelin playing closer to 15 than 20. Tinordi playing close to 15 than 0.

Habs have got to start figuring out a way to make Pacioretty produce more on the PP. He's one of the best goal-scorer at Even-Strength, why can't he produce on the PP ?

[GoNucks]

Canucks need to commit to a full re-build....and move out their veterans that can bring in higher end young assets (like Hamhuis, Vrbata, Higgins, Hansen, Sedins). I hate the thought of moving out the twins but this is soon to become an Iginla situation with Calgary where you hold the hometown guy too long and end up with nothing when you finally trade him out. Right now the Sedins could bring back a huge return for a team looking for the Cup in the next 2-3 years. This team a is full rebuild away from being a true contender to me.

Aside from that, I think with so many teams that have improved in the West, I'd be hard pressed to find a team other than San Jose that I would expect to be worse than the Canucks this year at the moment....maybe the Oilers would be worse if their D continues to be porous. But other teams that missed the playoffs like LA & Dallas will surely leapfrog them.

[Buck Fush]

Pens should buy out scuderi and sign franson. Letang-maatta and pouliot-Franson would be a solid top 4 now and potentially awesome in the future

[The Black Panther]

Canucks need to commit to a full re-build....and move out their veterans that can bring in higher end young assets (like Hamhuis, Vrbata, Higgins, Hansen, Sedins). I hate the thought of moving out the twins but this is soon to become an Iginla situation with Calgary where you hold the hometown guy too long and end up with nothing when you finally trade him out. Right now the Sedins could bring back a huge return for a team looking for the Cup in the next 2-3 years. This team a is full rebuild away from being a true contender to me.

Aside from that, I think with so many teams that have improved in the West, I'd be hard pressed to find a team other than San Jose that I would expect to be worse than the Canucks this year at the moment....maybe the Oilers would be worse if their D continues to be porous. But other teams that missed the playoffs like LA & Dallas will surely leapfrog them.

To be honest u won't be able to get a good return for Sedins let alone be able to move them. Waaaay to hard with there contracts going to Same team. I think u r stuck with them.

[butch]

I wouldnt mind if the isles added a depth d like Jan Hejda to pair with Hickey.

deHaan and Hamonic make me nervous with their injury woes.

I'd also like to see what a fresh coaching staff could do ; kinda how the Hawks upgraded from denis savard to coach Q