East Division
Central Division
Goal Scoring Index
My estimation of goals scored per team. Shows the offensive potential of each team.
1. Calgary 285
2. Edmonton 273
3. Medicine Hat 252
4. Winnipeg 250
5. Brandon 236
6. Prince Albert 227
7. Saskatoon 226
8. Lethbridge 212
9. Regina Pats 203
10. Red Deer Rebels 181
11. Moose Jaw 173
12. Swift Current 169
Tier Strength
Tier A - Top talent with limited weaknesses
Calgary
Edmonton
Medicine Hat
Tier B - Strong Core with weaknesses in 1 or 2 areas.
Brandon
Winnipeg
Saskatoon
Prince Albert
Lethbridge
Tier C - Missing playoffs At best a Wildcard Shot
Red Deer Rebels
Regina
Moose Jaw
Swift Current
East predictions
1. Saskatoon
2. Brandon
3. Prince Albert
4. Winnipeg(W)
5. Regina
6. Moose Jaw
This section has been holding me up and I honestly don't know how to rank them. 1-4 in the East are potentially very close. I'm going to be wrong here. Each team has a weakness and it will depend on how they shore it up. I'm going to give myself until the start of the season in hopes some OA questions get answered. Feel free to put your thoughts in the comments to help me look at something I may be missing.
Edit: September 19th:
I've locked in my predictions and changed it up. I'm going with Saskatoon in the top spot because I think they will go all out in trades. I don't necessarily think they are the top dog atm, but I do think they are most likely to add.
Winnipeg I've moved down a bit because I don't think their back-end is as strong and I don't think they will try to push for this season, whereas I could easily see Brandon and Prince Albert beefing up their rosters for this season if they are in a position to do so.
Central Predictions
1.Calgary
2. Medicine Hat
3. Edmonton
4. Lethbridge (W)
5. Red Deer
6. Swift Current
1-3 Will be close but I like Calgary the most. Edmonton will have a strong team next season as well.
1-12 Rankings
This is what I'll rate myself at the end of the Year.
1. Calgary Hitmen
2. Medicine Hat Tigers
3. Edmonton Oil Kings
4. Saskatoon
5. Brandon
6. Prince Albert
7. Winnipeg
8. Lethbridge
9. Regina
10. Moose Jaw
11. Red Deer
12. Swift Current
Calgary Vs Lethbridge - Calgary
Edmonton Vs Medicine Hat - Medicine Hat (Homer Pick, gotta do it)
Saskatoon Vs Winnipeg - Saskatoon
Brandon Vs Prince Albert - Prince Albert
Saskatoon vs Prince Albert - Saskatoon
Calgary Vs Medicine Hat - Calgary
Saskatoon Vs Calgary
Eastern Rep - Calgary Hitmen
I still have some work to do, but I feel my pick for Eastern Conference is Calgary.
This eastern conference held me up and after deliberating for a few days there are still unanswered questions. I will be firming this up before the season starts.
My thoughts on the East.
ReplyDeleteWinnipeg - Has better offence, but I'm not sure about their defence or goaltending.
Prince Albert - Has an exceptional defence and goaltending, IF IF IF their OA's come back.
Brandon - Has a sneaky offence that is strong, mediocre defence, strong goaltending
Saskatoon - HAve some strong core pieces, but depth is weak. I think Dach will be NHL bound but if he comes back and saskatoon buys they could easily top the division.
West
Edmonton will be strong for the next couple season. They will be the team to beat next season, but will still be strong this year.
Calgary - I think they will be exceptionally difficult to beat.
Medicine hat - Veteran team, but lesser top-end talent when compared to the other two.
Lethbridge -Keeps adding for some reason. Not sure why they would do that unless they expect some signed drafted OA's to come back
Who do you think will win it?
Anyone got camp updates? Any standouts? Any surprises? Any local kids pushing for a spot?
ReplyDeleteSounds like Steele got sent home today which makes sense. No point having a 19 year old tweener around playing 4th line or press box. Might as well have 17 year olds filling out the bottom of the roster.
ReplyDeleteBrown and Anderson next?
ReplyDeleteDid we need another goalie? I thought we were pretty at there. Bjorkland played so well in the preseason game. I am shocked!
ReplyDeleteMads will be gone to the world juniors so they would need someone extra for that period of time.
ReplyDeleteI didn't recall seeing Kaden Freer Lane name at camp and looks like their 3rd rounder from a couple drafts ago Liam Vanderkooi ended up in PA's camp but was just released.
Euro’s can play in the AHL at 19 while North American players have to wait until they are 20. There may be the potential that Mads may play in the minor league system (AHL or ECHL) this year.
ReplyDeleteMads was drafted while he played in the CHL so he must play in the NHL full-time or return to junior as he is not 20.
ReplyDeleteTigers needed a 3rd goalie in case anything happens. They gave up a conditional 8th round pick, nothing major going on here.
ReplyDeleteBjorklund was stellar in that game vs SC. Future is real bright for that kid.
Also Sogaard has to either play in the NHL this year or he gets reassigned to junior. Next year is a different story.
Denmark was relegated last year so Sogaard isn't going to the world junior tournament. He may be participating in the relegation tournament whenever that is.
ReplyDeleteGood point, I forgot about that. I looked it up. Last year it was held in the middle of December.
ReplyDeleteNext season mads will be 19. It's still NHL or WHL unless he decides to go play pro in Europe for a year.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 3:41 PM - Mads has a late birthday but this season is his 19 year old season so its NHL or here but next year will be his overage season and he can play elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteNHL Camps
ReplyDeleteLooks like Brett Kemp has had a good camp in NYR so far. 3 points in 4 games.
It looks like Chyzowski is headed back after not being listed on the Jets training camp roster.
Sogaard stopped all 18 shots he faced splitting time in Ottawa's prospects game last night.
James Hamblin was held pointless in his first game but picked up a goal and 3 assists in his second game today.
New York Rangers listed their training camp and Brett Kemp was not on the list. I'm assuming he is on the way back.
ReplyDeleteToronto Maple Leafs also announced their training camp roster and James Hamblin wasn't on the list. I'm also assuming he is on his way back.
The only one that remains away is Mads Sogaard
Steele's choice to leave & go home.
ReplyDeleteApparently Christensen has gone home, Hamblin, Prezuiso and Ostir are the 3 remaining 20's now.
ReplyDeleteChristensen was a flop of a trade. One of Cloustons worst. We lost that one by an enormous amount.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the Tigers have their roster set. I see some twitter posts about players "making the team" Also their 2019-2020 roster is now up on the whl webpage
ReplyDeletehttps://whl.ca/roster/206/270
Your right that Christensen is not listed on the page. Neither is their newly acquired goaltender, which is almost to be expected now that Mads is back.
Nothing really out of the ordinary. Cole Sillinger, Noah Danielson, Caleb Wilms, new players up front. Dru Krebs, Ryan Watson, Damon Agyman new players on defence.
I still think they go out and look for a 20 YO D.
ReplyDeleteWhich they just did. Trading for Parker Gavlas from Edmonton for a 4th round draft pick.
ReplyDeleteIt does make sense because that solidifies the top 4.
They have four 20's now, who gets traded/released? Ostir?
ReplyDeleteFor sure Ostir. I like the move. I always felt Willie made some moves, you have to. More recently we did not get moved to benefit us. It was to accommodate a trade demand. This is refreshing. I like what this adds. We lost good d-men.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, this d-man has as much experience as the 19 year olds on the roster so the move does look a bit odd as it does not look like we are getting more scoring power which is something that is going to be lacking on the blueline. I'm guessing by his stats 11 pts in 66 games that he's a defensive defenseman.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that 16 year old Krebs is still on the roster. They have 8 D-men and 3 of them are rookies. Can't see that lasting long. Maybe someone is banged up a little...
ReplyDeleteKrebs had a good camp so I could see him staying but my guess is it is between him and Watson for that last spot on D
ReplyDeleteFriday & Saterday against Lethbridge
ReplyDeleteLethbridge has a couple suspensions carried over from last year. Logan Barlage won't dress in the opening 2 games. Also overage Dman Koletrane Wilson will be out for their first game.
Dylan Addison hasn't returned from Pittsburgh yet he played in last nights pre-season game. The hurricanes could be quite shorthanded
Think you meant Calen Addison, and Dylan Cozens is also away at Buffalos camp as well. Not sure if he's ready to play though after breaking his wrist or thumb at their summer camp.
ReplyDeleteOops, I did mean Calen Addison. Interestingly enough I completely missed that Dylan Cozens played in that same pre-season game yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThey were initially saying he would be out until almost October, but I guess he is a fast healer. I kinda doubt he will be in the lineup for Lethbridge this weekend as well.
Cozens will be with Buffalo until mid to late October most likely. Canes have a young team this year. Currently carrying seven 17 year old forwards and two 16 year old forwards. They also have a 3rd 16 year old on defense with Arntsen. Rebuilding year for them but I suspect they will still be quite competitive despite that and battle for a wild card spot. Going to be interesting to see what Anholt does with 18 yo Cozens and 19 yo Addison if they are battling for a playoff spot. Neither will be back next season and would bring back huge returns if dealt to contenders at this seasons deadline.
ReplyDeleteLooking at our 19s you can see how the demands for trades hurt us. The quality is not there and the guys who departed are, in general, superior to what we have. I hope those days are behind us!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 6:06 AM - Which 19s are you talking about? The only players from the 2015 draft class that aren't on the team anymore that made it to the league are McGovern who did ask for a trade and Heathcoat who left the team... Maybe it wasn't a good draft class for us but I don't know of any 19s we lost who asked for trades except McGovern.. but I could have missed someone?
ReplyDeleteI think he just meant Haden, Rybinksi could have been in the lineup some extra oomf.
ReplyDeletePerhaps that the 2016 draft class took a beating. 5 picks in the first 3 rounds and only 1 of those picks is with the team with 2 players getting moved.
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Something to keep in mind for this upcoming season, the 19yr old class is also considered one of the weakest groups the whl has seen offensively speaking.
Last season the 18yr olds and 17yr old were separated by .04 pts/game which equals 2.7 points over the course of the season.
With those numbers sticking out a team with a lot of 18's maybe slightly better than normal.
I have been thinking about Brown. We traded a 2nd and 3rd for him and I feel like he has great energy and effort but it does not always result in points. If he could break out a bit that would be massive for the tigers.
ReplyDeleteI think it's his year to shine. He starting breaking out twice last season but had a couple untimely injuries which killed his progress.
ReplyDeleteEnd of last season Brown was in a bit of a rut. He only put up 4 points in his last 19 games(including playoffs). He was also not invited to an nhl camp so I Imagine that's enough to light a fire under him.
I like him as more of a winger than a centre though.
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That 20yr old defenceman we picked up from Edmonton had 5 points in 4 games in the pre-season. He isn't known for his offense though. It will be interesting to see what he brings to the table.
There are still so many tickets left for our home opener. I thought everyone said they would be getting season tickets now that Willie was back....what happened? Lethbridge is just about a sell-out for tonight. Why can't we seem to sell-out the Canalta?
ReplyDeleteI just checked the seats - there looks to be about 1400 seats left to be sold and that is not including the available Club seats or balcony. That is just the regular lower bowl. Yes - Medicine Hat you can do better than this! Lets get these seats filled!
ReplyDeleteInteresting note, Kristians Rubins is playing on sportsnet tonight for the Leafs against Buffalo. Good for him.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back Willie, welcome back quick hockey, welcome back Tigers hockey. Love what I see! Glad to be over the Clouston era.
ReplyDelete