nhl powerhouses in 5-10 years

[ColeJ]

Not to sound like the old man I'm not, but judging a team in five years with free agency as it is today is impossible... especially if a salary cap gets implemented (I can only hope).

Think of your favourite team... how many players are there from 5 years ago? Maybe half?

that's why most people are judging by prospects.

the dallas stars only have 3 players left over from their cup team, now that matvichuk is going to be "let go". modano, zubov, and lehtinen.

but morrow, turco, and others were "in the system"

looking at their NHL roster right now won't help you much. you should look at their recent draft picks, or their management teams. that's why i'm saying the habs will be outstanding, because they just got bob gainey to build their future. he took the stars from a sports novelty to a team that won the most coveted trophy in all of sports. gainey will do wonders for the habs... and the panthers, look at their recent draft history, and all the work that their now unemployed GM has done collecting... collecting some of the best youg talent in the world in the past few years in the draft. 5 years from now, all their 20 year olds will be 25... in 10 years, they'll be 30. not all of them will still be there, but they've still got the opportunity to trade those players for different ones at equal value. they've got the tools to build a great team. they've got the jump start.

[Discrim]

they already don't allow goalies to skate past teh blue line with the puck, and THAT actually makes sense. not allowing goalies to handle the puck behind their net...that doesn't make any sense. like the offsides rule currently does more harm than good.

that said, i'm inclined to agree with cole and habsfannova, the Avs' young talent pretty much consists of Sauve and then players wearing other sweaters. Forsberg's itching to find some excuse to go back to MoDo, Sakic, Foote, Blake and all the vets will eventually hang em up...basically, there was no tomorrow.

The Sens might still be good in a decade. the consensus is this, and only one truth prevails:

They need to get some balls...seriously.

Agreed.

PS. No offense man, and it's well drawn, but that parrot is really creepy for some reason....

Yeah, Its a crack parrot.

i'm actually glad ya think so...guys (in this case birds) wearing eyepatches are supposed to be somewhat creepy

[IronChefShark]

i'm actually glad ya think so...guys (in this case birds) wearing eyepatches are supposed to be somewhat creepy

reminds me of the fanbase of a certain pro football team in Oakland

most of them wear eyepatches and like to give you the bird!

[pking34@comcast.net]

Not that I'm an expert,but the Predators have good management,good coaching,and have built with youth. An NHL salary cap would give this franchise the chance to be very good.

[Saintsfan]

hey look at whats happened in the NHL in the last couple of years. And you think the next 5 years can be predicted? Impossible. WIth free agency, and possibly a salary cap of some kind, virtually anyone could emerge as a strong team.

[Magus]

while i do agree that the thrashers will be a power house in the future, Heatley will not be apart of that, especially if he is in jail. which is sad really considering the Heatley-Kovalchuk combo is a lethal combination to begin with.

With Heatley(maybe), Kovalchuk, Coburn, Lehtonen, and hopefully Stefan we have an awesome core to build around. If Hartley can turn Stefan in to a serious player then you have a lethal line of Heatley-Stefan-Kovalchuk to do some serious damage. this of course is assuming that Heatley won't be sentenced to 15 years prison for involuntary manslaughter. which would be a shame considering the unrealized potential for the guy.

as for the stars, they're done with. poor drafting will continue to haunt them. aside from Morrow,Ott and Turco, they haven't drafted anyone worth a flip. Kapanen and Miettinen(sp?) are future 3rd liners at best. Erskine and MacMillan won't make it out of the minors. how Vagner and Daley will do is yet to be seen.

Those that follow the stars more indept could probably give a better prognosis of the youth better than i can. i know someone that is a stars fan, what i know about the stars is what i know from my friend. as for the cup win in 99, i have my doubts on how legit it is. i too some extent believe buffalo got robbed. but thats ancient history so there is no need to relive the past.

[Braden]

I know I'm gonna get a lot of grief from this, but I think that the Leafs are done for. In 5 years, I see many current key leafs players retired, Francis, Leetch, Roberts, Niewendyk, Belfour, and maybe even Nolan and Sundin. They've traded away all of their draft picks to get these guys, and unless the GM performs a free agency miracle, they're doomed like the teams in the 1980s.