And were down to the final five. I’ll admit I had a bit of writer's block and distractions yesterday (Oppenhimer on Amazon) that coincided with this being a day late so sue me.
Also for the first time ever DECIMALS
One to the previews
South Esk Scotsman 8.9 to 1
With the stockpiling of young prospects , picks and development of Pdc’s the Scotsman have hit their opening of the window to start competing for cups. A lot more is expected after coming in with the second last record last season.
The entire right wing has been rebuilt through trades and promotions. Thachuk and LAfrieniere are the new additions to the top 6 roles and will be relied upon to give balance to the line to take some of the load of top goals scorer last year Nico Hischer.
On the blue line Scotsman favorite Ristolainen returns after stopping for a cup of coffee in Miramichi and winning a Cup in Bathurst and mentoring super rookie Jake Sanderson. Perhaps he’ll be asked to do something similar with the Scotsman with first year pro Cam York or try unlocking the potential of 21 year old Seider. Noah Dobson continues to ascend to the one of the top defensemen in the ODBHL after an off season of working on his passing.
The success of this team in the regular season will depend on 20 year old netminder Askarov. With Gibson sent back to Miramichi for career back up Gillies it’s squarely on the young Russian to have the full responsibility with a stellar d core in front of him. Plus it’s also a contract year as well.
Things are looking good for a couple years with the influx of talent before contracts become an issue.
Moncton Melons 8.5 to 1
Melons revenge tour 10 - Seed Spittin’ to the face
First of all as pointed out by my wife, on the Melons logo it’s not tentacles there vines coming out to slap you around. Glad we got that out of the way.
The Melons have looked awful in the 3 game preseason. My team had more points and my team was awful.
The Melons have fully shifted to the younger stars on their pro roster. At 25 years old the oldest on their top two lines the Melons should be able to grow and sustain into a formidable offensive attack.
GM Jonathan has enlisted safety precautions for star defenseman Dahlin as it seems every year a freak injury becomes the young Swede. His presence was noticeable during the first round series against the powerhouse Kings. After the top 2 defencemen there is a little dropoff, but the next two are quite young.
I’d never bet against a team with old man Matt Murray to accomplish victories even though I did it twice last year.
Also Salary Cap is always an issue with this team.
Riverview Royals 8 to 1
Writing this I have The Dixie Chicks playing and finding it very productive as compared to the usual anger music. Just saying , I’m old.
Moving on.
Welcome to the Smackdown Hotel. The Royals beat with a simple equation. Timely Scoring + Aggressive Defensive Pressure + Elite Goaltending = Championship Runs.
When one of those elements suffer the team starts eeking out wins or even worse, going on a losing streak. Last season the goaltending came into question and scoring would be spotty.
New additions Guhle and Reichel should help the teams depth and keep the games close when the team is having an off night or Monty’s concentration is not there.
As far as the forwards go, it’s my favorite group in the league mostly because they were the core for my two cups and Eichel was drafted in the initial draft. More will be asked from the second line with Brock Boeser needing to pick up the pace after Johnansen had a terrible offseason spending most of it in the offseason fighting off a tapeworm.
Bathurst Angry Ducks 5.8 to 1
Patience paid off last year with GM Sullivan avoiding most of trade bonanzas and kept the core together and made small tweaks. This season may require a little bit more ambitious trades if the newly minted Angry Ducks want to repeat.
How much will the loss of Risto affect the Ducks defense? Replacing him is Ville Heinola although a young talented defenseman comes with a high cap hit for a younger player that will also need a new deal after this year. Will this be GM Sullivans Rental period target to solidify a playoff run in a more difficult Lemieux Conference.
Speaking of cap space needing to resign Ekblad, Sanderson and Robertson should eat into the available cap space. Strategically the rest of the forward core and Mac Black Wood resigned for multiple seasons.
But when you have Mac Black Wood and Mcdavid there is always a very good chance.
Saint John Kings 5.1 to 1
The more things change the more they stay the same in Saint John.
Aside from Lucas Raymond finally finding a roster place and a position so that he doesn't get confused every single game on where to line up, the biggest addition was adding an experienced back up in Korps and his two rings.
The Kings lost some minor and depth and the challenge is always finding the depth pieces in regards to going against the cap especially when you have the disadvantage in free agency. This coming off season do the Kings off extensions to Leon and Nikita and what numbers do they look like.
Always swapped out was Karlsson for Lindholm and picks from Albert County. While the experience will be missed with the prospect of playing on the third line could’ve edged the legendary defenseman into thoughts about retirement.
The team's best advantage is their GM. Kenny is always tinkering and moving players around like chess pieces and has a roster of forwards that can be moved around to have an infinite amount of line combinations. Also he will tirelessly make any trade if it puts the team in a better chance of hoisting the team's first cup.
2/19/2024 - 993 words
