Here we are again, hopefully everybody got everything they wanted out of the GM meeting because Santa sure wasn’t going to bring it to you.
After 11 long seasons the Saint John team have finally raised the cup and in true John Kenny fashion the goal clinching Kucherov was traded out of town.
That leaves the Oromocto team and Albert County as the only teams without a trophy. The are pretty awesome. I have two and they confuse anyone who enters my man den and sees the on my ledge.
Any who on to the predictions
Bathurst Angry Ducks 21.7 :1 to win a cup
After back to back cup wins Gm Sullivan blew up the team , reacquired all the his teams future first rounder and stripped the roster about as bare as my breakfast plate at Denny’s. Not a morsel or delicious grand slam crumb left to spare.
The rebuild begins with Yzerman the 1st overall choice in the draft. Through a three way trade the team acquired the top pick and more draft capital. The roster has good starting building blocks like Quinn , Turcotte , Coronto and Clarke. Armed with all their own draft picks the rebuild will take time with development , the key will be finishing the roster as roster position availability becomes more selective.
The worst part of the rebuild is waiting for things to happen and starting to see the roster starting to take shape and the future looks bright. Unless someone else in you conference strips his team down then it’s time to put things in order.
Miramichi Moose 17.2 : 1 to win the cup
Here we sit, waiting to get better and bring glory back to Miramichi. It’s not going to be this year in fact if Quinton did not strike a match to his team I would be last. I mean at least I make the playoffs but maybe I could possibly win a game next year or look forward to the next draft.
We have a great core of Byfield, Drysdale and Rossi and upcoming talent of Rosen and Edvinsson. But in Miramichi we pulled off multiple trades to bring in the Sedin twins not to be confused by a different set of very Swedish twins that were with the team the first few seasons known as the Sedine twins. Even though they have the same first names clearly as you can see they are two completely separate players. It wasn’t illegal to have 7 year old's on the farm team at the time.
The team will suffer with the constant building but the team will suffer due to substandard goaltending. Like Tim Hortons the Moose will go forward with another season of Gibson minding the crease until Cossa or a better option comes around.
Dorchester Devils 9.2 : 1
And then we arrive at the Dorchester Devils. The team has a fascinating mix of players in their prime with the youth coming along to compete for the playing minutes. In the super competitive Gretzky conference the Devils will likely be fighting for the last playoff spot.
With a solid offseason of training Samsonov looks to defy the enemy to every team in the ODBHL, father goalie time. Due to Ashton Rule 10.1 MAtty Beniers gets to become a member of the Devils after one outstanding season in Kedgwick. The forward group is solid and have three solid lines of talent to roll through the lines and not having to match talent based on who they are playing against.
The defense is my concern. While I like Seider and Beaudin the team needs some top 4 depth. Seeing progress with the emergence of Shai Buium and the drafting of Regehr could be helpful in a couple of seasons. Unfortunately like previously said father time will start to take its toll on Samsonov hopefully it’s too late.
Albert County Renegade 9.1 : 1
The Renegades are expected to ride the two headed center monsters that are Mcdavid and Eichel. The pair have 5 rings between them and are 2 & 3rd in all time scoring in the league. What will be fascinating is how to utilize the pair.
For example on the power play do you keep trying to keep the balance with the 3 forward 2 D lineup and based on lines 1 & two. For once I’d go with the traditional lines. If the Renegade didn’t have elite scorers like Zadina and Stutzle to go with the 4 four defense that look very comfortable on the power play as well. We’ll see if the Eichel and Pasta reunion make the chemistry easier and turn Zadina from a 30 goal man to contend for the goal lead.
I like a lot of the roster but there might be some questions. As someone who doesn't usually advocate towards being a defensive savant , I could see this team letting some goals in as there is lack of the typical grindy defensive stay at home guy.
Cains River Blues 8.5 : 1
Before we start intentional or not, if you look at the logo’s on the league page the first article has the first 5 teams and article 2 will have the last 5 in some order. Just weird.
According to the rankings the Blues are expected to take a step back in the league this year. The team has my favorite d man in the league (the man they call Miro) and were able to plug some holes in free agency. Jamie is like the unseen hand GM, always watching and giving time to right the curve but never get too comfortable because if a move comes that could improve the team pack the Grand Marquis, it’s time for you to leave.
The forward depth is good and the defense is coming along with a few youngsters behind Nurse to build towards the future. York, Bjornfoot and newly draft Pat Marleau could be what the team needs to infuse some youth in future.
Venhi lost some momentum in the off season which will need him on top of his game all season. Cains will mostly be happy that the 6M contract of Filip Forsberg will end and give the team more financial flexibility. At the time the contract was more than fair for a 80 rated super utility forward but for a 3rd liner that’s way too much.
That’s a wrap for article one, I’ll likely do article two either January 31st or on New Years day.
12/26/2024 - 1089 words
