This article is part of our From the Press Box series.
FROM THE PRESS BOX
Paul Bruno, RotoWire.com
We begin our preparations for the upcoming Fantasy Hockey season with a look at players who have moved onto new teams or others who will play more prominent roles. We continue with the third of four columns exploring the Central Division teams of the Western Conference this year.
Central Division
Chicago - When a team is a real perennial Cup contender, it becomes more difficult to manage the salary cap. It looks like the Hawks recent run of success and two championships with this core group have caught up to them. They currently sit with an excess of $2M and will need to shed salary before the start of the season. The only significant signing this offseason was Brad Richards, who agreed to come over for $2M and one season, clearly intent on sacrificing compensation for his chance to win here. He could have signed for much more elsewhere. That's a clear benefit of a team's winning culture that sets the Hawks apart from most other teams. More financial challenges appear on the team's horizon after two mega-dollar contracts to their leaders, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, who will each carry a $1.5M cap hit for the next eight years, starting after the next season. Look for the Hawks to try to move one of Johnny Oduya, Michal Rozsival or Kris Versteeg to comply with the $69M ceiling. You can also bank on another long playoff run.
Colorado - The rookie season for head coach Patrick Roy proved to be less about his previous coaching antics in Junior hockey and more about galvanizing a very young group of talented and eager players. They enjoyed a surprising amount of success during a strong regular season. When it came to the tougher sledding of the post-season, this club finally stumbled, but they decided to address a perceived lack of veteran leadership in the offseason that will hopefully correct a post-season stumble. Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere will be asked to fill that void and teach the young guns a thing or two about winning when the chips are down. In the meantime players like rookie sensation Nathan McKinnon and young captain Gabriel Landeskog earned some valuable playoff experience. Tyson Barrie took big steps in becoming the power play quarterback and Semyon Varlamov moved to the front ranks of young goalie stars in this league. The future looks very bright for the Avalanche.
Dallas - General Manager Jim Nill deserves lots of credit for his ability to pull off the big deals. We have already talked about his trades to acquire front line centers Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza in the past two offseasons, during a time when a number of other teams are looking to add talent to their forward ranks. He also added right winger Ales Hemsky in free agency, recognizing that an offensive upgrade was necessary to be able to compete with the best teams in the West. In addition to these moves, the maturing of wingers Antoine Roussel and Valeri Nichushkin will ensure that this mission is accomplished. This team's weakness may be on the blueline, where they look a bit thin, despite the presence of some quality in Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley. They need to squeeze another good year out of 40-year old Sergei Gonchar and Jordie Benn has to step up as a dependable shutdown blueliner. Goalie Kari Lehtonen is another element of star power who gives this team a chance every game. The Stars will be a tougher out this season.
Minnesota - The Wild have often been dismissed due to a lack of offensive depth and quality in the past, but efforts which began a couple of years ago with the acquisitions of winger Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter continued this offseason. Thomas Vanek, an offensively gifted forward, joins the likes of Jason Pominville and Mikko Koivu to improve the scoring depth. He is a bit of an enigma in that he has not always shown up with a consistent effort, but he spoke of a desire to join the Wild feeling that it was the best fit for him. If that talk is backed by good intentions, this is a nice win for Minnesota. If it's all talk, that contract (three years/$18 M) will look ugly on the books. The Wild will be pleased to add the sandpaper provided by winger Brett Sutter and defenseman Stu Bickel.
Nashville - The Predators are yet another team that tried to beef up their attack during this offseason. The focus here was at center and they managed to secure the services of veteran pivots Olli Jokinen, Derek Roy and Mike Ribeiro, all on one-year deals totaling a $4.5M cap hit next year. This plan looks a bit short sighted. We are left to wonder if the Preds are planning bigger moves down the road, or is that the best they can do? Sure, it can be said that these additions are all players who have enjoyed offensive success, but are their best days behind them? It sure looks that way to me. Factor in the fact that returning center Mike Fisher will miss at least two months while recovering from a ruptured Achilles' tendon and the question mark over the center ice position looks like one big question mark here. The other big question mark relates to the fit between new head coach, Peter Laviolette, who replaces the only coach the Predators have ever had, the defensive-minded Barry Trotz. The trade that brought sniper James Neal to Nashville gives this team a true sniper and that's something that is rare on this roster.
St. Louis - The Blues will look to remain an elite team, even though they made some big changes in the offseason. Their goaltending depth will be a key as Ryan Miller departed in free agency. This will pave the way for Jake Allen to compete for a share of the net with remaining veteran goalkeeper, Brian Elliott, who re-signed for three years and a total of $7.5M. A deep offense got better when the Blues inked arguably the top free agent center, Paul Stastny, to a four-year/$28M pact. The Blues are also hoping that 2008 pick Jori Lehtera finally takes some big steps in his NHL debut after four productive years in the KHL. The Blues also padded the depth of the defense with the additions of Chris Butler (via free agency) and Carl Gunnarsson (via trade), two more good puck-moving players. Steve Ott will continue to be the prototypical third line center after committing to the Blues (two years/$5.2M) after coming over in the late-season trade with Buffalo last year.
Winnipeg - While the Jets did add depth with offensive center Mattieu Perreault (three years/$9M) and hard-checking winger Chris Thorburn (three years/$3.6M), these were moves that only beefed up the bottom half of this roster. The Jets also added more (lower) contracts in addition - Adam Pardy and Keaton Ellerby, both for less than $1M each, for example. They could not do anything significant to the top half of their roster and that willonly widen the gap between themselves and the playoff contenders in the West. Perhaps, even more of a concern, are the rumors that continued to swirl around winger Evander Kane, arguably the club's best offensive player. Is it time to deal him for a healthy package of assets or can they get him to reach a higher level of play and commitment? Another signing, of goalie Michael Hutchinson, looks to be a depth move, backing up starter Ondrej Pavelec, but the Jets are quietly hoping for more from him - that's quite in keeping with the team's overall outlook - quiet and looking for surprise contributions.
