Colorado Avalanche:
General Manager: Greg Sherman
Head Coach: Joe Sacco
Key Additions: Shane O'Brien, JS Giguere, Chuck Kobasew, Simeon Varlamov (trade via Washington)
Key Subtractions: Phillipe Dupuis (Toronto), Brian Elliott (St. Louis), Tomas Fleischmann (Florida), Peter Budaj (Montreal), John-Michael Liles (Traded to Toronto)
After a surprising 2009-2010 campaign which almost led to a first round upset over the Sharks in the playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche found themselves back in the NHL cellar in 2010-2011. But, this year they hope some new toughness and fresh blood can lead them back to the playoffs. They do have another potential star in Gabriel Landeskog coming into camp and two new goaltenders. One thing is certain, Joe Sacco is back on the hot seat as an NHL coach. I think they will be better than this past season, but will fall short. But falling short does not rest well with Team President Eric Lacroix, who still expects the Avalanche to be cup contenders. However, with little or no identity on defense, the Avs might need to stay in the lottery.
Minnesota Wild:
General Manager: Chuck Fletcher
Head Coach: Mike Yeo
Key Additions: Darrol Powe (Trade via Philadelphia), Dany Heatley (Trade via San Jose), Devin Setoguchi (Trade via San Jose)
Key Subtractions: Patrick O'Sullivan (Phoenix), Chuck Kobasew (Colorado), Cam Barker (Edmonton), Andrew Brunette (Chicago), Jose Theodore (Florida), Brent Burns (Traded to San Jose), Martin Havlat (Traded to San Jose), James Sheppherd (Traded to San Jose), Antti Miettinen (KHL), John Madden (unsigned)
The Minnesota Wild underwent many radical changes much like the Florida Panthers did. They have a new coach and a new fresh offensive scheme. I think they are going to be a dangerous and tough team to play against with the likes of Stoner and Clutterbuck. They will have to be very healthy though especially team captain Mikko Koivu, who will play on the line with Heatley and Setoguchi. The Wild will definitely be a player this year in the tough west, but again will likely fall short of the playoffs. A lot will again depend on the play of Niklas Backstrom.
Edmonton Oilers:
General Manager: Steve Tambellini
Head Coach: Tom Renney
Key Additions: Ryan Smyth (Trade via LA), Eric Belanger, Corey Potter, Josh Green, Ben Eager, Darcy Hordichuk, Cam Barker
Key Subtractions: Colin Fraser (Traded to LA), Andrew Cogliano (Traded to Anaheim), Jim Vandermeer (San Jose), Sheldon Souray (Dallas)
The Oilers again found themselves at the very cellar of the NHL and chose Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the #1 overall pick. This year they hope with the veteran leadership of Ryan Smyth, who returns after 5 years away from Edmonton will lead them out of last place and hopefully close to the 8th spot. However, they will once again fall short this season despite adding toughness and checking ability.
Calgary Flames:
Key Additions: Scott Hannan, Chris Butler (Trade via Buffalo), Pierre-Luc Letourneau-LeBlond (Trade via NJ)
Key Subtractions: Robyn Regehr (Traded to Buffalo), Adam Pardy (Dallas)
General Manager: Jay Feaster
Head Coach: Brent Sutter
The Flames had a nice late year run this past season, but still fell short of the playoffs and thus have not made it there since Brent Sutter took over the helm at coach. However, with a fresh voice at the front office of Jay Feaster and a hungry roster, they are eager to prove their skeptics wrong. They will definitely be a huge factor in the very difficult but yet unpredictable Western Conference.
Vancouver Canucks:
General Manager: Mike Gillis
Head Coach: Alain Vigneault
Key Additions: Marco Sturm, Byron Bitz, Alexander Sulzer, Andrew Ebbett
Key Subtractions: Tanner Glass (Winnipeg), Lea Sweatt (Ottawa), Alex Bolduc and Raffi Torres (Phoenix), Christian Ehrhoff (Buffalo)
After an embarassing Game 7 loss to the Bruins in the Finals, the Canucks have found themselves still being one of the NHL's elite. They did suffer some losses in toughness with Torres, Glass and Bolduc leaving via free agency as well as Christian Ehrhoff, but they did manage to add toughness in Bitz, Ebbett, and possibly Todd Fedoruk if he makes the team. They managed to lockup Kevin Bieksa long-term this past summer, who rounds out the top defensive shut down pairing for the Canucks with Dan Hamhuis. I think the Canucks will once again be Stanley Cup Contenders, but they will have to try to avoid the Blackhawks at any cost in the playoffs, who will be very hungry to return the favor. My guess is that they once gain win the Northwest Division and make it to Round 2 of the playoffs at the very least, however their road to finally win the elusive cup will be much tougher this year than it was this past season.
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