THN.com/podcast. From THN On The 'Dub': WHL's Surprise Risers and Fallers at the NHL Draft Kevin Bahl, Chris Kreider and Akira Schmid [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk5NDc4ODM4NTUwMzQxNTgy/usatsi_20575674.jpg] Kevin Bahl, Chris Kreider and Akira Schmid This is the latest Screen Shots, a THN.com ongoing feature in which yours truly takes a relatively brief look at a few different hockey topics. There’s usually no rhyme or reason connecting any of the topics in a Screen Shots file, but two of today’s NHL topics are connected. Read below, and find out how: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fans of the Chicago Blackhawks must be feeling good about the team’s future now that they’ve added a generational talent in 2023 No. 1 draft pick Connor Bedard. But after Hawks GM Kyle Davidson went out and augmented that addition with a few veterans – Stanley Cup-winner Corey Perry, Hart Trophy-winner Taylor Hall, and experienced hand Nick Foligno – we’ve seen some people argue that Chicago will be significantly better. Humbly, we disagree. Let’s be fair – it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the Blackhawks not to be better than they were in 2022-23 when they tied the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second-fewest standings points (59). Bedard’s presence raises the bar for the group, and the new faces will help, not hurt. But let’s take a macro look at the roster and see if the rest of the lineup will push the team back to a respectable record. We don’t see it. Yes, their first line will be better with Bedard and Hall on it. And yes, there could be a slight improvement on the other three forward lines. But the real Achilles heel for Chicago is their back end, including their goaltending. The Hawks’ defense corps is still a massive mess, with the team’s highest-paid player, Seth Jones, doing the heavy lifting and a massive drop-off in offense production and defensive acumen after that. Rookie D-man Kevin Korchinski and 22-year-old blueliner Alex Vlasic represent the future of the franchise, but neither youngster is capable of stepping in and providing enough of a boost to make this a much-improved defensive team. Then we have the Blackhawks’ goaltending. Big “ugh” vibes here. Journeyman Petr Mrazek and 23-year-old Arvid Soderblom currently form Chicago’s netminding tandem, and that’s nowhere near good enough to make the team vastly more competitive than it was last season. Combine the goaltending with the subpar makeup of the defense corps, and you have a giant black hole in the Hawks’ own zone. It’s true they have more offense after their off-season changes, but Chicago won’t be able to score four or more goals per night – last year, they averaged a league-worst 2.46 goals-for per game – and they’re not likely to prevent opponents from scoring at least three goals per game, as they allowed an average of 3.65 goals per game. Those are the bottom-line stats that tell you there’s bound to be more pain ahead as Blackhawks brass attempt to identify and develop elite young performers at every position. It won’t be a fast fix. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With much of the NHL’s talent now under contract for the 2023-24 campaign, it’s a fun little task to project the order of some geographical rivals next season. Let’s start off with the three New York City-area teams – the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and New York Rangers. In what order will they finish? The answer below may surprise you. The Devils are the sexy pick to be the best of the New York City-area teams, and not without good reason. New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald has assembled one of the best top-six forward units in the game, and their defense features up-and-comer Luke Hughes and star Dougie Hamilton. But from our perspective, the Rangers are the best all-around group on paper. Why? Let’s start with the goaltending. Blueshirts starter Igor Shesterkin is the best goalie by a hair over Isles counterpart Ilya Sorokin, and the Rangers’ defense corps (led by perennial Norris Trophy candidate Adam Fox) has more two-way bite to it. Combine that with the Rangers’ savvy, low-cost, big-reward off-season additions of veterans Blake Wheeler, Nick Bonino and Erik Gustafsson, and the Rangers could be just a smidge ahead of the Devils. The Islanders are clearly the third-best of the NYC-area teams, but by the time GM Lou Lamoriello finishes changing their roster – adding offense-minded players, ideally – the Isles could make this a tighter three-way race in the Metropolitan Division. As it stands, the Rangers and Devils are expected to at least win a couple of playoff rounds in 2023-24, and one of those two teams will be disappointed. This past season, it was the Rangers who took it on the chin in the first round, but we wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Devils took a step sideways and wound up eliminated in the first round. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following up along the same lines of that intense regional rivalry, let’s look at the NHL’s three California teams and rank them. This ranking is much easier than the NYC-area rivalries, as the Los Angeles Kings are head-and-shoulders better than the Anaheim Ducks (No. 2 in the California team rankings) and the third-best San Jose Sharks. Some of the Kings’ off-season moves carry some risk – particularly, tying their wagon to 36-year-old goalie Cam Talbot as part of a tandem with Pheonix Copley. But Kings GM Rob Blake bolstered his second line with center Pierre-Luc Dubois, and he re-signed trade deadline acquisition Vladislav Gavrikov to solidify the Kings’ defense corps. It’s safe to say they will be a playoff team with their sights set on getting out of the first round for the first time since they won a Cup in the 2014 post-season. As for the other two California teams, we think Anaheim will be better than San Jose, particularly once the Sharks trade Norris-winner Erik Karlsson for draft picks and/or prospects. This is not to suggest the Ducks will be a playoff team in the coming year, but the free-agent additions of winger Alex Killorn and defenseman Radko Gudas will help them. If they trade starting goalie John Gibson, Anaheim will have one or two more NHL-capable assets to help continue their rebuild. That said, they remain a heavy long shot to make the playoffs. The Sharks finished 2022-23 with only two more standings points than the Ducks, but San Jose’s full rebuild is still in its early stages, and their lack of depth in all areas is pronounced and not easily addressed. In particular, the goalie duo of Kaapo Kahkonen and Mackenzie Blackwood does not strike fear into the hearts of San Jose’s opponents, and the defense corps without Karlsson won’t be able to produce anywhere near the amount of offense they’ll need to even come close to winning enough games to leapfrog past the Ducks at the bottom of the Pacific Division. There once was a time when a team’s trip through California would keep them on the losing side of the ledger against all three teams. The Kings are going to be a playoff threat for the foreseeable future, but after that, the Ducks and Sharks still have a long ways to go before they can re-establish dominance in the Pacific and present legitimate challenges to the Kings.
