LOTCB Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 The new CBA is going to create a uniuque situation for some teams that otherwise arent that active in the FA market or were under the "small market" category. Figure it this way: The small market teams are going to receive a 24% rollback on their payroll, therefore teams that were under the cap (whatever that exact number is) will be even further under the cap, while some of the bigger teams continue to trim their payrolls to get under the new cap. There are two teams off the top of my head who REALLY might be able to ca$h in in 2005-2006: 1. Florida- With the young nucleus they have, and having Luongo, the Panthers will be able (if they really want to) be aggrssive in the FA market and attempt to complete their team and make a run in the East. 2. Buffalo- You can ask Derek21, its rare that I am a very optimistic Sabres fan, and right now I am calling for owner Tom Golisano to take full advantage of this situation. Losing Zhitnik would be addition by subtraction, I hope the Sabres can keep Satan. Other then that, the team is in place, and if the Sabres can lure in more defensiveman (dare I say Niedermayer??), the Sabres now have three scoring lines (first time in a long time) and heck, Ill call it now, the Buffalo Sabres will win the Northeast Division in 2005-2006 (perhaps the giddiness of the NHL being back is affecting me, but Ill put that out there right now!) Are there some other teams that you feel can do something similar to this, meaning teams that normally do not bring in a good amount of FA's suddendly does just that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JesterDevil Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 No disrespect but, who's Buffalo's #1 goalie again? I think they need a more solid netminder to win a divison. In 2-3 years I could see them winning it with the young team they have. Florida is a team I'd look out for though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) Well I could see Buffalo finishing ahead of every team other than Ottawa. Toronto, who knows with their age and scrambling to get under the cap though as much as I detest him, Quinn should have that team at least quasi-competitive. Boston's the biggest x-factor they have like five guys under contract Don't know what Montreal's situation is post-cap. Ottawa's got a bit of a vacancy at goalie, but maybe Emery will take over or Hasek will give it another go (not sure if he retired or not ). And I'm not a big Biron fan, is Ryan Miller ready by now? Edited July 13, 2005 by Hasan4978 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOTCB Posted July 13, 2005 Author Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) No disrespect but, who's Buffalo's #1 goalie again? I think they need a more solid netminder to win a divison. In 2-3 years I could see them winning it with the young team they have. Florida is a team I'd look out for though. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Its definately Biron right now, Miller IMO isnt ready. Biron started to play much more consistent towards the end of the last season. What Im basing my nutty pick on is the Sabres upgrading their defense, and also seeing Toronto, Boston and Montreal come back a bit. Also with the Sens, Hasek is how old now? Dont know if he has much of anything left at this point. Again its early, who knows how things will really shake out Edited July 13, 2005 by LOTCB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Hasek has said that he wants to play. So they'll probably see what he's got to offer in camp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vadvlfan Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 No disrespect but, who's Buffalo's #1 goalie again? I think they need a more solid netminder to win a divison. In 2-3 years I could see them winning it with the young team they have. Florida is a team I'd look out for though. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Buffalo has got a bunch of young talent, but goaltending has been their achilles heal. Biron is very good.................at times. There will be a bunch of UFA floating around to put flesh on the bones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek21 Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 If I'm the Sabres, like I told you Clown, they should offer Niedermayer a contract and see if he takes it. They don't have a number one D-man. Niedermayer would be perfect. If you added a guy like that to their mix up front, there playoff chances shoot right up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteyNice Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 The thing is that many teams have very few (under 10) players actually signed for this year. The Devils are the exception, not the rule. So there will be lots of teams that have the flexibility to be agressive in this massive free agent spree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Man Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Hate to sound like a homer for my city's team, but Nashville is in great shape. They made the playoffs last year & gave Detroit a series. They have a good young nucleus of core players. They have a darn good goalie who is coming off a great 2004 season and an international championship. And they have to spend a good chunk of money just to get to the salary floor. Watch out for this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas0nMacIsaac Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Here is my bold predictions: 1.) Montreal 2.) Ottawa 3.) Buffalo 4.) Boston 5.) Toronto 1.) Philly 2.) New Jersey 3.) New York Islanders 4.) Pittsburgh 5.) New York Rangers 1.) Atlanta 2.) Florida 3.) Tampa Bay (No Khabbi) 4.) Carolina 5.) Washington Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteyNice Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 It's way too early to start even considering doing standings predictions since noone has any idea what the teams will look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Man Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Here are my predictions for 2008..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils731 Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 My prediction.....Pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilMinder Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Dont forget more teams may qualify as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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