Which of the 10 lower teams of the NHL is more likely to win the Stanley Cup in 10 years?
This week in “The Athletic Hockey Show”, Max Bultman and Corey Pronman have been achieved by Scott Wheeler and Chris Peters of Flohockey to discuss which of the 10 lower teams of the last season are more likely to raise a Stanley Cup in the next decade.
A partial transcription has been modified for clarification and length. The complete episode is available on the “The Athletic Hockey Show” feed Podcast of Apple AND Spotify.
Max: I want to start with a suggested Corey exercise on which of the 10 lower teams of last season is more likely to win a Stanley Cup in the next 10 years. We will use last season because these results are definitive. There will be some teams such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Buffalo who were not at the bottom 10 last year who perhaps belong to the same conversation. If people want to mention those in their answers, I have no problems with this. But only to keep a little border on it, let’s go with the 10 lower years of last year. That, only to refresh everyone’s mind, were San Jose, Chicago, Anaheim, Columbus, Montreal, Arizona (now Utah), Ottawa, Calgary, Seattle and New Jersey. From that swimming pool, Scott, give me your number one team to win a Stanley Cup in the next ten years.
Scott: I will go with the San Jose sharks. I was really enthusiastic about what they did this year, despite how poor they have been in the standings and the differential of the objectives. Macklin Celember is a transformation player for them. Will Smith has played at a very high level in the last two or three months and has thrilled me for its potential in progress that I was a producer of higher level points in the NHL. Very different conversations, but a kind of Leon Draisaitl at Connor McDavid or Mikko Rananen to the type of thing Nathan Mackinnon. I think Will Smith has the opportunity not to be a Hall of Famer like those boys, but to be a high -end offensive talent. And I am enthusiastic about what they have arrived elsewhere in the organization. Yaroslav Askarov is a stallion. Sam Dickinson is a stallion. And they will add another player of that Sam Dickinson, Will Smith Caliber in this year’s draft by drawing up again among the first five. It will not be an addition of Macklin celebrities to that group, but I would fully expect that they will add another high -end piece. If they spend their money well when the weather is right – and if they strike in the free agency – of the teams that are in a real reconstruction and rely on their youth at this moment such as Montreal, Anaheim and Columbus, I think they have the best chances of hitting when the iron is hot in a more advantageous way than those other teams.
Max: Chris, and you?
Chris: I also went with the San Jose sharks. It is really for a reason and only one reason, this is the fulcrum: Macklin Celembers. Look at the teams that have won the Stanley Cups in recent years, they have that main player. They have that boy who was part of the organization and made the difference. You look around and see the players who have arrived through the draft in the last two years, I don’t think I have seen such a complete and good player as a celebrity, despite the boys like Connor McDavid and others. But see what is and you have the feeling that it is what Nathan Mackinnon has become for Colorado. Even more than some of the other guys such as Connor Bedard, which we think will be a fulcrum for Chicago for a long time to come, and the best has yet to come to his career. But when you have that central figure, and when I think of the teams we will talk about later, like Montreal or Ottawa – even if with Ottawa you can discuss if it is Tim Stutzle or Brady Tkachuk – there are teams below that have that main player, but not one of them and will not be combined with what Macklin Celems is
So, as Scott said, they have these other pieces. Will Smith can be Patrick Kane for the Jonathan Toers. The scenario of Batman and Robin who in the end has launched over time, even if I don’t think it will necessarily happen between Smith and Celember. The fact that Yaroslav Askarov also have interesting for me. As we have seen, the teams can win without midfield and elite goalkeeper. It helps when you have it, but it does not necessarily prevent you from winning the Stanley Cup because it is much more on the construction of the rest of that team. But with Celember at the front line and this year’s draft, they are adding those pieces. There is more work to do for sharks among other teams. But for me, the cheat code is celebrates. You cannot win hockey games with a player, but you can’t start a reconstruction without a milestone and they have it.
Max: I tried to do mine based on replaceable pieces or pieces that would have been impossible to find differently, and Ceardini certainly adapts to that definition. I also love where San Jose is positioned, as Scott has mentioned, to get another key piece in this draft. Whether it’s Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa or Porter Martone. They will have another premium piece, so I also have one. Is it a clean sweep, Corey?
Corey: This is the difficult thing with this type of exercise, because once again, I love Macklin Celembe. He is an elite player and has a good chance of being among the top 10, the first five players in the championship when he really hits. The problem is where they are at this point at this moment. To get from where San Jose is located right now, which is still a young team exciting from the point of view of talent, but as a NHL team, they are rather poor. Getting from there to win a Stanley Cup is a gigantic climb. Do you think of the last 10 or 15 years, how many times have we said that we are enthusiastic about the young talent in Buffalo or excited by the young talent of Columbus? And the real marginal progress that those teams have made. It can be really difficult. So I’m not going to put San Jose in one because I think they have so much space to become a team of playoffs, let alone a contender. Much will have to be fine. Yes, we liked the development of young children. But will Will Smith become a star? Will William Eklund become a star? Will Sam Dickinson become a star? Will Yaroslav Askarov become one? Perhaps. But there is so much uncertainty there. This is why the team I have in one is actually one of those organizations that I have just called, of which we have said that we have always been enthusiastic, and I am starting again to excite me again for them – this is Columbus.
Why Columbus? Lately they fell a little in the standings, because they were in a playoff match, but they are sliding away from the race right now. But I look at this training, both the current formation and where I think this team is going. One, I see the elite pieces. Zach Werenski is in the MVP discussion this year, so they have the elite player. In the way he plays this year, I also think Adam Fantilli will arrive at that elite level. I don’t think it will arrive at the Macklin celebrity level, but I don’t think it will be dramatically out. This guy seems to be emerging as a number one star center in this championship. He has put himself at ease a year and a half in his career in the NHL. Also look at the talent around him. Kirill Marchenko has risen, Kent Johnson is experiencing a fantastic year and Denton Mateychuk seemed very promising as a beginner professional. The reconstruction did not go perfectly, namely David Jiricek. But once again, not all reconstructions will go perfectly, there will be missing. But I think they are much further away. They are about the twelfth in the league in goal this year and yes, they have to support their goals. But I think there are many promises there. They have elite pieces, have the quality of the young depth and I see a path if things continue to go well for them to build an elite team.
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