The 2011-12 NHL season is already under way, and the action on the ice is already heating up. After a summer filled with lots of on and off ice movement, but also much tragedy, the hockey world looks towards a new quest toward Lord Stanley’s Cup. How do the teams in each division compare to one another? Who will be the big fantasy players this season? We take a division by division look at the 2011-12 NHL season. Let’s take a look at the Northwest Division after the jump.
Last season, the Northwest made a case for being possibly the weakest in all the NHL. The Canucks cruised to the best record in hockey, yet the rest of the division struggled all year long, with Edmonton and Colorado ending up being the two worst teams in the league. This year sees the Canucks possibly suffering a Stanley Cup loss hangover, a couple young teams with a lot of talent (Edmonton and Colorado), a team who made some big moves (Minnesota), and a team who are going to let it ride this year (Calgary). While this divison will be stronger than it was last year based off of talent alone, it could be a struggle to get a second team into the playoffs. How will the three time zone wide Northwest end up? Let’s find out.
All Stats Are From 2010-11 Season
1. Vancouver Canucks (54-19-9)
Top Scorer: Daniel Sedin (41-63-104)
The Canucks had a storybook season last year, right up until Game 7 of the Stanley Cup, and the subsequent rioting. This season, the team is one year older, and the questions about if they can actually win a title are getting louder. While they clearly are the best in their division still, the belief to win it all is dampening. As long as the Canucks still have the Sedin twins on their roster, they will be almost impossible to beat.
Best Case Scenario: 1st Worst Case Scenario: 6th
Players
Top Offensive: Ryan Kesler
Top Defensive: Alexander Edler
Breakout Offensive: Mason Raymond
Breakout Defensive: Keith Ballard
Starting Goalie: Roberto Luongo
2. Minnesota Wild (39-35-8)
Top Scorers: Martin Havlat (22-40-62), Mikko Koivu (17-45-62)
The Wild used the off season to overhaul the roster, while not poaching from the youth they’ve stockpiled recently. The big trade of Brent Burns for Devin Setoguchi and more, as well as the trade of Martin Havlat for Dany Heatley, should give the Wild goal scorers to go along with playmakers like Mikko Koivu and Pierre Marc Bouchard. The team finally has some talent, now it has to prove that it can win and accumulate points in the regular season. A key to those points is Niklas Backstrom. He’s amazing in actual game play, but has struggled horribly in shootouts. While next year is the big year for the Wild with wunderkind Mikael Granlund coming stateside, this roster should push for a playoff spot in the ultra competitive Western conference.
Best Case Scenario: 6th Worst Case Scenario: 12th
Players
Top Offensive: Dany Heatley
Top Defensive: Nick Schultz
Breakout Offensive: Brett Bulmer
Breakout Defensive: Jared Spurgeon
Starting Goalie: Niklas Backstrom
3. Colorado Avalanche (30-44-8)
Top Scorer: Matt Duchene (27-40-67)
Best Case Scenario: 6th Worst Case Scenario: 15th
Of all the teams making moves in the offseason, the trade the Avalanche made with Washington for Semyon Varlamov was a head scratcher. They gave up a lot of high draft value for a player who had never shouldered the load of a number one netminder before. Veteran JS Giguere gives them a backup option in case Varlamov struggles. After struggling for a few years, Colorado has acquired some high powered young talent up front like Matt Duchene, Paul Stastny, and Gabriel Landeskog. While the team is still way too young and inexperienced at the NHL level to do much damage, they will be a very entertaining team to watch. However, they have played better every other year in recent history. Last year was down, perhaps the Avalanche trend upward again this year.
Players
Top Offensive: Matt Duchene
Top Defensive: John Michael Liles
Breakout Offensive: Gabriel Landeskog
Breakout Defensive: Erik Johnson
Starting Goalie: Semyon Varlamov
4. Edmonton Oilers (25-45-12)
Top Scorer: Jordan Eberle (19-25-43)
The Oilers have been bad for awhile now, but the years of high draft picks is starting to pay off with actual talent. Last year the team was led by rookies Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi, Linus Omark, and the top overall pick Taylor Hall. All showed offensive ability while learning to play, and eventually win, at the NHL level. Add in this year’s first pick, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, and the Oilers are a team that will be fun to watch, and likely finally improved. While it probably isn’t enough for a playoff run yet, the Oilers this year will most likely be the best team Edmonton has seen in quite some time.
Best Case Scenario: 8th Worst Case Scenario: 15th
Players
Top Offensive: Taylor Hall
Top Defensive: Ryan Whitney
Breakout Offensive: Linus Omark
Breakout Defensive: Corey Potter
Starting Goalie: Nikolai Khabibulin
5. Calgary Flames (41-29-12)
Top Scorer: Jarome Iginla (43-43-86)
The Flames always seem to be in the running for free agents, but never seem to close the deal. This year they tried to get Brad Richards, only to end up with nothing of significance. However, they did ship off defenseman Roby Regehr to Buffalo. This is a team getting older, yet there is no real youth to take over for the aging stars. Jarome Iginla will once again carry the load offensively. If he can’t continue to rack up points, the Flames will struggle keeping within playoff contention. If the team struggles early, it could finally be time to trade Iginla and rebuild.
Best Case Scenario: 6th Worst Case Scenario: 15th
Players
Top Offensive: Jarome Iginla
Top Defensive: Jay Bouwmeester
Breakout Offensive: Mikael Backlund
Breakout Defensive: Mark Giordano
Starting Goalie: Miikka Kiprusoff
Bryan Vickroy has an addiction to hockey, and is willing to partake in all its forms. He is skating extra shifts for The Sports Bank, covering the Minnesota Wild, the NHL, and NCAA hockey all year long. Look for new articles throughout the week. He can be followed on Twitter at @bryanvickroy. If you’d prefer to speak in more than 140 characters at a time to him, he can be reached at bryan.vickroy@gmail.com .