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Nearly Done Another Season

Okay, after some stops and starts, the season is ready to wrap up over the next week or two, depending on which division you’re looking at. I don’t know that the NHL expected to finish 56 games for every team, nor that they expected teams to be down as long as they were either. It has been a nightmare for schedule makers, players and coaches alike.

Seattle is all set to get the show started in July. Teams will start making moves with expansion finalizations in mind once the seasons are done. There are some good players who need protecting and some that might be traded rather than losing them for nothing. The flat cap means that Seattle might be able to put together a competitive roster as well as add some high draft picks in return for helping teams out who find themselves backed into a corner cap-wise. I have already seen all of the Loui Eriksson jokes on the Canucks forums. I don’t think Seattle takes him off the Canucks’ hands though.

This year’s draft is going to be fascinating both as we lead up to it as well as when we come out of it. Scouts have not been able to see players in person like they normally do. Players have generally played less than prospects in previous drafts. It will likely be years before we have any idea how strong/weak/unpredictable this draft class is.

This season has featured a lot of teams seeing goaltending depth challenged. If you are the fourth goalie on a team’s depth chart, there is a good chance you have seen some time in the NHL this year. This could lead to a few of the depth goalies getting a chance to play next year. Ron Francis may really enjoy getting to scout so many goalies as well since that’s the most important position to building a strong expansion team.

I will be posting regularly here now that things are set to slow down. Next season won’t feature such a tough schedule, though an Olympic break could provide a challenge to scheduling. Compared to this season, it will be much easier though.

All the best,
THG