XGL Predictions

It’s a big day in the XGL world! First, this site was started. That’s big news. Second, everyone cut their scrubs. Third, I’ve made some predictions. Following through on something is a big deal for me.  Don’t hate me for my analysis, I’m just copying Eklund.

The Reg Dunlopes

Positives: New management; Clear need to rebuild; No longer named after something One Legged Dogs pee on; Sidney Crosby.

Negatives: Everything other than Crosby; prospects, depth, salaries; This team is too expensive to be this bad.

07-08 Finish: 15th (-4)

Season Changers: NEW MANAGEMENT. The new manager knows this team needs a full overhaul and is already taking steps to improve it. Moved out Osgood, brought in Wheeler and a couple of other prospects, brought in steady Beauchemin for late picks. The simple realization that this team needs direction is the best thing that’s happened to them. Make a plan, stick to it.

Prediction: 16th

Mighty Oil

Positives: Forward prospects; Goalie prospects; Veteran forward group that is good value, no albatross contracts here; Potential for some forwards to have breakout seasons; Plenty of guys to cut for cap space.

Negatives: As affordable as the forwards are, the defence is the opposite; Needs a starter in net; Supporting cast needs a core to surround.

07-08 Finish: 14th (-5)

Season Changers: Will Dan Ellis be the new Chris Mason, opening the door for Pekka Rinne? Will Pascal Leclaire be healthy enough to keep Freddy Norrena out of his net? What kind of year will Brenden Morrow have, a repeat of last year or back to his agitating, grinding ways? Does Mikko Koivu finally break out to be the 75 point guy he was projected to be? And the million dollar question – Is this the year of Cam Barker?

Prediction: 15th

Craig Button Rocks

Positives: Strong young core to build around; One of the better young goalie tandems in the XGL; Good defencemen prospects; NHL Backup goalie depth; Decent set of veteran defencemen.

Negatives: Forwards lacking after Kane, Langkow, Cammi and Zherdev; Forward prospects are lacking, goalie prospects non-existent;

07-08 Finish: 9th (-3)

Season Changers: Can Zherdev show why he was so highly thought of under the bright lights of NYC? Can Cammelleri fit in with Langkow and Iggy? Will Antropov have anyone to play with if they think he’s the only top 6 forward in Tawana? Is Paul Ranger going to step up his game in Tampa, or be buried under all the new defencemen they brought in?

Prediction: 14th

Grinder

Positives: Lots of cap space; Some good young vet whippersnappers; Excellent forward prospects/rookies.

Negatives: A lot of flotsam, not a superstar in the bunch; Defencemen need massive upgrade; Goalies are a project but have big potential for comebacks.

07-08 Finish: 13th (+2)

Season Changers: Can Gagner, Hanzal and Staal repeat or improve on last season? Will Washington get 40 wins from Theodore? Can Huet get 60+ games with Khabibulin around? Will any of the prospects play this year or is 09-10 going to be the big year?

Prediction: 13th

Backhander

Positives: Excellent young defencemen; Goalie succession is obvious; Decent prospect list; Plenty of cap space.

Negatives: Bad karma; too many terrible trade offers has angered the Gods; They sent Radulov to Russia, Williams to the hospital; Bernier to the donut shop and Meszaros to Tampa Bay.

07-08 Finish: 11th (-3)

Season Changers: Gagne will be back, Yandle should get more time in Phoenix; Radulov and Williams are gone long term, that hurts a lot. Can Richards earn the 7.8 Million he’s making? If he does, Backhander will do a lot better. The young defence looks very good, but only Garon is going to start the season as a #1 goalie.

Prediction: 12th

The Ecua Connection

Positives: Several 70 -80 point potential forwards; Savard is underrated; Satan has no where to go but up, especially with Sid or Geno; Good tandem in Campbell and Corvo.

Negatives: Aging fast; Young guys don’t look to be superstars; Needs a goalie that will get some wins; Prospect pool leaves something to be desired.

07-08 Finish: 7th (no change)

Season Changers: St. Louis and Toronto need to become playoff teams with goalies that get 40 wins. Can Gomez turn it around and Huselius create magic with Rick Nash? Can Kuba become Zdeno Chara and Wade Redden from 3 years ago? Doan needs to keep up with the kids, but that’s probably a stupid question.

Prediction: 11th

One Legged Dog

Positives: Defence has good potential; Forwards are projects, but can also bust out; Goaltender prospects are solid.

Negatives: Like the acronym for their name, team is getting OLD; Outside Bogosian, few blue-chip offensive prospects; Goaltending is a big question mark.

07-08 Finish: 12th (+2)

Season Changers: Olli Jokinen’s new linemates can make or break his year. Svatos needs to return to his Cy Young goal scoring form. Mike Ryder needs to flourish with Marc Savard feeding him beauty passes. Mccabe has to forget ever being in Toronto, and Bieksa needs to stay healthy. Letang has his chance to shine right now with Gonchar and Whitney out for extended lengths of time. Mike Smith needs to pray the new and improved Tampa team can become a team and he can gets some wins. Roloson needs to find a fountain of youth, but since he’s in Edmonton, it’s probably already frozen.

Prediction: 10th

The Meats

Positives: Has excellent, young top 5 forwards; Very young top 9 forwards; Excellent prospect pool.

Negatives: Defence points will not be a big factor; Goaltending will be spotty; Defence is too expensive for what it provides.

07-08 Finish: 10th (+6)

Season Changers: Can all the young forwards improve? Big years are needed from Hemsky, Eaves and Vanek to make this team a contender. The defence needs to pop more than a few, Chara can be counted on, but Hamhuis, Leopold and Keith need to step up. DiPietro’s hip will be a concern, more to the Islanders than The Meats, but without Ricky D, The Meats have no clear starter.

Prediction: 9th

The Lane Train

Positives: The best group of top five forwards under 26 years old; Potential impact rookie forwards; Goaltender prospects.

Negatives: Veteran goalie health; Points from defence scarce; Forward depth after top 5.

07-08 Finish: 16th (-12)

Season Changers: Biggest question mark is definitely, can those goalies stay healthy? Leclaire and Lehtonen have injury history. Khabibulin is a good third guy for the XGL, but how many starts will he get? If he’s moved by Chicago to a team in need of a #1, look out, his trade value goes through the roof. Are the top 5 forwards good enough to get this team to the money? After them, pickings are pretty slim. It’s not likely the defence are going to help out a ton, but Bouwmeester, Roszival and Erhoff have potential.

Prediction: 8th

Boomer

Positives: Ovechkin. Ovechkin. So positive it should be said twice; Stamkos; Defencemen.

Negatives: Supporting forwards after Alex the Great; Goaltending is iffy.

07-08 Finish: 6th (+7)

Season Changers: Bryzgalov should be a worthy goalie, but Budaj and Gerber will both be battling for time on teams that may not have improved over the summer. How will Tanguay and Bertuzzi fare in new homes? Can Horcoff and Souray stay healthy? Will Prospal follow his trend and only get 50 points? Will strong defence help alleviate the lack of forward depth?

Prediction: 7th

Bridge Street Bullies

Positives: Supply of good, young forwards; Defencemen have lots of potential; Will never need to trade for a goalie; Value in the older forwards; Knack for trading guys about to be injured.

Negatives: So many goalies, so few starters; So many prospects, could money be better spent elsewhere?; True superstar Alfredsson turning 36 this year.

07-08 Finish: 5th (+5)

Season Changers: Will BSB trade a goalie for a prospect? Only if it’s a prospect goalie. Will Gionta rebound and will he still be in New Jersey come trade deadline time? Can Mark Streit teach someone in Long Island how to structure a PP? Will one of the 66 prospects on this team be a home run?

Prediction: 6th

Team Swede

Positives: Solid 2nd tier depth throughout forwards; Some young potential on defence; Two starters that will play 70+ games if healthy; Cap space.

Negatives: Not a bonafide superstar in the bunch; Briere is expen$ive; 2-5 defencemen are iffy, lean to bottom end of projections rather than top; middle of the road prospects.

07-08 Finish: 3rd (+9)

Season Changers: Will contend if defence contributes to their potential. Top 8 can all be 70 to 80 point players, but consistency and health are the key. If injuries hit, depth will become a factor. Will Vokoun see enough rubber behind Florida’s new defence to keep his save percentage so high?

Prediction: 5th

The Ruff Stuff

Positives: Excellent top 7 forwards; Good top pairing defence, Kaberle is underrated; Best goalie and great 2nd tier goalie; potential impact rookies.

Negatives: Lack of forward depth in case of injury; Cutting Datsyuk and Pronger for cap space, losing Whitney early will make it hard to repeat.

07-08 Finish: 1A (+1)

Season Changers: Will lack of depth become apparent when more than 2 injuries occur? Can Enstrom repeat last years start and maintain it through the season? Will the cap rear it’s ugly head next year?

Prediction: 4th

The Iceolators

Positives: Solid crop of forwards, when healthy; Good young defencemen will mature and be a force in 3 years; 2nd best goalie in the league, best 2nd tier goalie; solid prospect pool.

Negatives: Elias; Gaborik and Johnson’s lower bodies; O’Sullivan is holding out; Depth in net; Age of some starters.

07-08 Finish: 1B (+1)

Season Changers: Will O’Sullivan sign?. Will Gaborik stay healthy? Improvement from Plekanec, Elias and Jovanovski will be keys to The Ice repeating as co-champion. Losing Johnson for the year hurts, but it’s not the end of the world. Gilbert will have a hard time repeating last year’s performance with Visnovsky in town and a healthy Souray.

Prediction: 3rd

The Kubasa Kings

Positives: Excellent group of forwards, defencemen and goalies; Very well rounded team; Hard to make them sound better than they actually are.

Negatives: Cap space past this year, big raises to Perry, Zetterberg, Fisher, Visnovsky and Weber due in the next 2 years; Close to roster minimum, so will have to move a big salary; Brassard, Emmerton and Lee only blue-chip prospects.

07-08 Finish: 4th (+1)

Season Changers: Injuries are the only thing that will keep Kubasa from making the money, and it’ll probably take 3 or 4 major ones to drop this team out of contention.  Not much to say but solid, through and through. Will be a contender for sure.

Prediction: 2nd

Ellsworth’s Enforcers

Positives: Best forwards in the league, if healthy and on their game; Stronger defence than you expect; Goaltending is potentially deadly.

Negatives: Dealing prospects and picks for players will hurt down the road; Only blue-chip defence prospects are not expected to be high point producers; Short window to win before the cap comes into play.

07-08 Finish: 8th (-7)

Season Changers: As with most teams, injuries play a big part. Ellsworth has some repeat offenders that hope to stay healthy. Havlat, Kessel and Pronger tend to miss time every year. Gonchar is already out indefinitely. Having both Carey Price and backup Halak should ensure the “Double E” gets most of Montreal’s wins, hopefully they can repeat last year’s performance and Price proves to be the #1 they’ve anointed him. Kipper needs to improve on last year’s performance to be valuable, but he will play 70+ games.

Prediction: 1st

There you have it. No betting odds provided, opinions not necessarily endorsed by anyone, including me. Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.