By dcallow
This is the 4th part of 4 in the season preview series. Today we are looking at the second division in the Northern Conference, being the Ahearne Division that comprises of the Northwestern teams.
As always, I rate goalies, top 4 D, and top 6 offence out of 10, the “future” potential of the team out of 5, and cap space out of 3, in order to make a reasonable prediction about the standings for the current year.
I also tried to compare these teams to other divisions in order to keep the rankings consistent.
Goaltending:
The Ahearne Division boasts arguably the best set of goaltenders, having two 90 overall goaltenders as well as 5 others over 80+OVR. Not surprisingly, the three top teams in terms of goaltending include the 90OVR goalies. Edinburgh has a solid pairing of Lundqvist and Reimer, as well as Dublin with two veterans in Thomas and Nabokov. However, Copenhagen takes the top spot by having Luongo and Hiller, and the only team in the league with two 80+ OVR goalies. London is not far behind these three with a tandem of two young and still improving stars in Fleury and Varlamov.
Out of 10:
Copenhagen: 10 Points
Dublin/Edinburgh: 9 Points
London: 8 Points
Belfast: 7 Points
Oslo: 6 Points
Top 4 Defense:
Oslo takes the top spot by far in this division by having the two best defenseman in the division in Weber and Suter. Giordano and Bergeron completes the top 4 in what is arguably the best D core in the league. Belfast and London on the other hand, have gone with a very young core with lots of potential, and it will be interesting to see how they handle the top offences in the league.
Out of 10:
Oslo: 10 Points
Copenhagen/Dublin: 6 Points
Edinburgh: 5 Points
London/Belfast: 2 Points
Top 6 Forwards:
For the second straight position, Oslo is again in top spot. They have the top line in the division in Sedin-Datsyuk-Vanek, followed closely by Dublin’s Hartnell-Kesler-Kessel line and Copenhagen’s Heatley-Weiss-Purcell line. However the division has some great young forwards in Duchene (Belfast), Sutter (Copenhagen), Benn and Stepan (Edinburgh), as well as Seguin and Hall (London). It will be interesting to see how Belfast solves the problem of their relative weakness on the left wing, as current they have promising players in Bourque and Eller penciled into the first 2 lines.
Out of 10:
Oslo: 7 Points
Dublin: 6 Points
Copenhagen: 5 Points
Belfast: 4 Points
Edinburgh: 3 Points
London: 2 Points
Future Potential:
Edinburgh and London boast the most future potential in Benn/Stepan/Ekman-Larsson (Edinburgh) and Seguin/Skinner/Hall (London) which will in a year or two change the whole landscape of the division. However, the rest of the teams are not far behind in terms of having some top young talent.
Out of 5:
Edinburgh/London: 3.5 Points
Oslo: 3 Points
Belfast/Copenhagen/Dublin: 2.5 Points
Cap Flexibility:
The only person with cap troubles will be Dublin, who is currently at 66M in payroll, however by moving a player or two to the farm it shouldn’t pose much of a problem. Belfast, at around 39M payroll, has tons of room to make deals and perhaps improve at left wing or defence.
Out of 3:
Belfast: 3 Points
London: 2 Points
Copenhagen/Edinburgh: 1 Point
Oslo: 0.5 Points
Dublin: 0 Points
Summary:
Overall, it seems like the top team by far in this division will be Oslo, who already have a great defence and solid offence and goaltending. Ultimately for the other teams it will take coaching and investments to separate themselves from the pack for a playoff spot.
Final Projected Standings:
1st Place: Oslo (great D and solid all-around talent)
2nd Place: Copenhagen (great goaltending but could stand to upgrade on the other areas)
3rd Place: Dublin (very solid all-around team in every position, right up to the cap though)
4th Place: Edinburgh (not a win now attitude yet, but the 1st line will be a powerhouse in a few years)
5th Place: Belfast (lots of cap space and young players that will be rewarding in the future)
6th Place: London (the young stars on both the offensive and defensive side will need a couple of years to develop and cause havoc)
