Welcome back to Thursday ramblings. Are you excited, I am.

Make sure you keep checking out the 31-in-31 series

FYI my Capitals one is coming out on the 30th so big time watch for that as I am nice.

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I figure I will do another episode of my super original idea “Formidable Opponent” idea, and now I will call it Fantasy Formidable Opponent!

Question 1:

Best guess on top five Calder finalists in the upcoming season, plus players who would be close, and dark horses? Also can you give reasoning for your dark horse picks?

Answer (FYI I can see myself missing a couple top prospects but I swear I have gone over my list like nine times):

Top 5: Andrei Svechnikov, Casey Mittelstadt, Filip Zadina, Filip Chytil, Rasmus Dahlin

Just on the outside: Martin Necas, Miro Heiskanen, Elias Pettersson

Dark horse: Henrik Borgstrom, Daniel Sprong, Sam Steel

• Borgstrom – This will likely require better line mates and an injury to Barkov (likely) or Trochek, so it would be unexpected to happen but I do believe there is likely a chance
• Sprong – Simple: If he lines up with Crosby or Malkin consistently he can put up a lot of points
• Steel – My idea here is that Kesler is out all year and Henrique plays a more 3C role, leaving Steel with cushy match ups and skilled wingers

Not making NHL (this season) because of team but could ultimately compete: Vitali Abramov

Question 2:

With Ottawa in kind of a rebuild like state what young players should be targeted in hockey drafts, especially once Duchene and Stone are possibly gone?

Answer:

I still like Colin White quite a bit and think his AHL numbers were low because the AHL team was awful. Filip Chlapik also has NHL skill that could become a sneaky late round pick in drafts. Logan Brown could also take over the #2 centre role if White cannot handle it and is shifted to the wing.

A lot of the potential in young player’s points depends on Boucher and if he has evolved, since he barely gave any young players time in the NHL last season.

Question 3:

Are there any rookies/prospects on Washington I could target that could be a late round steal for the upcoming season? What about that future?

Answer:

No, unless two of the top three centres get hurt and Boyd is played in top six duty.

For the future though Garrett Pilon and Juuso Ikonen have top six skill, and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby could (I stress could) become a scorer like Grabner but with more assists.

Question 4:

Who will have the better future in terms of putting up points: Andrei Svechnikov or Elias Pettersson?

Answer:

Svechnikov to me has been quite underrated by a lot of people, but underrated in that he is in the upper tier of the best prospects to be drafted in a while. I can see 40+ goal and 40+ assist seasons by the skilled winger, while I can’t see Pettersson have the same success (100+ point potential, no way)

Question 5:

Will one of Brannstrom, Suzuki, or Glass make the Golden Knights in 2018-2019?

Answer:

I honestly have no idea on the forwards but I doubt Brannstrom will make it. I doubt Glass and Suzuki can make it with Vegas having 13 one-way contracts, Tuch, and a large contract for WILLIAM Karlsson coming. After that however Vegas has only 10 forwards (including the mentioned players) signed to one way deals which would be a great door opener for the two forwards.

Question 6:

Are you as sad as I am that the Blues filled their top nine centres and basically signed 55 players this off season?

Answer:

Yes I am. I want Fabbri to not be hurt anymore for one, but I would have loved if the Blues put Kyrou and Thomas on the team this season as they are both ready and can make more of a difference than Maroon and Bozak.

Also of note, Blues, please trade Ivan Barbashev, if you aren’t going to use him can you just let another team put him in a position to succeed. Thank you

Question lucky number 7:

What do you make of the Rangers passing on Whalstrom for Kravtsov?

Answer:

I think Whalstrom and Kravtsov are a lot closer than people think, and while I do think Whalstrom will be a better goal scorer I see Kravtsov as a better all-around skilled player. Now what does that mean, well it means that I see him controlling the play and driving to the net or setting up a play where you should see Whalstrom shoot more often than not. In the end both will be great players and the Isles and Rangers did well on those picks.

Well that is all for my continued segment of Fantasy Formidable Opponent

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