NHL Northwest Division Offseason Report Card (Part One)

It's the duty of every general manager to make the moves that he believes will push his team to the next level during the offseason. GMs have the June Draft, the July 1 Free Agent period, and the following few months to make adjustments before training camp opens. 

Of all the NHL divisions this offseason, the Northwest is poised to see the greatest shakeup in standings compared to last year's final point totals—thanks to not only moves that were made, but those that were not made during the offseason. 

The Edmonton Oilers, while failing to land a big-name free agent despite throwing huge amounts of money around, have still made some impressive moves to bolster an already up-and-coming lineup, while the Vancouver Canucks look to be chasing the Leafs for the draft lottery next June.  

Let's have a look at the offseason moves, and what they will likely mean for each respective team:

Calgary Flames

The Flames have the luxury of having a great core of top-notch players, but are facing the same problem that has handcuffed Tampa Bay—huge sums of money committed to a few players.  

The Flames have some of the best goaltenders, defensemen and goal scorers in the league, but once again failed to live up to fan expectations last year. One must question if they have made enough offseason moves to change their fortunes. 

Adding Mike Cammalleri will likely help, but his production will only replace the talented and departed Kristian Huselius.  The departure of Alex Tanguay to the Montreal Canadiens will further hinder an already goal-challenged offense. 

Edmonton's loss is Calgary's gain, as the addition of Curtis Glencross will fit into the aggressive checking style the Flames have built their team around. And Todd Bertuzzi will replace the hole left by Minnesota's signing of Owen Nolan. 

Still, the Flames likely have taken a step backwards in the offseason with the departure of Huselius and Tanguay, and are hindered by the salary cap from making any major additions that could push them over the top.

With limited young talent in their farm system, the Flames likely have peaked in their progress and will face another year of underperforming expectations. 

Prediction: Third in the division, eighth in the conference.  First-round playoff elimination.  93 points.

Vancouver Canucks

Say what you will about the Canucks—the one-time jewel of the Northwest Division and perennial Cup contender—but one can't help now but to think they are trying to take over from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the most inept management department. starting with the hiring of a GM who has no experience and is disliked around the league by other general managers, thanks to his aggressive tactics as a player agent. 

Being a Vancouver fan right now isn't easy—and with the departure of pretty well all of their key nucleus players aside from the twins, Vancouver is a skeleton of the mighty team they were only a few seasons ago, when things looked so bright with the arrival of Roberto Luongo.   

The exodus of key players—including Naslund, Cooke, Jovanovski, Bertuzzi, and Brendan Morrison—have been replaced by names like Steve Bernier and Pavel Demitra.   Except for having one of the league's best regular-season goaltenders, there isn't much to cheer about on Canada's West Coast—and even less to hope for in the future. 

And don't forget about the teams bizarre, $10 million-per-season offer to Mats Sundin as proof the organization is not in sound hands. 

Prediction:  Fifth place in the division, 13th in the conference.  81 points.

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers finished the 2007-08 campaign with the second-best post-All Star record in the league, and finished 13-5-2 in their last 20 games, led by the surprising development of 18-year-old Sam Gagne and a host of other young talent that gave opposing defensemen fits with their speed. 

The Oilers, as expected, moved Jarret Stoll, and in return received puck-moving defensemen Lubomir Visnovsky from the Kings.  This made the oft-injured and disinterested Joni Pitkanen expendable—and he was, in turn, used to acquire Erik Cole from the Hurricanes.  

The Oilers will likely regret the loss of Curtis Glencross, but have enough talent in their farm system with the likes of Robbie Shremp to fill his spot without much concern. 

The Oilers are also going into the 2008-09 season with a new billionaire owner—Darryl Katz, who reportedly offered $90 million to unrestricted free agent Marion Hossa before he signed with the Wings.  Rumor has it that Katz is set on obtaining a top-10 marquee goal scorer before the season opens—and isn't afraid to spend the money to achieve his objective.  

The Oilers though do have a few question marks going into this season, in regards to players returning from injuries.  Sheldon Souray played only a few dozen games last year before being sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury, and frequently-injured team captain Ethan Moreau was hurt for most of the season once again.   

But the Oilers have an adequate goaltending duo, and can lay claim to one of the deepest young talent pools in the league. They should fare much better in 2008-09, as well as in the distant future. 

Prediction:  First in the division,  third in the conference.  98 Points. Second-round playoff elimination. 

Part Two can be viewed here.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/41777-northwest-off-season-report-card-part-twoGuys,

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