We are two months into the NHL season and thought it would be a good time to ask ourselves if we are buying, selling, or holding on some of the hotter topics around the league.
60+ Goal scorer in the NHL this year
Andy Eide: Sell. Call me a cynic, but
it seems every season a player starts off hot and ison pace to fly past 60, but then cools off. David Pastrnak is that guy this year, and he’s a great player who’s fun to watch but he’ll fall short.
Darren Brown: Buy. David Pastrnak is lighting it up, and you can never rule out Ovi.
John Barr: Buy. It hasn’t happened since Steven Stamkos hit the 60 goal mark in the 2011-12 season but Pastrnak is going to give it a run. If he stays healthy, he will hit the 60 goal mark.
Arizona Coyotes are a playoff team
AE: Hold. I really want them to be and they have great
goaltending while playing a tough, structured system. But, can they score enough? One thing to watch is whether Phil Kessel can get going. He was the big off season pick up but has yet to find his footing in Arizona. If he can find it, the Coyotes will stay in the race.
DB: Hold. I like the 1A/1B goalie tandem in Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta, and while this seems like a playoff team right now, I’ve been fooled by the Desert Dogs before.
JB: Sell. The Coyotes are averaging just 2.8 goals a game which is 23rd in the league. Goaltending has been outstanding but it is bound to come down a bit.
Tampa Bay Lighting are a playoff team
AE: Buy. There is way too much talent on this club to be left out of the playoffs. They aren’t that far off the mark now and should start to get stronger as the season progresses.
DB: Buy. They’re just too talented to not make the playoffs. I think they’ll turn it around soon.
JB: Buy. They had some early season troubles but have started to correct course since they trip to Sweden. They’ve got several games at hand with the teams above them in the standings. The team is just to talented to miss the playoffs. As long as they are close come February, they will make the playoffs.
The Seattle Franchise has a name by the all star break
AE: Buy. End the speculation.
It sounds like they’re narrowing in on a name so let’s hope this happens so we can stop debating it.
DB: Sell. The comments last week by Ron Francis that we will have a name in the first quarter or first half of 2020 makes me think they aren’t as close as we may have believed previously.
JB: Sell. I would love to be wrong here but it seems like the timeline is in danger of slipping again and they’ve kicked this can down the road a couple times already so “fool me once…yada yada yada”
Cale Makar as the Calder trophy winner
AE: Buy. Makar has been unbelievable this season and its exciting to have another young star in the league. Don’t sleep on Quinn Hughes in Vancouver though, he’s not far off Makar’s pace.
DB: Buy. There’s just no better rookie in the league, and if things keep going this way, Makar should even at least be in the conversation for the Norris Trophy.
JB: Buy. Makar is certainly the odds on favorite just two months in to the 2019-20 campaign but I would not be surprised if Quinn Hughes pushes himself into the conversation with a hot streak.
Cale Makar with a nasty snipe pic.twitter.com/DyHLtz7ZhJ
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 29, 2019
Mike Babcock is the first head coach in Seattle
AE: Sell and sell hard. Babcock is not a player’s coach who it seems to motivate through fear and manipulation is a terrible fit for an expansion roster that will need to come together quickly. Seattle should stay far away.
DB: Sell. Way too much bad publicity about that guy this year, and with Francis having his name brought up in the Bill Peters issues, Babcock would be just too big of a PR disaster for NHL Seattle. Plus, I just don’t like Babcock.
JB: Sell. Babcock’s style is not a fit for the culture that Seattle team hopes to create and it will not serve Seattle well for becoming an attractive destination for potential free agents.
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