There was much promise and potential surrounding the Great Whites at the start of this past season but it never quite crystalized into a serious push to the top. Still, the team finished a very respectable 3rd overall with just shy of a 1000 points on the season and, as a result of further efforts to retool for the future, the Great Whites remain one of the serious contenders for the Predator Cup going into next season and there is reason to believe that this time the promise will be fulfilled.FPs: The Great Whites boast the greatest FP to ever play in the FunHL - Martin Brodeur (142.13pts). The man is simply a points factory. This year he was not only the best goaltender in the FunHL but was also the top pointing player in the league by over 20pts! If your FP is supposed to provide elite performances for your team then this is the player you should compare your FP to - don't be alarmed if your FP comes up wanting by the comparison, he's supposed to. Brodeur just broke Bernie Parent's record for wins in a season so there is no reason to expect that he won't continue to be minding the nets for the Great Whites for the next half-dozen years. The sad day is coming where GM Ross will need to ponder replacing Brodeur but that day is still a long ways off. The other FP that the Great Whites started the season with was defenseman C.Pronger (59pts). For reasons best understood by the Great Whites, Pronger was traded during the course of the season for, among others, FP center P.Marleau (78pts) but injuries aside, Pronger had done nothing to suggest he was not providing the elite level defensive presence demanded of him.
Draft: The Great Whites had two solid FPs and a bevy of prospects, promoted prospects and talented rfas entering the 2006 Entry Draft. The challenge, when everything looks promising, is fulfilling that promise and the Great Whites, at least as far as draft day goes, did just that. The would end up with the third-highest Omnivore baseline of any team in the league at 1051.63pts but that may under-state how good their drafting was. In some respects, the top end of their draft was disappointing in that M.Gaborik (57pts) and J.Cheechoo (69pts), matched with Great White's first two selections, both underpointed, the result of injury in the case of Gaborik, or simply got off to a very slow start, in the case of Cheechoo. The disappointment continued when the Fish took M.Zidlicky (30pts) with their third pick, it wasn't a horrible selection but the defender was far less productive than was hoped for given the high pick. There could be no disappointment with their fourth selection, M.Savard (96pts), who flirted with the scoring lead for a while this season. What is so impressive about the Great Whites' draft was how they finished the draft getting almost as many points with their final 4 selections (240pts) as the got with their first 4 (252pts). Then again, when you are able to promote and then select Ales Hemsky (53pts), Rick Nash (57pts), Alexander Frolov (71pts) and Ryan Whitney (59pts) with your last four picks, your drafting skills are bound to look formidable.
Moving forward: Given all the strength of this team coming out of the draft a fair question to ask was how was it that the Great Whites didn't win? Unfortunately some of the strength of the team never got going all at the same time. Gaborik was injured almost immediately and Cheechoo's performance was very disappointing to start. While both finished strong, by then it was too late for the Great Whites who had either dealt their top assets or were in the process of doing so. Their Omnivore rating
(-56.25pts) is not a true reflection of the Great Whites' success on the trade front, as most of those negative points were collected in the final weeks of the year following their big sell-off, the fact remains that the aggressive trades even good teams need to pull off to win never materialized for GM Ross. Still, this is a good team with a lot of returning assets. If they can draft as well next September, they could again be in the hunt for some hardware.
FPs: The Great Whites belong to M.Brodeur (142.13pts). As noted above, he is the greatest FP in FunHL history and shows no signs of slowing down. Expect Brodeur to retire as a Great White, he isn't going anywhere. The same can not be said of recently acquired FP c Patrick Marleau (78pts). When acquired for C.Pronger barely a month into the new season a lot of eyebrows were raised. Pronger's production from the back-end was seen as part of the Great Whites' long-term plan and while the trade for the talented pivot may have addressed an immediate need for better production down the middle, it was still surprising for a team that always seemed concerned with the long-term.
Marleau is no slouch by any means. At 28 he is entering his prime years and his point total this year was his second highest ever and still over a point per game. Yet he does not seem poised to become an elite center in the same way that Pronger was an elite defenseman. Pronger, even with his injuries, was a top 6 defenseman while Marleau finished 15th among centers. If the opportunity presents itself, expect the Great Whites to try and make a trade to deal Marleau and fill that FP slot with either a high selection in the Entry Draft or, potentially, from one of the high end rfas currently under contract such as Ryan Whitney (59pts), Joni Pitkanen (43pts), Alexander Semin (73pts), Alexander Frolov (71pts) or even Rick Nash (57pts). Given the potential the Great Whites have to win it all this year may give Marleau some breathing room this season. Even with all the talent assembled by the GM Ross, replacing an FP is always a real hit to a team and the decision may be made to simply hold on to Marleau for this run and try and deal him during the course of the season or wait until next year to replace him.
Prospects: What a collection of assets. The "graduating" class of p4s likely to be selected as rfas this year may not equal last season's quartet but they are still impressive in their own right. Alexander Semin (73pts) and Nathan Horton (62pts) should both be selected by the Fish and make contributions next year. If both continue to progress, then their contribution may be more integral to a potential cup run than they were this season - though both were the highest pointers on their respective wings for the Great Whites this past year.
Among p3s, the big prize is likely J.Carter (37pts-prorated to 49pts without injury) who will be relied upon far more next season in Philadelphia. If he hits his potential, he could be amazing. J.Jokinen (48pts) is solid, talented and may also show that he has another level, beyond the shootout, but being in Dallas tempers my enthusiasm for him somewhat. Speaking of tempered enthusiasm, p3 M.Svatos (30pts) had a very disappointing season with the Avs but can hopefully bounce back. Colorado has a slew of young talent gelling into an impressive core, Svatos had a 50pts in his rookie season so the skill is there but he needs to show that he belongs in their top six or his production will continue to suffer. Expect the Great Whites to give him another opportunity. Other p3s such as A.Ladd (21pts) and A.Miettien (25pts) have yet to reach their potential but will probably get one more shot with the Great Whites.
That leaves two players who may have fallen a bit in some estimations. First there is p2 c P.Kessel (29pts) whose numbers are not impressive but given that he had to fight cancer as well as NHL checking assignments put those numbers in a whole new light. Kessel finished the year looking much more like the player scouts once spoke of in the same breath as Sidney Crosby. The Great Whites are not banking on him being that good but believe that had he played the whole year the way he did the last two months then there would be some Calder buzz around him - they may be right. The other remaining p2 is A.Esposito who will be drafted in this NHL Entry Draft. His stock has fallen since last season but that may be the case of overexposure and unrealistic comparisons, again, to Crosby. Don't be fooled, he will be a fine NHLer before his prospect status expires though don't expect much impact from him this season. If he does surprise, this is one prospect who might be dealt in order to fuel a cup run.
Prospect picks: The Great Whites, barring trades, have one pick. The Lost Boys' first round selection, number 3 overall. With seven returning prospects, that should work out just fine. The expectation is that the Severed Heads will select J.Tavaras and the Scourge will take the presumptive 1st overall NHL selection in P.Kane before the spotlight falls to the Great Whites. The temptation will be to select a player who can step in right away but that may not be possible. The top available forwards A.Cherpanov, J.Voracek and J.Vanriemsdyk are all posibilities but I would expect that the Great Whites may surprise by either dealing the pick for help this season or by going more long term such as selecting a potential replacement for M.Brodeur in C.Price.
RFAs: RFAs can provide depth or they can provide strength and the Great Whites have both holding the right to match on eight players. On defense and left-wing the potential contribution of top-end rfas will be very noticable, particularly as there is little chaff mixed in with the wheat. The defense list is led at the top end by Ryan Whitney (59pts), J.Pitkanen (43pts) and P.Boucher (51pts + 26tg pts). In addition, N.Boynton (11pts + 34.5tg pts) can provide sufficient toughness from the backend to compensate for his suspect offensive production. Toughness is an issue because the one sour note in the Great White rfa collection is right-winger M.Barnaby (7pts + 31.75tg pts). Barnaby suffered a concussion in January and did not return to play after. Some reports have speculated that he may, at 33 years of age, have played his last NHL game.
Forwards who can still make a contribution to the Great Whites next season include left-wingers A.Frolov (71pts) and R.Nash (57pts). Both will likely be matched when bid upon as both are expected to perform even better next season. Frolov is already threatening to be a number one left-winger, ranking 13th this season, while Nash is only two seasons removed from his Rocket Richard trophy win. What is interesting is that this season, seen by some as a bit of a disappointment, garnered him as many points as he got when he won the goal-scoring award - 57. The final piece of the puzzle may be the hardest call for the Great Whites - M.Fisher (48pts). Fisher's point totals were the best of his 6 year career but are really not high enough to warrant matching for anything more than a late round injury replacement.
Overall: The Great Whites are one of the Predator Cup contenders headed in to the Entry Draft, just as they were last season. It would not take too much to fall their way to convert contender to favorite. Given their long history of success and the desire to restore their unique status as winningest franchise ever, I wouldn't bet against them.
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