The Knights Templar - Offseason Review

The Knights Templar:

L: Naslund-Vcr FP, Upshall-Nsh P2, Vanek-Buf P2

Rating: 3.5

Naz will be out of his comfort zone with Bertuzzi gone, and with the team transitioning its core players. Still, there are few more reliable gunners at LW in the league, and he should be good for ppg+ stats. Upshall IMO, is never going to be more than a Mathew Barnaby type. 20 goals might be his ceiling, but genuine penalty minutes might be his bonus. Vanek is a Pavel Brendl type forward. If his skating is for real, he could be considerably better.

C: H.Sedin-Vcr P4, Langkow-Cgy P4, O'Sullivan-LA P2

Rating: 2.5

Sedin has made steady progress and is knocking on the door of being a reliable #1 pivot. A repeat of last years numbers with even a small improvement would make solidfy his arrival. Langkow is more of a #3 IMO, and with the arrival of Tanguay, steady time centering Iginla will vanish. O'Sullivan is the intriguing member of the group. He was trapped (pun intended) in Minnesota, but his trade to the Kings will give him a chance to prove his gaudy AHL numbers translate to the NHL.

R: Hejduk-Col FP, Barnaby-Dal RFA

Rating: 3

Hejduk is still a ppg+ gunner who gets to play with Sakic and Turgeon on the PP. His numbers should hold steady for a couple more years still. Barnaby has been a solid third line goon pick for what seems like forever.

D: Bergeron-Edm RFA, Ohlund-Vcr RFA, Berard-Cbs RFA, Kronwall-Det P3, Staios-Edm P2, Weber-Nsh P2

Rating: 2.5

Bergeron may be in a struggle to be more than a pp specialist moving forward (see my post on the Edm D, 'A Disaster in the Making'), but I still think he'll overcome to be a solid top 4. Ohlund will hold the fort among most teams active lineups, but is always a risk to slip out of the top 4. Berard looks to have made a nearly full recovery to where he was prior to his eye mishap. A 50 point season isn't out of the question. Kronwall's time is now, and Detroit has the red carpet out. He'll be groomed as Lidstrom's successor. Staios, well, the opportunity exists to correct this mistake by not renewing his contract. Weber has an all-round dimmension that is attractive to coaches, but anathema to poolies. He's in tough to crack a deep Nsh core, and won't get monster minutes game in and out.

G: Aebischer-Mtl RFA, Toivonen-Bos P2

Rating: 2.5

Aebischer will probably split duties with Crystal-Ball Huet, but backup numbers should be decent. Toivonen is in the same position as Nytiimaaki, he'll be handed the reigns and expected to post playoff worthy numbers out of the gate. Can he?

Overall: 14