Season In Review: The Edge

The Edge finished 12th this past season and will have to endure another year as the "defending" Herbivore Trophy recipients. The season began well, indeed for the first week the Edge led the league. Unfortunately it did not hold up and once again the offseason will be spent trying to figure out what went wrong and rebuilding for next year.

FPs: The Edge began and finished the season with two left wingers as the face of the franchise. Washington's Alexander Ovechkin (92pts) and New Jersey's Patrik Elias (69pts). Ovechkin's production was a bit of a disappointment (given his tremendous rookie year) but it was still the second best of any left winger in the league. Elias' production was a little more problematic, he was only the 15th best left winger out there and while he was injured for a few games, even pro-rated Elias' numbers make him less than a point-a-game player. Solid, but not the elite level one would hope for from an FP.

Draft: On paper the names selected (the Edge's first four picks O.Jokinen (91pts), P.Kariya (76pts), B.Gionta (45pts), M.Modano (43pts)) seem solid but the results speak for themsleves. The Edge had an Omnivore baseline of 873.52pts, second worst in the league and one of only two teams with under 900pts. When you start that far behind, it is very hard to catch up. In particular, the Edge did not select a right winger who hit 50pts or a non +/- defenseman who tallied more than 40pts. On the plus side, Jokinen's 91pts met expectations (though Lecavalier, Savard and Briere were selected after Jokinen went 8th overall) and prospect K.Lehtonen and rfa E.Nabokov were both top 12 goaltenders for the Edge at just under 80pts.

Moving forward the Edge need to move from fighting to avoid the cellar to fighting for the Predator Cup. That will take a concerted effort and may not be something that can be accomplished in one season.

FPs: DO NOT TRADE OVECHKIN! Ovechkin had a poor year but still was the second best player at his position, that is an elite performance and with Washington set to add even more firepower this upcoming season his performance can only improve. Ovechkin is the cornerstone of the franchise and the Edge need to build around the feisty Russian. On the flip side, it is time to move on from Elias. If there is any realistic chance to replace Elias with an elite FP at the next entry draft - the Edge would be well advised to do so. Lecavalier, Kiprusoff, Spezza and others are all elite at their position and elite is what you want from your FPs. Elias is a solid performer when healthy so a replacement is not essential this entry draft if an obvious choice is not there or if the Edge are contemplating promoting a prospect - presumably Lehtonen - into the FP slot. That is an option that can wait one more year and may be worth exploring if an obvious FP replacement is not going to be available when the Edge select.

Prospects: While p4 g K.Lehtonen (likely to be selected as an rfa) has shown that he can contribute now and may even be worthy of FP promotion in 2008, the same can not be said of some of all the Edge's other prospects. Philadelphia p3 g A.Niittymakki may yet prove to be a valuable back-up to M.Biron but he should not figure in the Edge's plans. In Florida, p3 c S.Weiss (48pts) has not demonstrated that he has the ability to be another J.Spezza while p3 rw A.Stewart (1pt) may eventually become the player he was drafted to be but not likely before his time as a FunHL prospect has run out. Serious consideration should be given to dropping both players.

Another p3 rw, Anaheim's C.Perry (44pts) is worth holding on to in part because of his position, his solid improvement from his rookie season and the old saying that it takes big men (he's 6'3") longer to develop. Perry's a keeper and if his March is any indication (11pts in 15gp) then he is poised to explode next season. The pleasant surprise of the prospect draft had to be Ottawa p2 d A.Volchenkov, selected by the Shadowmen and quickly flipped to the Edge on draft day. While a 19pt performance is not noteworthy, a +37 most certainly is - its a risky proposition to bank on a repeat performance but the indications are very positive given that he already has 3 years under his belt and Ottawa are playing him 21minutes a night. Less flashy, as far as stats are concerned, is Washington p2 d M.Green. He has now finished his first full season and has a way to go before taking on the responsibilities envisioned for him full-time but the promise is certainly there. The Edge should hold on to him as well. Finally, the Edge should hold on to Toronto p2 g J.Pogge. The Hockey News' 28th ranked prospect in the Future Watch is already tending net for the AHL Marlies. Given Toronto's goaltending woes, he may end up with the Leafs (and hence producing for the Edge) as early as next season. In any event, an elite prospect who should be held on to.

Prospect Picks: While the Edge flipped their first rounder with the Severed Heads, they will still have a high prospect pick and should obviously look at getting the best offensive prospect available. Given the lack of consensus out there on this year's NHL Entry Draft (though P.Kane is looking to be the presumptive number one) the Edge may be able to walk away with the player they want.

RFAs: I won't go through all the Edge rfas because I'm not convinced that their value is as great as some suggest but the Edge are advantaged by the fact that in some respects, their rfas had sub-par years. Had they exceeded expectations, the chance that they could be matched "late" and hence be a real steal for the Edge next Entry Draft would diminish. C.Higgins (38pts), is one possible bargain as is underrated C.Ehrhoff who has increased his point totals by 10 each of his three seasons. A player that may not be able to be matched cheap is M.Malik (19pts) because he was a 64pt player when played +/-.

Overall: The Edge have a solid foundation in Ovechkin and Lehtonen but need to add more to the mix in terms of returning assets and simply must improve at the draft table if they are to begin to contend for the Predator Cup.