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Over the last few seasons, the Northwest Division has usually been the NHL's closest from top to bottom, which means there is either great parity or excessive mediocrity.
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| Lubomir Visnovsky isn't a superstar but should help Edmonton. (Getty Images) |
In order of their last finish, here's a graded look at what the Northwest teams have been doing this offseason.
Minnesota Wild
The offensively challenged Wild seem to be moving sideways this summer, which isn't necessarily a good thing after Minnesota won its division for the first time and then sputtered out of the first round. Since then the Wild made no attempt to keep two of their top offensive players from leaving via free agency, although Minnesota looks like it strengthened its back end by trading for puck-moving defensemen Marek Zidlicky and Marc-Andre Bergeron. Still, Minnesota identified center as the position it needed to improve on over the summer and then went out and signed four wingers. And two of them -- veterans Owen Nolan and Andrew Brunette -- are on the back ends of their careers. But the biggest issue right now for Minnesota is getting its best player, Marian Gaborik, to agree to a contract extension because he can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Grade: C.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado overachieved last season to get to the second round of the playoffs, but that wasn't enough to save coach Joel Quenneville's job. He was replaced by assistant and former Avs head coach Tony Granato soon after Colorado was swept in the second round by Detroit. Granato could be dealing with a very different looking Avs team next season mainly because franchise icons Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg haven't yet decided on continuing their careers and there doesn't appear to be a backup plan in place. Colorado locked up veteran defensemen Adam Foote and John-Michael Liles and forward Wojtek Wolski, but let go two other defensemen -- Kurt Sauer and Jeff Finger -- and decided against meeting starting goalie Jose Theodore's contract demands. That means Peter Budaj gets the inside track on the No. 1 job, although newcomer Andrew Raycroft might find getting out of Toronto the tonic for reviving his flagging career. Darcy Tucker also comes from Toronto, although you might wonder why. Grade: D
Calgary Flames
The Flames had to make some choices due to salary cap concerns, but what matters most to them is that they have their very solid back end intact. Up front though, there have been choices to make for a team that relies too much on captain Jarome Iginla for offense. Calgary re-signed centers Daymond Langkow and Craig Conroy, but the Flames had to let Kristian Huselius and Owen Nolan go and trade Alex Tanguay to make it work. The trade though, landed the Flames talented young center Mike Cammalleri, who priced himself out of the Los Angeles Kings budget after several productive seasons. Calgary is hoping several lower profile newcomers like Curtis Glencross and Rene Bourque can make nominal contributions and the Flames figure that if Todd Bertuzzi can rebound at age 33, the controversial big forward will turn out to be a worthwhile gamble on a one-year deal. But this is still an aging team, with a window of opportunity that is starting to close. Grade: C+
Edmonton Oilers
It's been a busy summer for Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, who has made his team one to watch and even found time to snipe back at Anaheim counterpart Brian Burke. That's verbal volley was the fun part of things, but with respect to the more serious matters, Lowe has done a nice job upgrading a team that was a lot closer to being in the playoffs than most people realize. Edmonton went heavily into its youth movement last season, and things came together by the end. Since then local billionaire Darryl Katz, who bought the team in June, has given Lowe an open checkbook, and the GM has used it to lock up several key young players, and to make a couple of critical, and expensive upgrades via the trade route. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing because Edmonton struck out on the free-agent market with Marian Hossa and Jaromir Jagr, despite making offers both players admitted were superior to others they received. But the additions of offensive-minded defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky and power forward Erik Cole inject important missing elements into the lineup. And Gilbert Brule, who was picked sixth overall by Columbus in 2005 but failed to live up to his potential there, is only 21 and he's an Edmonton native. Grade: A
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks new GM Mike Gillis, a former agent, doesn't seem to have too many friends among his new counterparts, many of whom seem to believe he undercut his popular predecessor, Dave Nonis, for the job. It might have prevented Gillis from making the kind of big splashes he had hoped for. Vancouver needs to add some offense, especially after Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison signed elsewhere, but the Canucks were unable to work a deal during the busy trading that went on at the draft and they've had little luck attracting high-profile free agents since. In fact, Mats Sundin has shown decided indifference to the two-year, $20 million offer Gillis has on the table for him. Vancouver was able to add one notable player, Pavol Demitra, a former Gillis client, but the veteran forward turns 34 in November and is a complementary player these days. Beyond that, Vancouver hasn't managed to improve its lineup and will likely need goalie Roberto Luongo to stand on his head again for the team to stay near the playoff bubble. Grade: D
