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NHL Teams That Are All In For 2016

There are a number of NHL teams who are “all in” for the 2015-16 season, including the St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, L.A. Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, and San Jose Sharks. The time is now for all these franchises, for a variety of reasons.

NHL Teams That Are All In For 2016

Blues

For the last four seasons the Blues have been one of the top teams in the NHL. But all they have to show for it is one playoff series win in four years. Once again this year the Blues are near the top in the league standings. However, if the Blues follow recent history there may be major changes in the organization, from the coach to the front office to the roster if they fail to advance again.

In addition the Blues have some major cap issues. St. Louis is right up against the cap and David Backes, Troy Brouwer and Carl Gunnarsson are unrestricted free agents at the end of the year. Jaden Schwartz is a restricted free agent at season’s end and will be in line for a big raise. Kevin Shattenkirk and Brian Elliot become UFA’s after next season. Hockey’s Future in their recent organizational rankings has the Blues at #22. The clock is ticking for the Blues.

Capitals

The Capitals have been a very talented team the last number of years. But they have been unable to reach at least the Eastern Conference Final. They have come very close including last year when they lost to the Rangers in seven games. It is clear this is one of the best teams the Capitals have had in the history of the franchise. Their is no other team in the NHL where if they didn’t make the Stanley Cup Final, the 2015-16 season would be considered a major disappointment. Washington needs to play the upcoming post-season like they have all year long.

Ducks

The last two years the Ducks have had Game 7 meltdowns to end their seasons. Last year it was to the Chicago Blackhawks and the year before it was to the Kings. At least it was at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup champions in those years. But now is the time for the Ducks to win those critical games against an elite team in the league. If Anaheim fails to do so for the third year in a row, it could mean some major roster changes, as well as a coaching change. This group has to show it has the personnel to get the job done and can at least get to the Stanley Cup Final.

While the Ducks are in much better position than most of the teams on this list cap wise, they still have some major issues in this regard. The Ducks have eight UFA’s and five RFA’s at the end of the year, with Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm and Frederik Anderson all in line for huge raises as restricted free agents. Again, unlike most teams on this list the Ducks have two top prospects closing in on the NHL in Shea Theodore and Nick Ritchie. But the time is now for the Ducks.

Kings

Is there a team that has had an all in mentality more than the Kings this year? L.A. traded a big package for Milan Lucic (13th overall pick in last years draft plus Martin Jones) knowing in all likelihood they would only have his services for the 2015-16 season. That move alone showed the hockey world that General Manager Dean Lombardi has pushed his chips to the middle of the table.

The Kings need to cash in this season with another Stanley Cup because this could be their best chance in the next number of years. L.A. is cap strapped moving forward and has one of the worst pipelines in the sport according to Hockey’s Future (current ranking is #26). Keep in mind the Kings do not have a first round pick in this year’s draft, as that was part of the package that went to the Carolina Hurricanes last year in the Andrej Sekera deal. In fact, the Kings only have one draft pick in the first three rounds of this year’s draft. They are all in.

Lightning

Tampa was two games away from winning the Cup last year. However, this season the task maybe more difficult as the potential Eastern Conference Final foe in the Capitals probably will be a much more difficult adversary than the Rangers were last year. As we all know, the Lightning barely got by the Rangers last season.

This could be Steven Stamkos’ last season in Tampa as he is a UFA at the end of the year. In addition almost all of Tampa’s core players contracts are coming to a critical juncture. Alex Killorn, J.T. Brown, Vladislav Namestnikov and Nikita Kucherov are all RFAs at season’s end and will receive major increases. Following next season both Victor Hedman and Ben Bishop are UFAs and Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Andrej Sustr are RFA’s. The window is now!

Rangers

The Rangers window is closing and there is no team that has a shorter lifespan in terms of being a Cup contender on this list other than probably the Sharks. Henrik Lundqvist just turned 34 this past week, the blue shirts have major cap issues, they have one of the worst farm systems in the sport (Hockey’s Future has them ranked #27) and New York only has one draft pick in the first two rounds in the next two drafts. The Rangers have to choose between this upcoming draft and next season which first round pick they want to send to the Coyotes to complete the Keith Yandle trade. Like the Lightning the time is now for the Rangers!

Sharks

The Sharks, while a very good team, are not on the same level as the rest of the teams on this list. The reason I am including San Jose is because Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau are 36, they have no first round pick in this years draft (only have one pick in the first three rounds of this years draft), have a sub-par farm system (ranked 23rd by Hockey’s Future) and also have traded away valuable future draft picks in the coming years (the Leafs have the Sharks second round picks in both 2017 & 2018).

Time is of the essence for these franchises.

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