Lundqvist, O'Ree, Zubov, and Pronger all to have jerseys retired this season.

I mean it depends right. I think it would be hard for myself for example, a good skater to ever get to the NHL level speed if I already haven’t. And a great skater would probably struggle to ever reach speeds like McDavid. I would say it’s similar to running; if you got it you got it, if you don’t you don’t.

But that doesn’t mean their can’t be improvements.

(I’m not gonna be 100% correct)
Fixing stride and power use - for example point could have had a poor stride technique and was taught a new one that clicked
He also could have been inefficient with his power before and learned how to fix his technique but use his power better as well

Another could be maturity - he could have developed stronger muscles etc etc ; hit maturity and grew into his prime and what not

Could be a combination of them right;

Tampa sees his potential, gets him to focus on skating and stride technique. Then he’s also maturing physically and develops more strength or endurance and trains his slow twitch/ fast twitch (which he’s better at). Then all these things pile up and fixing his stride technique while growing into his NHL frame could have helped a ton.

That’s my best guess

Zetterberg and Crawford should be next. Weber will be retired with the Preds at some point, with the whole LTIR thing complicating when. Chara will be retired in Boston soon after he retires. Same with Jagr in Pittsburgh and Datsyuk.

Edit: And Thornton & Marleau in San Jose when they retire.

I don't think Crawford or Weber will get their numbers retired. They were legends in Chicago and Nashville, no doubt, but in Crawford's case, it takes another level to get your number retired (he was good, not number-retirement worthy), while in Weber's, when you're traded away at age 30, it's hard to make the case to the team that they should retire your number, no matter how good you were (same reason why the Penguins will not retire Fleury's #29, IMO)

Yet he should

RIP Boys 🙏 🏒 @nhlcollectionig pic.twitter.com/MhxuXvxCRv

— Pavel Barber (@HeyBarber) August 22, 2021

RIP

Brayden Points skating went from below average to elite, that’s unheard of - but there are plenty of guys who go from below average to average/above skaters. Teams should be drafting players with skating concerns if they have high end hockey IQ/puck skills. Better to take a player like that over a fast skater with low hockey IQ. Improving a players skating is a lot easier than improving their hockey IQ. Sasha Pastujov fell to the 3rd round in the 2021 draft because of his skating. I believe he’s working with Barb Underhill (who also worked with Point) and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t turn into a top 6 winger in the NHL.

Idk Crawford’s numbers and stats are pretty ****ing good when you look them up

It’s hard to say he’ll be retired. But I’d say it’s hard to argue if they did. With the cups and play - plus maybe a homage to the injury ending his career I could see it happen.

Sanheim isn’t very good to start with lol

According to @NHLNetwork here are your breakout candidates for the 21-22 season:1. #NJDevils Hughes2. #NYR Lafreniere 3. #Blackhawks Dach4. #GoHabsGo Caufield5. #FlaPanthers Verhaeghe6. #Preds Saros7. #CofRed Mangiapane8. #GoSensGo Stutzle9. #NYR FoxDo you agree? pic.twitter.com/sjeKYoS6eK

— Hockey Hound (@HockeyHoundShow) August 22, 2021

Adam Fox breakout candidate lol

Also Juuse Saros lol.

Here's my Team USA positional rankings

Still waiting for someone to say Jones is not a top 10 RD.

And Saros there too…

Saros is still a lowkey goaltender who has not gotten any recognition but Fox literally won the Norris and is the first ELC to do so since Karlsson lol.

That and Mangiapane and Verhege already had their breakout seasons. This list basically should just be Hughes, Lafreniere, Stutzle, Caufield, and Dach.

Betting all the chips that I know what everybody here is going to answer

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2021/08/poll-where-will-the-arizona-coyotes-play-in-2022-23.html

HOW ON EARTH IS HOUSTON NOT WINNING YET?

I guess Ratio lul

Fox, Saros, Verhaege have all already broken out, Hughes and Mangiapane I could see the argument for too

I think Mangiapane also already broke out as he had more points in less games or something and his stats were significantly better than last season. Unless the projection is 40 goals or something I think this is probably near his peak. My guess rn is his peak would be 20 goals and 20-25 maybe 30 assists in a full 82 game season if he can stay healthy

Hughes definitely can be in the breakout candidate for next season as we need to see more. Lets see with Tatar how he does.

Mangiapane was on pace for 26 goals while only averaging 16:40 of ice time. If he gets 20 min of ice time and better linemates I can see him scoring close to 40 goals.

I mean, I don’t even think he’s underrated at all. Everyone’s aware that he’s good offensively, but that’s literally all he brings to the table. Good in the offensive zone and on the PP. He’s not a workhorse, and he’s significantly below average defensively. He’s a 3rd pair guy who you play like 10 mins per night or less at 5v5 because he can’t be trusted in his own zone and has to be extremely sheltered offensively. If your power play needs an injection of skill then he’s the type of guy you bring in, but most teams have a capable PP QB, so his defensive woes make him not worth the risk in many cases. Add to that the fact that he shoots left and a lot of teams just don’t have a place for a one dimensional defenseman in their lineup.

Definitely a fair take, I think he's worth a shot though
Hilariously, I just did an enormously unrealistic simulated mock draft in which Gustaffson was drafted by CPU over Matthias Ekholm, Jaccob Slavin, Weegar, Chychrun, Brett Pesce, etc.

https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/506456/new

Made a team North America

OK, if I got a roster like this in a real draft, I'd slaughter the competition.
Centers: Alexsander Barkov, Ryan O'Reilly
Left Wing: Mark Stone, Kirill Kaprizov
Right Wing: Mikko Rantanen, David Perron
Forwards: Matthew Barzal, TJ Oshie
Defensemen: Adam Fox, Shea Theodore, Charlie McAvoy, Devon Toews
Goalies: Jordan Binnington, Darcy Keumper
Bench: Buchnevich, Nikolaj Ehlers
(This is from a simulated mock draft (snake-fashion) in which I started off 9th out of 10)
Outrageous