Smit's Pre-Season 42 EAST Power Rankings

First off let me just start by saying this is all for fun so don't get your undies in a bunch, I reached out and asked for 5 GM's grades to put this all together and give you all something to read since all the media has now died on LG.

Enjoy! Each team received a rank from 1-8 in their divisions, lower the overall number the higher ranked your team ended up being. If your interested in being polled next time around just slide into my DM's thanks!

Eastern Atlantic
Most of the GM's all agree this is going to be a absolute bloodbath fight for the top 4 all season long, we also have the smallest difference in the top 5, than in any other division. ​

1. Providence Bruins (2.3)
Providence has one of the strongest D core's in all of the AHL and have to believe that's what gave them the edge over Toronto in the managers eye's. The only major concern I can see, would be how they overpaid on their 3rd line forwards which may come back to bite them in the ass later down the road.

2. Toronto Marlies (2.4)
The Marlies almost edged out the Bruins for #1 spot especially with returning a 22 win line this season, my guess would be that some of the other GM's see a bigger drop off after that 1st line. Look for the Marlies to adjust down the road and build some depth for their 3rd line.

3. Charlotte Checkers (3.4)
Checkers come in at 3rd on the list lead by Fakie and Flames, they had a pretty successful bidding and seems like they just brought over a lot of the old Iowa squad. They REALLY overpaid to have a 2nd line which cost them any wiggle room they had to make some moves. It'll be interesting to see how the DP's come into play here as it may save them some cap and open doors in the coming weeks.

4. Syracuse Crunch (3.9)
This is legit an all-star team from when most of you kids weren't even allowed to play online yet. The sense of nostalgia here brings a certain buzz that draws you in. If these old vets can dust off those thumbs again, the Crunch could really make a run here BUT will have to hit the ground full speed with this cutthroat division.

5. Rochester Americans (4.5)
The Americans look like their entire season is going to rest on the shoulders of Chucky and Jiggle to perform as their #1 forward line. With no real top line on defense this team is going to have to rely on all 3 lines putting up at least 2 wins a week to stay in this tight playoff race.

6. Laval Rockets (5.6)
Napkins and the boys come in 6th in the GM poll, and actually had a decent bidding wining FIVE players for 750k its just going to be interesting to see if they should've used their remaining cap for a bigger name. I like the idea of building from the back up, but I have to imagine there's a real need here for a 2nd line.

7. Grand Rapid Griffins (6.2)
KILLLLAAAA K for 500k, man that's got a good ring to it. Kidding, of course. Killa actually went for right around where he should've for this bidding give or take a mill. They really went out there and bought themselves a top line, but wow what a drop off after that. I can only imagine the reason they ended up with a 6.2 rating is due to their lack of depth, hey the Brightside is you can always beat up on Belleville all summer.

8. Belleville Senators (7.1)
After getting all the grades back from the other polled GM's the Senators come in at 8th, and I have to admit I'm not really surprised. This team has no #1 line, and every line is overpaid. Yes they picked up decent players in bidding, but they ended up paying DOUBLE of what their previous highest contracts ever were. There was absolutely no plan going into bidding as the LEAD THE AHL with 61 bids on 36 different players, you could try to make the argument "oh they were bidding guys up" and "some probably were snipes".... Nope. Legit ZERO snipes. Best of luck Belleville its going to be a long summer.

Eastern North
VERRRYYYY Close race for top 3 here, after the GM's turned in their polls most of them had these teams in all different orders, only one thing was for sure. Every team had Chicago .... 8th​

1. Bridgeport Islanders (2.1)
The Islanders have solid depth on all three lines so it's easy to see why they edge out the early top spot. The only soft spot I can see right away if their lack of depth at center after Hergy, Drew I heard is a nice guy but has had zero success up at the AHL level so paying 2.25 might've been a reach, this is definitely his chance with the pieces he has around him to break that spell.

2. Hershey Bears (2.4)
Don't to say to much about my team and come off biased but I love what we were able to do in bidding. Easily have one of the best D-cores in the AHL and their top 2 lines are going to produce numbers, the real question mark to be answered if who's going to step up for them on the 3rd line.


3. WBS Penguins (2.7)
Rouibiiiiiii Roooooo , WBS is solid post-bidding. Nothing against Tranqzz I think he could've gone into bidding for 2-3 mill and let Roubi grab a bigger free contract but that's just me picking at small things. Great depth here for the penguins though and personally think Cup4Blues at 1.25 is a steal the guy is a beast.

4. Hartford Wolfpack (3.8)
Personally I had Hartford higher than the polls show, but that's just because Lefty is a stud on LD and this team has a true game 7 line. I think their downfall in other people's eyes were the amount of bottom dollar players they ended up with as HALF of their team is 750k players.

5. LeHigh Phantoms (4.4)
There's less than 1 power ranking point between 4-5-6 on this list, and think LeHigh is a bubble team that can def get hot at the right time for a deeper run. I mean Eden alone should boost this team's morale, the guy is the nicest person you'll meet.

6. Utica Comets (4.9)
Crazy how Utica can post a 4.9 rating but still end up 6th in the rankings. I don't think this team is going to struggle as much as you may think, I would've liked to see them go get a true #1 G with that extra cap room but all in all they have a decent roster.

7. Cleveland Monsters (6.8)
Man..... there's so many good things I want to say about this team but at the same time I think they are going to struggle. Allen is legitimately one of the best goalies in the AHL, seriously he's top 3 and a starter on any NHL roster. But there's soooo many holes here in Cleveland in front of him that I think he's going to have to stand on his head every single game. Post bidding they completely mis-managed their salary cap, Herndy is a solid 2nd-3rd line guy but you CANT PAY FOUR FUCKING MILLION?!

8. Chicago Wolves (8.0)
This is the only team that finished dead last on every single GM poll, so I'm going to be nice and say that Notez is going to have a career year for shots against and saves. That is all.

 

Utica is way too low, they are easily top 2 or 3 in the division. Great forward depth and a very good top 4 dpair. Other than that it looks fine. Thanks for the media!

 

Good write-up smittdawg and other managers who contributed. Thanks for the media!

 

Who's tranqzz

 

*Everyone Chants* OVERRATED

 

Wrong League buddy

 

Nice writeup @SmiTTy x 12 but you guys bid on more players than us

 

Love the content. Thanks @SmiTTy x 12

 

Needed more in-depth analysis of Jumps, but otherwise nice work.

 

3rd line in the A lmaooooooooooo nice one