I'm going to do division rankings in 4 parts obviously up to Friday. So tune in each day for each division as I release them. These are just my opinions and as the league grows there are a lot of people I don't know so please try not to take much offense to the things I say. Eastern North Division Predictions: 1. Rochester “Hum”ericans Nylander & Clutch are back at it again for s34 leading the Americans looking to repeat as Calder champions. These guys got a lot of grief when they made the jump from the CHL to the AHL and have won the big one in only a few short seasons. Congratulations! Looking at this roster they easily have the most depth on offense creating probably the best three lines in the league. Not having Nifty proved to be no problem as they landed Boogie & Flight for decent contracts considering what others went for. The defense is primarily the same, so they are just well rounded, and they return their top goalie from last season also. The only question mark for this team is that they have zero cap room to do anything so that should be interesting down the road. Did you know? Clutch and Nylander have played every game together since coming up in s31. Combined they have only lost 16 games in regulation in three full seasons. Look for another deep playoff run by this dynamic duo. 2. Utica Comets Being led by PigsonJupiter once again the comets look to improve upon a disappointing 2st round exit to the eventual Calder champions. This season pigs brings on Studz as his free contract and Saucerman as PAGM. As of now these moves prove to be disappointing as I understand Pigs was hit with a 1 game suspension due to a rule violation that he had no part in. Woof. Moving on…this teams offense returns some of the names it had last season in Fuzz, kdoss and verathy. After being a top the league in scoring for most of the season the player to watch here will be verathy and how he performs in his second full season. The defense will be led by Beta Dreams who after taking a season off returns to top pairing duties for these comets. The goaltending gets an A+ if this duo picks up where they left off last season. What we’d like to see: Utica overcome last season’s playoff exit and knock off Rochester from their current glory. 3. Toronto Marlies Hutch returns to management once again after a long hiatus from the days of when he was leading the Bruins to glory. This time around he runs things with close friend Flyers and Deke. This is probably the most chill bunch of guys you could ever be around. Spending most of my summer playing with them I can tell you there won’t be any ego’s or cancers on this team and if there are, they won’t be around long. Hutch seems to make the playoffs with every team he’s on or builds so there is no reason to think this should be any different. Chemistry and talent on offense will help along with vets on defense which makes this a nice well-rounded squad. Two solid goalies will also help carry this team to a playoff spot come week 9. Did you know? The last time Hutch and company managed in the AHL they had a deep playoff run in s27 which ironically enough they were eliminated in the conference final by Rochester. @BladezTML pls fight 4. Belleville Senators Being led this time around by AEC Wags otherwise known as IX Wagner XI, he will look to get the sens back to dominance after a brief 1 season hiatus. He brings in Drake as the AGM and Sizzle on an easy 500k contract. I believe the 4th spot will be up for grabs to anyone in the rest of the division outside of the top 3. But eventually I think Belleville takes the spot, with the amount of experience and veterans they have on offense this team should have no problems on offense. However, defense is going to be their strong suit or at least Wags hopes so with all the money he poured into it. Once again going with experience and vets this core should help them slip into playoffs. The goaltending will be the only issue on this team as Trump did not play the last two seasons and Vinzy has not played Xbox since s26. What we’d like to see: I personally think Wagner is underrated and I know several of my peers will disagree, but I’ve never had any issues with him, and I believe he has what it takes to manage and think he will lead Belleville to the playoffs. 5. Binghamton Devils Darth returns for his second season of management manning the baby devils, this time with Xeno and newly acquired Rage Rox as his management team. The offense looks like it has two solid lines that will be able to carry this team for much of the season before eventually just missing the playoffs. On defense is where it will make or break this team. A lot of unfamiliar faces (to me) on this core and inexperience will do them in. It’ll also be interesting how Rage Rox does in a new environment and setting. The goaltending duo of Eden & Wiz will be good enough to steal games for the devils. Did you know? XenoSZN only has 6 seasons of experience up and down all of LG. Only one of them has he compiled a winning record. With the offense on this team I believe he is in line for his 2nd. 6. Laval Rocket After two abysmal and forgettable seasons the Rocket are newly taken over by Kane and Nordik. These guys last managed together in s31 where Masse was also the PAGM at that time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is tagged as the AGM at some point. Kane and Nordik have experience playing forward but after that only bills and Record stand out. They should have 2nd line offense but supplementary scoring will suffer. Pyro, Smoke, Masse and QC will make quite the top 4 pairing on the Rocket making for two solid lines with defense. Beaver will most likely carry in the twine department as he’s shown he can do it before. However, with all the competition in this division it will be tough for Laval to make the playoffs. What we’d like to see: After only winning 11 games in s32 and staying 500 for most of the season in 33. We would all probably like to see Laval get back into the playoffs after some embarrassing teams over the last few seasons. 7. Cleveland Monsters After finishing in the 3rd spot in s33 the monsters get a clean overhaul with new faces and new management, this including the new GM Mike Scott. Many seem to love him, and many seem to hate him, but he comes along with his partner Donnywood and Bettylou as the PAGM. After going high in the s32 draft Lou at 3m is a nice price while I believe bids for Live & Space were heavily inflated. The defense on this team looks very experienced and will most likely be the strong suit of this team. Led by BigJohn and Gus Bvs these guys will need large backpacks if the monsters want to stay out of the basement. Davos will most likely be the starter and with a solid defense in front of him he won’t have to bail his team out on several occasions. Did you know? Gus Bvs has not played defense in the AHL since s27 where he was my PAGM on the Utica Comets in which he went 17-5-4. He doesn’t have to play defense with me so another chance at 17 wins is likely. 8. Syracuse Crunch After a terrible season in 33 in which wzia gave away all his players for what seemed like every pick he could obtain this team looks to be in better shape heading into s34. *checks roster* Just kidding, it’s going to be another long season for the fellas in Syracuse. A lot of overpriced forwards and not much better on defense. As the most expensive contracts on offense Ziggy & Jordo will have a lot being asked of them if this team expects to win games. A lot of cheap contracts on defense but looks like CreaseKing will be tasked with shutting down opposing top lines. Having Gigi on my teams the last two seasons the guy is high character and a good goalie but even his work will be cut out for him on this team. What we’d like to see: A roster with more then 12 people come the trade deadline and or not a last place finish. Tune in tomorrow for the spicy Atlantic where I will absolutely be talking about my own team. -Salty
Great write up as always Salty. @Verathy better have a good sophomore season or else who else is going to carry me?
@The_Salty_Goat93 Good writeup bud, love seeing some media! Best of luck to everyone this season in the division, IM COMING FOR THE DIVISION BANNER THIS SEASON LOOK OUT @Studz x 7 @Saucerman x3 @PigsOnJupiter
You can have that division banner. It is cursed anyway, I want my calder back! haha. Best of luck this season Barks.
Marlies are an undercover wagon fellas. Love the weite up salty. Goodluck to everyone this season. Thank god hockeys back