Pre-Season Team Report Card: Flyin Elbows (Mark)

Calgary (CP) In the second wave of Team Report Cards, we begin with the Mark Atkins led team of the Flyin Elbows.

Immediate Needs:
+ 3 F projected for 90+ PPts
+ 5 D projected for 60+ PPts
+ 1 G projected to play 55-60 games

What They Got:
+ F Prospal TAM
+ F Koivu MIN
+ D Poti WAS
+ D Bergeron NYI
+ D Kuba TAM
+ G Roloson

Analysis:
I was definitely tougher in my Immediate Needs for Mark than most other teams since he's in a little different circumstance. Regularly, I would post what teams need in order to be competitive in the GDHL. For Mark, this is what he needs to win the whole thing. Yes he is that close and if not for a injury-riddled 06-07 season, Mark would've done better than his 6th place finish. Of course his chances greatly hinge on Scott Niedermayer's retirement decision but I expect him to take another step closer to moving into the elite group of teams in the league.

Trading Block:
+ F Rick Nash CLB
+ F Eric Cole CAR
+ F Slava Kozlov ATL

Questions:
+ Will Nash play with consistency and become the elite power forward he's capable of being?
+ How effective will Backstrom be in his WAS debut?
+ And the obvious... will Nieds retire!?!

Injury Concerns:
+ F Maxim Afinogenov (Shoulder)
+ F Steve Sullivan (Back)
+ F Eric Cole (Neck)
+ F Rick Nash (Back)
+ F Martin Havlat (Shoulder)
+ F Mikael Samuelsson (Foot)

Grades:
+ Draft (B+): Identified what his team was lacking most and stayed focused all along. Was able to pick some quality forwards in later rounds that should have an impact on his team.
+ Offence (B+): If healthy, Mark will have one of the most potent and exciting offences in the league. But with 6 forwards with a history of injury troubles, asking for 75+ games from everyone will be a far stretch and thus gets downgraded a notch from A-.
+ Defence (C+): If the Whalers got a C+, there is no way I can give the Flyin Elbows a higher grade than this with Nieds still undecided and a rookie defencemen (i.e. Staal) in the mix. If Scott returns, this is bumped up to B... yes he makes that much of a difference.
+ Goalies (B-): Emery and Rolie will be solid for him the entire year. The acquisition of Garon hurts Roloson's value but he should still be good for 50 starts.
+ Overall (B): With injury concerns and (at the moment) without a star defencemen Mark will run with the leaders until December but may tail off after that. However, IF Nieds plays 65 games and his forwards play 90% of the games, he can put up a good challenge to Ihor and Kevin for the title.

Fur Engee (CP)