Pre-Season Team Report Card: Team Ryan (Ryan)

Calgary (CP) With only the bare minimum amount of picks during the draft, Ryan had a tall task ahead of him to fill out his roster. Let's see how his team turned out!

Immediate Needs:
+ 4 F projected for 85+ PPts
+ 4 D projected for 50+ PPts

What They Got:
+ F Justin Williams CAR
+ F Scottie Upshall PHI
+ F Drew Stafford BUF
+ D Matt Carle SJS
+ D Frantisek Kaberle CAR

Analysis:
The most pressing issue with Ryan's team was with his lack of defensive depth. In that I believe that it was addressed with the drafting of Carle and Kaberle. His goaltending is solid and keeper forwards were better than many lists that came out. So what's wrong? Nothing really, but I do feel that Ryan has missed some key opportunities during the draft to pick up some key players while over-valuing others. In particular, I feel that Samsonov, Ribiero and Latendresse could've been picked up on the FA market or in Rounds 8+. With only 8 picks, this accounted for almost 50% of them. What that does is having to be extremely active in the trade circles or getting lucky via the free agent market.

Trading Block:
+ F Jonathan Cheechoo SJS
+ F Nic Lidstrom DET
+ F Martin Straka NYR

Questions:
+ Can Naslund return to form in the defensive-minded Canucks?
+ Can Cheechoo return to form after a sub-par 36 G season?
+ Can Samsonov return to form after 4 consecutive seasons of disappointment?

Injury Concerns:
+ D Frantisek Kaberle (Knee)

Grades:
+ Draft (C-): With exception to Carle and Stafford, I personally believe he overpaid on 6 of 8 draft picks.
+ Offence (C): His top 8 forwards are good, while there are big question marks in the bottom half of the order.
+ Defence (C+): Ryan actually has a pretty good 4 so far especially with Lidstrom and Timonen. He should be able to pick up a couple of fillers. Will be upgraded once that is done.
+ Goalies (B): He is set for the rest of the pool with these two. If they continue to develop as expected, this is easily upgraded to an A.
+ Overall (C): Only because he has a lack of players to fill out his roster Ryan gets this grade. Regardless, depth may be a problem in case of injuries. As a result, a middle of the pack finish might be the best scenario Team Ryan can hope for.

Fur Engee (CP)