Which Team Could Become The Next Dynasty in the NHL?

Dynasty: a team that dominates their sport in an extended length of time.

The NHL rarely sees dynasties anymore, the closest has been the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Chicago Blackhawks. The Pens got their paws on the cup 2009, '16, and '17, while the 'Hawks won three in a five-year span ('10, '13 and '15). The combination of a tighter salary cap and the competitiveness of the league, it's no easy task to win a cup, and it’s even harder to form a dynasty. However, there are teams that could potentially come close, or maybe even reach the esteemed status.

Let’s talk about it and have some fun!

Colorado Avalanche 

The Av's are probably everyone's choice to become the next dynasty. General Manager Joe Sakic has a masterful job at building this team to win both now and in the future. The core of this team right now is one of the best and said top line was built through the draft, with all three skaters being Colorado first-round picks. Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen are one of the best lines in the NHL when healthy. Despite Landeskog being a UFA in the summer of 2021, the Av's have enough money to keep their captain around for more years. MacKinnon is one of the best offensive threats in the NHL. This year he was on pace to have a career-high 111 points. The 26-year-old centerman is my pick to win the Hart Trophy this year and is on a steal of a contract. His contract doesn’t expire until 2023 and he’s is outspoken on the fact that he’ll take a discount to help his team win. The third player on this productive line is Mikko Rantanen, who brings added scoring. The big Finnish winger has missed significant time with injury this season but has over a point per game dating back to 2017. The Avs have Rantanen under contract until 2025, so there’s no need to think that he’s going anywhere. Sakic also built his team through the trading market; the Avs absolutely fleeced the Leafs in the summer of 2019, when they got center Nazem Kadri, Calle Rosen and a 2020 third-round pick in exchange for Alex Kerfoot, Tyson Barrie (with 50% salary retained) and a 2020 sixth-round pick. Kadri has been a perfect fit so far with the Avs and already more than doubling his career playoff points in just two rounds of postseason hockey. The Avalanche have great depth behind their star players with players like Joonas Donskoi, Andre Burakovsky, Vlad Namestnikov, and Valeri Nichushkin. Depth scoring is one of the main reasons they’ve been successful.

On the backend, Colorado also has a great mix of stars and good depth options. Cale Makar is a beauty and is in the running for the Calder Trophy. He posted 50 points in 57 games this season and will only get better. Good depth options around Makar that have made this team successful are Ryan Graves, Samuel Girard, Ian Cole, and Erik Johnson. In net, they have an above-average starter in Phillip Grubauer and a solid backup in Pavel Francouz. I’m still not really sold on Grubauer as a Stanley Cup-winning goalie, but only time will tell.

For their prospect pool, they are also outstanding. They drafted stud defenceman Bowen Byram from the WHL in the 2019 draft 4th overall (via OTT). Byram and Makar together in the future will be one of the best pairings in the NHL rivaling Columbus' pairing of Jones and Werenski. They also have exciting forward prospects like Alex Newhook and Alex Beaucage. Both had amazing seasons this year in their respective leagues and will be valuable players for Colorado in the near future. Between the pipes, they have Finnish goaltender Justus Annunen. Annunen was impressive in the Liiga this season where he posted a 1.77 GAA and a .929 sv% as a 19-year-old playing against men. Annunen stands at 6’4, 207 lbs, and is the elite goalie that the Avs have been searching for. He probably will come over to North America either in 2021-22 or 2022-23. 

Overall, the Avalanche have all the right pieces to succeed for a very long time and it’s probably a very exciting time to be a Colorado Avalanche fan.

Prediction for how many cups they could win this decade: two or three

New York Rangers 

I recently wrote an article on the Rangers, so I won’t spend too much time on them but my goodness they have a bright future. Upfront, they have amazing players with guys like Panarin, Zibanejad, Strome, Kakko, Kreider, etc. Not to mention, they have the 1st overall pick this year which they have a chance to select projected first overall pick, Alexis Lafreniere. Imagine a top six of Lafreniere - Zibanejad - Kakko on the first line and Panarin - Strome - Kreider on the second line. This top six will be devastating for teams to try and coach against, that’s for sure. They have solid depth guys like Chytil, Buchnevich, and Howden who can pitch in whenever they need to. On the backend, they’ve got solid defenders like Fox, DeAngelo, Trouba, and Lindgren. In goal, they’ve got Russian phenom Igor Shesterkin. The 24-year-old Shesterkin looked good in the regular season, posting a .924 sv% in 12 games this year and will only get better. They’ve got a very good prospect pool with guys like Kravtsov, Miller, Lundkvist, and Robertson at the top. Overall, this team will be very dangerous for the foreseeable future, and we haven’t even seen all the noteworthy players all together and they're dangerous already. Imagine this team in like 3 years. Watch out. 

Prediction for how many cups they could win this decade: Likely one or two

Carolina Hurricanes

All the Canes really lack to become an exceptional team in the NHL is a legit number one goaltender. They may have the opportunity this year to do so, thanks to the Leafs trading their first-round pick to Carolina in the Patrick Marleau deal. If Askarov is available when they pick at 13th overall, there shouldn’t be a reason for them not to take him. Yeah, they have Kotchetkov who they drafted last year, but Kotchetkov doesn’t have the realistic upside that Yaroslav Askarov does. If Carolina somehow gets Lehner in free agency this year and is able to draft Askarov, the Carolina Hurricanes could honestly win the 2021 Stanley Cup. I mean, they have arguably the best d-core in the NHL with guys like Hamilton, Slavin, Pesce, and Skjei. They can score with studs upfront with Aho, Svechnikov, Teravinen, Trochcek, Necas, among others. They also have solid prospects like Suzuki, Reese, Honka, Kotchetkov, etc. If Carolina can get Lehner and draft Askarov, this team could rival teams like Colorado or the Rangers as potentially the best team in the decade. 

Prediction for how many cups they could win this decade: If everything goes right, they could win three but probably two.

Ottawa Senators

If Ottawa’s gonna have a shot at being a dynasty, they’ve definitely gotta hit big time on picks three and five in the upcoming NHL Draft. They’ll either draft either Byfield or Stutzle at 3, and it looks like Lucas Raymond at 5. A line of Tkachuk - Byfield/Stutzle - Raymond would be absolutely terrifying for other teams. Tkachuk is a pest on the ice just like his older brother, Byfield is a huge 6’4 center who could do it all, Stutzle’s energetic style is very fun to watch and Lucas Raymond is a dynamic winger who can make you look like a two-year-old trying to defend him with his nimble hands. Ottawa has one of the best prospect pools and young players with studs like Chabot, Brannstrom, Bernard-Docker, Pinto, L. Brown, Formenton, Soogard, Tkachuk, C. Brown, Duclair, White, etc. They don’t really have that number one goalie of the future like Colorado or the Rangers, but 6’7 goalie Mads Soogard looks to be that guy. Hopefully, Ottawa hits on most of their picks this year because they could be a very deadly team in a few years. The Sens have three first-round picks and four second-round picks in 2020.

Prediction for how many cups they could win this decade: At least one if everything goes right, maybe two.

Overall, the future of the NHL with these young teams will be very exciting to watch as they grow and develop together. 

By: Luka Tkalcevic (Instagram: luka_tkalcevic, futurehockeystars)

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