Mikael Backlund

Before the season started I had a long list of players that were considered the "stars of tomorrow".   My criteria for these players is two years in the NHL or less than 160 games combined (with minor exceptions).

Many players take that next big step in year three and really come into their own.   Some sooner, some later, but the development of a star is fascinating to watch.

The Calgary Flames are done! Mark my words if they don’t make drastic changes they will not make playoffs for a second straight season. 

The Flames have lost three straight and if the playoffs were to start today they would be out and nowhere near a top 5 draft pick. In a weak draft year like this one coming up, you don’t want to just miss the playoffs; you either want to be in or be in the running for a top 5 pick.

Alright, so based on some prior confusion, I suppose we need a few ground rules, or at least outline a few things:

1) The stretch is just that—a stretch. It's not a real prediction folks, so just calm down. Also, Armageddon was not a biopic nor some sort of immediate preview of what's happening to the Earth, and the only world-changing thing to happen in 2012 might be (hopefully) a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup.

There are several heralded rookies that could break into the NHL this season with the Edmonton Oilers, led by Taylor Hall, the first overall pick in the 2010 draft.

But the other four teams of the Northwest Division also have their own prospects ready to play a role in the NHL this season, such as Cody Hodgson (Vancouver Canucks) and Mikael Backlund (Calgary Flames).

Bringing back Olli Jokinen is a huge gamble to say the least. The TSN panel covering free agent frenzy on July 1 was speechless when word broke Darryl Sutter was working on signing Jokinen. Calgary was speechless too. Tanguay back at $1.7 million wasn't a bad deal, only one year and it's cheap. He had decent chemistry with Iginla, but needed to shoot the puck more and could have added a bit of toughness.

There's always at least one player in every sports draft that will take a fall from where they were projected to get drafted—usually for a reason.

Seen in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, highly touted Russian defenseman Dmitry Kulikov fell into the Florida Panthers' lap at the 14th spot of the draft. Most experts agreed the drop was due to the always present possibility of the player feeling homesick and going back home to the new and improved Kontinental Hockey League.