Three weeks ago I listed off the five best teams to draft multiple players from for the 2010-11 season (Five Teams to Invest In). This column will take a longer-term approach to the same issue. Below are the five teams to invest in over the next five years. My ranking system isn't perfect, but I have tried to identify five of the most important factors when it comes to evaluating both a team's offensive ability and potential.

 

1. St. Louis Blues

Coaching/management philosophy:  9/10

Davis Payne is a tremendous coach. He will have this young Blues team playing an aggressive offensive system, and they have the right players to play it.

 

Quality of prospects: 7/10

St. Louis has a trio of barely-graduated forward prospects on the roster – David Perron, Patrik Berglund, and TJ Oshie. Erik Johnson is one of the best young defensemen in the game. Not counting those four, the Blues still have an impressive collection of talent. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has star upside, and there are four forward prospects with scoring upside – Vladimir Tarasenko, Philip McRae, Brett Sonne, and Jaden Schwartz.

 

Quality of scoring depth: 9/10

The Blues may lack a high-end superstar, but they are nine or ten deep in potential top six forwards. On the back end, Johnson will welcome some offensive help from Pietrangelo. Carlo Colaiacovo is a solid puck-mover who gets underrated because of his injury issues.

 

NHL ready prospects: 8/10

Pietrangelo is ready. None of the four forwards I listed are ready, and even if they were, there aren't any open roster spots available. The Blues are deep, young, and talented.

 

Player age: 10/10

Andy McDonald is the only core forward over the age of 30.

 

Overall: 8.6/10

Armed with an elite goaltender, St. Louis is going to emerge as a new force in the Western Conference.

 

2. Edmonton Oilers

Coaching/management philosophy:  6/10

Tom Renney preaches patient, defensive hockey. However, he understands that offense is essential to win in the NHL. He won't bottleneck Edmonton's young talent.

 

Quality of prospects: 10/10

Taylor Hall is the best prospect in the world, and Magnus Paajarvi and Jordan Eberle are not far behind. After those three, there still are a number of quality prospects (Anton Lander, Tyler Pitlick, Linus Omark, Toni Rajala, Teemu Hartikainen, Jeff Petry, and so on).

 

Quality of scoring depth: 7/10

The Oilers have a few solid veterans to help complement their young talent. On defense, the core players are relatively young (Tom Gilbert and Ryan Whitney). However, there are no standout defensive prospects on the horizon.

 

NHL ready prospects: 10/10

Paajarvi, having spent the past three seasons in the SEL, is the most NHL ready. Eberle may need some time to adjust to the pace of the NHL game. Hall already has NHL speed and he'll make more than a few defensemen look foolish with it this season.

 

Player age: 9/10

No core players are over the age of 30 (which isn't old by any stretch of the imagination, but it just highlights how young this team is).

 

Overall: 8.4/10

The Oilers have capable puck movers who are on the right side of 30. They boast the best crop of offensive prospects in the NHL by far. All of their depth prospects will benefit from having such high quality linemates and teammates.

 

3. Los Angeles Kings

Coaching/management philosophy: 8/10

The Kings have the defensemen to play an up-tempo game for the next decade, and Dean Lombardi seems committed to surrounding his young stars with the right players to produce.

 

Quality of prospects: 8/10

Like the Blues, Los Angeles has had some tremendous prospects recently graduate to the NHL level – Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Wayne Simmonds, and Jack Johnson most notably. Jonathan Bernier is arguably the best young goalie in the world. Brayden Schenn projects as a solid top six center, and there are a handful of solid prospects after him (Thomas Hickey, Kyle Clifford, Andrei Loktionov, Derek Forbort, and so on).

 

Quality of scoring depth: 7/10

The Kings don't have a ton of proven talent on the second and third lines, but that will change over the next few seasons.

 

NHL ready prospects: 8/10

Schenn is close and Hickey is ready. After those two, the rest of the prospect group needs a bit more seasoning.

 

Player age: 10/10

The key players for the Kings are all just entering their primes.

 

Overall: 8.2/10

It will be interesting to see how quickly (pun intended) Bernier steals the starting job.

 

4. Colorado Avalanche

Coaching/management philosophy:  8/10

Joe Sacco was a revelation to the entire hockey world with his impressive debut as an NHL head coach. He put his young players in positions to succeed, and they did.

 

Quality of prospects: 8/10

Colorado has built up an impressive crop of prospects over the past four or five NHL Entry Drafts. They boast a collection of young offensive defensemen rivaled by no other clubs – Kevin Shattenkirk and Stefan Elliott being the most notable in the group.

 

Quality of scoring depth: 8/10

The Avs have a solid top six filled with young talent. The injury to Peter Mueller sets them back as he was a huge part of their power play last season after coming over from Phoenix. The team has a nice balance of speed, size, scoring, and physical play.

 

NHL ready prospects: 7/10

Shattenkirk will be in the NHL this season. Ryan Stoa might as well. At the worst he should develop into a big third line role player. At best, a 25-30 goal forward capable of playing in a variety of situations. He may have to move to the wing to reach his offensive upside at the NHL level with Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny firmly entrenched on the top two lines.

 

Player age: 10/10

Youth is served for the Avalanche. The big question revolves around Craig Anderson. Can he prove last season wasn't a fluke?

 

Overall: 8.2/10

5. Carolina Hurricanes

Coaching/management philosophy: 7/10

Paul Maurice preaches a patience, two-way brand of hockey. However, the Hurricanes play in a notoriously offensive division.

 

Quality of prospects: 10/10

The Hurricanes are loaded with talent at both forward and defense. Jeff Skinner is one of the best prospects in the world and he projects to be a 40+ goal scorer at the NHL level. After him, Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman, Bobby Sanguinetti, Jamie McBain, Zach Dalpe, Riley Nash, and Jerome Samson factor in.

 

Quality of scoring depth: 5/10

The lack of talent on Carolina's roster may work in two ways. One, it makes the team worse in the short-term. I am a big Brandon Sutter fan, but he won't have much help on the second line this season (assuming Jussi Jokinen and Tuomo Ruutu play with Eric Staal).

 

NHL ready prospects: 10/10

Of the prospects I listed above, all have a shot at playing NHL minutes this season (due in part to Carolina's lack of veteran talent, but it also highlights how close they all are to being NHL players).

 

Player age: 9/10

No veterans fill key positions. Tim Gleason, Joni Pitkanen, Eric Staal, and Cam Ward are all still relatively young.

 

Overall: 8.2/10

Expect the Hurricanes to get a lot of offense from their young players in 2010-11.