verification word = karl [3 TPE]

Glad this prompt dropped this season. San Francisco just won it's first cup in it's existence and would've certainly been on this list, but thankfully we vanquished the beast last season and can breathe a sigh of relief. As for the names still remaining I would've said Baltimore right off the hop seeing as they just won the president's trophy recently and were in the finals against us just 2 playoffs ago, but they regressed in season 77 and finished behind several of the other names on this list. I still would have them as my most likely choice in spite of the step backwards, but I think Minnesota has proven this season they can compete and I could see them hoisting the cup in the near future as well. Montreal, Manhattan and Calgary still appear to be in the early to mid stages of their respective rebuilds so it could be some time still until we see them compete, but that's the cycle of things in the SHL and they could certainly make a splash before some of the other names here. [183 words - 3 TPE]

After an absolutely unreal performance in season 76 Oskar came back down to earth in season 77. The challenge cup winner, 1st team all star and Richan trophy winner was a top 3 fantasy selection going in to season 77 and while he wasn't bad by any stretch he definitely failed to meet the lofty expectations. Finishing just shy of 100 points he was sufficiently productive and he managed to once again set a new personal best in hit totals which is another aspect of his game he likes to focus on, but he didn't meet his expectations in terms of defensive metrics, specifically turnovers. When Oskar entered the league he had dreams of being a strong two way forward and in the discussion for the Dar each year, but so far he has yet to make any noise in that discussion. Season 78 will be Oskar's first taste of regression as he now enters the back nine of his career. Will season 76 be his peak, or does Oskar have another level hidden away? [175 words - 3 TPE]