Weekly Takes - Monday, September 6 Edition

1. The Canadiens have had a tough offseason -- that goes without saying -- but I think they made out pretty well regarding the Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet situation.

Christian Dvorak is a better player today than Kotkaniemi is and while Kotkaniemi’s upside is higher, he is far from a sure-thing.

2. Team Canada winning Gold at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship is obviously great for the program and its fans but the true takeaway from this year’s world championship is that Team Canada is back on top of the hockey world.

One may argue that the program never left the top of the mountain, having won Gold in 2010 and 2014 at the Winter Olympics before losing a coin-flip in the shootout in 2018, but the fact of the matter is the CNWT was falling behind the Americans -- fast -- in large part because they were unable to move on from the golden era that brought them great success from 2002 to 2014.

But Team Canada finally displayed its youth and future in this year’s tournament and not only did they show that the future is bright, but so is the present.

They should be labeled as the gold medal favourites heading into the Winter Olympics in February.

3. Speaking of being gold medal favourites, here is my Team Canada lineup after the news that NHL players will officially be headed to China this winter.

Connor McDavid - Brayden Point - Nathan MacKinnon

Brad Marchand - Sidney Crosby - Patrice Bergeron

John Tavares - Steven Stamkos - Mitch Marner

Jonathan Huberdeau - Sean Couturier - Mark Stone

Extras: Matt Barzal and Ryan O’Reilly

Honourable Mentions: Claude Giroux, Mark Scheifele, Tyler Seguin, Zach Hyman, and Brendan Gallagher

Shea Theodore - Cale Makar

Devon Toews - Dougie Hamilton

Morgan Rielly - Alex Pietrangelo

Extras: Aaron Ekblad and Adam Pelech

Honourable Mentions: Samuel Girard, Jakob Chychrun, Ryan Pulock, Jared Spurgeon, and Kris Letang

Marc-Andre Fleury

Carey Price

Extra: Jordan Binnington

Honourable Mention: Darcy Kuemper and Mike Smith

4. Unless Robbie Ray and/or Marcus Seimen do not want to re-sign no matter what, the Blue Jays need to go all-in on re-signing both.

A rotation of Ray, Alek Manoah, Jose Berrios, Hun-Jin Ryu, and Nate Pearson in 2022 is a World Series caliber rotation.

And we all know how much Seimen means to the Jays’ lineup, on both sides of the ball.

5. Ben Simmons, if used in a Draymond Green type role rather than being asked to be a point guard, can absolutely be a #2 option on a championship team.

A player such as him holds tremendous value to any team trying to go from being a great team to a championship team.

Everyone understands his flaws on-and-off the court and everyone knows him and Joel Embiid likely cannot co-exists together, more so in the playoffs, but a team such as the Raptors should be all-in on trying to acquire him, even if that means trading a Pascal Siakam.

6. With the NFL beginning this weekend, here are my predictions for the 2021 season…

AFC East

1. Buffalo (2)

2. Miami

3. New England

4. New York Jets

AFC North

1. Baltimore (3)

2. Cleveland (WC1)

3. Pittsburgh (WC3)

4. Cincinnati

AFC West

1. Kansas City (1)

2. Las Vegas

3. Denver

4. Los Angeles Chargers

AFC South

1. Tennessee (4)

2. Indianapolis (WC2)

3. Jacksonville

4. Houston

NFC East

1. Dallas (4)

2. Washington

3. New York Giants

4. Philadelphia

NFC North

1. Green Bay (2)

2. Chicago

3. Minnesota

4. Detroit

NFC South

1. Tampa Bay (1)

2. New Orleans (WC1)

3. Atlanta

4. Carolina

NFC West

1. Los Angeles Rams (3)

2. San Francisco (WC2)

3. Seattle (WC3)

4. Arizona

Super Bowl Prediction

Kansas City defeats Tampa Bay

Super Bowl Most Valuable Player:

My 2021 National Football League Individual Awards Predictions

- Most Valuable Player: Patrick Mahomes

- Offensive Player of the Year: Patrick Mahomes

- Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Donald

- NFL Rookie of the Year: Trevor Lawrence

- Offensive Rookie of the Year: Trevor Lawrence

- Defensive Rookie of the Year: Micah Parsons

- Coach of the Year: Andy Reid

7. My NFL picks for week one...

- Cowboys (+7.5)

- Titans (-2.5)

- Seahawks (-2.5)

- Chargers (-1)

- Jaguars (-3)

- Jets (+5.5)

- Bills (-6.5)

- Bengals (+3)

- Eagles (+3.5)

- 49ers (-7.5)

- Kansas City (-6)

- Giants (+3)

- Packers (-4)

- Patriots (-3)

- Rams (-7.5)

- Ravens (-4)

8. Alabama is clearly the class of college football right now but outside of them, Georgia and Cincinnati may be the two most complete teams in the country.

I still like Clemson a ton and Oklahoma is not to be messed with if their defence can figure it out, but as of right now, Georgia and Cincinnati deserve every bit of love as Clemson and Oklahoma got coming into the school year.

9. Never mind the 2026 World Cup. The time is now for the Canadian National Men’s team, who may be the best team in CONCACAF outside of Mexico.

10. Ranking all of Drake’s albums (and his three most major mixtapes), after the release of Certified Lover Boy…

1. Take Care

2. Nothing Was The Same

3. Thank Me Later

4. If You’re Reading This It's Too Late

5. More Life

6. Views

7. What A Time To Be Alive

8. CLB

9. Scorpion