The scores after each team are an average score of the rating from the Hockey News and Sporting News yearbooks. Generally, they were pretty similar, but there were a couple of major discrepancies, most notably SN giving the Dallas Stars a 90 and picking them 2nd in the Pacific and the HN giving them a c- [72] and picking them 11th in the West. The predictions for finishing position in their division and the comments are mine and mine alone, so I guess I am either the genius or the target for your 'tar and feathers' depending how I rated 'your team.'
EASTERN CONFERENCE
OTTAWA SENATORS - 92 1st NE
The Senators, last year's finalist from the East are picked by the Hockey News to come out of the East again. I'm not so sure, but they should win the division again fairly easily. They might miss Tom Preissing on the back line, but their D is still pretty solid and their forwards are still dangerous. They have shown they can be manhandled, but few teams in the East have the size to do that like Anaheim did.
BUFFALO SABRES -85 2nd NE
Critic's darlings the last two years, the Sabres took well documented hits, losing their top two centers and playmakers. And once again, they have not added that big gun from the blue line, though their defense remains serviceable. But before people write them off as a flash in the pan, check in the net – yep, Ryan Miller is still there. This team will not score like they have been the last couple of years, but having Tim Connolly for a full year [if he can avoid another concussion] will fill some of the void left by Briere and Drury jumping ship, and Andre Roy is a capable, if streaky scorer. Could surprise many before it's all said and done.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS - 80 3rd NE
The two publications seems split about who is going to be the bottom of this division and just miss the playoffs, but I am going out on a limb here and say Toronto is going to be the 8th seed out of the East. I think adding Jason Blake to play wing with Mats Sundin finally gives the Leafs [sic] the attacking winger they have needed for years. They have some youth with Kyle Wellwood, Matt Stajan and Alex Steen, grit with Darcy Tucker and Mike Peca and Bates Battaglia and Jeff O'Neil can chip in goals. And there's still the massively under-rated Tomas Kaberle, the over-rated Bryan McCabe and the overpaid Pavel Kubina on the back end. If they can play decent in front newcomer of Veska Toskala, the Leafs should be in a position to make their first playoff since the lockout.
MONTREAL CANADIANS - 68 4th NE
Why both magazines are picking Montreal to be fighting Boston for the last spot in this division, let alone the conference is beyond me. They lost the elephant gun of Sheldon Souray from the point, but he was a defensive liability – Roman Hamrlik will make up some of those points bu NOT being caught out of position defensively. Bringing the previously 'run out of town on a rail' Patrice Brisboise will make the Boo-Birds at the Bell Centre happy. Bryan Smolinski is an upgrade over the invisible Radek Bonk as 2nd line pivot. The wild card remains the ever mercurial Alexei Kovalev. If Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey can find a way to make Kovalv at least seem interested in playing, he can return to the 30-35 goal and 90 point level. If he plays like he did last year, the Candiens may be the doormat of the division.
BOSTON BRUINS - 73 5th NE
Manny Fernandez is a fine goaltender, but he cannot play defense and goal. Andrew Alberts is big, but he's too slow; he's a pre-lockout kind of defender in a post lockout NHL. How did Mark Savard get 96 points last year? Who was finishing for the Bruins? Building for a future, but not out of the cellar yet.
NEW YORK RANGERS - 88 1st ATL
The Blueshirts additions of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury assure they are solid down the middle for the next few years. And the Rangers still have Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shannhan and Martin Straka [oh! What a power play that should be to watch!] plus youngsters Marcel Hossa and Petr Prucha on the wings [Pucha should pot 30 if he gets any significant playing time] and superpest Sean Avery, who can also put up some points. Some are moaning about the lack of a true power play QB / first pass defender ala Brian Leetch, but the Rangers play good enough defense. Much like Pittsburgh, they're going to try and outscore you instead of grind you down ala New Jersey. The Rangers need to be wary of wearing Henrik Lundqvist down – look for a possible trade for a veteran back up now that Kevin Weeks is gone.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS - 89 2nd ATL
The Sporting News is predicting the Pens to win the Cup over Detroit, but I don't think the Pens are there yet. Adding an outstanding dedicated defenseman who is not afraid to block shots in Daryl Sydor improves this defense tremendously. And defense remains the Penguins weakness. They can get hemmed in their own end for extended periods, forcing Marc-Andre Fleury to make 29 saves a game. While it's made Fleury work on his positioning [he gives up many fewer weak goals than even 05/06], that number still need to be cut by about five a game. As the young kids learn the finer points of positioning, that number will come down. And consummate pros like Sydor, Gary Roberts and Mark Recchi will instill a sense of pride and work ethic into this young group. Should challenge teams, but not Cup contenders – this year.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS - 81 3rd ATL
What can a few new faces do in Philadelphia? Plenty. After fleecing Nashville TWICE, adding defenseman Kimmo Timonen [overpaid for him, but will put up points] and forwards Scott Hartnell [gritty and can score] and Scottie Upshall [scorer of the future] and then adding Joffrey Lupal [hoping he can regain his 05/06 form] and Jason Smith from Edmonton… oh, and that set up guy from Buffalo, Briere and losing only fringe players, the Flyers look to rebound from an abysmal 06/07. And they look to be in good shape to do so. The Flyers could sneak up and make the playoffs, but I'm guessing they'll just miss…
NEW YORK ISLANDERS - 69 4th ATL
I'm going against my brain here and picking the Islanders to finish ahead of New Jersey in this hotly contested division, but only because I believe New Jersey hasn't added anything to replace the players that are gone. Yes, the Isles lost 'rental player '06' Ryan Smith to Colorado, 40 goal man Jason Blake to the Leafs, # 2 defender Tom Poti and 25 / 26 man Viktor Kozlov to the Caps – and only brought in the aging Bill Geurin and last year's underachiever [Tampa Bay] Ruslan Fedotenko and undersized Mike Comrie. But I think the Isles have more in the tank than NJ because of the man behind the bench. Ted Nolan took a bunch of nobodies in Buffalo way back in 96/97 and made them contenders and he took a bunch of spare parts [and the underachiever of the decade Alexei Yashin] and made them playoff contenders last year. Now I'm not looking for the Isles to make the playoffs again – not out of this division, but they're not going to fall to the depths of last year's Flyers, either.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS - 82 5th ATL
I'm going with my guts here and picking the Devils to fall out of playoff contention – IN SPITE of Marty Brodeur in net. Marty can still steal games – probably flat out steal 5 games a year, but with their one offensive sparkplug / set up guy going across the river, this team will rely even MORE heavily on grinding teams down with ['ho-hum'] defensive responsibility and positioning. Faster than Sominex for the insomniac crowd. Watching the Devils this year will be SLIGHTLY more interesting than watching grass grow or water freezing. But only slightly.
CAROLINA HURRICANES - 84 1st SE
Winning the Southeast is still winning a division and a 3 seed, even if you're only the 6th best in the conference. And Carolina hopes to rebound from an injury plagued year to return to the top of the heap. Having Cory Stillman and Frank Kaberle for a full campaign should add 30 goals and help keep them out of the shootout, where they were just awful last year – scoring only 1 SO goal in 17 attempts. This from a team with Ray Whitney, Eric Staal, Erik Cole, Justin Williams and Rod Brind'Amour. Staal put up a 30 goal / 40 assist campaign last year and a lot of people [me included] thought he had an off year. Cam Ward needs to improve on a mediocre .897 save percentage. The Canes are a little long in the tooth on the blue line with aging and almost retired [due to hip issues] Bret Hedican and Glen Wesley back there, but Dennis Seidenberg and Tim Gleason should have better years. But the Canes lack depth on the blue line – one injury could derail them for a while – just like last year.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING - 82 2nd SE
Tampa, with their best four players eating up half of their spending cap, has no room for errors. Vincent Lecavalier is coming off a 52 goal year, Martin St. Louis returned to his MVP form with a 102 point campaign and Brad Richards did okay with a 70 point season [but was a – 19]. But Dan Boyle really opened eyes with a 20 goal, 63 point year. Unfortunately, all the supporting cast arounf these four was merely pedestrian. Vinny Prospal was an abysmal -24 and only put up 14 goals. Ruslan Fedotenko had an abominable 12 goal / 32 point year and was allowed to move on to the Islanders. Ryan Craig showed flashes in a 14 goal / 27 point season, but was – 11. A lot of this blame was / is put on goaltending – Marc Denis was supposed to plug the hole left when John Grahame couldn't replace Nick Khabibulin and then Denis was supplanted by Johan Holmqvist, but all the Lightning goaltenders together managed a 3.11 goals against and a .884 save percentage – 24th in the league, which tells one that either the Lightning have bad goaltending or need someone to play defense in front of their mediocre goaltenders. Unfortunately, they can't afford any. Still they should be in the mix for a playoff spot.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS - 76 3RD SE
Both publications are picking Washington to be in the South – least division cellar, but I am going against 'conventional wisdom' and picking the Caps to pick up the pace. Alexander [Alexander the Great] Ovechkin will be in his 3rd season and I look for him to charge hard for Rocket Richard trophy for most goals, especially with a sweet table setter like Michael Nylander coming to the team. Add future stud Nicklas Backstrom to set up super sniper Alex [The Other Alex] Semin and Victor Kozlov to slide up and down the left wing and the 'Moscow Dynamo East' should play some real fire wagon hockey, especially if Chris Clark can put up 30 goals again. The weakness in Washington is the same as the weakness on the other fire wagon team in the East [Pittsburgh]: defense. But the Caps brought in Tom Poti from the Isles to run their power play, and I think he's a better PP QB [or at least more defensive] than say Sergei Gonchar. Yes, the could use one more veteran defenseman – and Danny Markov is still out there. Could A.O. try and help him land in Washington? Olaf Kolzig remains a rock in net – I expect these kids to look to their aging goalie for wisdom and have them rally around him to 'win one for Ollie the Goalie' in the next couple years. I think Ollie's decision to remain in Washington when he could be traded to a contender shows the youngsters a lot about character.
FLORIDA PANTHERS – 74 4th SE
Florida has the opposite problem of the Capitals and it will continue to bite them in the rear. Florida has a wealth of young defenseman, good young players like Jay Bouwmeester/ Mike Van Ryn and the up and coming Noah Welch. But Florida is a one line team. As goes Olli Jokinen, Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton, so go the Panthers. After trading goaltending stud Roberto Luongo for Aelx Auld and running Auld and the enigmatic Eddie 'The Eagle' Belfour last year, the Panthers sucked up and traded for Tomas Vokun from Nashville's fire sale. Vokun should be solid and the defense will be okay, but expect this team to lose a lot of 3 – 1, 4- 2 games.
ATLANTA THRASHERS – 77 5th SE
A lot of people think that Atlanta is a team on the rise after making the playoffs last year, but I am not one of them. This team got 'thrashed' by the Rangers in the playoffs last year and they know they have a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, their defense is all a bunch of spare parts and they are another one line team. At least Florida has a good young core on the blue line and something to build on. Atlanta will occasionally blow teams out, but they're going to take that 'one step back' after two steps forward this year.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
ANAHEIM DUCKS – 91 1st PAC
Even losing their best scorer [Teeemu Selanne] and possible their best defenseman [Scott Neidermeyer], the Ducks are still loaded for bear with Chris Pronger, Sean O'Donnell and the up and coming Francois Beauchemin [and adding Mathieu Schneider, who may now miss the first month of he season] on the blue line and enough scorers to go around, even if Todd Bertuzzi doesn't pan out. Defending the Cup is harder than winning it, but this is a team that might be able to win 3 Cups in 5 years.
SAN JOSE SHARKS - 87 2nd PAC
San Jose has maintained the status quo on a team that SHOULD be a major player in the West, if not for those pesky Ducks down the coast. Bringing in Jeremy Roenick to fill a fourth line spot and be an insurance policy in case someone get hurt or goes into a prolonged slump is not a bad idea. This team needs more focus – at times in the season [and I see them the 8 times a year they play Dallas] they looked disinterested [at best].
DALLAS STARS - 81 3rd PAC
The magazines are split on this, SN rating the Stars high and giving then 2nd in the division, HN ranking them at a c- and 3rd in the division. Solely on the strength of defense and goaltending, I am putting the Stars 3rd. Dallas has a dedicated group of defensemen and defensive forwards, but still one has to wonder who is going to score goals. The Stars would love to see Brendan Morrow and Steve Ott play more than they did last year [injuries] and pot some goals and hope Loui Eriksson or Joel Lundqvist clicks with 2nd line center [and true find for the Stars last year] Mike Ribeiro. But they have a long row to hoe. Having Phoenix and LA on the schedule 8 times each will keep them above average.
LOS ANGELES KINGS - 69 4th PAC
The LA Kings didn't take last years egg laying lightly. They went out this summer and added size and skill in Michael Handzus [limited to 8 games last year due to knee issues] and defensemen Tom Priessing from Ottawa and Brad Stuart from Calgary to inject some youth behind aging Rob Blake and Jaroslav Modry. The question will be is "how far can LA's youth take them?" Former Canes # 1 Jack Johnson only played 5 games last year and will be given every shot to make this team and learn from Blake. Wunderkind Anze Kopitar appears to be an offensive wizard in training, Michael Cammalleri is coming into his prime and Alexander Frolov stands ready to become the most enigmatic superstar since… Anyway, they also have a great checkers in Dustin Brown and Scott Thornton. But who's going to play goal? Today, they appear to be running Dan Cloutier through waivers and he was 'supposed to be' the goalie of today for the Kings. If they don't get solid goaltending, it will be another long year in LA.
PHOENIX COYOTES - 63 5th PAC
Everyone expects this to be a bad year for Phoenix. They will be right. But look out in, oh, 2011 – 2012 when they cash these early first round picks in.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS - 85 1st NW
Vancouver now has a goaltender who can steal games – I guess taking 45 shots a game in Florida teaches one how to stop a lot of rubber. The Canucks though desperately need Markus Nasland to return to a 45 – 50 goal plateau and take the pressure off the Sedin twins. Why they didn't invite Anson Carter back, I just don't know.
MINNESOTA WILD - 87 2nd NW
Both publications rate this group better than Vancouver, but that depends on Marian Gaborik playing a full year, which he hasn't done yet in his career. Trap master Jacques Lemaire finally has front end talent to allow the Wild to play a really good speed and forechecking game. Goalie Niklas Backstrom is being thrown into the fire with Manny Fernandez being traded to Boston. If he goes down, all bets are off.
CALGARY FLAMES - 89 3nd NW
HN rates these guys as the best in the NW, but I don't see it. Calgary hasn't ADDED anything, not have they really subtracted anything. If Owen Nolan can chip in 25 goals and help take some pressure off the first line of Craig Conroy – Alex Tanguay – Jerome Iginla, this team may rise to a 6 seed. But this is also a team that went through streaks where they didn't come to play last year and only made the playoffs by ONE POINT and I don't think anything 'Iron Mike' Keenan will do can fix that. If Mikka Kiprusoff falters or gets injured at any point this year, this team could collapse in a hurry.
COLORADO AVALANCHE - 78 4th NW
My heart tells me Colorado will be better than Calgary. Put Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth on the first line and Paul Stasney and Milan Hejduk on the second and I think the Avs have two great scoring lines and a power play that will make people sit up and take notice. But their defense is pedestrian and a bit small and unless Jose Theodore regains his 2005 form, goaltending is mediocre.
EDMONTON OILERS - 68 5th NW
The Oilers hit bottom losing 18 of their last 20 last year after being decimated by injuries. But they've made some steps, signing Sheldon Souray [needs to be more defensively responsibe] and brining Dick Tarnstrom back from Europe. But they still lack grit and snarl in their forwards and teams like San Jose and Anaheim will push them down like bowling pins. Having a sparkplug like Ethan Moreau for more than 7 games will help. Another fast, hard forechecking team, entertaining to watch, but lost in the shuffle in the West.
DETROIT RED WINGS - 93 1st CEN
Those who though a salary cap would end Detroit's dominance in the West were partially right. They're not the number 1 team in the West anymore, but with the pressure off, they found ways to win games with aging warriors like Chris Chelios and Dominik Hasek. They cast off Robert Lang who looked disinterested every time I saw the Wings play and lost their 2nd best puck mover [Schnieder] to the Ducks, but plugged in Brian Rafalski from the Devils. Who will play along the ever graceful Nick Lidstrom is up in the air with the Wings allowing Danny Markov to walk after a good year in Motown. Still, there's really no one in the Central who can challenge Detroit – yet.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS - 83 2nd CEN
Watching a team fall to pieces before your eyes is never pretty and it looks on paper like Nashville lost a lot in the last 6 months РPeter Forsberg is in limbo with continuing foot and ankle problems; Paul Kariya goes to division rival St Louis;, Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell and Scottie Upshall to Philadelphia; Tomas Vokun to Florida. Adding Shane Willis [Carolina], Radek Bonk [who could not make it in Montreal], Martin Gelinas [Florida] and Greg de Vries [Atlanta] are not going to make anyone forget the players now gone. But David Poile still has a fountain of youths and Nashville has one of the best young blue lines in the game in Ryan Suter and soon to be defensive stud Shea Weber. They have good young scorers in Alex Radulov [who was apparently a prot̩g̩ of Peter Forsberg during his short stay in Music City РI can think of few people better to school someone on the ins and outs of the game], Vernon Fiddler, Martin Erat and David Legwand appears to be comfortable [FINALLY] with his position. Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont continue to be threats and if Steve Sullivan can remain healthy when he comes back in December could add exponentially to the mix. But this is not the team that held the lead in the Central division over Detroit for most of last season. They remain a bit small and teams like San Jose and Anaheim will continue to push Nashville around until they show they can stand up for themselves. And unless they quit taking mindless, idiotic penalties in the playoffs, it will be another long summer for the Preds.
St. LOUIS BLUES - 76 3rd CEN
Give the Blues credit – they have players they like and who like playing there and they keep brining those people back. Last year it was the over-rated Doug Weight after he won the Cup in Carolina. This year it's underachiever Keith Tkachuk. The Blues showed life and fire after Andy Murray was brought in and I expect them to continue that this year. The Blues defense is all 31 or uinder and they play hard. But with Detroit and Nashville in this division, the Blues are still an also ran.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS - 69 4th CEN
A lot of people are picking Chicago to again be the league doormat, but I think the Hawks are barely better than that. They ran into unfortunate injuries to their two best players last year; center Michael Handzus, now in LA played 8 games, but had 8 points in 8 games] and winger Martin Havlat missed a chunk of the first 20 games with a groin issue, but also has 57 points in 56 games. The Hawks added faceoff ace Yanic Pereault and hope Robert Lang can relight his competitive fire in the windy city. They traded the underachieving Adrian Aucoin for Andre Zyuzin, so maybe that will be a wash. And the Hawks have a good group of young defensemen forged by the fire last year – Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith look tio be on the Hawks blueline for a long time – or until Bill Wirtz decides they make to much money. If the hot prospects Jack Skillie and / or Jonathan Teoweshave any impact, the Hawks could be this years Penguins – a high flying, high scoring bunch. Having a decent backup [Patrick Lalime] behind the oft injured Nick Khabibulin will help, too.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS - 67 5th CEN
Columbus hasn't added anyone to take the pressure off the aging Sergei Fedorov and Rick Nash. They will have a system in effect with a full camp with Ken Hitchcock, but they just don't have anyone to score or defend. But they are the only game in town after Ohio State's football season is over.
EAST FINALS - OTTAWA SENATORS over NEW YORK RANGERS
WEST FINALS – ANAHIEM DUCKS over SAN JOSE SHARKS
CUP WINNER – ANAHIEM DUCKS
