Central Division
1. Detroit (2)
The
Wings get older every year, but they are always a Stanley Cup
contender. The over 34 brigade are Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Chris
Chelios, Nick Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom and Dominik Hasek. With a
backup in Chris Osgood it seems the Wings may be one groin pull away
from not having a legitimate number one goalie, but Hasek was able to
make it through all of last season injury free. If he can do that two
years in a row it will be a minor miracle.
There
are some younger players coming through the system. Valtteri Filppula
looked great in the playoffs last season and of course Datsyuk and
Zetterberg are both in their 20s. Brian Rafalski was added to make up
for the loss of Matthieu Schneider and he should be good for about 10
more points a year now that he is out of New Jersey's defense first
system. The Wings are a cup contender, but it will depend on Hasek's
health. You get the feeling that one of these days the 42-year-old just
isn't going to be an elite NHL goaltender anymore. But that day hasn't
yet arrived.
2. Chicago
The Blackhawks haven't been very good recently. Chicago's
success or lack thereof will hinge on Mark Prior and Kerry Wood (or
Martin Havlat, Sergei Samsonov and Tuomo Ruutu). Even new acquisition
Robert Lang has an injury history. Highly touted prospects Patrick Kane
and Jonathan Towes are both expected to be major contributors to the
team and their upside may be enough to get the Hawks into the playoffs.
There is actually quite a bit of talent here and we may see it gel into
a pretty effective team this season.
Remember
Nikolai Khabibulin is being paid $6.75 million for a reason, he is
quite good. The Blackhawks have the 34-year-old for three more years
and he has the ability to take them back to the playoffs with the right
group of guys around him. This team is probably the most exciting story
of the season and the team I will have my eye on for the first month
and a half. They could make the playoffs if things go right. And
playing in probably the weakest division in the league, they just might
get to the estimated 95 points needed to do it.
3. Nashville
The
Predators better hope they don't draw the Sharks in the first round of
the playoffs again this year. In fact, they might do better just hoping
to make the playoffs at all. Tomas Vokoun is in Florida
and Chris Mason, who has performed competently, will be the starter.
But Mason is the kind of goaltender that can backstop a good team, not
the game stealer that Vokoun has the capability of being, and the
Predators aren't exactly a good team anymore.
Paul
Kariya is gone and so is Peter Forsberg, who wasn't much effective
anyway. Steve Sullivan, who is always hurt, is hurt again. This time
it's his back and he will be out for months. Things are completely up
in the air and he may not be Steve Sullivan ever again if and when he
comes back. Scott Hartnell took the money and ran to Philadelphia
and so did Kimmo Timmonen. To make up for this Alexander Radulov in his
second season should see a huge boost in ice time. Marek Zidlicky will
hope to see a resurgence this season alongside young blueliners Shea
Weber and Ryan Suter. Playing in a weaker division will help this team,
but it's hard to see them making the playoffs with the amount of talent
they have lost.
4. St. Louis
Everyone
loves GM John Davidson and Coach Andy Murray and want to see them
succeed. They seem to be on their way. Signing Paul Kariya will be a
big help, but alongside him are old people like Keith Tkachuk and Doug
Weight. Unfortunately, these players probably won't be effective in two
or three years when this team will challenge for the playoffs and
actually need them.
The
19-year-old Erik Johnson is the top rated prospect defenseman in the
game and will see a lot of ice time right away. Questions abound in
goal with 23-year-old Hannu Toivonen, who had one good year in Boston
and looked like the latest in a large crop of star Finish goaltenders.
He still has quite a bit of upside. And then there is Manny Legace, who
had one good season behind a great Detroit team two years ago and proceeded to fail in the playoffs when it mattered. St. Louis
is a ways away from success, but if Toivonen finds his past form they
could have found themselves a goalie for many years. However, that's a
big if.
5. Columbus
This
is the team where your career goes to die. Remember Sergei Fedorov and
Adam Foote? They didn't retire, they just play for the Blue Jackets.
There is some young talent here, as there should be for a team that
hasn't made the playoffs once in their five seasons of existence.
Gilbert Brule hasn't proven anything yet, but Nikolai Zherdev scored 54
points two years ago, before having a disappointing 2006/2007 season.
And then there is always Rick Nash, who looked every bit as good as
Ilya Kovalchuk in their rookie seasons, a year before the lockout.
However, Nash hasn't been able to turn himself into one of the game's
elite players as of yet.
Pascal
Leclaire is the goalie of the future and he did as well as could be
expected last season on such a poor team. I'd look for Zherdev to
rebound and get back to 50+ points, but there aren't a lot of good
things to say about this team. For a team that is so well attended by
the city of Columbus, it's too bad that after five years they still
haven't been able to get it together.
Northwest Division
1. Vancouver (3)
The
Canucks have the best goalie in the NHL. Their problem will be finding
the scoring to compliment that. The Sedins will have another fantastic
year together, but the challenge will be production from former
superstar Markus Naslund and his linemate Brendan Morrison. These two
and Todd Bertuzzi formed the most potent line combination the year
prior to the lockout. Both have seen their numbers decline in recent
years. Any average hockey team with Luongo has a shot at making a deep
playoff run. Adding some scoring at the trade deadline would be nice.
2. Calgary (5)
Crazy
Mike Keenan has been brought in to coach the Flames, a move that had
hockey experts befuddled. The Flames still have many of the key players
from their cup run of three seasons ago. Built from the net out Miikka
Kiprusoff will probably play another 80 games this season. Dion Phaneuf
has already established himself as an elite defenseman in this league
with his hitting and scoring punch, and the team added Adrian Aucoin
and Cory Sarich for probably too much money. They will join the top
notch defensive corp with large bodied Robyn Regehr and Rhett Warrener.
Scoring was always secondary in the Flames game plan, but they have more offensive weapons than ever. Alex Tanguay hasn't had Colorado
numbers since he joined the team last year, but Daymond Langkow and
Kristian Huselius had truly breakout seasons alongside the prolific
Jerome Iginla. Both reached career highs in points (77). If you believe
Langkow and Huselius won't fall off their point per game pace and
Tanguay has a bounce-back year then the Flames will win the division.
3. Minnesota (6)
The
Wild have now let longtime goalie tandem Manny Fernandez and Dwayne
Roloson go, but they've found a couple of equally capable replacements
in Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding. Backstrom played half a season
last year and finished with a league leading GAA of 1.97. For his
troubles the 29-year-old received a two year $3.1 million contract. The
23-year-old Harding is the goalie of the future, and the two may split
time like Fernandez and Roloson used to do. Needless to say the already
defensive minded Jacques Lemaire team looks set to be even better
defensively this season, and set in goal for years to come.
On
offense the oft-injured Slovakian duo of Marian Gaborik and Pavol
Demitra are as good of a one-two punch as any in the league. Saku's
younger brother Mikko Koivu looks poised to step up as their first line
center, and if they stay healthy he could have a big season. On the
second line Brian Rolston should be good for another 60+ points.
In the playoffs it is important to have more than one good line. Last season Anaheim
easily shut down Demitra and Gaborik leaving the Wild without much of a
chance in their first round five game dismissal at the hands of the
Ducks. It's that lack of scoring depth that keeps Minnesota from being
one of the elite teams, but as with any Lemaire coached team they will
be very competitive if not the most exciting to watch at times.
4. Colorado (7)
The
Avs had a good offseason adding Ryan Smyth and Scott Hannan. Smyth
should play with Joe Sakic and Andrew Brunette. The second line will
have rookie standouts Peter Stasny and Wojtek Wolski in their second
seasons. We haven't even mentioned Milan Hejduk, who has seen his
numbers decline and one year wonder Marek Svatos who may be back to his
rookie season form. John-Michael Liles is on the cusp of being a top
NHL blue-liner and Jordan Leopold, who spent much of last season
injured needs to be the number two guy on defense. Obviously goals will
be easy to come by.
The
question is in net. Peter Budaj and Jose Theodore haven't proven to be
anything more than average. Average goaltending should get this team to
the playoffs, but it keeps them from being one of the elite teams in
the West.
5. Edmonton
The
Oilers offseason was characterized by the RFA offer sheets desperate GM
Kevin Lowe threw at Thomas Vanek and Dustin Penner. Both incredibly
overvalued the Sabres matched Vanek's offer not wanting to lose three
of their top players in one season. The Ducks had the luxury of letting
Penner go so Penner joins an Oilers team that looks to be near the
bottom of the Western Conference. A lot of people are beginning to
compare Penner to a young Ryan Smyth and that doesn't bode well for
him. Penner has gone from being a small part of a successful franchise
in a non-hockey city, to being a highly paid go-to-guy on the Edmonton
Oilers, a city where pressure will be applied daily. If Penner doesn't
live up to his contract early on (and it's hard to see him being able
to) expect people to turn on him quickly, especially if Smyth is
racking up the goals alongside Joe Sakic.
This
is a team that was a game away from winning the Stanley Cup two seasons
ago, but Pronger is gone, team captain Jason Smith is gone and Smyth is
gone. They splashed the cash for Sheldon Souray, who many experts
criticize on defense and expect not to match his stellar offensive
numbers last season. If he does he is a top five offensive-defenseman
in the league. Ales Hemsky hasn't turned into the player many thought
he would. Considering the Oilers probably won't make the playoffs and
gave this season's first round pick to the Ducks as compensation for
Penner it could be a long year, with little to no payoff.
Pacific Division
1. Anaheim (1)
The
Ducks are the defending champions and despite losing two of their best
players you can hardly say they've even taken a step back. Sure Scott
Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne will be missed, but Todd Bertuzzi and
Matthieu Schneider are admirable replacements.
Brian
Burke will have been glad to part with Dustin Penner for the price
Kevin Lowe paid for him. An Oilers first round compensation draft pick
looks nice and tasty this year with Edmonton sure to miss the playoffs
and maybe even finish at the bottom of the conference. With two
legitimate number one goalies and (number two draft pick behind Sidney
Crosby) Bobby Ryan in the mix we are talking about a team that will
coast into the playoffs.
2. San Jose (4)
Coach
Ron Wilson may have just one more year to get it right. With a couple
of seasons worth of playoff disappointments the Sharks come back with
no goalie dilemmas (Evgeni Nabokov is the undisputed number one with
Vesa Toskala in Toronto) and a young core that is one year older. All
23 or younger, defensemen Matt Carle and Marc-Edouard Vlasic and
forwards Steve Bernier, Joe Pavelski and Milan Michalek should be even
better this season. And much hyped 2005 first round pick Devin
Setoguchi has made the team after recovering from the knee injury that
forced him to spend another season in juniors last year.
Wilson
has been experimenting with Patrick Marleau on the top line with Joe
Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo in preseason. If this line stays
together it is the best line in hockey. With the loss of defensive
stalwart Scott Hannan to Colorado,
the Sharks may look to add to their young blueline sometime this
season, but their wealth of young forwards and top goaltender make them
a cup favorite once again.
3. Dallas (8)
The
Stars won't score a lot of goals, but they won't give up many either.
Regular season standout goaltender Marty Turco proved the doubters
wrong in last years playoffs, his team just couldn't manage enough
goals for him in the only seven game series in the entire 2007
playoffs.
The team lost the non-effective Ladislav Nagy to Los Angeles
and scoring help is expected from a group of players who had down
seasons last year. Mike Modano, Brendan Morrow and Jere Lehtinen, three
names synonymous with the Dallas Stars, have seen their numbers
decline. Morrow took over the captaincy last season, but only played
half the year due to injuries. Modano missed a quarter of the season,
which saw one year wonder Mike Ribeiro lead the team in scoring (59
points).
The
team is led on defense by Mattias Norstrom who will stick his face in
front of a puck if it helps the team. Sergei Zubov and Phillipe Boucher
are guaranteed big point getters on the power play. Dallas
should make the playoffs if Modano and Morrow can stay healthy and get
back to 65 points each. Todd Fedoruk will attempt to make a return to
the league with Dallas after having his head bashed in by Minnesota's tough-guy Derek Boogard last year.
4. Los Angeles
The
Kings season will rest on its goaltending questions again this year.
Last year when Dan Cloutier wasn't letting beach balls into his net he
was injured. This year he was waived and with nobody taking on his
contract he will sit in Manchester.
Jason Labarbara had an outstanding year in AHL and 19-year-old QMJHL
prospect Jonathan Bernier has impressed in the pre-season.
The
Kings brought in a group of five marginal free agents to shore up their
young foundation. Ladislav Nagy and Michael Handzus hope to find the
chemistry they had in St. Louis and Phoenix. Kyle Calder will probably play a third line role, but has impressed in the pre-season and may find his way onto the top six. Patrick
O' Sullivan and Anze Kopitar are entering their second seasons. Kopitar
was well on his way to a runner-up finish for the Calder behind Evgeni
Malkin until he missed his team's last 10 games due to injury. Kopitar
will play with Michael Cammalleri whose point per game pace last season
led the team in scoring.
The
blue line should be one of the best in the league with Lubomir
Visnovsky a legitimate elite point scoring defenseman alongside the
Lidstroms and the Gonchars of the world. Tom Preissing and Brad Stuart
were added along with the first full season of Jack Johnson and Rob
Blake in a contract year. Solid goaltending would be enough to get this
team into the playoffs, but as of now that's still a huge question mark.
5. Phoenix
The
Coyotes shouldn't be very good. They have not added anyone of note and
a team that finished near the bottom of the conference last season
should stay there during their rebuilding process. With Curtis Joseph
gone, three mediocre goalies, Vancouver/Florida cast off Alex Auld,
Colorado/Montreal castoff David Aebischer, and former Toronto backup Mikael Tellqvist will fight for the number one job.
Ed
Jovanovski is somehow getting paid $6.5 million. They will hope to move
that salary at some point this season as it doesn't come off the books
for another four years. Young center Peter Mueller is a bright spot
prospect on a team that lacks scoring punch. There isn't a lot of good
things to say other than the Coyotes may get the number one pick and
the honor of drafting Oshawa's John Tavares, the CHL's MVP last season.
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