We start off our East predictions with the Southeast Division. Last year the panthers won the division and them and the Washington Capitals were the only two teams from the division to even make the playoffs. Here is how the Southeast plays out this year.
1. Washington Capitals
-Last year the Caps finished 2nd in the division and 7th in the east to get into the playoffs but they bowed out in the opening round. Since that playoff loss last year the Capitals have done some big time re-tooling. They fired Dale Hunter as head coach and replaced him with Adam Oates. As far as the players are concerned, the Caps lost a good number of talented players in Alex Semin, Jeff Halpern, Denis Wideman, Tomas Vokoun, and Mike Knuble. To replace the offensive punch that was lost, the Caps were able to pick up Mike Ribero, and Wojtek Wolski. This will help an already loaded offensive unit that still has the likes of Alexander Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom, and Brooks Laich, so scoring doesn't seem like it's really going to be an issue. As for the defense, yes it hurt losing Weidman, but the Caps are still deep enough on defense with guys like Roman Hamrlik, John Carlson and Tom Poti to be able to hang around for a while. Finally with the goaltending, with Braden Holtby seen as the front runner for the #1 job with a very solid #2 goalie in Michael Neuvirth right behind him. The Caps are poised to make another strong push for a division title this year and are indeed a playoff team.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
-Last season was a down year for the Lightning, finishing 3rd in the Division and 10th in the east after going to the Conference finals the year before that. Everybody knows the Lightning know how to score goals, espically when you have guys like Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier in the lineup. Tampa Bay still has enough firepower for a run at the playoffs. The weak spots from last year were in goaltending and defense, both issues which were addressed in the offseason. Dwayne Roloson is gone in net and Andres Lindback was brought in to split the netminding duties with Mathieu Garon, so the lightning have a solid goalie tandom. As for the blueline it got some much needed depth added to it in the additions of Sami Salo and Matt Carle. Throw those guys in the mix with the likes of Marc-Andre Beregeron, Victor Hedman, and Mattias Ohlund and the Bolts are looking good. Expect Tampa Bay to be back in the playoffs once again.
3. Carolina Hurricanes
-Last year the Hurricanes finished last in the division and 12th overall in the East. This year head coach Kirk Muller is going to have a few new faces to work with. In the offseason the Canes were pretty busy. They lost Brandon Sutter and Jaroslav Spacek so they blue line took a bit of a hit. Carolina did get deeper with some of their big moves, like picking up Jordan Staal from the Penguins for Brandon Sutter. They also signed free agents Alex Semin, Joe Corvo, and Marc-Andre Gragnani. With adding Semin and Staal, the Canes offense just got a lot more lethal. Throw those talents in with Eric Staal, Chad Larose, and Jussi Jokinen. Carolina has plenty of scoring punch to hang in there in the plyaoff hunt. Goaltending too is a Canes strong point, espically with Cam Ward back and healthy. Dan Ellis is a great backup to complement Ward. The only question mark I have for the Canes is how deep they are on the blue line. Carolina's defense is the reason I have them as a possible bubble team for the playoffs.
4. Florida Panthers
-Last year was a big year for the Panthers, as they won the division for the first time ever and made the playoffs for the first time since 1997 before losing in the opening round to the Devils. Florida took a big hit in the offseason, losing players like Marco Sturm, John Madden, Jason Garrison, and Wojtek Wolski. Florida was able to pick up Peter Muller but that won't really replace a lot of what was lost. The Panthers have alright goaltending in Jose Theodore and Scott Clemenson but they can only do so much, they aren't going to steal a lot of games for you. Leading the charge on the Panther blue line is Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanoski but outside of them, the Panthers aren't very deep on the line and that might hurt them just a bit. The Panthers still have a bit of a scoring touch with guys like Stephen Weiss and Sean Bergenheim but there isn't enough there. Sorry Panther fans but they fall back to reality and will miss the playoffs this year.
5. Winnipeg Jets
-Last year was the first for hockey back in Winnipeg since 1997 and the Jets finished in 4th place in the division and 10th overall in conference, surprising a lot of people. The Jets did a nice bit of retooling in the offseason. They didn't lose much in the free agent market but the did stockpile talent. In goal Ondrej Pavelec is gonna be the #1 guy but they signed Al Montoya as his backup. This isn't the greatest goalie tandum in the league but its not horrible either. It may be able to keep them in a few games. Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Endstrom lead the blue line crop in Winnipeg and that defense seems to be lacking real solid depth, which may end up hurting thhe Jets. Winnipeg retooled their offense a bit. Their two biggest signings were Alexei Ponikarovsky and Olli Jokinen. Throw those guys in the mix with Evander Kane and Nik Antropove and the Jets have a decent core on offense. Sadly though it won't be enough and the Jets will miss the playoffs.
4. Florida Panthers
-Last year was a big year for the Panthers, as they won the division for the first time ever and made the playoffs for the first time since 1997 before losing in the opening round to the Devils. Florida took a big hit in the offseason, losing players like Marco Sturm, John Madden, Jason Garrison, and Wojtek Wolski. Florida was able to pick up Peter Muller but that won't really replace a lot of what was lost. The Panthers have alright goaltending in Jose Theodore and Scott Clemenson but they can only do so much, they aren't going to steal a lot of games for you. Leading the charge on the Panther blue line is Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanoski but outside of them, the Panthers aren't very deep on the line and that might hurt them just a bit. The Panthers still have a bit of a scoring touch with guys like Stephen Weiss and Sean Bergenheim but there isn't enough there. Sorry Panther fans but they fall back to reality and will miss the playoffs this year.
5. Winnipeg Jets
-Last year was the first for hockey back in Winnipeg since 1997 and the Jets finished in 4th place in the division and 10th overall in conference, surprising a lot of people. The Jets did a nice bit of retooling in the offseason. They didn't lose much in the free agent market but the did stockpile talent. In goal Ondrej Pavelec is gonna be the #1 guy but they signed Al Montoya as his backup. This isn't the greatest goalie tandum in the league but its not horrible either. It may be able to keep them in a few games. Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Endstrom lead the blue line crop in Winnipeg and that defense seems to be lacking real solid depth, which may end up hurting thhe Jets. Winnipeg retooled their offense a bit. Their two biggest signings were Alexei Ponikarovsky and Olli Jokinen. Throw those guys in the mix with Evander Kane and Nik Antropove and the Jets have a decent core on offense. Sadly though it won't be enough and the Jets will miss the playoffs.
So now that we have the Southeast Division covered, lets move on to the Northeast Division. Last year the Boston Bruins won the Northeast and they and the Ottawa Senators were the only teams to make it into the playoffs. Here's how I see the Northeast playing out this year.
1. Boston Bruins
-The Bruins are the defending Northeast Division Champions and finished 3rd in the East last year, coming up short in the playoffs. Boston still has most of their 2010 Championship team still in Beantown. A few guys like Joe Corvo and Marty Turco, who were on the club last year are now gone. Boston brought back considerable talent when they resigned Gregory Campbell, Chris Kelly, Tuukka Rask, Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin, and Milan Lucic. The biggest thing the Bruins will have to deal with this season is having to play without Tim Thomas in net. Thomas is taking the year off in Sabatical so he can figure a few things out. So the Bruins are going to be relying heavily on Tukka Rask in net, and that isn't a problem as Rask has shown in the past he can handle the workload. The Bruins are going to once again be a force in the Northeast Division.
2. Buffalo Sabres
-Last year Buffalo finished 3rd in the division and 9th in the conference just missing out on the playoffs. Buffalo lost a bit of their core on offense during the offseason, seeing Derek Roy and Brad Boyes leave town. The Sabres replaced some of that with the additions of Steve Ott and Mark Mancari. Buffalo still has the best goalie in the entire division in Ryan Miller, who is looking for a repeat of the type of year he had back in 2010. Along with Jonas Enroth, Buffalo ha a solid goalie tandom and will be just fine in that regards. Also the Buffalo blueline is still mostly in tact. Tyler Meyers and Jordan Leopold will be looking for bounce back seasons, as is Christian Ehrhoff. But the Sabres are set on the line and should do fine. Scoring won't be a problwem in Buffalo either. With Stafford, Vanek and Pominville back in the fold, they have a nice mix of size and scoring touch in Western New York to get back into the playoffs.
3. Ottawa Senators
-Last year the Senators surprised a lot of people by making the playoffs as the 8th seed thanks to the surprising play of Erik Karlsson. The Ottawa blueline took a bit of a hit losing Carkner and Kubina, but with Karlsson, Gonchar and Philips still in the mix, plus throw in newcomer Marc Methot, the Sens look set on the blueline. Ottawa has an alright goaltending trio in the form of Craig Anderson, Ben Bishop, and Robin Lehner but the question will be are they good enough to keep Ottawa as a playoff team. As far as offense goes,adding a guy like Guillaume Latendresse adds to an already lively offense. Ottawa adds him in with guys like Jason Speeza, Daniel Alfredson and Milan Michalek, which gives then sens a tough offense that will keep them around the playoff hunt. Ottawa is the bubble team in the East.
4. Montreal Canadiens
-Last year the Canadiens finished last in the Eastern Conference and this season it doesn't look much better for the Habs. Montreal didn't lose much talent from last year, but new head coach Michel Therrien, who is now in his 2nd stint as Habs head coach, has an uphill climb ahead of him. Montreal still has a good tandom of goalies in Carey Price, their #1 goalie, and Peter Budaj, a solid netminder in his own right. Both goalies can help keep Montreal in most hockey games. Same thing can be said about the Habs blueline. P.K Subban, Andrei Markov and Tomas kaberle are the anchor of the Montreal line and they should be able to take some of the pressure off of Price and Budaj. Montreal's biggest problem is lack of balanced scoring. Sure they signed Brandon Prust to help add some size to the offense, but outside of Gionta, Cole, Pacioretty and Plekanec, there isn't enough balance on this club to get them where they want to be. Montreal will once again miss out on the playoffs this season.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
-Last year the Leafs finished 2nd to last in the Division and 3rd worst in the Conference. This year isn't going to be much better for the Leafs. Toronto lost Jonas Gustavsson to the Jets and are now going to have to rely on James Reimer and Ben Schivens in goal. Reimer is going to be the undisputed #1 goalie in Leafs Country but the backup isn't really proven in the NHL yet and shows a weakness in Toronto. The Leafs blueline is somewhat decent. They are still lead by the likes of Dion Phaneuf, Jean-Michael Liles, and Mike Komisarek. After that the only defenseman the Leafs have that has proven himself is Mark Fraser who won the cup last year with the Kings. Toronto is average on the blueline. As for offense they Leafs made a little bit of noise when they traded Luke Schen to the Flyers for James van Riemsdyk. JVR joins Phil Kessel, Joffery Lupul, Tim Connolly, and Mikhail Graboviski as the only even remote threat the Leafs have. They don't really have much of a balanced attack and it will cause them to miss out on the plyoffs once again this season.
Finally we take a look at the last Division in the East, the Atlantic Division. Last year four of the five teams in the division made the playoffs. The Rangers, Penguins, Flyers and Devils all made it in and the Islanders were the lone team to miss out. Here is how the Atlantic will play out this year.
1. New York Rangers
-Last year the Rangers won the Atlantic Division and were the best team in the eastern Conference. This year expect much of the same from the Blueshirts, despite some big Cchanges made on Broadway. The Rangers took a hit in losing guys like Dubinsky, Anisimov, and Feditenko. In return however the Rangers snagged the biggest fish on the market in Rick Nash from the Blue Jackets, but we'll touch on offense in a moment. The Rangers still have the best goalie in the Division and quite possibly the best goalie in the league at the moment in Henrik Lundqvist. Along with him and Martin Biron in goal, the Rangers will have no problem there for a long time. As for the blueline, with the likes of Mark Staal, Michael Del Zotto, Dan Girardi, and Stu Bickel, the rangers won't have too much trouble there either. Now as for the offense, the Rangers just got a lot deeper with the addition of Rick Nash. Throw him into the mix with guys like Brad Richards, a healthy Marion Gaborik, Jeff Halper, and Ryan Callahan, there is plenty of scoring to go around. Also add in the toughness of guys like Aaron Ahsam and Mike Rupp, the Rangers have one of the most balanced teams in all of hockey. They will be a strong favorite to come out of the East this year.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
-Last year the Pens fell a few points short of catching the Rangers, and still had a great season, all of this without star Center Sidney Crosby. This year will be a different story. The Rangers and Penguins will again be fighting it out for the Division Title. A few things have changed for the Penguins. Jordan Staal was traded to Carolina, and in return the Pens picked up Brandon Sutter. The other move worth really noting was the Penguins signing Tomas Vokoun from Washington. Now with Vokoun and Marc-Andre Fleury tending net, the Penguins may have the best combo goalies in the Atlantic. Fleury is still the #1 goalie in the Steel City, and Vokoun provides a stability behind Fleury in case he stumbles. The defense in front of Fleury and Vokoun still looks like it can hold its own. Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik are the top defenders on the Pens blue line, and now they have a little bit of depth to them with the likes of Kris Letang and Ben Lovejoy. They may not have the best overall defense but they have a pretty balanced one. As for the offense, it has both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin healthy from the beginning of the season. Throw in the likes of James Neal, Matt Cooke, Brandon Sutter and Tyler Kennedy, just to name a few, the Penguins are a forced in the division and conference. The only reason I have them behind the Rangers is I think the Rangers have a better team defense and goaltending.
3. Philadelphia Flyers
-Last year was another good season in the City of Brotherly Love as they made it to round tow of the playoffs before getting bounced by the Devils. Philly has seen a few changes made, first it saw the departure of Jaromir Jagr, Sergei Bobrovsky, James van Riemsdyk, Matt Carle, and Pavel Kubina. In return the Flyers picked up Luke Schen, Ruslan Fedotenko, and CKurtis Foster. As it has been in the past, goaltending is going to be a question in Philly. With Michael Leighton and Ilya Bryzgalov tending nets for the Flyers, they have a good pair. Only question withi them is how well can they play in the playoffs, as in the last few years Flyer goalies have struggle badly in the post season. As for the Flyers blueline, it looks a little bit thin. Chris Pronger is still out hurt, so that means Kimmo Timmonen and Kurtis Foster are leading the charge. Philly looks really thin on their blueline and that will hurt their chances against the Penguins and Rangers. As for the Flyer offense, that hasn't really changed. Danny Birere, Claude Giroux, and Scott Hartnell still lead that charge. Also throw in role players like Max Talbout, Matt Read, and Jakob Voracek, the Flyers can match the Penguins and Rangers as far as scoring depth. The goaltending and thin blueline is why I have them placed at 3rd.
4. New Jersey Devils
-Last year the Devils fell two wins short of winning the Stanley Cup, and this year are hoping to try and repeat. Things have changed in Jersey over the offseason. Zach Parise and Alexei Ponikarovsky are both gone, leaving a few holes that need filling. One big problem facing the Devils right now is age. Both of their goaltenders, Martin Brodeur and Johan Hedberg are up there in age. Brodeur is 40 and Hedberg is 39. So that could turn into a weakness for the Devils. New team Captain Bryce Salvador is leading the charge on the blueline which still has Hank Talinder Marke Fayne and Andy Greene, but it looks like they may have trouble keeping up with some of the other teams in the East. As far as the Devils offense goes, Ilya Kovalchuck is now the biggest weapon on the team, leading the club last year in scoring. Besides Kovy, the Devils will look for Patrik Elias, Stephen Gionta, David Clarkson, and Adam Henrique to contribute. Henrique will miss a month due to injury but will have an impact apon return. Basically the Devils have enough talent and balance on offense to be able to score, its just the team defense and goaltending that has me worried. Sorry Devils fans but it looks like Jersey may miss out on the playoffs this year.
5. New York Islanders
-Once again last season was a dissapointing one for the Islanders. Although they have improved over the past few seasons, the team isn't where it wants to be in regards to chasing a Stanley Cup. The team lost some talent from last season in seeing Parrenteau, Eaton, Staios, Montoya, Haley, and Gillies all leave. The Islanders did make a few moves of note. First they traded a few picks to the Ducks for Lubomir Visnovsky, but he has since not reported to the team and has been suspended. Then the Islanders signed Eric Boulton, Radak Martinek, Keith Aucoin, Brad Boyes, Matt Carkner, and Brian Strait. The goaltending on the Island is once again going to be a point of question. Rick Dipietro is still a question makr because of his past history of injury problems, so he is not a lock to produce. Evgeni Nabakov will see the bulk of the playing time in the Islanders net. The Islander blueline looks a lot different from last year. Captain Mark Streit is still leading the charge, along with Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald. Now throw in Radak Martinek, Matt Carkner, Thomas Hickey and a few others, the Islanders blue line MIGHT be able to keep them in games. New York's offense is still powered by their one two punch of John Tavares and Matt Moulson. Behind them now are Brad Boyes, Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, and Michael Grabner. Grabner had a drop off last year and so did Okposo so look for those two guys to bounce back. The Problem here on the Island is that they aren't a deep enough hockey team to really be able to compete in as loaded a division as the Atlantic. As much as it hurts me to say this, once again it looks like a last place finish on the Island.
So now that the Eastern Conference has been covered, here is the final prediction for the East and its playoff teams.
1. New York Rangers
2. Boston Bruins
3. Washington Capitals
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Tampa Bay Lightning
6. Philadelphia Flyers
7. Buffalo Sabres
8. Carolina Hurricanes
9. Ottawa Senators
10. New Jersey Devils
11. Florida Panthers
12. New York Islanders
13. Winnipeg Jets
14. Montreal Canadiens
15. Toronto Maple Leafs
There you have it, my preview and predictions for the 2013 NHL Season! So just kick back, relax and enjoy a great year of hockey ahead!
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