East
15. Florida Panthers- Despite basically bringing in an entirely new team (Fleischmann, Versteeg, Kopecky, Upshall, Brian Campbell, Theodore, Bergenheim), it will be the same old results for the Florida Panthers who haven’t made the playoffs since 2000. Jose Theodore is the starting goalie!! With this line-up of all second and third line guys, the Panthers are on track to be picking first overall in the draft next June. And maybe that’s a good thing for this team. A few young stars along with all these vets might lead to future success for the Panthers.
14. Ottawa Senators- The only reason I don’t have them dead last behind the Panthers is because their goaltender Craig Anderson may steal a few games. But as for where this team’s scoring is going to come from? I really have no idea. This team has Jason Spezza….and that’s it. Why Daniel Alfredsson is still playing is a mystery because he has taken about 10 strides back in the last few years. The Panthers and Sens will duke it out all year for that first overall draft pick next year.
13. New Jersey Devils- We can officially say that Martin Brodeur is an average goaltender now. This team does have the scoring (Kovalchuk, Parise) but this was a squad for the last decade that would make playoff runs in the East because of their defense and goaltending. Now…Marty’s days are numbered, and their top 6 defensemen might be the worst group in the league.
12. Winnipeg Jets- True North’s agenda was packed this summer as they had to draft players, name the team, design a jersey/logo, and a whole bunch of other things all in the span of three months. Unfortunately, they forgot to do one important thing. Improve their team. The Jets were a playoff team for the entire first half of last season. They then slipped way down the standings and had an awful second half. With a few acquisitions (some sort of veteran presence, goal scorers), this team might have been ready to make the climb into the top eight. But the crazy Winnipeg fans will just have to be patient for now.
11. New York Islanders- Getting a healthy Mark Streit back is massive for this team who otherwise, is not very good on the back end. With a stud like John Tavares, and guys like Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson, and Michael Grabner, who all should have very productive years this year, the Islanders upward climb continues. And if Evgeni Nabokov can play up to this potential in net, who knows?
10. Carolina Hurricanes- Depth seems to be a problem for this team that, other than Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner, has a weak group of forwards and a defense headlined by Tomas “My name should not really be on the Cup” Kaberle. If goalie Cam Ward does not stand on his head and turn in a Vezina-like performance, this team will not have a chance.
9. Toronto Maple Leafs- Oh, the Leafs. The scoring is there, surprisingly. But I actually think goaltending will be this team’s downfall and keep them out of the playoffs. There’s no way that James Reimer repeats in net what he did last season. And all these 9th, 10th, 11th place finishes for this club are no good and something needs to be done. No playoffs this year should mean no more Brian Burke and Ron Wilson.
8. Tampa Bay Lightning- I think this team takes a step back. Defense wins championships and this team has none of it. Dwayne Roloson is a fossil in the net, and while this team probably should have upgraded their goaltending, they didn’t. Yes, he was awesome in the playoffs, but are we supposed to believe a 42- year old goaltender can do it again?
7. Pittsburgh Penguins- Remember, this team was one of the best in the league last year without Crosby and Malkin for almost half the year. And then they collapsed in the playoffs. I believe the real Penguins are the squad that blew a 3-1 lead to the Lightning in last year’s playoffs and not the team that thrived in the regular season. I have always said that Marc-Andre Fleury is an average goaltender and he continues to prove me right. Malkin’s probably going to get injured at some point again and with the uncertainty of Crosby, this team is destined for another first-round playoff exit.
6. Montreal Canadiens- Exciting times for a team who has one of the best goaltenders in the league (Carey Price) and one of the best young defencemen in the league (P.K Subban). Despite adding Erik Cole and getting back a healthy Max Pacioretty, size is still a bit of an issue on this team.
5. Boston Bruins- Maybe one of the luckiest Stanley Cup wins of all-time? Well considering they were the only team to win THREE Game 7’s in one playoff year, then I think you could argue that for sure. Goalie Tim Thomas will drop off a little this year. He certainly can’t get any better than last year. Still a very deep team and a very physical team as well.
4. New York Rangers- They landed Brad Richards, the prize of the free-agent market, and if Marian Gaborik can finally get going this year, this team is going to score a ton of goals. Lots of young talent too with guys like Brandon Dubinsky, Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan adding what should be 20-goal seasons this year. But the main reason I have them so high is because of King Henrik Lundqvist, one of the top 5 goalies in the game.
3. Buffalo Sabres- Okay Buffalo. In my mind, you have the best goaltender in the league (Ryan Miller). You’re getting a healthy Derek Roy back. You added key pieces in Ville Leino and Christian Ehrhoff. You have one of the deepest forward crops in the league. You should be good enough to win the Northeast Division.
2- Washington Capitals- Like him or hate him, Alex Ovechkin is bouncing back after having a medicore year by his standards last year. And the Caps better hope Mike Green bounces back in a big way after last year’s debacle. The signing of goaltender Tomas Vokoun is absolutely vital for this team who has long suffered with goaltending issues. This might be the last kick at the can for the core of Backstrom, Ovechkin, and Semin because if they end up with anything less than a trip to the conference final, someone’s leaving town.
1-Philadelphia Flyers- When you heard that this team got rid of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter on the same day, I’m sure the common thought was that the Flyers were heading for a rough year. But then we started to hear what they got back in those trades. Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn. Great acqusitions. And then they went out and brought back Jaromir Jagr to the NHL. And it’s clear that after watching him at the World Championships in the spring, he’s still got it. But most importantly, the goaltending circus that haunted this team a year ago will be no more. Ilya Bryzgalov. Signed and sealed. This team finally has their goalie. And now they’re closer to Lord Stanley than they’ve ever been before.
Western Conference
15. Phoenix Coyotes- If this team makes the playoffs again, I’ll never watch hockey again. They are just so bad on paper. The last two years, I have picked this team to be last in the West, and the last two years, they have made the playoffs. But I’m crediting those playoff berths to goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who has since left the Coyotes and has been replaced by…….Mike Smith. Gulp. And when your best forwards are Shane Doan and Ray Whitney, and your leading scorer is a defenseman (Keith Yandle), you’re probably going to be in for a long year.
14. Colorado Avalanche- Another team that has a few stars at the top (Duchene, Stastny) but then nobody to help them out. Maybe in a few years we can take this team seriously if their draft picks pan out. But for now, it’s going to be another rough year in Denver.
13. Minnesota Wild- We’ll see what Dany Heatley can do but this team’s weakness year in and year out is scoring and they were in the playoff race last year until the last few weeks but couldn’t keep pace with other teams. Goaltender Niklas Backstrom is in for a tough year, I believe. And what were the Wild thinking getting rid of Brent Burns?
12. Nashville Predators- The fun and games are over in Nashville. You finally made it to the second round of the playoffs. So now it’s time to just take a step back and stay out of the playoffs so we don’t have to watch your boring team play anymore. You think the Preds are happy having to pay Shea Weber $7.5 million a year? There are some problems internally with this franchise and when Sergei Kostitsyn is your leading scorer, that’s not going to help matters.
11. Edmonton Oilers- This team has so much young talent that they had to start getting rid of some of it in the offseason (Cogliano traded). Bringing in veteran Ryan Smyth is a good thing to help the young guys (are you listening, Winnipeg?) and the Oilers are going to be exciting to watch this year. But unfortunately they have the worst goaltending situation the league. And I can guarantee you that Nikolai Khabibulin didn’t get any better sitting in a jail cell.
10. Columbus Blue Jackets- This team is one year away from making the playoffs. Jeff Carter and James Wisniewski are great pick-ups and it’s a team that should have no problem scoring with guys like Nash, Umberger, Vermette. But the West is just too strong for the Jackets to make that next step.
9. Calgary Flames- Just when you thought they were headed for the basement, the Flames almost made the playoffs last year. It appears that Jarome Iginla still has a few big years left in him and if this team can get guys like Olli Jokinen, Alex Tanguay and Brendan Morrison to unexpectedly continue producing, then they should contend for a playoff spot again.
8. Dallas Stars- Everyone thinks they’re done because Brad Richards is gone. But the Stars have so many underrated guys on their team. Jamie Benn, Loui Eriksson, Mike Ribiero, Brendan Morrow. All guys that put up numbers but are never talked about. As long as Kari Lehtonen plays well in net, this team should be back in the playoffs after a few years of missing out.
7. Anaheim Ducks- Basically four guys got all this teams points last year. Getzlaf, Perry, Selanne and Visnovsky. Need more from the rest of the team. But even if that doesn’t happen, a team with superstars like Getzlaf and Perry should make the playoffs anyways.
6. Detroit Red Wings- I think this team is slowly on the decline. They’ve been unable to get far in the playoffs the last few years, and the age of this team is catching up. But this team still has enough top-notch talent up front to get them a spot in the playoffs.
5. St. Louis Blues- My surprise team of the year. They made maybe the best trade of the year last season going out and getting Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk from the Avalanche, guys who are going to have huge years. Throw in some more young guys (Backes, Perron, Berglund, Steen, Oshie) with some prdocutive veterans (McDonald, Arnott) and we have ourselves a dangerous team.
4. Los Angeles Kings- Everyone thinks this is the year the Kings make the next step. And I agree, sort of. They’ve been 6th and 7th the last two years, and the acquisition of Mike Richards should be enough to make this a team a top four-team in the West and a playoff series win. But I think there’s a lot of ego on this team that may cost them in the end . We all know the Doughty situation. Mike Richards was traded from Philly because he thought he was better than the rest of the Flyers by breaking the no-liquor policy the team had. And Jonathan Quick, prove to me that you can win big games before I actually pick your team to go further than the second round.
3. Vancouver Canucks- I think they had their best chance last year and they blew it big-time and I don’t see them ever getting that close again. But they’re still a great team. The Sedins and Luongo are great regular-season players. But the Finals catastrophe last year is still going to linger with this team and I don’t see them going past the second round.
2. Chicago Blackhawks- A year after winning the Cup, they were a Dallas Stars win away from missing the playoffs last year. They’re going to be back with a venegeance. Jonathan Toews is getting better every year. They probably should have beaten the Canucks in the playoffs last year but it didn’t turn out that way in the end and after the Stanley Cup hangover last year, the Hawks will be dangerous once again.
1. San Jose Sharks- This is their year to win the West. Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski headline a talented group of forwards that got great production from rookie Logan Couture last year and get even better this year with the addition of Martin Havlat. They also got better on the blueline by picking up Brent Burns. And I think we can all agree that Antii Niemi is actually a good goaltender. They’ve gone far in the playoffs the last two years and this year is when they take that final step.
Stanley Cup Playoffs
East
Philadelphia over Tampa Bay
Washington over Pittsburgh
Buffalo over Montreal
NY Rangers over Boston
Philadelphia over NY Rangers
Washington over Buffalo
Philadelphia over Washington
West
San Jose over Dallas
Chicago over Anaheim
Vancouver over Detroit
Los Angeles over St. Louis
San Jose over Los Angeles
Chicago over Vancouver
San Jose over Chicago
Stanley Cup Final
Philadelphia Flyers over San Jose Sharks
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