The final week of September is arguably the most intriguing week in North American sports. College football begins it's conference schedule, the NFL standings begin to take shape, the pennant races in baseball couldn't be hotter, and the start of the NHL season is mere hours away.
The Penguins return to the ice this season looking to make it out of the Eastern Conference for a third straight year, the Bruins begin with a gaping hole on their first line where Phil Kessel used to be, and the Capitals, maybe the most talented group of skaters in the East, still don't know who their starting goaltender is.
With that said, the Eastern Conference looks wide open heading into the 2009-10 season. Let's look at how it could shape up:
*Denotes division winner

*1. Pittsburgh Penguins - The easy pick. Despite losing defensemen Rob Scuderi, the hero of game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals, and veteran Hal Gill, the Penguins are top to bottom the most well-rounded team in the East, and maybe the league. Crosby, Malkin & co. will avoid the dreaded Cup hangover, at least long enough to have a strong regular season. Look for the power play to make drastic improvements from the unit that was 20th in the league last season, assuming power play quarterback Sergei Gonchar stays healthy. Young defensemen Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski will make tremendous strides to make the Pens' blueline corps as effective as their marquee centers.

*2. Washington Capitals - Does the world's most dynamic player finally have enough help to take the Caps to the finals? The additions of Mike Knuble and Brendan Morrison, as well as the quiet resurgence of Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom would lead one to believe so. Throw in Norris Trophy candidate Mike Green, who showed up to Canadian Olympic Camp in great shape after a terrible postseason showing against the Rangers and Penguins, and you've got a group of budding stars that will make divisional opponents cringe in warmups.
Despite having a dominant group of skaters, there are many questions between the pipes. Coach Bruce Boudreau hasn't tipped his hand as to who will be the starting goaltender, but has hinted that last season's playoff savior, Seymon Varlamov, may start the season in Hershey with the team's AHL affiliate.

*3. Boston Bruins - Last year's regular season conference champions made the last big splash of the offseason, trading Phil Kessel to Toronto. The cap-strapped Bruins were forced to trade the restricted free-agent forward to the Maple Leafs, leaving them with a gaping hole among their top six forwards. Though the trade will most likely benefit the Bruins over the long haul, their window of opportunity may be closing before the draft picks they received blossom into impact players.
Marco Sturm will be called on to alleviate some of the scoring woes they'll surely face without Kessel's 36 goals from a season ago. If Patrice Bergeron can manage to keep himself in the lineup, the trade won't hurt them too badly, but that's a big if. Also, keep in mind that Marc Savard, who wasn't invited to the Canadian Olympic Camp over the summer will most likely be playing with something to prove as well. Don't count them out of the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, which could drastically change the landscape of the conference.
Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas returns between the pipes for the Bs, but will face a more strenuous workload over the Olympic break as the probable starter for the Americans.

4. Philadelphia Flyers - With the addition of veteran defenseman Chris Pronger, it seems as though the Flyers are attempting to return to the days of the Broad Street Bullies. Pronger, who has led teams on long playoff runs in Edmonton and Anaheim brings the bite to go along with Scott Hartnell's bark. Jeff Carter will try to build on a breakout season where he found the net 46 times, good for second in the NHL, while at the same time forgetting about a dismal playoff effort in which he missed several open net opportunities. Young forwards Claude Giroux and James vanRiemsdyk, the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, could both have strong rookie seasons, which would give the Flyers a ton of secondary scoring.
GM Paul Holmgren has taken a great risk in net by signing Ray Emery. If he regains the form he had in Ottawa in 2006-07, when he took them to the Cup finals, Holmgren will look like a genius. But if Emery becomes the cancer that got him exiled from the NHL in 2008, it may cost Holmgren his job.

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