The emergence of Marc-Andre Fleury as a true game-stealer is the reason why the Penguins only drop to second place in the Atlantic.
3rd—Philadelphia Flyers—97 Points
The two biggest issues for the Flyers in 2007-2008 were injuries and inconsistency, which usually go hand in hand. The lost of Simon Gagne early in the season, who was limited to 25 games in the entire year, caused John Stevens to shuffle his lines to try and find the right combination with Danny Briere.
Joffrey Lupul, who only played 56 games and was one of the hottest goal-scorers in the league when he was obliterated by Derian Hatcher. Hatcher was trying to deck Alex Steen of the Maple Leafs.
Being so close to the cap ceiling GM Paul Holmgren was not able to do very much in the offseason. A few minor deals and signings were all the Flyers were able to do. Although minor, these transactions could prove to be more major than they first appear.
Steve Eminger, Ossi Vanaanen, and Ryan Parent should give the Flyers far more mobility in the back-end than they enjoyed last season. This was a major contributor to their inconsistency.
Glen Metropolit and Aaron Asham were signed to pick up where Sami Kapanen and Jim Dowd left off. "Metro" is among the best faceoff men and penalty killers in the East and is a personal friend of mine, so I'm very happy to see him don the orange, black, and white.
If Steve Downie can progress and Claude Giroux is able to provide some more offense (assuming he makes the big club), the Flyers should be able to solve their consistency issues and finish third in the Atlantic.
4th—New Jersey Devils—92 Points
The Devils are a model of consistency. Year in and year out they seem to exceed expectations. Never a major player in the UFA market, Lou Lamoriello is able to keep his team not only competitive, but dangerous as well.
New Jersey will have a chance to win every night with a goalie like Martin Brodeur. Brodeur is the straw that stirs that drink, and that's a pretty important straw.
During the offseason the Devils brought back a couple of old faces in Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik. These two players will fit beautifully into what is going on in New Jersey.
Rolston will add some scoring, and if used at the point on the power play like he was in Minnesota, should help improve that aspect of their game. Holik will be yet another tough player for the opponent's stars to play against.
Goals will again be an area that New Jersey will struggle with. Could this be the season it catches up to them? Patrik Elias no longer scores at the pace he once did. Brian Gionta showed some serious signs of missing Gomez and may not get back to the 40-goal mark again.
Zach Parise will surely become "Mr. Everything" in the swamp and that's not a bad thing for Devils fans, but it may not be enough. Brodeur's age will start to show and New Jersey, once again, will not provide the offensive support he could use on a lot of nights.
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