NHL Eastern Conference Predictions

The time has come for my official NHL Eastern Conference preview and predictions, which will be located in this article. I was originally going to wait until Mats Sundin signed somewhere but since it looks as if hell will freeze over before then, I figure I'll get busy with this.

Final Standings

1. Montreal Canadiens*

2. New York Rangers*

3. Washington Capitals*

4. Pittsburgh Penguins

5. Philadelphia Flyers

6. Boston Bruins

7. New Jersey Devils

8. Carolina Hurricanes

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9. Tampa Bay Lightning

10. Ottawa Senators

11. Buffalo Sabres

12. Toronto Maple Leafs

13. Florida Panthers

14. Atlanta Thrashers

15. New York Islanders

Team Analysis

1. Montreal Canadiens

For the second straight season, the Montreal Canadiens will win the Eastern Conference. This team established themselves as one of the fastest and most exciting teams in the league last season and they are virtually unchanged coming into this season.

The only difference in the lineup will be winger and former thirty goal scorer Alex Tanguay, who will only strengthen the offense. The team also got tougher and they now have a bonafide enforcer in the lineup with Georges Laraque.

The only question with this team will be the goaltending and I wonder how well Carey Price will hold up in what will be his first full season in the NHL. The offense should be enough to carry the team through the regular season but it will be up to goaltending and defense when the playoffs roll around.

2. New York Rangers

Two months ago I boldly predicted that the New York Rangers would win the Atlantic division and I'm sticking by that. The team went in the right direction by letting Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka go, and acknowledging that it will be Scott Gomez and Chris Drury who will be the future of this offense.

The additions of Nikolai Zherdev and Markus Naslund will only improve the team as Zherdev is incredibly skilled and exciting, while a change of scenery will do Naslund good.

Also, look for big free agent acquisition defenseman Wade Redden to turn into a Brian Leetch-type figure for this team, as they have lacked a power play quarterback since his departure.

Their defensive core is young and solid; combine that with goaltender "King" Henrik Lundqvist, and this team can go deep into the playoffs.

3. Washington Capitals

In what is a very weak Southeast division, the Washington Capitals will once again come away the victors.

Their offense will rank among the best in the league with young players like Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Niklas Backstrom leading the way. Add to that the veteran presence of Sergei Federov and Viktor Kozlov, and there are no worries on offense.

However, their defense and goaltending are questionable as the only D-man worth noting is sniper Mike Green. To say that Jose Theodore is an upgrade over Olaf Kolzig is a bit of an over-statement, but Theodore played well with the Avalanche last season and the offense of this team should keep the pressure off on most nights.

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