I'm continuing my six-part series of division previews. Today I will give my predictions for the Southeast Division.
The Southeast will be one of the more wide open divisions in the NHL, as most of the teams in this division have a chance at first place and/or a playoff berth. Here are my predicted standings for the Southeast:
Washington Capitals: 97 points
Tampa Bay Lightning: 92 points
Florida Panthers: 90 points
Carolina Hurricanes: 88 points
Atlanta Thrashers: 74 points
It will be another exciting year for the Capitals and their fans. Washington has a multitude of young players.
The Capitals have a good amount of veterans who can chip in offensively and provide leadership. Players like Sergei Federov, Viktor Kozlov, Chris Clark, and Michael Nylander give the Capitals an abundance of experience and supporting offense. These supporting players help the superstars like Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, and Nicklas Backstrom shine, and ensure the Capitals have plenty of offensive firepower.
Defense seemed to be a problem for the Capitals in the past, but the surprising emergence of defenseman Mike Green helped to boost the Capitals' defensive corps. Defenseman Tom Poti and Jeff Schultz bring solid defense to the Caps, along with some offensive production.
Goaltending may be a problem for the Capitals. The loss of goaltender Cristobal Huet definitely hurt Washington between the pipes. Veterans Brent Johnson and Jose Theodore will be heavily relied on to bring the Capitals to the playoffs.
It was an offseason of change for the Lightning—but it may have been for the better, as it seems Tampa could make a playoff run.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made huge changes to their offense. Tampa Bay revamped their offense with key acquisitions. The Lightning drafted superstar Steve Stamkos and signed Vaclav Prospal, Ryan Malone, Mark Recchi, Gary Roberts, among others. These moves will definitely ensure they have one of the best offenses in the Southeast division.
Defense will be a problem for the Lightning. Tampa traded veteran defenseman Filip Kuba and Andre Picard for Ottawa defenseman Andrej Mezsaros. The Lightning also traded number-one defenseman Dan Boyle to the Sharks for defenseman Matt Carle. The Lightning are extremely thin on experience at the blue line. This lack of experience could keep Tampa from achieving a playoff berth.
The Lightning's goaltending is the main reason people don't think they can make the playoffs. Goaltender Olaf Kolzig is good, but too old to carry the load. Goaltender Mike Smith will be relied on to share the load with Kolzig, but Kerri Ramo also will have to chip in a bit. The Lightning's goaltending is their biggest weakness, and could really hurt their high-powered offense as well.
The Florida Panthers will once again stay in the playoff hunt until the end of the season, but, once again, will falter.
The Panthers offense will be their biggest question. If young players like Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Kamil Kreps, and Rostislav Olesz reach their potential, the Panthers' offense will become much stronger. The addition of Cory Stillman will also provide the Panthers with experience and offensive production.
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