NHL Eastern Conference Preview: First-Timer

This is the first time I am attempting predictions of the Eastern Conference.  Although I regularly cover the Western Conference, I grew up following an Eastern Conference team and the Eastern Conference in general, albeit a few years ago.  Either way, please wish me luck.

In recent years, predicting the Eastern Conference would have been much easier than predicting the balanced, consistently tougher Western Conference.  However, as the Western Conference generally stayed put as it related to free-agent acquisitions, the Eastern Conference teams, particularly those teams who have recently struggled the most, were much more aggressive in their pursuit to be a part of the playoff conversation.

So in a manner similar to predicting the outcome of the Western Conference, I offer my Eastern Conference predictions for the 2010-11 season. Rather than rank the projected finishes, I classify my predictions in three categories:

The Ins: Those teams who should make the playoffs easily, barring a major injury or two.

The Tweeners: Those teams that are on the cusp and could possibly make the postseason.

The Outs: Those teams who are positioning themselves for nothing more than a lottery pick, or for a major overhaul.

With that, here are my predictions:

The Ins

Washington Capitals

Well they have Alexander Ovechkin and that’s not a bad place to start.  They also have a collection of offensive weapons surrounding Ovie in Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Mike Green.  Add to that a tandem of young goalies in Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth, a pair of emerging young defensemen in Karl Alzner and John Carlson and you have a team who, on the surface, seems primed for the President’s Trophy and a potential Stanley Cup run/title. 

However, the Caps are a team that has not experienced much success in Stanley Cup playoffs so, until they can get to that point—an Eastern Conference final or Stanley Cup title—there will be the doubters who will not view them as anything more than a regular season wonder.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils are similar to the Capitals in one respect: while more of an experienced team, they are also a team who recognizes regular season success but early-round failure.  They were able to re-sign Ilya Kovalchuck to a contract extension, but not without much trepidation and uncertainty as to the legality of the contract with respect to its length and payout, by years. 

Kovalchuck adds to an already offensively-gifted team led by Zach Parise and Travis Zajac.  The Devils also signed shot-blocking wunderkind Anton Volchekov to make future Hall of Fame netminder Martin Brodeur’s goaltending life even easier.  But with three consecutive first-round SC playoff eliminations and a playoff record since the NHL lockout of 10-20, the Devils are another team for which doubt of playoff success prevails until they prove otherwise. 

Boston Bruins

The Bruins recognized the fruits of the Phil Kessel trade by drafting Tyler Seguin with the No. 2 overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft.  They also acquired, via trade, Blake Wheeler, Johnny Boychuck and Nathan Horton.  David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic comprise a solid tandem of forwards and they have the ever-large and talented Zdeno Chara manning the blue line. 

One area to keep an eye on will be the use of the goaltending tandem of Tuukka Rask and Tim Thomas, particularly if Rask’s Stanley Cup struggles were a harbinger of things to come.  But the prevailing questions will be how the Bruins can recover from blowing a 3-0 series lead against the Philadelphia Flyers and whether star center Marc Savard can recover from post-concussion syndrome.

Buffalo Sabres

They have arguably the most talented goalie in the league in Ryan Miller, the recipient of the Vezina Trophy this past season.  They also have this past season’s Calder Trophy winner in defenseman Tyler Myers.  The Sabres also have a balanced scoring arsenal with four 20-goal scorers lead by Thomas Vanek, an arsenal which may be enhanced by the arrival of speedy forward Tyler Ennis.  However, for the Sabres to be considered a solid Stanley Cup contender, players like Vanek, Jason Pomiville and Derick Roy must provide Ryan Miller with much more offensive support.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The 2008-2009 Stanley Cup champion Pens were stunned by their second-round exit in last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs, another team that was upset by the other-worldly goaltending of Jaroslav Halak.  But there were signs that a return to the SC finals was in doubt: A loss of role-players such as Hal Gill and Ryan Malone, the puzzling mediocre midseason, one in which the Penguins couldn’t win more than two consecutive games in over a three-month span, and the return of some of goaltender Marc Andre Fleury’s issues with rebound control and shots between his leg pads (five-hole) were key indicators of trouble. 

However, the Pens do possess the league’s premier playmaker in Sidney Crosby and two premier centermen in Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal.  The Pens also appeared to have addressed needs in their defensive corps with the acquisitions of and Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek.  But if Fleury can rise up in the playoffs as he did two seasons ago, the Pens can once again be Stanley Cup champions.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers went from a team who fired their coach midway through the season, to one who barely made the playoffs, making the Stanley Cup finals and giving the Chicago Blackhawks all they could handle—all this without a consistent, go-to goaltender.  The Flyers bring both offensive firepower with centers Mike Richards, Daniel Briere and Jeff Carter as well as an extremely physical team with the likes of Chris Pronger, Jeff Carcillo and Scott Hartnall.  They also made a bold move in acquiring Dan Hamhuis from the Nashville Predators, which will bolster their already solid blue line.  The biggest question is whether goaltenders Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher were living a charmed playoff life or whether they will cause the team to struggle and disappoint. 

Montreal Canadiens

The Habs appeared to have been on the cusp of getting back into the conversation of Stanley Cup contenders, but they puzzled the hockey world by shipping off playoff hero Jaroslav Halak for two St. Louis Blues prospects, thereby "handing over the keys" to inconsistent goaltender Cary Price. 

They return forwards Mike Cammalleri and Tomas Plekanec and retain one of their strongest blue lines in recent memory with star defenseman Andrei Markovis and rookie phenom P.K. Subban.  But if Price’s recent struggles continue and the team struggles out of the gate, this could be an interesting transition year for the Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier and coach Jacques Martin as expectations are always high in Quebec Province.

The Tweeners

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning’s biggest moves in the offseason were made in their front office and behind their bench in hiring Steve Yzerman as team President and by landing coaching’s "Next Big Thing" in Guy Boucher.  Boucher’s "pedal to the metal" system has yet to be solved and with the likes of prolific young star Steve Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and recent acquisition Simon Gagne manning their forward lines, the ‘Bolts should have no trouble generating offense. 

The question with Tampa Bay is whether their goaltending tandem of Mike Smith and Dan Ellis is good enough to make them a serious playoff contender.  But the future does indeed look bright and this could be the one team to watch for in the Eastern Conference

Ottawa Senators

The Sens had a reasonably successful 2009-2010 campaign and bolstered their blue line with the free-agent signing of Sergei Gonchar formerly of the Pittsburgh Penguins.  They still possess two of the NHL’s more prolific forwards in Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza.  It will be interesting, however, to see the effect of how Spezza will perform given his unhappiness with his name floating around in offseason trade speculation, as well as coming off of a disappointing season and a midseason MCL (knee) injury.  Where the Senators may fall short this year is in the net, with oft-injured Pascal LeClaire and wildly streaky Brian Elliot manning the duties, those made more difficult with the loss of defenseman Anton Volchekov to free agency. 

New York Rangers

While the Rangers narrowly missed the playoffs last season, were it not for the goaltending on Henrik Lundvist and the recent signing of Martin Biron as his backup, one is hard-pressed to see how this team should even be considered for playoff consideration. 

Further, with the tandem of GM Glen Slather and owner James Dolan, it is surprising that fan unrest hasn’t risen to unprecedented levels. 

The Broadway Blueshirts have never been shy about obliterating a salary cap, and while they obtained a slight break in sending Wade Redden and his $6 million plus/year contract to the AHL, GM "Slats" Slather continued to puzzle with the $1.6 million signing of pugilist Derek Boogaard.  If prolific sniper Marian Gaborik returns to his pattern of struggling to stay healthy, this could be a long season in Madison Square Garden.    

Toronto Maple Leafs

You can say many things about Leafs GM Brian Burke—the man is perhaps the NHL’s premier "rainmaker"—but you can never accuse him of not having gumption.  Burke has continued to reshape the Leafs by building their blue line into a formidable group, particularly with last season’s trade deadline deal of acquiring premier defenseman Dion Phaneuf. 

Burke has also assembled a physical, gritty team in the mold of his Anaheim Ducks teams with pugilist Colton Orr and the hard-hitting forward Colby Armstrong.  While they did bolster their offense by acquiring Kris Versteeg, much more is needed from Phil Kessel and the rest of the offense to make the Leafs a legitimate SC playoff contender. 

The Outs

New York Islanders

The Isles were a much-improved team during this past season, surprisingly hanging around the playoff chase for the majority of the regular season.  While John Tavares didn’t nab the Calder Trophy, he had a solid rookie season.  The hope is for Tavares to make the next step in a manner similar to Steve Stamkos’ meteoric rise to NHL elite status. 

However, the team’s fortunes were dealt a serious blow with the serious shoulder injuries to their best defenseman Mark Streit and to one of their best forwards in Kyle Okposo.  Add to that the continued uncertainly as to whether Rick DiPietro will ever be healthy enough to recoup the 15-year contract investment the Islanders made in him, and you have the makings of continued struggles on The Island.

Carolina Hurricanes

To the ‘Canes' credit, they did show a great amount of pride in trying desperately to return to the SC playoffs after a horrific start and an equally horrific injury to goaltender Cam Ward.  The ‘Canes are a team in transition as they look to build with young players like first-round pick Jeff Skinner and Zac Dalpe.  They hope for the return to good health of Eric Staal and the return of recently-departed defensemen Anton Babchuck and Joe Corvo.  They will need a healthy and steady performance from Cam Ward if they can expect to return to the playoffs in the near future.

Atlanta Thrashers

A team with so many different directions and spare parts has now added a new distinction of being named “Blackhawks South,” by acquiring former Blackhawks Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Ben Eager and Brent Sopel.  They also brought in Rick Dudley from the Blackhawks front office in an attempt to bring stability and a forward direction to this rudderless organization. 

They made a very nice move in acquiring goaltender Chris Mason from the St. Louis Blues, who should be expected to challenge for the starting job as well as push young Ondrej Pavelec into becoming their franchise netminder of the future. 

The Thrashers are slowly building a core of young talent with recent drafts of Alex Burmistrov, Niclas Bergfors, Zach Bogosian and Evander Kane.  While improved, playoff consideration for the Thrashers may be a few seasons away.

Florida Panthers

Former Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon was brought in to rebuild the Panthers in the way he rebuilt the Chicago Blackhawks.  However, given the eroded fanbase, the current lack of offensive firepower and a drab, aged team, this second attempt at a turnaround will be a much taller order. 

The Panthers still depend on goaltender Tomas Vokoun to keep them in the majority of their games, while waiting for the development of successor Jacob Markstrom.  The Panthers' hopes of building of their blue line were dealt a blow with their inability to sign No. 1 draft pick Erik Gudbranson to a contract, as Gundbranson was expected to make the Panthers team out of training camp.  In short, it will be a long season in South Beach.