Atlantic: Quite possibly the toughest division in hockey is the Atlantic Division. With four teams who could be in the hunt for a playoff spot, there is very little room for error in this highly competitive division.
Penguins:
With or without Sidney Crosby the Pens are number one. With Crosby they are as deep as any team in the league especially down the middle. I don’t have to say much more than Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal. Even without Crosby who is still battling post concussion syndrome, the Penguins can slide Jason Williams into the 3rd line center slot and still have a very formidable punch. The addition of young power forward James Neal at last years deadline was a brilliant move by GM Ray Shero. Neal in my opinion plays a similar style to former NHL star Bill Guerin who enjoyed a resurgence while playing with Crosby. If Crosby is healthy I look for Neal to have a monster year. Another quiet move that I think will pay off is the addition of veteran winger Steve Sullivan. This guy is always productive when healthy and that was on teams without a lot of support (Nashville, and Chicago before they won the cup). On a side note the Pens went out and signed tough guy and former Amerk Steve MacIntyre to protect the assets. Let me tell you I have never seen such a monster of a man. No steroids here folks just good old fashioned western Canada farm muscle. He also is quite the character. While in Rochester, he asked the owner Curt Styres if he could drive the owners Ford F-650 around town to boost awareness for the team. The truck is bright orange and had the Amerks logo on it. MacIntyre told Styres he would go around town and sign autographs and take pictures with fans that recognized him. Time to get back on track.
Kris Letang is an emerging star on defense. 50 points last season is impressive considering he didn’t have Sid the Kid or Geno to feed the puck to while on the mad advantage. Joining Letang to form a solid top four are tough stay at homer Brooks Orpik, Zbynek Michalek, and Paul Martin. The M and M boys both enjoyed their first seasons in steel town. The last pairing will be filled out by a combination of tough guy Deryk Engelland, sophomore Ben Lovejoy who some of you might remember for having a swelled up face during HBO’s 24/7, and Matt Niskanen who came over with Neal at the deadline.
The crease is protected by Brent Johnson’s right cross. Just ask Rick DiPietro how good it is. Anyhow, the number one guy in Pittsburgh is Marc-Andre Fleury. The flower had a slow start last season but managed to turn it around and get his team into the playoffs without Crosby or Malkin.
The biggest reason I think the Pens will be #1 is the man behind the bench. I don’t think there is a coach with a better feel for his team than Dan Bylsma. He knows what buttons to push and when to push them. He will be an annual nominee for the Jack Adams Trophy as the years go by. (1st Atl, 1st EC)
Rangers:
Some would fans seem to think that signing the biggest name in the free agency market means you’re going to win the following June. Does that sound like a New York fan for any sport? Want to know where the most outrageous fans in all of sports they are? Look to the Big Apple. One day they think they have the best team in the world, the next day they are a bunch of losers. Anyhow, there is reason for Rangers’ fans to be excited this season. The addition of Brad Richards is huge for a team who’s been looking for a #1 center since Mark Messier left. Though Richards has a bit of an injury history he is a proven leader and playoff performer. Not to mention he has a successful past with Coach John Tortarella. Who by the way cut his teeth behind the bench in Rochester winning the Calder Cup in 1996. Torts is known as a no nonsense coach who demands a high effort level from his players.
No one on the roster exemplifies hard work and determination better than newly elected captain and Ryan Callahan who by the way is from…. you guessed it Rochester! That makes two Rochester natives to be named Captain of Original Six teams. Not failing to mention that Dustin Brown the LA Kings Captain is also from Ithaca, NY. Callahan is the undisputed leader of the Blueshirts and is the correct choice to wear the “C.” To go along with Ricahrds and Callahan the NYR possess Otto’s favorite player, Marian Gaborik who has enjoyed his first two seasons in blue after coming over from Minnesota. The problem with Gaborik is that he is very injury prone. When healthy he can be a top five, point producer in the league and game changer. Joining Richards and Gaborik on the top line will most likely be Wojtek Wolski who didn’t produce as expected in his first season with the club. On the second line will be Callahan, Brandon Dubinksy and most likely second year player Derek Stepan. The rest of the forwards include grinders and guys who put in an honest effort each night.
The biggest concern for the club is the lack of depth on defense. Marc Staal and Dan Girardi are a solid top pair but after that it’s pretty rough. Youngsters Michael Del Zotto, Michael Sauer, and Ryan McDonagh look to hold off up and coming prospect Tim Erixon who the Rangers picked up from Calgary after he refused to sign with the Flames.
The Madison Square Garden faithful love to chant “Henry! Henry! Henry!” to show their love for one of the world’s best net minders Henrik Lundqvist. King Henry put up another solid season in the Garden and looks to get back into Vezina contention. Former Amerk Martin Biron will back him up, who by the way is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Even though he hasn’t played in Buffalo for five years he still makes his home in the city and is a regular contributor to many charity functions in the city.
Overall the Rangers will make this year’s playoffs as long as Richards and Gaborik stay healthy. If King Henry can get hot late, this team could be a cup contender. (2nd Atl, 4th EC)
Flyers:
Coming to ABC this fall, Extreme NHL Franchise Makeover, starring the Philadelphia Flyers. Gone are franchise cornerstones Jeff Carter and former Captain Mike Richards, in are a boat load of new faces and one super old one.
GM Paul Holmgren grew tired of watching the carousel of goaltenders on his roster not perform to an adequate level and be the main reason his team was knocked out of the playoffs the past two seasons. To fix that problem, Holmgren traded for the negotiating rights to soon to be free agent Ilya Bryzgalov. But since the GM was already bogged down with several long-term deals to skaters he needed to free up some cap space to sign his soon to be franchise goaltender. To start, he sent Carter to Columbus for the #8 pick in the draft who turned out to be Sean Couturier (formerly ranked the top prospect overall by The Hockey News), 3rd round pick (Nick Cousins) and Jakub Voracek who was a highly touted prospect for Columbus but hasn’t produced at the NHL level. To be honest whom for Columbus has? I mean seriously, has there been a worse team at drafting a developing players than the Blue Jackets? Other than Rick Nash there isn’t a player I can think of and I’ve seen a lot of their prospects play for the Syracuse Crunch. Sorry for the tangent, now back to our original programming…
Not many in the hockey world were shocked when the news of the Carter to Columbus trade broke because everyone kind of assumed he would be the odd man out. But the trade that did surprise the league was the deal that sent Captain Mike Richards to the LA Kings for top prospect in all of hockey Brayden Schenn, power forward Wayne Simmonds, and LA’s next to 2nd round picks. It was rumored that Carter and Richards were enjoying life away from the rink a little too much and that it became a distraction in the locker room. Other additions to the Broad Street Bullies include Max Talbot (Penguins), Andreas Lilja (Ducks), and 39 year old Jaromir Jagr. Coming back from playing in the KHL the past two seasons, Jagr is looking forward to the opportunity to possible be on a line with Claude Giroux and Danny Briere. Also amongst the forwards in the top six is breakout candidate James VanRiemsdyk, who was the Flyers best skater in last year’s postseason.
The Bullies defense core is lead by Chris Pronger who was named Captain after the departure of Mike Richards. There are questions about Pronger’s ability to be as effective as he used to be for an entire season. The wear and tear from playing a physical style his whole career seems to be catching up with him. Pronger along with Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle, Lilja, Kimmo Timonen and Andreas Meszaros form a very solid group 1-6. As long as Pronger can keep himself in the lineup the Flyers has the defensive unit to get them back into the postseason.
As mentioned before, the GM Paul Homgren is turning over the crease to free agent acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov. After signing a huge contract for $51 Million over 9 years, Bryzgalov needs to develop tough skin especially if he and the team get off to a slow start. Backing up Bryzgalov will be fellow Russian, Sergi Bobrovsky. Bob as he is known around the league came out of no where last season to become the teams number one goalie earning 28 wins but flamed out down the stretch due to fatigue from not being used to playing so many games. (3rd Atl, 5th EC)
Devils:
A new coach, an aging goaltender, and recovering superstar. New Jersey is a very intriguing team to me for many reasons. First they didn’t make any significant moves in the offseason, which to me says the GM Lou Lamoriello thinks his team is better than it showed last season. A healthy Zach Parise will be much like a free agent signing since he missed all but 13 games last season. A top line of Praise, Patrick Elias and Ilya Kovalchuck will be a dangerous one with Elias’ passing ability, Parise’s great two way play and Kovalchuck’s deadly shot. After that trio there isn’t much. Center Travis Zajac could see time with Parise and Kovalchuck but disappointed last season being a -6 and only 44 points despite being Kovalchuck’s main pivot.
As usual, with the Devils there aren’t many big names on defense, just steady as she goes players. Adam Larsson, the #4 pick overall in this years draft might make the club out of camp and has been described as “the Swedish Scott Stevens.” I don’t believe it. Though he may be tougher than most Swedish defensemen, there is no way he is Scott Stevens’ tough. If Larsson can make the roster then he would most likely be paired with Henrik Tallinder who enjoyed his first season in New Jersey. 2nd pairing of Andy Greene and Anton Volchenkov is an OK pairing but nothing to write home about, and the 3rd pair is just plain ugly and could be a combination of guy even I haven’t heard of.
The aging Martin Broduer is back for another season. New coach Peter DeBoer has to figure out the right workload for Broduer to be successful and last the entire season. The problem with giving Broduer nights off means that Johan Hedberg has to play and though he is a capable back up, he doesn’t give the team the same chance to win as Broduer. This team is a couple defensemen and a winger away from being a playoff team. (4th Atl, 11th EC)
Islanders:
There’s reason for hope on the Island in 2011-2012. Franchise center John Tavares signed a long-term deal as did future Captain and power forward Kyle Okposo and late bloomer Michael Grabner. Grabner enjoyed a breakout season potting 34 goals that Florida apparently didn’t need. Talk about a bonehead move by Dale Tallon. Trade for a guy from Vancouver don’t give him a fair shot to making the roster, place him on waivers and then watch him score 34 goals for the Islanders. Anyhow, these three forwards along with 19-year-old Nino Niederreiter, solid two play pivot Frans Nielsen and sniper Matt Moulson give coach Jack Capuano a potentially potent top six. After the top six there is some work to be done, and GM Garth Snow started to improve that with the addition of Rochester Native Marty Reasoner and veteran winger Brian Rolston (his brother is now the Amerks’ Head Coach). Josh Bailey and Blake Comeau combine with a bunch of grinders and no names to fill out the forward lines.
On defense Mark Streit who was recently named captain is the beginning and the end for talented defensemen on the island. Mark Eaton, Mike Mottau, Milan Jurcina, Andrew MacDonald, and Travis Hamonic fill out the defense. MacDonald and Hamonic showed some potential towards the end of last season and look to build off of that.
The Sad to say but the defense isn’t even the worst part about the Islanders. That distinction belongs to the goaltending department. Owner Charles Wang probably gave away the worst contract of all time when he signed goalie Rick DiPietro to a 15 year deal worth $4.5 million a season. Especially when DiPietro is constantly injured, primarily groin and knee issues until he decided to let Brent Johnson use his face as a punching bag and received a concussion by doing so. Since they are stuck with DiPietro long term the team has brought in two goalies to fill in while DiPietro is injured. Al Montoya who was a highly rated prospect for the Rangers but never got a chance with Lundquvist in town and Kevin Poulin who was serviceable last season until he took a page out of the DiPietro playbook and missed the last 29 games with a knee injury. (5th Atl, 12th EC)
The playoff drought in Toronto will NOT continue.
This season will be ugly Sens fans.