Roster Starting to Take Shape

The New York Rangers official website is reporting that D Bobby Sanguinetti has been assigned to the team’s AHL affiliate in Hartford. That leaves 7 defensemen on the roster and pretty much concludes the competition for the last roster spots. Those left on the roster and whom have presumably made the final team are; Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, rookies Matt Gilroy and Michael Del Zotto along with veteran Alexei Semenov who is likely to fill the role of 7th defensemen.

The biggest surprise was Del Zotto making the team as a 19 year-old. Coming into training camp it was expected that the 6th spot would go to either Ikka Heikinen or Sanguinetti but Del Zotto impressed Torts with his confidence and aggressiveness in the offensive zone. It’s best that Sanguinetti was sent down instead of being kept as a 7th defenseman since he will get a lot more ice time in Hartford than the 7th defenseman will in New York. Additionally, Torts would not have been comfortable with 3 rookie defensemen on the roster.

Semenov was a pleasant surprise, making the squad after being invited to camp on a tryout. He has been around the NHL for a few seasons with the Sharks, Panthers and Oilers prior to his stop here in Manhattan. Torts told Newsday, “He’s a better passer than I thought and he’s added some jam back there.” Semenov brings some size to the Rangers blueline that they sorely lacked.

With the defense and goaltending roster spots locked up that leaves only a spot or two in the forward ranks up for grabs. Currently the Rangers still have 14 forwards in camp by my count (Enver Lisin, Chris Drury, Christopher Higgins, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Vinny Prrospal, Ales Kotalik, Marian Gaborik, Sean Avery, Brian Boyle, Aaron Voros, Donald Brashear, Artem Anisimov, and Evgeny Grachev). Assuming the Rangers only keep 13 forwards then it looks like Evgeny Grachev would be the most likely to be sent to Hartford.

Grachev has had a great camp to date but Torts seems set on converting the big Russian to Wing from Center. Tort’s was quoted by Newsday saying, “He is not a center, he's a wing. He has just got that prototypical winger body -- all legs, and he’s strong.” I’m sure that we’ll see Grachev up here if an injury hits one of the top 6 forwards.

If Grachev doesn’t make the team then that means that Aaron Voros will. After getting off to a hot start last season playing on a line with Nik Zherdev and Brandon Dubinsky, Voros cooled off considerably and was a frequent healthy scratch after Torts took over. He’s come to camp in great shape and has worked hard to win a spot, even if it is just a 4th line spot.

For better or worse, it looks like the 2009 – 2010 New York Rangers roster is set. This group represents a large departure from last year’s team with likely 12 players suiting up that weren’t in New York to open last season. For that reason alone, this should prove to be an interesting season for the Blue Shirts and their fans.

Patience is a Virtue with de Haan

We all remember the Islanders draft party vividly. We all remember the days leading up to it, the excruciating hour prior to the pick, the heart wrenching and terribly false Newsday report which had the Islanders all-but-certainly selecting Matt Duchene first overall, and then finally, the euphoric explosion that centered at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and quickly had its ripple effect across all of Islanders Country once John Tavares was selected by Garth Snow.

What came shortly following that pick was truly unexpected…

Garth Snow and company, who also had the 26^th overall pick thanks to a fine trade earlier in the year with the Ottawa Senators, began their process of going after that “targeted player.” By moving up first from 26^th to 16^th, and then unexpectedly from 16^th to 12^th, the Islanders obviously had their minds set on one specific player who probably wouldn’t have been their much longer. With Zach Kassian, Chris Kreider, Jordan Schroeder, and many other big names still left on the board to help the Islanders weak offense, Garth Snow made a surprise splash by selecting Calvin de Haan, the projected 26^th overall pick.

Why, you ask, is this significant nearly three months after it happened? That answer is simple: Scott Gordon and Garth Snow are apparently thinking about keeping the youngster around for his first NHL season. If the Islanders go through with this, and sign him to an entry-level contract, I will be the first to say I am not a fan of this move. I don’t even think I’d advocate keeping him up here for nine games this season, and guaranteeing the beginning of his contract next year.

The average defenseman in hockey, upon being drafted, takes anywhere from two to five years to develop into a true top-six NHL defenseman. This estimate is obviously taking into account the fact that the kid has the potential and desire to work himself into an NHL defenseman, and isn’t just some early or late-round dud. Furthermore, this estimate does not include above-average star-players who can make the jump into the NHL right away, a la Victor Hedman (yes, I really do think he will be very successful in his first year).

Do not take my antipathy towards keeping him on the NHL roster this year as me disliking the player and/or the selection. On the contrary, I actually think the selection of Calvin de Haan was a rather intelligent pick for the Islanders, and I do think that he has loads of potential as a number two defenseman who can also run the power-play in the future. His above-average speed, his quick-feet, his excellent stick-handling abilities, and his vision for the game will allow him to develop into an excellent new-NHL type defenseman who can play both on both sides of the puck.

The reason I am against him staying on the island is simple. Calvin de Haan truly needs to develop and mature further as a hockey player and athlete before he can begin his development as an NHL player. While he may be of average height for an NHL player, he is still underweight, and not nearly strong enough to be working against some of the most talented, strong, and intelligent hockey players in the world. I just think it would be a shot to his confidence when he is getting run over numerous times.

While he has done well in his preseason games, it must be remembered that he has been going up against players from other teams who also will be sent down to juniors and the American Hockey League. Can you truly envision, at this moment in time, de Haan being able to press and contain Atlantic Division players such as Jordan Staal, Travis Zajac, and Daniel Briere?

Garth Snow, who is finally doing this rebuild in the proper manner, should continue to follow his stringent rules and allow the development to happen naturally. By allowing de Haan to put on muscle and develop his game further with his junior team in Canada this season, both the Islanders and de Haan will benefit in the long term. By rushing him into the NHL immediately, de Haan is going to be faced with a quick adjustment process, a shot to his confidence which is flying high after going 12^th overall, and he may develop bad habits to compensate for his immaturity and lack of strength.

We all know the expectations for the Islanders this season. Calvin de Haan is not going to make the projected 15^th place Islanders into a playoff team. The Islanders might as well allow him to develop properly so that when he steps on the ice next season, he will be truly ready to make a difference.

Wouldn’t you agree?

-Justin (IslesNet@Gmail.Com)

A Possible Enforcer for the Islanders?

The Islanders enter into this season once again looking rather young and rather inexperienced. Even more than that, the Islanders enter into the season looking rather vulnerable considering the fact that they lack a true NHL enforcer and instigator on their roster. The lack of an enforcer has been one of the hottest Islander discussions this summer, and today, a solution may have been found, albeit a very unpopular one.

The Ottawa Senators beat writer for the Ottawa Citizen is reporting in today’s sports section that the performances of Senator prospects such as defenseman Erik Karlsson and center Peter Regin is forcing general manager Bryan Murray to keep his eyes open for any cap-clearing and roster-opening moves. One of the major names in play for a trade is none other than the extremely-hated Jarko Ruutu, who has not only become known for his heinous words and ways, but for his ability to put up some numbers as a fourth-line instigator and fighter.

To be fair, Ruutu would be able to find a good role here on the Islanders. He is a pretty decent skater, so it would not cause too much of an issue for him to be able to keep up in Scott Gordon’s up-tempo system, and he has averaged about 7 goals and 9 assists each year throughout his career. Furthermore, the Islanders need for an instigator and fighter would be answered by him, at least for the time being.

On the flipside, bringing in a player like Ruutu would be like bringing a whale into the room. He isn’t always the cleanest player on the ice, and the Islanders have had bad past experiences with a player very similar to him in Chris Simon. Furthermore, he isn’t considered the best all-around locker room guy, even if he is protecting his teammates on the ice. With two years left on his contract at $1.3 million per year (NHLNumbers.Com), it is quite a gamble.

Trade-wise, since this is obviously very important to this decision, I believe it would be relatively inexpensive for the Islanders to acquire him. Considering Ottawa’s desire to open up two roster spots and dump salary, the Islanders may only have to give up a late-round pick (5^th or 6^th) to acquire him.

So, I put the question on the table. Considering he is available, do you think that Garth Snow should try to acquire Jarko Ruutu?

I’ll post my opinion later tonight, as I don’t want to sway anyone one way or the other!

-Justin (IslesNet@Gmail.Com)

The Less Obvious Key to the Rangers Season

When asked what the keys to the Rangers upcoming season are, most fans would point to the obvious: the health of both Marian Gaborik and Henrik Lundqvist; a return to form by Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden; and the ability of coach John Tortorella to implement the up-tempo playing style and the high-level conditioning he favors are answers I would expect to hear.

There is another, less obvious key to the potential success of the Rangers this season; the play of Marc Staal. Is it really fair to pin so much on a 22 year-old defenseman who is entering only his 3rd NHL season? As a matter of fact, yes it is.

Staal has already earned high praise from around the league. In fact, The Hockey News just listed Staal in its list of top defenesmen under the age of 25. But he has more to offer and for the Rangers to qualify the postseason this year it would help if Staal became their best defenseman.

The Rangers have invested a lot of money in Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden to be their best defensemen but the results just weren’t there last season. In fact, Redden’s play has been in decline for the last few seasons and there is no guarantee that he will return to the form he displayed before the lockout. Rozsival is a nice player but shouldn’t be anyone’s #1 or #2.

In addition to Rozsival, Redden and Staal, the Rangers will be employing 4th year defenseman Dan Girardi and possibly 2 rookies among their top 6 this year. If you’re looking for someone to step up and become a true #1 the answer may have to be Staal.

Staal has all of the tools to be successful. Torts would agree with that sentiment as he was quoted as saying when asked what areas Staal needs to improve, “Offense and jam. We’re going to give him the opportunity. He’s got all the tools." If Staal can start putting it together this season then the Rangers would not be so reliant on Redden and Rozsival to be their best defensemen.

Gaborik Makes Long Anticipated Rangers Debut

The main criticism mounted against the Rangers signing of star sniper Marian Gaborik was a result of his inability in recent seasons to stay healthy. Any hockey fan would have told you that the Rangers desperately needed goal scoring after finishing 28th in the league in goals scored and the addition of Gaborik could certainly go a long way towards addressing that problem. The question was would Gaborik be able to stay on the ice enough and produce enough offense to justify the lavish contract Sather had bestowed upon him.

Our worst fears were confirmed when it was reported at the beginning of training camp that Gaborik was held out of certain conditioning exercises because of groin tightness. Groin problems were one of the reasons Gaborik had missed time in the last few seasons and to see him already dealing with the same problem was frightening.

Rangers’ coaches and management did their best to reassure us as fans that holding Gaborik out of some portions of training camp (including the first 4 exhibition games) was done as a precaution. Well, Rangers fans weren’t going to be satisfied until we saw our new marquee name on the ice and healthy. We finally got that last night.

Gaborik’s debut was almost ended before it was fairly begun as less than 30 seconds into the opening period he was smoked on a hit from Red Wings forward Johan Franzen. Gaborik was alright though and showed why Sather felt he was worth the huge investment by assisting on Enver Lisin’s 1st period power play tally making a nice cross-ice, backhand feed to Lisin. He also led all Rangers with 5 shots on goal.

Coach Tortorella’s take on Gabby’s debut was a mixed bag. “I thought he did some good things,” said Torts. The coach followed by saying, “Obviously you can see his talent. He did some good things in our own zone, he did some lousy things in our own zone. I think he’s gonna add a dimension to our team that you need in winning and that’s his creativity and just the dynamic player he is. I’m sure it was hard for him; he wants to be healthy and I thought he gave us some good minutes.”Not exactly a ringing endorsement but those words are still music to the ears of many Rangers fans.

Don’t get me wrong; I know it’s only one exhibition game and Gabby certainly has done nothing to date in training camp to prove the naysayers wrong. However, the important thing is that Gaborik is on the ice contributing. For Gabby to follow through with a relatively injury-free and successful season it’s going to have to start with one game. One game is in the books.

A New Face at Camp

“Isle Be Watching You” – Garth Snow

Alright, so obviously this is not a direct quote from Garth Snow himself, however, it still does not take away from the fact that there are several under-the-radar names that Garth Snow and Scott Gordon will be keeping their eyes on during this year’s training camp. Although we are already a week into the Islanders training camp, this player is still working his tail off, and still trying to make a name for himself in Saskatoon.

Matt Moulson: A 6’1, 210 pound speedy and skillful left-winger, Matt Moulson excelled in his four years at Cornell University, averaging over 35 points each season he was there. His senior year, as captain, Moulson put up 38 points and was a leader in every aspect of the game.

Although drafted 263^rd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Moulson and the Penguins never came to terms on a contract, and he became a free-agent after the three year window had passed. On September 1^st, 2006, Moulson came to terms with the Los Angeles Kings on a three-year, entry-level contract, and he was immediately sent to the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, as expected.

For all of the 2006-2007 season, and a majority of the 2007-2008 season, Moulson spent his time with Manchester, and he put up some very promising numbers (57 points and 56 points, respectively). When he finally got the call to come up to the big club throughout the 2007-2008 season, Moulson was able to put up 5 goals and 4 assists during his 22 game stint, including a goal in his NHL debut against the San Jose Sharks.

The 2008-2009 season would prove to be more difficult for the left-winger, as he was expecting to earn himself a full time position with the Los Angeles Kings. Although he held reasonable expectations, he failed to live up to his potential and was once again placed in the minors, only to appear in 7 NHL games over the course of the entire season.

On July 1^st, 2009, Matt Moulson became a free agent. On July 6^th, 2009, Moulson opted to sign a one-year, two-way contract with the New York Islanders in hopes of establishing himself as an NHL player on a team that severely lacks offensive firepower.

As he enters this year’s training camp with his second NHL team, Moulson hopes to be able to crack the Islanders line-up. Currently, the Islanders depth chart up the left wing includes Jeff Tambellini, Sean Bergenheim, Blake Comeau, Jon Sim, and Jesse Joensuu, so it is obviously going to be quite a tough road for Moulson. To be fair to him, though, the Islanders depth chart up the left side does not nearly compare to that of the Kings (or many of the other NHL teams), therefore it is a smart career choice for him to take his shot here on Long Island. If anything positive comes out of this, it is that the other left-wingers vying for spots are going to have to work harder to beat out one other player.

Whether or not he cracks the lineup is still to be decided, but one thing is for sure, both Scott and Garth are going to be keeping a close eye on him.

-Justin (IslesNet@Gmail.Com)

2009-2010 Eastern Conference Predictions

Each and every year, I decide it is humorous to put myself on the line here (and at the wrath of every single individual), and put forth my predictions for the final standings. While I am only a blogger, I like to think of myself as somewhat of a smart hockey-mind, and I understand that I will be ripped apart by fans of all backgrounds who feel that I betrayed them by not putting their teams at the top of each conference or in the playoffs. That being said, here are my Eastern Conference predictions for the 2009-2010 National Hockey League season.

1.Washington Capitals: This was a tough choice, considering the Boston Bruins and their tremendous season last year, however, I feel that Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green, and company are ready to come through and finally take it to the top of the Eastern Conference this year. The only question I have for the Capitals is whether or not Jose Theodore or Simeon Varlamov will be the starting goaltender for them.

2. Boston Bruins: The entire Northeast has changed dramatically over the offseason, with the exception to that being the Bruins. The loss of Phil Kessel’s speed and scoring is a big reason that I pushed the Boston Bruins to number two in the conference, and I feel they will have one hell of a year again.

3. Pittsburgh Penguins: The Atlantic Division, besides the Islanders, holds four teams that all can make the playoffs this year, however, the Pittsburgh Penguins seem to be the powerhouse team who has the ability to make it out of the Eastern Conference. The loss of Rob Scuderi, Miroslav Satan, and Peter Sykora are not the end of the Penguins, however, I just believe that both the Bruins and Capitals are better teams all around. They could win it all again this year if everything falls into place.

4. New Jersey Devils: They won the Atlantic Division last year behind stellar goaltending from relatively unknown Scott Clemmensen and a hardcore defensive system, and this year will prove to be the same situation in New Jersey as Jacques Lemaire brings his old-fashioned, defense-first system back to New Jersey. The loss of Brian Gionta and John Madden do not effect the Devils standing too much, and Parise, Zajac, and Clarkson are all ready to have stellar years once again. They will perform well in the regular season, but can Brodeur hold up into the postseason this time around?

5. Philadelphia Flyers: The Pronger trade goes to show you that the Flyers believe they can take it all now. With their true number one defenseman now on the roster, the Flyers are going to have a great year. Another great year can be expected from Jeff Carter, whose offensive output last season was fun to watch. Mike Richards, the captain of this team, will again prove why he is going to be a Selke candidate every year for the next decade. The only question on this team is whether or not Ray Emery can keep his head straight and display his talent on the ice.

6. Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes proved they were for real last year when they not only upset the New Jersey Devils, but also the Boston Bruins on their way to the Eastern Conference finals. A quick, aggressive, and young team, they will have another good year and should find themselves returning to the playoffs behind solid goaltending from Cam Ward.

7. Tampa Bay Lightning: Victor Hedman was an excellent pick for the Tampa Bay Lightning, who immediately addressed their need for a defensive prospect who can turn into a number one defenseman. He will be ready for this upcoming year, and I would not doubt seeing him on the top shutdown-unit with Mattias Ohlund, who was the other big name acquisition this offseason. With a year of experience behind Stamkos, and the return of all-stars Lecavalier and St. Louis, it is going to be a return to the playoffs for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

8. New York Rangers: As much as I hate to admit it, I feel that the Rangers are going to find a way to squeak into this year’s playoffs. Tortorella is just the no-nonsense guy that the Rangers need behind the bench, and if their skill alone doesn’t get it done, the Rangers conditioning will help them win games late into the season. They lack a true first-line center, but Dubinsky and Prospal will do their best to fit that position. The biggest question marks for the Rangers will be the health of Marian Gaborik, and whether or not Redden and Rozsival remember how to play hockey.

9. Toronto Maple Leafs: I know I am going to take a lot of heat for this one, however, I just do not see the Leafs making it this year. Brian Burke proved he’s a strong-minded general manager by going after Kessel and getting what he wanted. Kessel’s return to the Leafs in November will be a nice boost, however, there are still too many questions surrounding the Leafs for them to crack the line-up this year. Next year will be the year they make it, unless they have a surprise for us all.

10. Ottawa Senators: After finally unloading Dany Heatley to the San Jose Sharks, the Ottawa Senators finally are on track to building up a solid winner. With two good lines leading the attack, a solid defense featuring Campoli, Volchenkov, and Kuba, and a number one goalie in Leclaire, there will be a slight adjustment period this season for the Senators. It will be a tough season again in Ottawa, but hopefully for them it will all fall into place soon.

11. Montreal Canadiens: After last year’s horrid collapse, the Montreal Canadiens had a complete roster overhaul this offseason and seem to be a team searching for their identity. They got completely hosed on the Gomez trade, giving up promising, young defenseman McDonagh in the trade. Hopefully the Canadiens can pull it together going into this season, otherwise they are going to find themselves in a long rebuilding process.

12. Buffalo Sabres: A team who had a tremendous number of questions surrounding them last season just simply did not improve enough this offeseason to answer those questions. Ryan Miller is their only hope of making it into the playoffs this season, and even that is going to be a long shot. The Sabres had their best days two and three seasons ago, respectively, and need to find an identity before they can proceed forward.

13. Florida Panthers: Another year, another playoff-less ending for the Florida Panthers. Jay Bouwmeester is not an easy player to replace, by any means, and his presence will be sorely missed by a team that is only somewhat strong up front. Bringing in Clemmensen to back up Vokoun was a smart move, but unfortunately, it was the only smart move this offseason by the Panthers. There is still a long way to go in Florida, and hopefully they can get it right soon.

14. Atlanta Thrashers: Although they have brought in Antropov (for a ridiculous salary), and Afinogenov will most likely make the team thanks to the Thrashers lack of depth, the Thrashers will once again struggle this season. Bogosian will demonstrate why he is going to be an elite defenseman in this league for a long time, and he will get plenty of help from Kubina, Hainsey, and Enstrom, however, it will not be enough to take the Thrashers out of the Eastern Conference basement.

15. New York Islanders: The drafting of John Tavares was a move in the right direction for an organization sorely lacking any type of identity, however, it was their only positive offensive move as the Islanders focused on bringing in Mathieu Biron and Dwayne Roloson to fill in the goalie vacancy until DiPietro is ready to return sometime in November. It will be fun to watch Bailey and Okposo develop further this season, along with the rest of the Islanders youngsters, however, they will still find themselves in the basement of the Eastern Conference and with a chance to select first-overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. As my partner Glen Miller said in his predictions blog, the lottery watch for 2010 begins on Long Island on October 3^rd.

Well, there you have it, my personal predictions for the 2009-2010 Eastern Conference. I know you will not agree with every single team and their placement, however, I do believe these will be somewhat close to the final standings.

As always, comments and questions are greatly appreciated and can be emailed to me at IslesNet@Gmail.com, or left in the comments section below.

-Justin

Dubinsky Finally Re-Signs - 2 Years, $3.7 million?!?!?!

Call me confused. Don’t get me wrong; I am stoked that the Rangers and Glen Sather finally came to their senses and gave Dubinsky enough money to entice him to re-sign. The problem I have is with the money they gave him, especially if the reports I have read are true.

We know that pressure had been building on Dubinsky’s side to get the player into camp. John Tortorella and his teammates had reached out both through the media and personally to Dubinsky indicating that they felt it was in his best interest to be in camp with the rest of the team. Reportedly, Dubinsky’s camp lowered their contractual demands in an attempt to meet Sather “in the middle”, so to speak and establish an amicable end to the drawn out negotiations.

Here’s where the confusion for me begins. Reportedly, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post in a blog post dated on 9/19/09, Dubinsky and his agent reduced their demands to either a one year, $1.15 million deal or a two year, $2.1 million pact. Sather meanwhile was reported to be holding fast to their offer of 1 year at $700,000 or a 2 year deal for $1.85 million.

Suddenly it was announced that Dubinsky had agreed to a 2 year contract worth a total of $3.7 million. What?!?!?!? Did Sather really play hardball with a good, young piece of the Rangers future only to end up giving him more than what he was asking for? It had gotten to the point where there was concern among Rangers fans that Sather’s tactics would alienate a potential cornerstone.

The Rangers are already very close to the salary cap ceiling for this season. More importantly, the Rangers have nearly $47 million in cap space committed to the following players: Marian Gaborik, Sean Avery, Ales Kotalik, Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Donald Brashear, Artem Anisimov, Brian Boyle, Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Matt Gilroy and Henrik Lundqvist (13 players – 9 forwards, 3 defensemen and 1 goalie). Noticeably absent from that list are Marc Staal and Dan Girardi, who will both be RFA’s after the season, and Christopher Higgins who will be an UFA after the season.

With a chance the salary cap could drop from its present ceiling of $56.8 million for next season, it could prove to be very difficult for the Rangers to fit everyone under the cap. Every little bit could be important. So if you believe the New York Post and Dubinsky’s reported asking price, why then did the Rangers give Dubinsky an average of roughly $700,000 more (in cap space) per year than what he was asking for?

My guess is the report from the New York Post was inaccurate. Either that or Glen Sather needs to be committed to a psych ward. Regardless, the Rangers will face some difficult decisions following the season.

Eastern Conference Predictions

I suppose this is a case of better late than never since I was supposed to have had this up a week ago. Anyway, after careful deliberation I’ve concluded that 7 of the 8 playoff teams from a year ago make it again this year. The lone non-playoff team to crack the top 8 will be Tampa. I’m sure you’ll find some of my choices debatable. That’s fine, feel free to disagree and share with me your thoughts on this year’s Eastern Conference standings. Now for my Eastern Conference predictions:

1. New York Rangers – Well yeah, how could I as a Rangers fan not pick them to win the East? Count on Gaborik staying healthy for 82 games and netting 60 goals this year while Matt Gilroy will be the runaway choice for the Calder trophy as the NHL’s top rookie. Lundqvist will win 50 games this year and the Rangers will……aw who am I kidding? Really, I am more objective than this. The Real #1 team in the East will be……

The Washington Capitals – The Caps return most of their key players and expect to replace the losses of Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov with Mike Knuble, Brendan Morrison and improved production from Brooks Laich. The only question will be in net where coach Bruce Boudreau has already stated that Jose Theodore is the starter but he will still be pushed by playoff phenom Semyon Varlamov and his fellow rookie Michal Neuvirth. My guess is they will get enough quality goaltending from some combination of those three netminders to take the East.

The Caps are a hungry team that has tasted some playoff success and clearly want more. Knuble should prove his worth in helping this young team mature come playoff time. Winning the East in the regular season won’t be enough for these guys; they expect to be playing for the Cup in June.

2. Philadelphia Flyers – I’ve got the Flyers over the Pens in the Atlantic simply because the Penguins have played a lot of hockey over the last two seasons. After winning the Cup last season I think that this squad will be more inclined to pace themselves through the regular season in order to stay as fresh as possible for the playoffs. That will allow the Flyers to take the Atlantic crown.

The addition of Chris Pronger will also allow this team to challenge the top teams in the conference as they can now ice two very good defensive tandems with Pronger, Timonen, Coburn and Matt Carle. Offensively they lost some depth with the inclusion of Joffrey Lupul in the trade for Pronger but a healthy Danny Briere and a full season from hot shot rookie Claude Giroux should replace that production.

The biggest question surrounding the Flyers, as it has been for several years now, is goaltending. The Flyers were quick to repatriate KHL refugee Ray Emery and hand him the keys to the Flyers season. He will be backed up by a former Flyers starting backstop, Brian Boucher. Emery has enough of a chip on his shoulder that I think he’ll surprise some people with his play this year.

3. Boston Bruins – This was an easy pick. The Bruins have lost some depth players (Steve Montador, Stephane Yelle and Aaron Ward have all moved on) but return all of the key contributors of their young nucleus with the possible exception of Phil Kessel. Kessel is looking to be paid more than what the Bruins are willing and/or able to offer him as a RFA. It’s likely that Kessel will be a Maple Leaf or a Predator before too long.

Even if Kessel is dealt, the Bruins are still the team to beat in the Northeast. Montreal shuffled their roster but aren’t clearly better than they were last year. Ottawa added Alexei Kovalev but lost Heatley and didn’t adequately replace him. Buffalo added some role players but lost two of their defensive stalwarts of years past in Jaroslav Spacek and Teppo Numinen. Toronto is better but they don’t have enough firepower up front even if they do grab Kessel. Clearly this is Boston’s division to lose.

4. Pittsburgh – Not to worry Pens fans, there is no need to put your fist through your computer monitors. I am picking the Penguins to finish 4th not because I don’t think they’re the best team in the NHL but because I think they are smart. They’ve played a lot of hockey going deep into the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. They’ll pace themselves this year so they are at their healthy best for the postseason. If the let the Flyers win the Atlantic then so be it; this is a team focused on repeating as Stanley Cup Champs.

Sure the losses of Petr Sykora, Hal Gill and playoff hero Rob Scuderi will be felt but re-signing Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedotenko and having Chris Kunitz around for the full season will help immensely. I also feel that Jay McKee could turn out to be one of the steals of this year’s free agent class. The Pens will also look to youngsters like Kris Letang and even possibly Luca Caputi to take up some of the slack. This team will be in the mix for sure come playoff time.

5. Carolina – A surprising and impressive playoff run came to an abrupt stop last year when the Canes met up with the Pens in the Conference Finals. The Pens laid the wood to the upstart squad from the South and exposed a lack of physicality on the Canes; especially from their defense. While the Canes return most of their forwards, including Erik Cole, the team made some changes to the blue line by waving good bye to Dennis Seidenberg and Frank Kaberle while bringing back Aaron Ward from Boston by trade and adding Andrew Alberts via free agency. Both of those players bring a more rugged element to their game than the guys they are replacing.

The Canes also look poised to move RFA Anton Babchuk who had a breakthrough offensive campaign last year. His contract demands will not fit into the salary structure of the Canes. They may not be as dynamic offensively this year but they should be tougher to play against nonetheless. They still have Eric Staal, Ray Whitney and Cam Ward so this is surely a playoff team and definitely the 2nd best team in the Southeast.

Cam Ward will be the real key for this team though. I’ve already had lively debates about Ward. I made the mistake of referring to Ward as “not an upper echelon goalie” or words to that effect. Well, I still feel that way. Ward is good, don’t get me wrong. He has had great success in the playoffs including a Conn Smythe award. Fine, I get that. I will call him an upper echelon goalie when I see him put it all together in the regular season. Last season, he finished in the middle of the pack in both GAA (tied for 12th) and Save % (tied for 11th). I’d like to see a top 5 finish before I put him in the “upper echelon”. Look, there are times I don’t think the King is an “upper echelon” guy. In fact the only guys that I can say with certainty fit into that category for me are Roberto Luongo and Marty Brodeur. It’s not an insult to be called a very good goalie by me.

6. New York Rangers – This was a hard pick for me to make; it’s my team after all. It’s hard to stay objective and to keep the fan in me quiet. As a fan I want to be optimistic about this team, I want to believe what I wrote earlier about Gaborik staying healthy and scoring 60 goals. I want to believe that the incoming rookies will step right in and play like seasoned pros. Yes, the realist in me even believes all of that is possible; but I also believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life too so……….

The realist in me knows that the Rangers are counting heavily on having a healthy Gaborik, getting quality minutes from several young players and being able to add a bunch of new faces to the lineup and getting them to gel quickly. One or two of these could happen but probably not all three. The realist in me sees a team that could miss the playoffs entirely.

The combination of the fan and the realist though knows better than either of them does separately. I know that the Rangers have Henrik Lundqvist and that makes them a playoff team. It’s a very similar situation in Jersey with Marty Brodeur. Every year that organization sees quality players leave town and many people believe every year that this will be the year they don’t make it to the playoffs. And every year they find a way. It’ll be the same for the Rangers as long as Lundqvist is the backbone of the team.

7. New Jersey – See above. No seriously, the Devils have been counted out more often than I can remember but ever since Marty Brodeur has been around they have proven the skeptics wrong. Again this off-season the Devils saw more talent depart than talent brought in and yet I still can’t pick against them. Last year they did it without Brodeur for most of the year and this year they get him back so it seems pretty cut and dried to me. They’re in until they’re not.

8. Tampa – Yes, the Lightning edge out the Canadiens and the Sabres for the final playoff spot. After playing fantasy hockey last off-season, Lightning management, under GM Brian Lawton, was far more controlled with their spending this year. They made a wise move bringing in veteran defenseman Mattias Ohlund to mentor hot shot rookie Victor Hedman. The team also added veteran blue liners Matt Walker and Kurtis Foster to address the team’s weakest point.

Any team that boasts a potential top line of Martin St. Louis, Vinny Lecavalier and Alex Tanguay has firepower to burn. With Steven Stamkos looking to build upon a solid finish to his rookie season and Ryan Malone around to provide more secondary scoring, the Lightning should have no problems scoring goals.

The problem has been in net with the Lightning ever since Nikolai Khabibulin chased the free agent bucks to Chicago several years back. Last year’s starter, Mike Smith, will have to over come his concussion issues from last season. That is why I think that the signing of former Flyer Antero Niitymaki could prove to be a great move. The guy is talented; he was a former first round pick after all. He just didn’t pan out in Philly but is still young enough that he can turn it around in a less pressurized environment here in Tampa.

9. Buffalo – There are just too many ifs and not enough new blood on this roster to crack the top 8. Losing Teppo Numinen and Jaroslav Spacek and not adequately replacing them is risky. This is a team that will have to rely on Ryan Miller to be excellent and healthy in order to be competitive for a playoff spot. A full season from C Tim Connolly would also be of great help but I’ll believe that when I see it. Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy are both very good and I have nothing but respect for Head Coach Lindy Ruff but this team is too thin to be a contender.

10. Montreal – They went into last season hoping to cap off their 100th anniversary season with a parade; instead they finished it off with a whimper after getting hammered by Boston in the playoffs. GM Bob Gainey decided it was time to overhaul his roster. He allowed long-time Canadiens Captain Saku Koivu to leave as a free agent. Also leaving the free agent route were Alexei Kovalev, Mike Komisarek and Alex Tanguay while Christopher Higgins was sent to the New York Rangers in exchange for Gainey’s first pricey off-season acquisition, Scott Gomez.

Joining Gomez in Montreal as 1st year Canadiens are forwards Brian Gionta, Travis Moen and Mike Cammallerri and defensemen Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek and Paul Mara. Weighing the additions against the subtractions, I can’t say that the Canadiens are improved. It will be hard for so many new faces to gel into a cohesive unit. If the Canadiens are going to qualify for the playoffs then goalie Carey Price is going to have to really up his game.

11. Toronto – Brian Burke didn’t take long to cast the Leafs in his image. He has always favored bigger players that play with a mean streak and his off-season additions fit into that mold very well. The Leafs added free agent defensemen Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin while picking up tough defender Garnet Exelby via trade with Atlanta in exchange for D Pavel Kubina.

Citing his disappointment with how the team was generally manhandled by their opponents last season, Burke also reached into the free agent pool to grab former Ranger enforcer Colton Orr. Orr had improved his overall game while in New York but wasn’t a fit for the new John Tortorella system and was allowed to leave. He was welcomed with open arms by Burke.

The team is still light on scoring up front and the potential is here for the Leafs to lose a lot of 2 -1 and 3 -2 games. If the new goaltending duo of Vesa Toskala and Jonas Gustavsson are as solid as hoped for then the Leafs will be in the hunt for most of the year before finally falling out of it in the end due to their lack of offensive firepower.

12. Florida – I feel bad for Randy Sexton. Jacques Martin’s inaction as it related to franchise defenseman and pending UFA Jay Bouwmeester hamstrung this team. Instead of dealing him at the deadline for tangible assets, Martin hung onto Bouwmeester in the vain hope of qualifying for the postseason. After failing to make the playoffs, Martin bailed out to go coach the Canadiens (good luck with that Jacques) and left Sexton holding the hand grenade. Well Sexton did an admirable job of dealing Bouwmeester’s rights to Calgary for useful, if unspectacular, defenseman Jordan Leopold and a draft pick.

Then poor Randy Sexton had to navigate the entire off-season with the dreaded “interim” label attached to him. He tried with the Panthers limited resources to improve the team but outside of swapping Bouwmeester’s rights for Leopold and swinging a trade for former Coyote C Steven Reinprecht, Sexton was unable to do much to improve a roster short on proven talent.

The hope here is that some of the young players step up their game. Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Rostislav Olesz and Shawn Matthias all of the ability to be good to excellent NHl’ers but haven’t reached their full potential yet.

Goaltending is in the hands of the very capable tandem of Tomas Vokuon and Scott Clemensen who stepped in and helped save Jersey’s season after Marty Brodeur got hurt.

Unfortunately the Panthers won’t improve enough internally and didn’t do nearly enough from an external standpoint to make this a playoff caliber team. That’s a shame too since Pete DeBoer is proving himself to be a pretty good coach. P.S. Make Sexton your permanent GM for goodness sake!!

13. Atlanta – I like the moves that GM Don Waddell did this off-season by adding D Pavel Kubina and Nik Antropov. They’ll certainly make this a more potent offense. The top 4 of Tobias Enstrom, Kubina, Zach Bogosian and Ron Hainsey is nothing to be sneezed at as far as defensive groups go.

Offensively, this team is staring to put together two decent scoring lines with Antropov joining franchise winger Ilya Kovalchuk, Bryan Little, Todd White and Slava Kozlov. There are some young kids too like Rich Peverly who can help out in the goal scoring department too.

In net is really where I see the problems for the Thrashers. Kari Lehtonen has yet to develop into the stud he was projected to be when drafted. The Thrashers also have young Ondrej Pavelec knocking on the door. To add further to the mix, the team brought in veteran backstop Manny Legace for a tryout. Someone is going to have to step up and take charge in net for the Thrashers to challenge for a playoff spot. They are improving but still a little thin both up front and on D to survive with substandard goaltending.

14. Ottawa – Yes, the Senators have fallen this far. Trading star winger Dany Heatley for 2 second line wingers, one of whom has seen a huge decline in his output in recent years, will hurt greatly. The team had added veteran sniper Alex Kovalev to help with secondary scoring and now he becomes a primary weapon in Ottawa. It may be good to get rid of the locker room distraction but the decline in talent is palpable.

In net, the Senators hope they have finally solved their need for a long time starter between the pipes by acquiring Pascal Leclaire from Columbus. Leclaire was finally starting to play up to his advanced billing 2 years ago but last year was a disaster as he was injured early and lost his job to super frosh Steve Mason. Leclaire gets the reins here in Ottawa as there is no proven back-up on the roster. Instead, the Sens will go with young Brian Elliot to spell Leclaire. Sens fans had better hope Leclaire stays healthy.

15. NY Islanders – The Isles finally started to focus on rebuilding their farm system and have stopped taking fliers on journeymen NHL’ers to plug holes. The Isles have young stars in the making with Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey and now #1 overall draft pick John Tavares. Doug Weight was encouraged to stick around to tutor the young talent.

The ridiculous 15 year contract awarded to Rick DiPietro is looking worse by the minute. Clearly the Islanders didn’t think he was going to be ready to start the season or else they wouldn’t have signed both Dwayne Roloson and Martin Biron. When and if DiPietro regains his health, Biron will prove to be a valuable trade chip assuming GM Garth Snow chooses to cash it in.

On D, the Islanders are very thin. Some experts thought that the team would have been better off taking Victor Hedman # 1 overall for that reason. Outside of Brendan Witt and Mark Streit, I’m not too sure the Islanders have any quality top 4 defensemen. Their system lacks top-drawer defensive talent as well.

They are finally on the right track though it will be another long season on the Island. The Taylor Hall watch begins officially…..now for the Islanders.

Counting Down to the Regular Season

It’s finally begun; the start of hockey season is here. The Rangers opened camp and played their first exhibition game losing to the Boston Bruins 2 – 1. Christopher Higgins recorded the lone Rangers goal and by all accounts has been very solid in camp. Other Rangers being mentioned in a positive light in the numerous stories I’ve read are: Matt Gilroy (who was paired with Marc Staal on defense with both players seeing time in all situations) Evgeni Grachev, Michael Del Zotto and Ales Kotalik.

I’ve been critical of Kotalik at least in terms of the contract given him but apparently he was cranking shots from the point on the PP yesterday. If he keeps that up and can play decent at even strength then the decision to sign him may pan out alright after all. Grachev and Del Zotto seem intent on making it tough to send either one down. Del Zotto was paired with Kotalik on the PP points and drew praise from Torts on his confidence and aggressive play offensively.

Moore to Re-join NYR?

In another item pertaining to the Blue Shirts, Eklund blogged today that the Rangers might be looking to bring back veteran Center Dominic Moore, perhaps on a tryout basis. I could see the Rangers doing worse things. Moore had a minor breakthrough season offensively last season recording a line of 13G – 32A -45Pts in 81 games split between Toronto and Buffalo. Unfortunately, Moore struggled upon his arrival in Buffalo only scoring 4 points in 18 games there. Considering his previous high in goals (9) and points (18) scored occurred in his first full NHL season of 2005-2006 and the fact that Moore is now 29, it is likely that last season was a bit of a fluke. Regardless, if Moore does eventually join the Rangers, he will provide some depth at the Center position whether he fills a spot on one of the top lines or plays some 4th line and kills penalties. On a side note, my 15 year-old daughter will be thrilled if Moore comes back as he was her favorite Ranger because she thought he was cute. Good thing we live in Southern California

Zherdev Comes Crawling Back?

Over a month after the Rangers walked away from his arbitration award and still without an NHL deal, Nik Zherdev’s agent contacted the team offering to accept the same offer the Rangers made when they qualified him; a 1 year contract worth $3.25 million according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Wisely the Rangers declined Zherdev’s overtures. Obviously Zherdev and his agent over-estimated Zherdev’s appeal on the open market.

The problem in Zherdev’s case and other players who go through the process of arbitration in the salary cap environment is the timing of the process. Zherdev’s award was announced on the 2nd of August and the Rangers rescinded their rights to him on the 4th. By that time, over a month had passed since the UFA market had opened for business and most teams had already spent their allotted cap space. Teams that did express interest in Zherdev had little cap space to offer him. According to TSN, Zherdev today signed a deal to play in the KHL for next season so we won’t be seeing him in an NHL arena this season.
Unfortunately, the deal with Columbus to acquire Zherdev and Fritsche for D Fedor Tyutin and D Christian Backman looks like a sever miscalculation as the Rangers are left with nothing to show for it. Fritsche was moved to Minnesota for D Erik Reitz who was then claimed by the Maple Leafs off of waivers. Tyutin has developed into a very good top 4 defenseman for the Blue Jackets in the mean time.

Good Riddance to the Heatley to NYR Rumor; Say Hello to the Kessel to NYR Rumors

Finally! Heatley got moved. Now I can not have to read the ridiculous rumors of Heatley to the Rangers. There was no way given the financial dynamics. The Rangers simply didn't have the cap space to add salary and the Sens didn't want to take on any of their bad contracts in exchange. All of those looking forward to a couple of rumor-free weeks before the start of the regular season will be sorely disappointed though as Ek is listing the Rangers as a possible destination for RFA Phil Kessel. That's not likely to happen either folks.

The reason that Kessel is currently unsigned is the Bruins have little cap space as it sits and Kessel wants $4 million or more a year on a new deal. Obviously the Rangers don't have the necessary space to take on that type of contract either so any move to acquire Kessel would have to be through trade. Again the Bruins don't have the cap room to take on the type of additional salary it would take for the Rangers to fit Kessel under the cap. A more likely landing spot for Kessel is Toronto as they have the cap space and a need for a dynamic offensive forward. The fact that the Leafs reacquired their own 3rd round draft pick has put them in a spot where they can submit an offer sheet and then meet the requirements in terms of picks in the event the Bruins didn't match. Makes more sense than the Rangers getting involved.

Fantasy Time

I will admit it; I don’t know about most of you but I am a fantasy addict. I play fantasy baseball, football and especially hockey. In fact, this year I have joined 3 leagues, two of which are keeper leagues. This will be my first foray into a keeper hockey league so I am looking forward to it. In one of the keeper leagues, the league manager paired up all of the teams and we are allowed to keep two players from each of “our” teams. We were allowed to select the “team pairs” on a first-come-first-served basis. Naturally I chose the pairing of the Rangers and Kings and I kept Gaborik (hope he stays healthy), Lundqvist, Koptiar and Doughty. The other league is a salary cap league.

The most interesting of the two keeper leagues is the salary cap league. We can have 17 players on the roster (2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4 D, 1 G, 6 bench spots and 1 IR spot) and our salary cap is $40 million. The NHL’s salary cap is currently at $56.8 million with 21 or 22 players (13 F, 7 D and 2 G possibly). That means the maximum average salary per player in the NHL is about $2.58 million. In our salary cap league the maximum average salary per player allowed would be about $2.35 million per player. That is even lower than what real NHL teams are working with. There are going to be many good players that won’t be drafted.

We are conducting an off-line draft which means that it isn’t live; there are no time constrictions on when we have to make a pick so things are moving slowly. Apart from that fact I am really enjoying this format. We are only in the second round but we have already seen a number of players on entry-level contracts chosen (i.e. Devin Setoguchi, Steve Mason, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Steven Stamkos and Bobby Ryan) that likely wouldn’t have been selected this early in more traditional formats. We have already realized that cap space is at a premium and we have bypassed players like Eric Staal, Henrik Lundqvist, Joe Thornton and Vinny Lecavalier, all of whom would typically have been selected by now, because of their expensive contracts.

So far, I have drafted Roberto Luongo in the first round with the 12th pick overall and Jonathan Toews with the 17th overall pick. I chose Luongo because A) he is the best goalie in the game and B) his cap number decreases next season since signing his new extension. Toews was a no-brainer as I needed offense and with his relatively low cap hit of $850,000, I have a better chance of staying under the league cap number. Of course I have to consider that Toews is a RFA after this season so if I elect to keep him I will have to budget his certain increase in salary into next year’s cap limit. I wish I had gone offense in round 1 and followed up with Steve Mason and the 2 years remaining on his entry level deal that pays him only $820,000 per. Another factor to consider is that we can only keep a player for 3 seasons, including this one.

I will freely admit that I am a geek; especially when it comes to stats. I have a spreadsheet with 40 players on it that will hopefully comprise the core of my team. I have included their cap hits for each of the next three seasons (if applicable), their projected fantasy points and their projected fantasy points per million $ of salary. That helps me determine the value in terms of their projected production versus salary. Naturally I have to weigh in the fact that that some of my players will be free agents after this season so I have to be careful how I budget; not only for this year but for subsequent seasons.

I am curious how many of you also play fantasy hockey and what type of format you enjoy playing. Do you guys think this format will be fun? I am open to suggestions from you guys as to whom I should draft next. Here is the board currently:

1.Team Stewart:----------------Alex Ovechkin, 9.53mil

2.Creepsville Stalkers:--------Evgeni Malkin, 8.70mil

3.Ventura Vikings:-------------Jarome Iginla, 7.00mil

4.Touchdown Jesus:---------------Zach Parise, 3.12mil

5.Devilish Ducks:---------------Ryan Getzlaf, 5.32mil

6.Left Coast Lumberjacks:------Sidney Crosby, 8.7 mil

7.LoneStar Crusadres:-----------Pavel Datsyuk,6.7 mil

8.Brattleboro Senators III:------Daniel Sedin, 6.1 mil

9.Team Tronsgard:----------------Marc Savard, 5.0mil

10.Team Farrar:------------Henrik Zetterberg, 6.08 mil

11.What the Puck!:----------Nicklas Backstrom, 0.85 mil

12.Hartford Whalers:-----------Roberto Luongo, 6.75 mil

13.dustin brownies:--------------Rick Nash 5.4 mil

14. Winnipeg Jets:--------------Ilya Kovalchuk 6.38 mil

Round 2: 1.Winnipeg Jets:---------------Mike Green, 5.25mil

2.dustin brownies-------------Patrick Kane, 0.87mil

3.Hartford Whalers:-----------Jonathan Toews 0.85 mil

4.What the Puck--------------Alexander Semin 4.60M

5.Team Farrar----------------Steve Mason, 0.82 M

6.Team Tronsgard-------------Devin Setoguchi 0.82M

7.Brattleboro Senators III-----Henrik Sedin, 6.10M

8.LoneStar Crusadres-------------Brad Boyes, 4.0M

9.Left Coast Lumberjacks------------Cam Ward 2.67 mil

10.Devilish Ducks------------------Bobby Ryan 0.82M

11.Touchdown Jesus--------------Mikka Kiprusoff, 5.83M

12.Ventura Vikings

13.Creepsvile Stalkers

14.Team Stewart

ROUND 3: 1.Team Stewart:----------------

2.Creepsville Stalkers:--------

3.Ventura Vikings:-------------

4.Touchdown Jesus:---------------

5.Devilish Ducks:---------------

6.Left Coast Lumberjacks:------

7.LoneStar Crusadres:-----------

8.Brattleboro Senators III:------

9.Team Tronsgard:---------------

10.Team Farrar:----------

11.What the Puck!:----------

12.Hartford Whalers:-----------

13.dustin brownies:-------------

14. Winnipeg Jets:--------------

I am the Hartford Whalers and as you can see I don’t draft again until the 3rd round (40th overall). If you have any suggestions as to who I should select, feel free to leave them in the comments section. Note: I took Luongo over Lundqvist solely because of the cap hit in the next two years. It was difficult as a Rangers fan to do that but I want to win and saving $1.5 million in each of the next two seasons was the key to that decision.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.gkmkiller.

Thanks,

Western Conference Predictions

Predictions – West

Ok, I know, it’s not an original concept for a blog post but I still want to get my predictions on record before the season starts. Feel free to disagree about any of my choices. Anything can change between now and the end of the regular season, injuries and trades for example but I’ll still stand by these. Today I post the West and the East will follow later this week.

1. Chicago – A young team rapidly earning their stripes finally passes the Red Wings in the tough Central. Christobal Huet will have to step up and replace the departed Nikolai Khabibulin in net but with such a talented group in front of him he should be good enough to backstop this team to a #1 seed in the West. The real question will be how far they can go in the playoffs.

2. Anaheim – I like the off-season additions of Saku Koivu, Nick Boynton, Joffrey Lupul and most recently Evgeni Arthukin. This team has two good scoring lines, two starting-caliber goaltenders and a defense that returns perennial Norris Trophy candidate Scott Niedermayer and will get a full season from Ryan Whitney and James Wiesnewski. This is a team with no discernible holes and after upending the #1 seed Sharks in last year’s playoffs the Ducks should be primed for a long run in this year’s playoffs.

3. Calgary – The Flames will barely hold off the Canucks in what should be one of the more interesting divisions in the NHL. The Flames have added stud defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and checking forward Fredrik Sjostrom to an already impressive lineup that includes Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen, Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Reghyr. If Jokinen bounces back from a tough season and Miika Kiprusoff is consistently solid in net, I see the Flames coming out on top in the Northwest and thus earning the automatic top 3 seed.

4. Detroit – Despite the losses of Marian Hossa and Jiri Hudler, the Red Wings are still capable of taking the conference again. I just feel that after two long playoff runs and a couple of significant losses, the Wings won’t be able to hold off the Hawks for Central division supremacy this year. The Wings have to hope that Goaltender Chris Osgood plays better than he did last year as veteran back-up Ty Conklin left for St. Louis as a free agent. The team added Patrick Eaves, Todd Bertuzzi and Jason Williams to help offset the losses of Hossa and Hudler. With Lidstrom and Rafalski leading the charge from the back line and Franzen, Datsyuk and Zetterberg up front the Wings remain in good position.

5. San Jose – The Sharks fall off a little and lose the Pacific Division crown to the Ducks this year but that may not be such a bad thing if the last longer in the playoffs. The Sharks went the other route last season and took the top seed in the West before bowing out to the #8 seeded Ducks. Way too much talent on this roster to not make the playoffs but I think many Sharks fans were expecting something a little more radical this off-season after such a disappointing playoffs last year. They have been rumored to be pursuing Heatley but nothing yet. I don’t think it’ll matter much to Sharks fans how the fare in the regular season as long as they qualify for the playoffs. It will be their play in the postseason that will be closely scrutinized.

6. Vancouver – The recent additions of Defensemen Mathieu Schneider via free agency and Christian Ehrhoff and Brad Lukowich in a trade with San Jose, the Canucks feel they have adequately replaced the loss of veteran Mattias Ohlund to Tampa in free agency. With Kevin Bieska, Willie Mitchell, Sami Salo, Shane O’Brien and youngster Alexandre Edler already in the fold the Canucks are deeper than they were last year defensively and can withstand the type of injuries that robbed the team of Bieska and Salo for stretches last year. They have one of the best in net with Luongo so no problems there. What keeps the Canucks from overtaking the Flames is their lack of scoring depth up front. Apart from the Sedins the team has some nice players but no one to really take the scoring pressure off.

7. Columbus – Back-to-back playoff berths for this once moribund franchise has to make the fans of the Blue Jackets happy. They have a premier forward in Rick Nash, a real up-and-comer in net with Steve Mason and some nice complementary pieces up front in veteran checker Sami Pahlsson, young stud Center Darrick Brassard and key role players like Antoine Vermette and R.J. Umberger. The Jackets are lacking on the defensive end with only Fedor Tyutin and Mike Commodore performing up to par last year. Another offensive minded defenseman would be a welcome addition and could put the Jackets in position to challenge the Wings for the 4th seed.

8. Los Angeles - I am guilty of drinking the kool-aid; I believe that the Kings will finally get back to the playoffs after many years out. So much young talent and they will finally start to gel in the second half of the season and the Kings will pass the St. Louis Blues and take the 8th spot in the West. Granted it will all end quickly in the playoffs at the hands of the Hawks but this will be a big step in the ascension of the L.A. Kings. Jonathan Quick will finally provide the Kings with consistent play between the pipes and the young defense will improve to the point where the Kings will be in most every game.

9. Dallas – A return to health for key forwards Brendan Morrow and Jere Lehtinen will help catapult the Stars back into the playoff picture though the Kings will beat them out in the final days of the regular season. An improved Marty Turco will also elevate the team from afterthought to contender in the West. The real key however may be the young defense. With Sergei Zubov leaving Dallas for the KHL, young players like Trevor Daley, Matt Niskanen and Niklas Grossman to carry the load.

10. St. Louis - As I foreshadowed in a previous prediction the Blues will finish just short of a second consecutive playoff berth. They had a real bounce-back season and a great second half propelled them to the playoffs last year. Unfortunately they didn’t do enough in the off-season to build upon last year’s success. A return to health by Erik Johnson will help but he probably won’t be at full strength to begin the season. Eric Brewer could potentially miss a big chunk of the season leaving some holes on the blue line. Offensively the team has some nice pieces but it won’t be enough in the end.

11. Edmonton – After being spurned by Dany Heatley in the off-season, the Oilers head into the coming season looking much like they did ending last season; young and improving but not quite playoff ready yet. The addition of Khabibulin in net will be an upgrade but the Oilers would need a number of young forwards to improve significantly in order to realistically have a chance at the playoffs. Heatley would have made them a contender for a lower seed.

12. Minnesota – After years of moderate success under the direction of the architect of the notorious “trap”, the Wild have changed course after firing GM Doug Riseborough and watching Jaques Lemaire take his bag of tricks back to New Jersey. New coach Todd Richards plans to install a more fast-paced and offensive-minded attack. Franchise stalwart Marian Gaborik left the Wild and signed with the Rangers and he was replaced by another oft-injured forward Martin Havlat. With slow plodders Andrew Brunette and Owen Nolan expected to be important cogs up front it’s hard to imagine that Richards offensive transition will be seamless.

13. Nashville – GM Dave Poile and Coach Barry Trotz have done a stupendous job of keeping the medium market Preds competitive in a tough division. Unfortunately it will be another year outside of the playoff bubble in Nashville. While the Preds boast one of the best blue line groups in the NHL, they are thin up front and must rely heavily on youngster Pekka Rinne in goal. They could surprise but all indications are that they will not qualify for the playoffs this season.

14. Colorado – Thank goodness for Phoenix or Hamilton or whatever they are going to be. Otherwise it would be the Avalanche bringing up the rear in the West. The Avalanche do have a couple of bright spots; Center Paul Stastny and…….well maybe that’s about it until Matt Duchesne makes his Colorado debut. They have serious holes in net and have an aging blue line. Not much to look forward to in Denver.

15. Phoenix – Yes, they have more young talent than Colorado. And yes they also are in better shape in net but with all of the drama surrounding the sale and the potential move of the franchise I find it unlikely that Phoenix will finish anywhere other than last in the West. As a fan of hockey, I hope that the ownership situation clears up and the team can begin to move forward so some of the young talent can mature and help this franchise contend at some point.