Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Northeast Division
Northeast Division preview
Buffalo - The Sabres might be the most well-balanced team in the league which should allow them to battle Ottawa for the division title. There are no stars on their defense, but it is solid one through six, and also possesses a good blend of scoring touch and defensive play. Brian Campbell could quietly put up 50 points this year. In goal, Ryan Miller appears to be the starter, but Martin Biron is behind him should he falter, at least until Buffalo finds a team to trade him to. Up front it is much the same as on the blueline, four capable lines, all of whom can put the puck in the net. The only notable omission is JP Dumont, but Thomas Vanek is in his second year now and should pick up the slack. Daniel Briere also missed half of the regular season injured, so if he's healthy all year he should be good for 80 points. After the experience gained during last year's post season run, where the Sabres nearly knocked off Carolina while greatly depleted by injuries, this Sabres team looks to be Buffalo's best chance in a long time to win their first Stanley Cup.
Ottawa - The Senators once again come into a season with their eyes set on finally winning the Stanley Cup. They may have let their best chance slip away last year, as Zdeno Chara signed with Boston and Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski were traded. Ottawa still has a dynamic scoring line with Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson, but the supporting cast is younger and less dangerous than in past years. On defense it is a similar story with Wade Redden and Chris Phillips providing a solid top pairing. The rest of the defense has tons of potential, but having four other players with three or fewer NHL seasons could backfire at times. The one area that Ottawa has improved is goaltending. Martin Gerber was signed as a free agent after leading Carolina to a division title. The only problem is that he imploded in the playoffs before Cam Ward took over, though it is said that he was suffering from the flu. Ottawa is still a contender but usually teams win when they're at their peak, and Ottawa appears to be past that peak.
Boston - The Bruins could be a darkhorse pick this year after being rebuilt in the off season. The biggest acquisition was that of defenseman Zdeno Chara which instantly solidifies the back end. Brad Stuart and Paul Mara will provide support, so the Bruins just need to hope that their other young defensemen can play adequately. Up front the Bruins should be more offensive minded with Patrice Bergeron and another free agent, Marc Savard. Wingers like Brad Boyes, who quietly had a breakout season with 70 points in his first full NHL year, Glen Murray, and rookie Phil Kessel should make Boston back into the higher scoring team they were before Joe Thornton was traded. The only question mark is in goal. The Bruins seem ready to go with Hannu Toivonen as the starter after he had a respectable rookie season last year. Tim Thomas, who came out of nowhere last season and got Boston back into the playoff hunt will be a good plan B as long as last year wasn't a fluke. The Bruins should be in the fight for a playoff position this year.
Montreal - The Canadiens could enter this season without captain Saku Koivu as he is pondering retirement after a high stick to the eye knocked him out of last year's playoffs. They still have other players capable of scoring, but Koivu would be a tough loss. Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Samsonov, and Mike Ribeiro cna put up points, but as a whole the forward crop is a very soft bunch and is susceptable to being puched around by bigger, tougher opponents, though that is less of a problem in the current NHL than in years past. On defense Montreal needs a rebound year from Sheldon Souray and continued offensive production from Andrei Markov. After those two is a collection of workmanlike defenders who should be capable of holding the fort if they play consistently. The Habs also hope for Cristobal Huet to show that last season wasn't a fluke. If he had played all of last season as the starter, he would have been a Vezina candidate. David Aebischer is behind him in case he falters. Like Boston, expect Montreal to be fighing for one of the final playoff spots.
Toronto - The Leafs might have addressed their problematic defense by overpaying free agents Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill, and with McCabe and Kaberle they should have a high scoring blueline, but the unit could still be lacking in their own zone. That means they will probably need to be bailed out by Andrew Raycroft, acquired from Boston. If he returns to his Calder-trophy form of 2003-04 he should be capable of that, but if his plays like last year the Leafs will be in trouble. Up front the Leafs still have some big names, but Mats Sundin, Mike Peca, and Jeff O'Neill are all on the downside of their careers and the latter two are coming off terrible seasons. That leaves Darcy Tucker and sophomores Alex Steen and Kyle Wellwood with a burden that's probably larger than they can handle. If the Leafs get big seasons out of a few guys and Raycroft plays well thay might have a chance at the playoffs, but all of that happening at once seems unlikely and they will probably be drafting in the top 10.
Buffalo - The Sabres might be the most well-balanced team in the league which should allow them to battle Ottawa for the division title. There are no stars on their defense, but it is solid one through six, and also possesses a good blend of scoring touch and defensive play. Brian Campbell could quietly put up 50 points this year. In goal, Ryan Miller appears to be the starter, but Martin Biron is behind him should he falter, at least until Buffalo finds a team to trade him to. Up front it is much the same as on the blueline, four capable lines, all of whom can put the puck in the net. The only notable omission is JP Dumont, but Thomas Vanek is in his second year now and should pick up the slack. Daniel Briere also missed half of the regular season injured, so if he's healthy all year he should be good for 80 points. After the experience gained during last year's post season run, where the Sabres nearly knocked off Carolina while greatly depleted by injuries, this Sabres team looks to be Buffalo's best chance in a long time to win their first Stanley Cup.
Ottawa - The Senators once again come into a season with their eyes set on finally winning the Stanley Cup. They may have let their best chance slip away last year, as Zdeno Chara signed with Boston and Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski were traded. Ottawa still has a dynamic scoring line with Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson, but the supporting cast is younger and less dangerous than in past years. On defense it is a similar story with Wade Redden and Chris Phillips providing a solid top pairing. The rest of the defense has tons of potential, but having four other players with three or fewer NHL seasons could backfire at times. The one area that Ottawa has improved is goaltending. Martin Gerber was signed as a free agent after leading Carolina to a division title. The only problem is that he imploded in the playoffs before Cam Ward took over, though it is said that he was suffering from the flu. Ottawa is still a contender but usually teams win when they're at their peak, and Ottawa appears to be past that peak.
Boston - The Bruins could be a darkhorse pick this year after being rebuilt in the off season. The biggest acquisition was that of defenseman Zdeno Chara which instantly solidifies the back end. Brad Stuart and Paul Mara will provide support, so the Bruins just need to hope that their other young defensemen can play adequately. Up front the Bruins should be more offensive minded with Patrice Bergeron and another free agent, Marc Savard. Wingers like Brad Boyes, who quietly had a breakout season with 70 points in his first full NHL year, Glen Murray, and rookie Phil Kessel should make Boston back into the higher scoring team they were before Joe Thornton was traded. The only question mark is in goal. The Bruins seem ready to go with Hannu Toivonen as the starter after he had a respectable rookie season last year. Tim Thomas, who came out of nowhere last season and got Boston back into the playoff hunt will be a good plan B as long as last year wasn't a fluke. The Bruins should be in the fight for a playoff position this year.
Montreal - The Canadiens could enter this season without captain Saku Koivu as he is pondering retirement after a high stick to the eye knocked him out of last year's playoffs. They still have other players capable of scoring, but Koivu would be a tough loss. Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Samsonov, and Mike Ribeiro cna put up points, but as a whole the forward crop is a very soft bunch and is susceptable to being puched around by bigger, tougher opponents, though that is less of a problem in the current NHL than in years past. On defense Montreal needs a rebound year from Sheldon Souray and continued offensive production from Andrei Markov. After those two is a collection of workmanlike defenders who should be capable of holding the fort if they play consistently. The Habs also hope for Cristobal Huet to show that last season wasn't a fluke. If he had played all of last season as the starter, he would have been a Vezina candidate. David Aebischer is behind him in case he falters. Like Boston, expect Montreal to be fighing for one of the final playoff spots.
Toronto - The Leafs might have addressed their problematic defense by overpaying free agents Pavel Kubina and Hal Gill, and with McCabe and Kaberle they should have a high scoring blueline, but the unit could still be lacking in their own zone. That means they will probably need to be bailed out by Andrew Raycroft, acquired from Boston. If he returns to his Calder-trophy form of 2003-04 he should be capable of that, but if his plays like last year the Leafs will be in trouble. Up front the Leafs still have some big names, but Mats Sundin, Mike Peca, and Jeff O'Neill are all on the downside of their careers and the latter two are coming off terrible seasons. That leaves Darcy Tucker and sophomores Alex Steen and Kyle Wellwood with a burden that's probably larger than they can handle. If the Leafs get big seasons out of a few guys and Raycroft plays well thay might have a chance at the playoffs, but all of that happening at once seems unlikely and they will probably be drafting in the top 10.
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