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| Thanks to our friends at thehockeyguys.net for this glorious gif |
5. Calgary Flames-One would think that with the fifth highest payroll in the league, Calgary would be destined to finish high up in this division, right? Wrong. The reason Calgary has such a high payroll, is they have brought in overrated players and massively overpaid them (Cammalleri-$6M, Bouwmeester-$6.68M, Wideman-$5.25M, Giordano-$4.02M), to prevent fans from thinking they are rebuilding. The fact is, Calgary should be rebuilding. They have a stale offense, overhyped defense, and a goaltender (Kiprusoff) who will eventually run out of gas from starting so many games a season. With all the other teams in this division getting better, Calgary has nowhere to go but last.
4. Colorado Avalanche-Colorado was probably the hardest team in this division to pick. They have some blossoming young stars (Landeskog, Duchene), but still have some question marks on the squad (Defense, goaltending). The Avs top defensive unit consists of Erik Johnson and Jan Hejda (Yikes!), and their #1 goaltender heading into the season is Semyon Varlamov. All these players have shown signs of brilliance, but they also have shown horrible stretches of play. Colorado doesnt get off to the best start in 2013, but they have a strong finish. But it only gets them a fourth place finish.
3. Edmonton Oilers-At long last, Edmonton gets out of the Northwest's basement. They had 11 players playing during the 119 day lockout, including their top line of Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Jordan Eberle (They played on the same line for Oklahoma City, too). Since they have had the #1 pick in the draft for the past decade (Slight exaggeration), Edmonton now has the best crop of young forwards, and now has the best defenseman prospect in all of hockey, when they signed Justin Schultz this summer. The Oilers however, still have a lack of depth at defenseman, and have a big question mark in net, handing over the reigns to Devan Dubnyk while letting Nikolai Khabibulin sit on the bench. Edmonton gets off to a fast start in 2013, but the leaders of the division will catch up and pass them eventually. But the question remains, can Edmonton hold on for a playoff spot?
1. Vancouver Canucks-Despite injuries to Ryan Kesler and David Booth, this is still the team to beat in the Northwest. Perhaps the greatest strength for Vancouver this year, will be that they will have Corey Schneider and Roberto Luongo sharing time between the pipes (Unless Luongo finally gets moved). Both are #1 goalies, and Vancouver will most definitely use this to their advantage. The Canucks went out and bolstered their blue line, by signing Jason Garrison away from Florida. Garrison gives the Defense a little more offensive punch. Up front Vancouver is still led by the Sedin twins, and they still are the best tandem in the league. Vancouver has to a work a bit more to earn it, but they still take the division.
2. Chicago Blackhawks-Perhaps no team has underachieved more in the last 2 seasons than the Chicago Blackhawks. They barely made the playoffs in 2011, and they were handed a first round playoff exit by Phoenix in 2012. And no player has taken more heat than Patrick Kane (23-43-66 in 2011-12), in the last year, when it comes to underachieving. The Hawks have a weakness at center (Jonathan Toews and Dave Bolland are the only 2 established centers on the team), but can make up for it with their talented wingers. All eyes will be on Corey Crawford, and if he can handle the team's role of being a #1 goaltender. If not, maybe the Hawks go out and get a goalie before the trade deadline. Chicago comes in a distant second to St. Louis in this division. But, can they avoid a third straight first round exit in 2013?
4. Anaheim Ducks-A slow start will doom the Ducks in 2013. They have aging veterans Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne. Their stars Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are set to be free agents after the season ends. So should the Ducks have a bad start, Getzlaf and Perry could end up being traded, so the Ducks dont walk away empty handed if they leave.The Ducks have 2 solid lines, and their defensive core is average at best. A healthy Jonas Hiller will be between the pipes trying to keep the Ducks in games. In an incredibly strong division, the Ducks will come in 4th, but they will battle it out with Dallas for this spott. They just simply wont be able to keep up with the others, even in a shortened 48 game schedule.
5. New York Islanders-In a division that is very top heavy, the New York Islanders won't offer much of anything in 2013. They have a young star in John Tavares, and a 30 goal scorer in Matt Moulson, but after them, this team is very weak. They have no real depth at forward and they are pretty weak defensively. Evgeni Nabokov will be the #1 goalie this year, but with his age (37), how much longer can he produce solid numbers. Give the Islanders a few more years to rebuild, and maybe they will pull out of the cellar. But it for this year, you can write their last place finish in pen.
4. New Jersey Devils-The Devils are returning virtually the same team that took them to the Stanley Cup Finals a year ago. The one exception to that roster is Zach Parise, their leader and top scorer. Now that Parise is gone, New Jersey will rely heavily on Ilya Kovalchuk to put points on the board. Martin Brodeur, the ageless wonder, is returning for another year and will give them a solid presence in net, but you have to wonder about how well he can do now that he is entering his 20th NHL season. The Devils have a team that can still sneak in the playoffs as a 7th or 8th seed. But, can they get the points necessary to do so, while playing in this division?
3. Philadelphia Flyers-All eyes are on Ilya Bryzgalov this year. He was horribly inconsistent in 2011-12, and if he can't right the ship this year, the Flyers will be better off using one of their buyouts on him this summer since he still will have 7 years left on his deal ($5.66M per year). The Flyers lost Matt Carle, their best blueliner, and now have a real weak defense to go with the inconsistent Bryzgalov. Philly does have a good offense (2nd in the NHL in goals scored), lead by one of the game's best players, Claude Giroux. They have 4 solid forward lines, which gives them great ability to score frequently. But, unless Philly can fix the defense and goaltending, they will have to settle for 3rd in the division, but make the playoffs once again.
2. New York Rangers-Last year, we saw the Rangers become the best team in the East. They did it while riding the backs of their stars (Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards, Henrik Lundqvist), and that took them to the conference finals. But since it did not take them to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Rangers brought in another star to help push them there, Rick Nash. Nash will give the Rangers another elite goal scorer, and will help take some heat off of Gaborik (41 goals in 2011-12). The Rangers have a young, but quietly solid blue line, and they have the Vezina trophy winner Lundqvist between the pipes. This will be one of the top teams in the East again, but, they will be looking up at one team in the division standings.
1. Pittsburgh Penguins-For once, Sidney Crosby will open the season on the roster, not the injured list. So as long as everyone in Pittsburgh can be healthy to open the year, this team should get off to a fast start, which will help propel them to the top. Crosby and Evgeni Malkin should have big years, once again. They have solid depth at forward, despite trading Jordan Staal in the offseason. Kris Letang leads a core of solid veteran blue liners. And Marc-Andre Fleury looks to rebound in 2013, after his performance in the playoffs last year. Pittsburgh is clearly a preseason favorite for the Stanley Cup. In a close race, they win this division, and will lock up the #1 seed in the East. But can they play good hockey to even get out of the first round this year? Bet on it.
5. Montreal Canadiens-Those who think Montreal has a chance to make the playoffs this year can quit reading this now. The Canadiens retooled their hockey operations staff (New GM, New head coach), but the on ice talent remains the same from last year's cellar dwellers in the Northeast. The only solid addition this team made in the offseason, was drafting Alex Galchenyuk #3 overall. The team has too many overrated and overpaid players on this roster (Plekanec, Gionta, Cole, Kaberle, Markov). They do have Carey Price, who is pretty solid betweeen the pipes, but when your offense can't score, its hard to win games. Montreal will be painful to watch in 2013, so please don't expect them to do anything but come in last in this division.
4. Toronto Maple Leafs-If Toronto had a halfway defense in 2011-12, they would of made the playoffs. But when you boast the second worst defense in the league (259 Goals Allowed), you won't be going anywhere. The Leafs brought in F James van Riemsdyk in a trade with Philly (Giving up D-man Luke Schenn in return), but did virtually nothing to help their suffering defensive core. Their top defenseman (Phaneuf, Liles) take more chances offensively, and find themselves finishing games with -1 and -2 next to their names. James Reimer will open the season as the #1 goalie again for Toronto, but he could very well be a backup by the end of the season (*cough* Luongo!). Barring any major moves, Toronto misses the playoffs again.
3. Ottawa Senators-Ottawa was picked to finish dead last in the East on this blog last year. And all they did was make the playoffs and took the #1 seeded Rangers to a 7th game in the East Quarterfinals. They were lead by ridiculous scoring on their top line (Michalek-Spezza-Alfredsson), they saw Erik Karlsson become the best defenseman in the league, and they got surprisingly stellar goaltending from Craig Anderson. But behind their top line, Ottawa did not have much to offer, so they brought in former Wild player Guillaume Latendresse to give some depth to their scoring lines. Ottawa brings back the same core of players from last year, so they should contend for a playoff spot, but will they have enough to make the playoffs?
2. Buffalo Sabres-Last year, Buffalo probably learned more about themselves, than any other team in the league. Problem was, it took them a while to figure that out. Because they were a very hot team from February on, and they just narrowly missed a playoff spot (Finished 3 points behind Ottawa for the 8th seed). Buffalo addressed a huge issue this offseason, by adding some tough guys to their lineup (Steve Ott, John Scott). Perhaps the biggest need for the Sabres heading into the season is at center, after trading away Paul Gaustad and Derek Roy in 2012. And in addition to Ryan Miller, the Sabres have Jhonas Enroth (After his breakout year, filling in for the injured Miller) as a back up, between the pipes, giving them one of the best goalie tandems in the league. Buffalo has potential to be a playoff team. But they too like Ottawa are on the bubble, and will leave us questioning whether they can get in the playoffs.
1. Boston Bruins-Please, just hand this division to Boston. They are essentially returning the same roster from their Stanley Cup team of 2 years ago, minus the outspoken goaltender Tim Thomas. Now that Thomas is gone, Tuukka Rask gets the #1 job, after being a stellar back to Thomas over the past few years. Boston is incredibly deep on their forward lines, and defensively too. They will be graced by the presence of star prospect Dougie Hamilton (Kessel trade strikes again), on the blue line this year, adding to an already solid core. Boston will win the division, and will once again be competing for the Stanley Cup. They just have to avoid getting upset in the first round of the playoffs again.
4. Florida Panthers-Another surprise in this division last year, found the Florida Panthers winning the Southeast division. They were a replica of what the 02-03 Wild were like. Not a flashy goal scoring team, won games with defense and goaltending, and had no huge star on the roster. But unlike the 02-03 Wild, Florida was unable to get past the first round of the playoffs. They lost their best defenseman in the offseason (Jason Garrison-Vancouver), and added no one of great consequence (Unless you are high on Peter Mueller or Filip Kuba). Florida has some regression in 2013, and will ultimately miss the playoffs as well.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning-2011, Tampa made it all the way to the Eastern Finals. 2012, Tampa made it all the way to the golf course when the playoffs began. Why? One reason: Goaltending. Tampa had the worst goaltending in the league last year (Allowed a league high 282 goals). So of course, it was addressed this offseason, when the team got Anders Lindback from Nashville. They also added Matt Carle to help bolster their blue line and solidify their play in the defensive zone. Tampa is lead on offense by 60 goal scorer, Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, and Vinny Lecavalier. This team rebounds quite nicely from the bad 2011-12 campaign and finds its way into a playoff spot.
2. Carolina Hurricanes-It was the Carolina Hurricanes who made the biggest splash of the offseason, on draft night, when they pulled the trigger on a trade that sent two players and the #8 overall pick to Pittsburgh in exchange for C Jordan Staal. Staal had put good numbers for Pittsburgh as a third line center, but his numbers should increase now that he is playing first line next to his brother Eric. The Canes also added Alex Semin to a one year deal, and he is slotted to play top line with the Staals. This team is decently assembled defensively, and they have former playoff MVP Cam Ward between the pipes. Carolina doesn't take the division, but they are a sure bet for a playoff spot.
1. Washington Capitals-This division is wide open. And yet, it will be the Capitals who come out of it with the title. They let Alex Semin leave, and they now have former Cap Adam Oates behind the bench now. Despite the loss of Semin, the team still has good depth. Again, a big concern for Washington will come from between the pipes. Braden Holtby stepped up for them during their playoff run last year, and is slated to start the season as the team's #1. The Caps will need to get big production from their leader Alex Ovechkin, who is averaging 35 goals over the last 2 seasons after frequently scoring 50 in his first 5 seasons in the league. The Caps figure it out, and win the division over Carolina and Tampa by a narrow margin.
