The NHL season starts tonight what better time then now to take a look at each conference and see where teams will finish the 2015-2015 year.
By Nick Adams
The Rangers will get to watch what they have been fighting for, and coming so close to winning the last three to four seasons.
The hockey season is full of some great storylines and hockey diehards just want the puck to be dropped already.
Will the eastern conference win a cup? Can the Penguins win every game 7-6 due to having no defensive help? Can the New York Islanders take the next step and win a playoff round or two?
Lets take a look at each division breakdown and see who will come out on top and who will sink to the bottom.
Metropolitan Division
- New York Rangers*
- Columbus Blue Jackets*
- Brooklyn Islanders*
- Washington Capitals*
- Pittsburgh Penguins*
- Philadelphia Flyers
- New Jersey Devils
- Carolina Hurricanes
*playoff team
The Met is going to be very tight and, in my estimation is going to produce the Cup winner this year. The Rangers haven’t really gotten worse (in fact, if their “ifs” turn into “dids,” they will be dominant), but there has been improvement amongst their divisional competitors.
The Caps seem to be a favorite amongst pro analysts because they got a shiny new toy in Justin Willams, but they lost a lot of what made them the “heaviest” team in the league last year in Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward. Losing their pesky defenseman Mike Green to the Detroit Red Wings also weakens their blueline offensive production.
The Isles are essentially the same team. Jaroslav Halak has to prove that he can repeat and reproduce his at-time stellar play from last season. He doesn’t need as badly to be a one-man show this season as the Isles acquired a viable backup netminder.
Pittsburgh still has not improved defensively in any real way and scoring was not their problem. Adding Phil Kessel did more to introduce potential locker room dynamite than anything else. They will be a powerful offensive team, but will lag behind the more well-rounded teams in front of them, but still make the playoffs usurping the East’s second wild card seed.
I think the biggest relative newcomer to the battle is a healthy Columbus Blue Jackets squad who lost 500+ man-games to injury last season and improved with the addition of Brandon Saad. New Jersey, Philadelphia & Carolina are…there. The Devils have a few years to go before seeing the playoffs, but Cory Schneider, if healthy, should be in the Vezina conversation again.
Atlantic Division
- Montreal Canadiens*
- Ottawa Senators*
- Tampa Bay Lightning*
- Boston Bruins
- Detroit Red Wings
- Florida Panthers
- Buffalo Sabres
- Toronto Maple Leafs
*playoff teams
Montreal’s recent loss of Zach Kassian may prevent them from achieving full potential, but overall, they can and should be considered top contenders if for no other reason than that they have Carey Price and have added the missing coreelements they needed last season. The fact that they were bested twice by Ottawa in preseason may not say much to many, but it means something to Ottawa.
They are better and I think they top Tampa for the No. 2 spot in the division. Tampa is a very solid team, but can hit flat spots as they did late last season.
Ben Bishop will get into a fight with Tyler Johnson after Johnson tags his girlfriend, re-injure his torn groin muscle and hand the reins to Kevin Poulin.
Without the leadership of Mike Babcock or a hefty defensive improvement, Detroit ends its playoff streak, yielding to a Bruins team making a late run. Unfortunately for Boston (who can’t even sell out their own home opener), they will lose their playoff seed to the Penguins out of the Met. “Sorry, Atlantic… seat’s taken.”
Toronto will continue to stew in it’s own mess and Babcock will lose his mind by about January. Buffalo will show a marked improvement with Evander Kane and Jack Eichel, but they are still a ways away.
Central Division
- St. Louis Blues*
- Nashville Predators*
- Chicago Blackhawks*
- Dallas Stars*
- Minnesota Wild
- Winnipeg Jets
- Colorado Avalanche
*playoff team
Here’s my wackball surprise: St. Louis wins the Central and the West. Vladimir Tarasenko is going to rip up the league this season and lead them to it.
Nashville will remain strong, but be surpassed late in the season as Pekka Rinne begins to wear down.
Chicago is likely going to be dealing with Patrick Kane fallout – or simply won’t have Kane in their offense and I think the gloss finally starts to wear thin. Maybe by March, Duncan Keith will finally have to sit for more than thirty five seconds of a hockey game. Maybe.
If the Stars can get Kari Lehtonen to give them passable numbers in any sustained way, I think they make the playoffs this season. Patrick Sharp is going to help that effort, bringing leadership and experience.
If not, the Minnesots Wild will take that slot. Devan Dubnyk put on quite a show in the latter half of last season after being dealt from Arizona. Mike Yeo’s epic dressing down of the team in a practice this past January, along with Dubnyk’s arrival and resurgence between the pipes got them into the playoffs, but how much can one expect an emotionally inspired run on the back of a goalie happy not to be playing hockey in… Saudi Arabia to carry over from one season to the next? Not much, I say.
Look for Winnipeg to deal Dustin Byfuglien at or before the trade deadline. It is a contact year for him and someone will want a guy with his versatility on offense and defense. If they aren’t going to make the playoffs (and they aren’t) they will look to move him.
Pacific Division
- Anaheim Ducks*
- Calgary Flames*
- Los Angeles Kings*
- Vancouver Canucks*
- San Jose Sharks
- Edmonton Oilers
- Arizona Coyotes
Quack. Quack. The Ducks are odds-on favorites by just about everybody to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals this season. I don’t think they do, but they are winning the Pacific.
Sorry, Kings fans, but Milan Lucic isn’t all that and the bag of chips you thought you were getting. Call us February when he’s in the middle of some other five-game DL stint for… a linty belly-button.
The Sedin twins enter their late thirties with no playoff berth. All of western Canada cries, but starts thinking about becoming Oilers fans.
Ranger fans will have a mild interest in looking west to watch Cam Talbot perform his starting goalie role and in the process will catch glimpses of some kid named “McDavid” (whoever HE is) dominating defenses. “Johnny Hockey,” you’ve got company out there in Connor McHockey, but don’t worry – he’s not a spotlight junkie and neither are the Oilers. Yet.
Ranger fans will also look west to eyeball the development of Anthony Duclair playing alongside former Rangers’ agitator Tie Domi’s kid, Max Domi. The Coyotes are stuck in an ugly quagmire of losing seasons, having lost Keith Yandle (who was finally traded), an ugly battle with the local government regarding their arena and rumors of getting moved as a result. However, they aren’t without hope owing to the likes of Duclair and Domi.
The Stanley Cup will come down the to the New York Rangers vs the St. Louis Blues and the Rangers will prevail in six games and be ready to paint the town red, white and blue. King Henrik will finally rule the NHL landscape.