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Todd Cordell
I like Tampa Bay to win the division. They have high-end talent at every position and two very good goaltenders. Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman will be able to carry a big load defensively and the Lightning have more than enough firepower to make up for any questions about their depth on defense.
1. Tampa Bay
2. Florida - Love their re-vamped blue line with Keith Yandle, Jason Demers and Mark Pysyk entering the fold. They have high-end talent up front and added nice depth pieces like Colton Sceviour and Jonathan Marchessault, too.
3. Toronto - Their high-end kids are ready for the big time and I think Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev are more than capable of anchoring the defense. A weak division, and the game's best coach in Mike Babcock, helps their cause.
4. Boston - I'm really concerned about their defense but having two-way guys like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and co. will certainly help. I think David Pastrnak is ready to break out in a big way.
5. Montreal - I like the addition of Alexander Radulov and Carey Price's return will be huge. In saying that they aren't very mobile on defense and Michel Therrien's system will weigh the team down.
6. Detroit - Pavel Datsyuk is gone, Henrik Zetterberg is declining, their defense is weak and they tend to overplay gritty guys like Luke Glendening, Justin Abdelkader and Darren Helm. I love Petr Mrazek but I think it may be a rough year.
7. Ottawa - The high-end talent is there, no question, but they have some injuries and I'm not confident in their depth up front or on defense.
8. Buffalo - I think they have too much dead weight up front (Matt Moulson, Brian Gionta, etc.), I don't think their blue line is good enough and I'm not sold on Robin Lehner. He misses a lot of time with injuries and their backup, Anders Nilsson, has posted a below league average save percentage every year in the league.
Peter Tessier
Oh the Atlantic, the one no one really seems to want to win other than the two teams from Florida.
Your division winner is Tampa as they regroup from an odd year and come back with a vengeance. Then the order goes as follows:
Tampa Bay
Florida
Montreal
Ottawa
Toronto
Detroit
Boston
Buffalo
Man it must be tough being a Sabres fan and it likely won't be that much fun being a Bruins fan either.
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Atlantic Division breakout players
Pacific Division breakout players
Central Division breakout players
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