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Time once again to gaze into my rather murky crystal ball and do some heavy duty predicting… today… the Eastern Conference, starting with the Metropolitan Division
Two big winning teams last season in the Metro, the Washington Capitals won the President’s Trophy, posting 120 points in the regular season and Pittsburgh took home the Cup. These two teams will be there again, Washington a little hungrier and Pittsburgh will be trying to go back-to-back for the first time in over 20 seasons. These two teams are the obvious class of a division that features a few teams that seem to be on the right track, and a couple that you kind of scratch your head at and wonder what the heck they are doing.
Right track teams in the Metro? The New Jersey Devils, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Carolina Hurricanes. New Jersey would’ve had the trade of the offseason in acquiring Taylor Hall from Edmonton (That Subban for Weber thing stomped all over that.) I just like what Ray Shero is doing in Newark, adding quality guys in Ben Lovejoy and Vern Fiddler. The blueline is serviceable and if Hall lights it up, this team gets a wild card. The Philadelphia Flyers, under GM Ron Hextall have quietly rebuilt themselves, restocking the prospect pipeline and generally doing something they aren’t known for… showing some patience. It may pay off this year. I like what Carolina is doing, they are assembling a workman like team that may sneak into a wild card slot if they can squeeze enough scoring out of their forwards.
Scratching my head at the New York Rangers and Islanders and the Columbus Blue Jackets. All three of these teams have talent, but I question the chemistry and the makeup of each. On Broadway, the Blueshirts have some very good prospects at forward but their blueline is still questionable and you wonder how long Henrik Lunqvist can continue to cover that shortfall. The Islanders were a really good team last season, they sustained losses, losing Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposos will hurt and the replacements they signed don’t seem to be working out (Andrew Ladd should be a good add but waiving PA Parenteau, WTH?) And Columbus… what can you say about Columbus? Every time I think they should be good, they defecate the bedclothing, every time I think they should be bad… well… they are bad. You look at this team and just wait for the inevitable explosion from John Tortorella. They should be better… but so is the rest of the division.
Turning to the Atlantic, the Florida Panthers took the division last season with 103 points, Tampa Bay came in second… no wild cards came from this division… this division does not have the clear divisions like the Metro, Tampa is the class of the division and should be the division champ, using the same Right Track – Scratching My Head methodology let’s look at the rest.
Right Track teams in the Atlantic are Montreal, Buffalo and Toronto. No… that’s not a typo. The Habs will be better for two reasons, a healthy Carey Price and Shea Weber, who will fit into Michelle Therrien’s system like a glove. They may not be better if Alexander Radulov hasn’t grown up. The Sabres are building a contender in Western New York and I really like how they are doing it. Plenty of talent at forward and D, still have goaltending questions as I am not sold on Robin Lehner but this franchise is definitely on the right track. As are the Toronto Maple Leafs, clearly in rebuild mode last season, they ended up with Auston Matthews, adding Frederik Anderson certainly an upgrade in net. Defensively the team still needs to improve… The Leafs may not be a playoff team this season, but they can see the light at the end of the tunnel and for the first time in years, it’s not an oncoming train.
Scratching my head on Florida, Detroit, Boston and Ottawa. Still have no clue what Dale Tallon has done to deserve the undercutting that happened to him, but this team does not seem to be able to handle success. They are talented and should make the playoffs, but I would not be surprised if they didn’t. Detroit, you wonder how long they will keep the streak going at the expense of a rebuild. The Wings haven’t missed the playoffs since before the Predators franchise existed and have managed to reload vs. rebuild, but this season feels different. The Bruins just don’t seem to have solid direction and continue to lose talent, that being said, it wouldn’t surprise me if the sneak into the playoffs at the 3 spot. Ottawa seems to be floating, no significant improvements over last year’s 5th place team… solid blueline, inconsistent goaltending and spotty scoring may doom this team to missing the playoffs again.
So… who make the playoffs in the East? I’m calling Pittsburgh, Washington and Philly in the Metro. Tampa Bay, Florida and Boston in the Atlantic. The wild cards? New Jersey and Montreal.
Back with the West tomorrow
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Random Notes
- Countdown to hockey… 3 days to Predators season opener.
- I feel sorry for the Ops folk at Bridgestone Arena… gonna be crazy there this weekend. Florida-Georgia Line plays Thursday, the Preds open Friday… then Adele has two sold out shows Saturday and Sunday… I get tired just typing that.
- Tongues are wagging about the Subban / Josi duo… could be a monster d-pair!
- Six games for Radko Gudas for his hit on Austin Czarnik.
- Reports are Johnny Gaudreau has been signed… six years, $40.5 million.
- Looks like LA is giving Devin Setoguchi a try, he attended Kings camp on a PTO and word is, they want to sign him.
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