NHL Season Preview
Courtesy: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Here it is. Part one of the NHL Season Preview. I’ve done one before, so bear with me as I get my feet wet.
I’m breaking this down into Divisions. Two per day per conference leading up to the start of the season on January 19th.
Here goes.
ATLANTIC DIVISION
1. New Jersey Devils
Subtractions: Zach Parise, Eric Boulton, Alexi Ponikarovsky, Petr Sykora, Matt Taormina
Additions: Krystofer Barch, Harri Pesonen
Coming off an appearance in last year’s Stanley Cup Final, you would think they were primed and ready another shot at the Cup. The Devils are a different team going into this season. With the loss of team captain Zach Parise to Minnesota, the Devils will have to fill that void. Parise is a great all-around player who has only missed 13 or so games in 2 years. They’re going to have to rely on sophmore Adam Henrique who is coming off a great rookie season, however he hand surgery on his hand recently and will miss some time. That leaves Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson as the top two pivots going into the season. Then there’s Ilya Kovalchuk. It could very well be his year to shine in New Jersey. He played well last season but wasn’t as effective in the playoffs as the Devils had hoped. However, with the absense of Parise this is now Kovy’s team, and like his days in Atlanta he’s going to have the puck a lot. That could mean big points. The question is though, will Kovy be around next year?
On defense, Marek Zidlicky and Adam Larsson are the top two D-men. Both played well last year in the playoffs and the Devils are hoping that will carry over. The Devils still lack depth on the blueline and could make a splash in free agency or trade depending on where they are.
Brodeur and Hedberg are, without question phenomial goaltenders. Brodeur is a sure first ballot hall-of-famer and Hedberg is a great backup. However, they’re both 39 years old. Brody just inked a 2 year deal this summer to continue on with the Devils who drafted him 22 years ago. With the shortened season, it could be a good thing for Brody and Hedberg to split time going into the playoffs (if they make it), but the Devils are going to have to make sure these two can withstand 48 games of playoff-type hockey.
2. New York Rangers
Subtractions: Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, Ruslan Fedotenko, Brandon Prust
Additions: Rick Nash, Taylor Pyatt, Jeff Halpern, Arron Asham
The Rangers were so close last year to reaching the Stanley Cup Finals last year, but fell flat (I like to think the Caps tired them out in the previous round). The Rangers, perusal, made a huge splash this summer and nabbed Rick Nash from Columbus. He will most likely be paired with Brad Richards, but the two of them need to show some chemistry as head coach John Tortorella is keen on mixing up lines if they’re not performing. Nash needs to have a big year to prove he’s still an elite scorer. Marian Gaborik is also back and will probably start the season which means the Rangers have a very scary top line. Chris Kreider and Carl Hagelin will make the most of their time as well coming off a great playoff run for each of them. And the Rangers are tougher with the addition of Aaron Asham – that guy is just scary.
On defense the Rangers are looking very good. They have some of the best young talent in the league in Ryan McDonagh, Dan Giardi, Michael Del Zotto and Marc Staal. They were tough last year and they will be better this year.
Henrik Lundqvist. That’s pretty much all I have to say about the goaltending. Coming off his first Vezina Trophy, Henrik will be very tough this year, especially with a bitter taste in his mouth from a loss in the Conference Finals.
The big question however is what to do with Wade Redden (remember him?). They can’t bury his $6.5M contract in the minors anymore, so he will probably sit the year and not play anywhere, unless they can somehow unload him. GM Glen Sather has a lot of work to do this summer.
3. Philadelphia Flyers
Subtractions: Sergei Bobrosky, Matt Carle, Jaromir Jagr, Pavel Kubina, James VanRiemsdyk
Additions: Brian Boucher, Ruslan Fedotenko, Bruno Gervais
Let’s start on offense since that’s the trend here. Claude Giroux is ready for another big year and he may do it as the teams new Captain. Barring inury, he will lead this team into the playoffs. Scotty Hartnell is coming off a huge year and I really hope he can do it again – he’s a nice guy. Danny Briere is injured, but not sure how long he’ll miss – it depends on where the Flyers are at that point. Wayne Simmonds is proving he was a good pick up and Brayden Schenn is going to have a bigger role this year and will have his big brother, Luke to watch over him. Sean Couturier and Matt Read had great rookie years last year and will contribute, and Eric Wellwood should impress.
On defense, things aren’t that bad, but the Flyers are really missing Chris Pronger. He not only was a dominant player on the ice, but also in the locker room. His presence is missed. Nik Grossman is a very solid D-man and Luke Schenn was a great move this past summer. They will bolster the backline with Kimmo Timonen controlling the play -unless he gets injured again. Andrej Meszaros and Andreas Lilja are very solid but are also injury prone. The Flyers need to get more depth in case anyone goes down, which is very likely in this type of season. They will really miss Matt Carle this year, but rookie Erik Gustafsson can hopefully fill that role. P.K. Subban is a name that is always associated with the Flyers come trade time. Maybe this is the year…
Courtesy: CBS Sports
Goaltending is… interesting for the Flyers. Ilya Bryzgalov was supposed to be the savior for Philadelphia last year and at times he was. But most of the time he was a space cadet. His inconsistency was trouble for the Flyers because they could not get going when they needed to, but when he did play well, the Flyers were dominant. Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher will split backup time when Bryz needs a break to be weird, but do not rule out a possible trade for Roberto Luongo. If GM Paul Holmgren (who regrets the Bryzgalov signing) lands Lou from Vancouver, they will have two solid starting goalies this year, and then it’s goodbye Ilya in the summer. Something has to happen to fix this mess though and something will.
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
Subtractions: Jordan Staal, Steve Sullivan, Arron Asham, Brent Johnson, Zbynek Michalek, Richard Park
Additions: Brandon Sutter, Tanner Glass, Dylan Reese, Tomas Vokoun
Like every year, everyone is pick the Penguins to win the cup because they like nibbling Crosby, Malkin and Lemieux’s teet, but with a shortened season and a healthy Crosby the Pens could make a big dent in the playoffs. They lost Jordan Staal to Carolina which is a big hole to fill on the third line, but Brandon Sutter should do well. James Neal will do well as always with either Malkin or Crosby and other role players like DuPuis, Cooke and Kunitz will help run this offense.
On defense, Kris Letang and Brooks Orpik will lead as usual and Paul Martin will try to live up to his contract. They need some more depth, and players like Ben Lovejoy will have to step up.
In goal, Marc-Andre Fleury needs to forget about last years playoffs and get in a groove for the short season. The Pens signed Tomas Vokoun to back up and he needs to forget about his time with Washington – he was brutal.
5. New York Islanders
Subtractions:
Additions:
I’ll be honest, I couldn’t remember who the fifth team was in this division. I had to look it up. The Islanders are a team, however, who could surprise everyone. John Tavares is coming off a great season last year and during the lockout he was playing in the Swiss A league racking up 42 points in 28 games. The Isles lost P.A. Parinteau to Colorado which is a big loss but Brad Boyes and Kyle Okposo should ease that loss. Matt Moulson is solid with Tarvares and Nino Niederreiter and Josh Bailey will make an impact again but Michael Grabner needs to show the Isles what he did two season ago in his rookie year.
On defense, Mark Streit is a great puck moving defenseman and power play specialist when he’s healthy and Andrew MacDonald played very well last year in his rookie campaign. But the Isles lack of depth will haunt them again. They did aquire Lubomir Visnovsky from the Ducks but he is refusing to play for them – a lot like Nabokov did two season ago. The Isles are cursed but I really want them to return to their glory years.
In goal, Nabokov will take most of the work and he seems more happy being on the other New York team now. Kevin Poulin is in the AHL but he could be called up to back up. Then there is Rick DiPietro. His 15 year, $67.5M contract is still haunting the Isles. It is still one of, if not the, worst signings in sports. The Isles need to buy him so they can free up some case for their future. DiPietro isn’t a bad goalie, but his career has been plagued by injuries and high expectations (his draft day is legendary). Hopefully the Isles can part ways and DiPietro can go somewhere else without scrutinity.
Next up… The Central.
