With another NHL season set to kick off tomorrow, what better way to ring it in than with some good old fashioned predictions from yours truly. I’ll look at some of the off-season winners and predict who the final 16 teams will be.
Starting in the East – Boston, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Atlanta, and Tampa Bay all addressed their needs and will be headed for the post-season.
Boston finished last season dead last in goals scored per game so they drafted highly-touted forward Tyler Seguin while also bringing in 30-goal scorer Nathan Horton to help with offence.
Philadelphia traded oft-injured Simon Gagne to Tampa for defenceman Mat Walker. They also added goal-scoring Russian Nikolai Zherdev who could top 30 goals if he’s able to buy into Philadelphia’s style of play. They also brought in capable defencemen Sean O’Donnell and Andrej Meszaros. If the Flyers can manage to get the same goaltending they did last year, then a trip back to the Stanley Cup Finals is not out of the question.
For the Devils, the additions of rear guards Anton Volchenkov and Henrik Tallinder will make-up for the departure of Paul Martin. Add a new back-up goaltender in Johan Hedberg and the return of hard-nosed centre Jason Arnott and the Devils are poised for a deep run in the playoffs.
The Atlanta Thrashers can thank former general manager of the Blackhawks Dale Tallon for their improvement this off-season. Tallon signed some of his players to bonus-laced contracts while he was with the Hawks. In short, the Blackhawks won the cup and their players got paid huge coin. As a result, Atlanta acquired four players from the Hawks as a form of salary dumping. The acquisitions of Ben Eager, Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, and Brent Sopel among others will play a key role in Atlanta making their second playoff appearance in franchise history.
Tampa Bay is the final team in the East with improvements that will land them in the post-season. As mentioned earlier, they acquired Simon Gagne who can be a goal-scoring machine. They brought back defenceman Pavel Kubina and added goaltender Dan Ellis. With Jaroslav Halak now in St. Louis, Tampa sneaks past the Canadiens for the final playoff spot in the East.
In the West – Colorado, Calgary, Detroit, LA and Vancouver lead the way in terms of playoff-bound teams who got better during the off-season.
Colorado didn’t add any notable players during the summer, but because their team is packed full of young players, their natural progression leads me to believe they have improved.
Calgary finished last year last in the West in goal scoring. The Flames didn’t have a lot of cap space in which to play with this off-season, but with the little funds they had, were able to bring back Alex Tanguay and Olli Jokinen. Those players will help, but I’m skeptical it will get them deep in the playoffs.
It seems odd, but the Red Wings improved this off-season by bringing back dynamic forward Jiri Hudler, who spent last year in Russia. Also coming to town is Mike Modano who could be a real nice fit in the Wings lineup.
The Los Angeles Kings made a giant leap forward last year by making the playoffs and are poised to finish off even better than last year. They brought in a top-flight defensive defenceman Willie Mitchell and scoring forward Alexi Ponikarovsky. Look out for the Kings.
Finally, the Vancouver Canucks made some moves this off-season that will not only propel them into the playoffs, but also make them Stanley Cup champions. They didn’t lose any impact players from their playoff roster last year. Therefore, the acquisitions of Keith Ballard and Dan Hamhuis on defence and adding Raffi Torres and Manny Malhotra upfront to an already quality lineup makes the Canucks my favourite to win the Cup.
Final Standings
West East
1. Vancouver Washington
2. LA Pittsburgh
3. Chicago Boston
4. Detroit Philadelphia
5. San Jose New Jersey
6. Calgary Buffalo
7. Colorado Atlanta
8. Phoenix Tampa Bay
9. St. Louis Montreal
10. Anaheim Ottawa
11. Edmonton Toronto
12. Columbus Florida
13. Nashville NY Rangers
14. Dallas NY Islanders
15. Minnesota Carolina