By John Buccigross
Special to ESPN.com
In no particular order, let's look at how each team stacks up in the Eastern
Conference. Next week, we'll look at the Western Conference. These are not
official season previews -- that comes in late September when all the
rosters are set.
Atlantic Division
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New Jersey Devils
They are starting to resemble the Columbus Blue Jackets, except they have
Martin Brodeur. Small up the middle and not a lot of goal-scoring punch on
the wings. Losing Scott Niedermayer is devastating. He controlled games with
his skating. After such an amazing run, the Devils have issues. Of course,
they are in good hands. If I bought an NHL team tomorrow, Lou Lamoriello
would be my GM -- hands down. I bet right now he's thinking, "Do I trade
Marty and start over again?" And he's also thinking, "I think if everything
falls right, we can win the East." But, the first thought will win out. Not
that he will trade Brodeur, but he needs to think about trading him -- and
John Madden and Brian Rafalski. At the first sign of a struggle this season,
I would trade all three guys and start again. Get draft picks, get
prospects, get younger, get Wade Redden, get Phil Kessel and get ready for
the new arena. The salary cap requires one to think in such cold,
unthinkable terms.
New York Islanders
At this point, I find them small, soft and generally uninteresting.
Philadelphia Flyers
Clearly the class of the division. They will win the Atlantic by at least 25
points. Strong up the middle, strong on the back. Simon Gagne is the key in
a lot of this to me. A 35-40-goal season from Gagne makes the Flyers elite.
The Flyers have that beautiful mix of young and old. However, the question
remains: Will they have a steady goaltender come playoff time?
New York Rangers
Trade Jaromir Jagr now. This team is in that
might-kind-of-barely-make-the-playoffs-and-draft-ninth-overall-forever mode.
Clear cap space, develop players who want to be Rangers, hope you win next
year's ping-pong ball contest, draft Kessel, and let Joe Thornton and
Vincent Lecavalier's people covertly know that huge money and term years
await these Broadway-bound darlings next summer. Does Glen Sather even think
this way? Or is he thinking about his next cigar and next fishing
expedition? Martin Straka? Are you kidding me?
Pittsburgh Penguins
I'm surprised the Penguins didn't sign Paul Kariya. Two years at $4.5
million per year seems reasonable and within their cap budget. I think it
would have brought a little more certainty to the Pens. Can Evgeni Malkin
step in and play? I loved him at the World Juniors -- he had Mats Sundin
qualities. Can Ryan Whitney step in and have an impact on defense? Do they
roll the dice with Marc-Andre Fleury and sign a veteran backup? Or do they
spend a little more and sign Curtis Joseph just in case? Tough call. But
with Ziggy Palffy agreeing to a deal this weekend, the Penguins can now
think playoffs and maybe even win a round.
Northeast Division
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Buffalo Sabres
Very curious. I thought for sure Tom Golisano was going to spend some of his
billions to add to this interesting roster. There isn't much left out there
via free agency. Perhaps their plan is to keep plenty of cap space, give
their young players another year to develop and go for it next year. If the
NHL is truly an exhibition of speed and skill, Buffalo is ahead of the
curve. But I just don't see much semblance of any defense here, and I still
believe we will not see an explosion of goals this season. Defense will
still win the Stanley Cup.
Boston Bruins
The fact that Peter Forsberg was there to be had and Boston didn't make it
happen is very troubling if you are a Bruins fan. Did the Bruins offer two
years at $12 million? If not, why not? Would Forsberg have taken it? I think
Boston would have been a better fit for Forsberg. He could have played with
the incredibly smart and fast Sergei Samsonov and Patrice Bergeron. That
would have been the highest IQ line in hockey. I assume the Bruins will plug
in Brad Isbister with Thornton and Glen Murray, setting Isbister up for a
Mike Knuble-like career year. The Bruins are good and will make the
playoffs. But they could have been really good and had a shot at the Stanley
Cup. I don't see that right now.
Montreal Canadiens
Nothing real exciting to talk about here. They are a very competent
organization. Run well. Great tradition. Good, young players. Solid
veterans. But they have Radek Bonk, and for me, he is akin to Gloria
Estefan. I don't want to hear, see, or have anything to do with Gloria
Estefan and Radek Bonk. They are the only two people on Earth I feel that
way about, and I can't give you an intelligent reason why. I do find great
joy in watching Mathieu Dandenault.
Ottawa Senators
If these new rules do mean more goals, no one is scoring more than these
guys. But if they are counting on Dominik Hasek to win them a Stanley Cup,
they'd be just as well off if John Muckler was running things in Ottawa.
What? He is?! My bad.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs are obviously a bit bloated and aging. If Jason Allison is
healthy, the Leafs should have enough to make the playoffs. But this team
needs to make a decision, and my decision would be to blow it up. Strip
thyself of salary, get a high draft pick and go after unrestricted free
agents in the next summer or two. This team is like Journey or some other
band that continues to tour with the name and keeps plugging in new people
when others in the band die, go bald or become David Lee Roth. They need a
whole new identity.
Southeast Division
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Atlanta Thrashers
This team is going to the playoffs. Bobby Holik gives the Thrashers
much-needed size up front. Their defense is solid, they have grit and goal
scoring up front and Kari Lehtonen is the real deal in net. Also, come
trade-deadline time, GM Don Waddell will have enough young resources to make
a deal and tidy things up.
Carolina Hurricanes
They look like an expansion team. Serviceable veterans to plug holes until
the high draft picks are hopefully ready. The Hurricanes need to get into
the lottery and hopefully get the No. 1 pick to draft Kessel. They will have
loads of cap room in the coming years, so if they stay the course, they will
be fine.
Florida Panthers
When you have Roberto Luongo, you have a chance. But can this team score
enough goals? They will be tough, but if the veterans get banged up or
suddenly lose a step, it could be difficult to compete with Atlanta's and
Tampa Bay's offenses. But if the Panthers can beat up on Washington and
Carolina, they may be able to make it three teams from the Southeast in the
playoffs.
Tampa Bay Lightning
This team is loaded, but what is the plan in net? Does the team make the
goalie? Nikolai Khabibulin had a .910 save percentage and three shutouts
during the regular season in 2003-04. If they can find someone to equal
those numbers, they should still win the division and be a Stanley Cup
contender.
Washington Capitals
This is obviously the worst team in the NHL. But that is good. This is the
team that drafted American-born Bobby Carpenter and they will be rewarded
for that by winning the NHL draft lottery next May for the right to draft
Kessel. That should be the Caps' plan this season. Be as bad as possible.
Alexander Ovechkin is the real deal and will be reason enough to buy a
ticket in D.C. Everyone can't become instant contenders via free agency. The
Caps need to stink, draft, stink, draft for a couple of more years, and then
they can see where they are. Otherwise, they are just wasting money. The NHL
will come to resemble the NFL in terms of parity. The NHL will also become
very young. In some respects that is good, because the game is going to
become much faster. We already know the NHL is a much better game than the
NFL's six-seconds-of-action, 30-seconds-of-walking-around show. Relax,
Capital fans. You could be raising a Cup in 3-5 years. There is hope.