NHL Preview: Contenders and Pretenders

The Contenders

15. Toronto - Brian Burke hasn't quite elevated the Leafs into 'contender' status, but he has changed the culture and expediated the rebuilding process. The D is arguably the deepest in the league but the the lack of scoring up front remains a glaring weakness. Toronto will attempt to be a 'scoring by committee' team, but it might end up being a 'non-scoring by committee' team. At least they're going to beat up a lot of teams on the way. And I've almost forgotten the horror that was Cliff Fletcher.

14. NY Rangers - What is the earliest a team has ever quit on a coach? Game one? The preseason? It will be fun to watch Marian Gaborik, Chris Drury and Wade Redden underperform while John Torterella contemplates going on a five state killing spree.

13. Carolina - Eric Staal has missed one game in his five NHL seasons. One single game. I know some people who used to miss a day of work each week. I'll leave their names out (Thane, Ryno) but they could learn from Staal.

12. Columbus - The pressure is on Steve Mason to prove that his spectacular rookie season (10 shutouts) wasn't a fluke. After Rick Nash and Mason, coach Ken Hitchcock is the 3rd most valuable piece of the team. Honestly. Look at the roster. No way this team should be anywhere near the playoffs but Hitch will have them in there.

11. Vancouver - I can't shake the feeling that the gap between Roberto Luongo (and Martin Brodeur) and the rest of the goalies in the league has closed considerably. That 7 goal performance in the Canucks playoff exit has to be lingering, as do the negative feelings from the Sedins, who requested long-term contracts that were denied only to watch as Luongo signed a 12 year deal during training camp.

10. Anaheim - The Ducks might have the top line in the league if they decide to play Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan together and with the additions of Saku Koivu and Jeffrey Lupul to play on the second line with the ageless Teemu Selanne, they probably should do it. You hear that Randy Carlyle? Play the big three together. (Written on behalf of every fantasy owner who drafted Ryan.)

9. Chicago - The Hawks are a sexy pick to topple the Red Wings in the Central, but I think they might struggle somewhat during the regular season, particularly in the early part of the schedule. Last year was special, it almost felt like a storybook season with the Winter Classic, the reawakening of the Chicago hockey crowd, the fan acknowledgment and it culminated with a month of ridiculously entertaining playoff hockey. So I expect there might be a bit of a letdown. But their top 10 players are as good as anyone's and they'll be heard from again in the playoffs.

8. Boston - No way Boston repeats last year's regular season performance when everything went almost perfectly for them. The list of players who had career years last year is incredible (Krejci, Wideman, Wheeler, Kessel) and virtually everyone else played at least up to their ability. That surely will not happen again. The B's are still a very good squad, but they aren't going to put together another stretch of only 5 losses in 40 games.

7. Calgary - The most underrated pick-up of the offseason was the Flames poaching one of the top five coaches in the league from New Jersey. Brent Sutter will have Calgary focused defensively and ready to play every night and the Flames will run away with the Northwest division.

6. Philadelphia - I'm not at all concerned about the Flyers handing over goaltending duties to bad boy Ray Emery, in fact I can't believe more teams weren't pursuing him. The guy is only 26 and beat out Dominik Hasek to lead his team to the Stanley Cup final a few short years ago. Sure he had some issues off the ice, but so have numerous other players who continued to perform. I'm particularly excited to see Emery drop the gloves at some point in front of a delirious Wachovia Center crowd. You know it's coming.

5. New Jersey - The Devils have gone through seven coaches (Ftorek, Robinson, Constantine, Burns, Julien, Lamoriello and Sutter) and made nine coaching changes (Robinson and Lamoriello both went behind the bench on two separate occasions) since Jacques Lemaire left in 1998. In that time they've never finished with less than 95 points. The coaches change, but the results don't. This is the Teflon franchise, nothing can stop them.

4. Washington - The Caps have increased their point totals from 70 to 94 to 108 the last three years and I fully expect them to capture their third straight Southwest division crown. Of course with the lack of competition in the Southwest, that's like predicting Tiger Woods would win a junior golf tournament.

3. San Jose - Is Dany Heatley a crying, whining baby? Yes. But he's also one of the premier snipers in the game and a guaranteed 40 goal scorer. The Sharks absolutely ripped the Sens off in this trade and it's shocking that Bryan Murray isn't being shredded by the media. Cheechoo and Michalek combine to make $7 million this year PLUS Ottawa paid Heatley his $4 million bonus on July 1st meaning San Jose gets Heatley for only $4 million this season. In other news Patrick Marleau has a maximum of 82 games left as a Shark.

2. Pittsburgh - Sid and Geno continue to be the top 1-2 punch in the NHL, but after injuring his knee in the finals and then having his groin act up again during the preseason, serious questions have to be raised about the continuing health of Crosby. Still, the Pens have to be considered the odds on favorite to reach their third straight Stanley Cup Final.

1. Detroit - Although they lost several big pieces from last year's team (Hossa, Samuelson, Hudler) no franchise is better at developing players and transitioning them into the roster. Darren Helm is ready for an expanded role and Ville Leino and Justin Abdelkader aren't far behind. Another President's trophy is on the way, but will Stanley follow?

NHL Preview: Contenders and Pretenders

The Pretenders

30. Phoenix - The fact that this team will end up in Kansas City (or Las Vegas or Oklahoma City) over Hamilton is a joke. It's too bad the NHL doesn't have a Commissioner to deal with things like this. I mean a REAL Commissioner, one who actually cared about the game.

29. NY Islanders - If Alexei Yashin got a 10 year deal out of Charles Wang and Rick DiPietro got a 15 year deal out of Wang, I have to assume John Tavares will soon be signing a 20 year contract. And you've got to love Garth Snow spending $8 million on goalies this year to finish in the bottom five. You know, unless you happen to be an Isles fan.

28. Florida - Perhaps the worst defence, top-to-bottom, in the league. And their forwards aren't a whole lot better. They need Nathan Horton to get back on the up trend after leveling off production-wise the last two seasons...which happened to perfectly coincide with when he signed his big contract. Hmmmmmm. Who would've guessed?

27. Atlanta - If you are Ilya Kovalchuk do you re-sign with the Thrashers and play the prime years of your career in obscurity or do you refrain from signing an extension, score another 50 goals this season and become the King of Toronto next year? Just sayin.

26. Colorado - Wondering who the biggest Fantasy sleeper is this year? Paul Stastny. Yahoo has him buried in the 200's but somehow decided Bill Guerin was worthy of the 62nd overall pick. And how crazy is it that a team can add journeyman goaltender Craig Anderson and dramatically improve their goaltending situation? That's how bad Andrew Raycroft and Peter Budaj were last year.

25. Tampa Bay - I don't see how spending your entire training camp on the road, trying to make money instead of preparing for the season, is the best way to get your team ready to compete. But then I haven't made millions of dollars producing mediocre hollywood horror movies so Len Barrie and Oren Koules must be right and I must be wrong. Although I think not.

24. Ottawa - If Filip Kuba and Chris Phillips are your top two D you're in trouble. And the Sens are definitely in trouble. After giving away Dany Heatley on the eve of training camp for two overpaid players and zero cap savings, Bryan Murray will now attempt to push this team all the way from the cusp of the Cup to the bottom of the league. I for one, think he can do it.

23. Dallas - This will be a transitional (read: awful) year for the Stars, who following the season will bid adieu to two long-time pillars of the franchise, Marty Turco and Mike Modano. Both could potentially be dealt at the deadline, though Modano may be reluctant to leave the only team he's ever played for. Although playing with Fabian Brunnstrom might be enough to push him out the door.

22. Nashville - Has anyone ever been excited to go to a Preds game? Anyone? Ever? If Shea Weber played in Canada (or at least a decent US hockey market) he would be a preseason favorite to win the Norris trophy. Instead he'll have to wait until the Olympics to get his recognition.

21. Edmonton - I foresee a big bounce-back year from Sam Gagner, another so-so year from Ales Hemsky (with his usual flashes of brilliance), and an Oiler fanbase that pretends paying Sean Horcoff and Lubomir Visnovsky $7 million each this year is a good thing. Oh, and another year without the playoffs.

20. L.A. Kings - The goaltending tandem of Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg isn't going to scare many teams but the Kings have tremendous talent in the top half of their forward group (Kopitar, Frolov, Smyth, Brown, Williams) and Drew Doughty looks ready to play Pronger-like minutes at only 19 years old. They might still be a year away, but the pieces are definitely in place for the Kings to return to the postseason by next year at the latest.

19. Buffalo - Not above average in any area, the Sabres continue to be just good enough not to be bad. Which is great if you're just trying to hang onto your job (hello Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier) but not so good if you're legitimately trying to build a contender. Tyler Myers had better be the answer on the blueline because otherwise there is no reason to get excited about this team. Besides Thomas Vanek that is.

18. Montreal - The Habs will have seven new faces playing prominent roles in a demanding market where the fans may have already turned on their young goalie. If they don't get off to a good start it will be a very long year in La Belle Provence.

17. Minnesota - Most analysts deemed the Wild's decision to replace Marian Gaborik with Martin Havlat a wash, reasoning they were simply replacing one injury-prone superstar for another. But Havlat is a couple million dollars a year cheaper and usually only misses 20 games rather than 40. A good move in my mind.

16. St.Louis - Andy Murray is one of the most underrated coaches in hockey and gives the Blues an edge on the bench on most nights. If Eric Johnson and Paul Kariya can stay healthy, the Blues have serious 2008-09 Chicago Blackhawk potential.

Coming tomorrow - Part II: The Contenders