NHL Northeast Division Preview
By Ryan Stern | September 9 2009
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins aren’t going to sneak up on anybody in 2009-10. But the bad news for the rest of the NHL is that they are good enough to still be a heck of a team. The one thing they need to work out is the Phil Kessel situation. This kid is a star, but they may not be able to afford to keep him around. They thought they had him traded to Toronto for Thomas Kaberle, but that trade got vetoed. Other than that, the season is really going to be based upon one player. Did we see the real Tim Thomas in net last year or did we get a glimpse of a career minor leaguer who had a dream season? I’m still not sold on Thomas. I think he will be good, but not Vezina good again. But the Bruins only need him to be good. They have a solid D led by Zdeno Chara. If this guy winds up for a shot, you want to move out of the way. I also like their mix of youngsters and veterans, including who I think to be the most underrated player in the NHL, Marc Savard. I also really like Milan Lucic, and think he will have a big year this year. Watch out for Marco Sturm. He’s had a few underachieving years the past few, but he’s got enough talent to turn that around. I look for the Bruins to win the division again.
Predicted Point Total – 104
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres always seem to be good, just not good enough. I look for that to continue this year as they just never seem to add enough talent to the team to make them better. Thomas Vanek is one of the most dominant players in the league, but he never has anyone good enough on another line to take any focus away from him. I like Derek Roy and Jason Pominville, but there’s just not enough. I am not a fan of their D. Not too much to really be proud of. Ryan Miller is going to have to be a hero this year in order for the Sabres to make the playoffs this year. He’s good but has never been able to stay healthy for an entire season. And it always seems to be a freak thing with him, which gives Sabres fans hope that he may, for once, stay healthy. They play hard and will have to play better than their talent has shown so far.
Predicted Point Total – 83
Montreal Canadiens
Talk about a whole new team. The Canadiens have brought in 6 new faces that all look to deliver high on high expectations. The additions of Mike Cammalleri, Hal Gil, Brian Gionta, Scott Gomez, Paul Mara, and Travis Moen have brought new hope for this very proud franchise. They are also replacing a bunch of familiar faces like Alex Kovalev, Alex Tanguay, Mathieu Schneider, Christopher Higgins, and long time captain, Saku Koivu. They are going to be a faster, more disciplined team this year, as the new faces have come from strong NHL backgrounds. Their D looks to be very strong, but they won’t put up big offensive numbers. This is a very good defensive line of blue-liners. The one thing I would be worried about if I were in Montreal would be the play of Carey Price. This guy just doesn’t give me the impression that he is ready to be a full-time NHL goaltender. He plays out of position too much, loses focus too much, and is not very good above his leg pads. I can see this team making the playoffs, but not because of their goaltending play.
Predicted Point Total - 92
Ottawa Senators
What a crazy offseason this has been for the Senators and it’s all because of one player. Dany Heatley. For a guy with so much talent, he never seems to be able to impress a franchise for too long. He ran himself out of town in Atlanta and now has demanded a trade out of Ottawa. When on the ice, he is a threat to score at any time, and I think he wants to go to a major market because he wants to be in the spotlight. He’s not getting enough of it in Ottawa. He has a no trade clause and has already vetoed a trade to Edmonton. I can see him wanting a trade to a team like the Rangers, the Bruins, or the Maple Leafs. Teams that have a media that pay attention to hockey. In regards to who will be playing for the team, they have 2 top notch players returning in Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza and brought in one in Alex Kovalev. I think we have seen the best of Alfredsson, however. He’s 36 now and for the 1st time since 2004, he scored less than 80 points last year. I think losing Heatley will hurt him even more. I don’t like their D and I don’t like goalies either. Brian Elliot and Pascal Leclaire aren’t any good. Leclaire had a great year with Columbus in 2008 but was not the same after battling injuries for much of last year. I don’t see this team making the playoffs this year, unless they get some talent that can help them now in a trade for Heatley.
Predicted Point Total – 86
Toronto Maple Leafs
The most exciting thing for the upcoming year for the Maple Leafs will be the debut of “The Monster.” Jonas Gustavsson, the 6’3”, 200 lb Swedish goalie will start the year backing up incumbent Vesa Toskala, but everyone knows that he will be the starter by the All-Star break as he is the goalie of the future in Toronto. The other off-season acquisitions have left a lot to be desired. The 5 new faces produced a total of 7 goals last year and the other had a 3.37 GAA. Really? You can’t bring in any other big names to Toronto? This is one of the mecca’s of hockey! Their best player, Thomas Kaberle, has been almost traded a dozen times. Jason Blake is okay, but he’ll be 36 when the season starts, and I do like Mikhail Grabovski and Alexei Ponikarovsky. Their D-line has 1 emerging star in Ian White. This kid is pretty good. But that’s it. No one else is any good on this team and they will miss the playoffs, again!
Predicted Point Total - 76
