Bartnick handicaps the NHL Eastern Conference

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LOS ANGELES –  The Eastern Conference is the better of the two conferences. The tree best teams in the NHL are in the Eastern Conference. Florida and Tampa in the Atlantic and the Islanders in the Metro. I think the Panthers will take the regular season by storm as Tampa works in new players and refuses to get burned out before the playoffs. The Islanders took Tampa to Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Finals before losing 1 – 0. I think the Big Cats or the Fishermen could end the Bolts dream of a three-peat but I wouldn’t bet against Jon Cooper’s Lightning. The Eastern Conference also has less bottom feeders than the Western Conference. All of the Eastern bottom feeders at least have some hope, even Buffalo.

ATLANTIC DIVISION –

  1. Florida – The Panthers under Joel Quenneville last season experienced the most success they’ve had this century. Superstar center Alexander Barkov, who signed a huge contract extension, along with winger Jonathan Huberdeau give Florida a high-flying top line. Wingers Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe were stellar last season. Sam Bennett brought in at the trade deadline and Sam Reinhart brought in this summer bolster Florida’s already potent attack. Joe Thornton will provide leadership and Patric Hornqvist will provide clutch goals. The Panthers will have their stud defenseman Aaron Eckblad returning from injury. He will join MacKenzenie Weegar who excelled in his absence and Brandon Montour who played well after he was acquired to replace him. If Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight play to their pedigree in net the sky is the limit for the Big Cats
  2. Tampa Bay – The Lightning are the two time defending Stanley Cups Champions and have a good chance to three-peat even though they lost their whole third line (Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman) and Tyler Johnson. They have a good chance because they still have the best goaltender in the world Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Bolts also have the best defenseman in the world Victor Hedman. Hedman’s leads the best defense in all of hockey. Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak are rocks on the blueline. How many teams would have Mikhail Sergachev in their third pairing? Up front Nikita Kucherov is a perennial Hart finalist. Brayden Point is the best clutch scorer in the NHL. The Bolts are also bringing back Steven Stamkos, Anthony Cirelli, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn. The regular season is a dress rehearsal for the Lightning. Opening night will be sometime in the spring.
  3. Toronto – The Maple Leafs return with Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. All have their good points, Matthews scores goals, Tavares gets points, Marner is fancy but for the most part none of them have earned their money in playoffs. Only Nylander plays well in the playoffs and he’s the cheapest and most maligned. If the Big Four are ever going to reach their potential the ex-Ducks/Bruins Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase will have to play like they did in Anaheim and not Boston. Defenseman Morgan Reilly will have a big year on defense on his way out the door. Jake Muzzin and TJ Brodie are solid but Toroto’s defensive depth is non existant. Jake Campbell took Freddie Andersen’s job in net last season even though goaltending was the least of the Leaf’s problems. Now Campbell his backup, Petr Mrazek and Leaf’s management and coaching staff will all be on the hot seat after their inevitable playoff disappointment.
  4. Boston – The Bruins still have the best line in hockey. The Perfection line is perfect. Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are incredible but they are a year older. The Bruins need a second line to take some of the burden off the top line. Theyresigned high end winger Taylor Hall to score from the second line but who will be his center ? David Krejci went back to Europe. Elite goaltender Tuuka Rask also left the Bruins at least for the beginning of the season. This puts a lot of pressure on the young netminder Jeremy Swayman and journeyman Linus Ullmark. Charlie MacAvoy is an absolute beast on the backend. Brandon Carlo needs to stay healthy and Matt Grzelcyk needs find his game again if the Bruins are to remain a playoff team.
  5. Montreal – The Canadiens played in the Stanley Cup Final a few months ago now they look like they have no chance of getting back there. Their all-world goaltender Carey Price is attending to mental issues. Their captain and best defenseman Shea Weber is attending to physical issues. Goaltending and defense were Montreal’s strengths. They used to have a Big 4 defense ( Weber, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry) now their only a Big 3. David Savard is no Shea Weber. Up front can the Habs score consistently enough to win? Remember Jake Allen will be in net not Carey Price. Cole Caufield is a scoring sensation but he’s young.  Tyler Toffoli can get on a roll when motivated. Josh Anderson is Brendan Shanahan one shift and then disappears for a week.
  6. Detroit – The Red Wings are closer to respectability but maybe not a playoff spot. Dylan Larkin returns with a young but maturing cast of teammates. Philip Zadina and Joe Veleno seemed poised to take the next step. Jakob Vrana’s injury hurts because Vrana and Robby Fabbri make up a nice second line along with the new acquired Pius Suter. The Wings blue line is much better. Detroit traded for Nick Leddy and brought up rawboned Moritz Seider from the minors. Both with help Filip Hronek who appears to becoming a number one defenseman in the future. Alex  Nedeljkovic is an upgrade in net. Detroit fans should be most excited about Lucas Raymond who looks to be the Red Wings next superstar.
  7. Ottawa – The Senators are the Canadian hockey media’s darling choice now either because they feel bad for them or they want to stick it to Toronto. They’re no darlings in my eyes. Even if they have a good half season their dimwitted owner will mess it up someway somehow. Second year forward Tim Stutlze is fun to watch but their heart and soul Brady Tkachuk is in a contract dispute. Thomas Chabot is a fine young defenseman but after Nikita Zaitsev their blueline is thin. Matt Murray always gets the benefit of the doubt from me but it’s been a few years since he’s been good.
  8. Buffalo – The Buffalo Sabres still have Jack Eichel on their team even though he is still not on the ice. It’s better he’s no longer on the ice because Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson play better when he’s not on the ice. Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is showing signs they he’s won’t be a lottery bust like Eichel was.

Metro Division –

  1. Islanders – New York has the best GM/ Head Coach combo in the league. No one is better the Lou Lamoriello behind a desk and no one is better than Barry Trotz behind a bench. The Islanders still have the best 4th line in hockey (Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, Matt Martin). Mathew Barzal is a star center who will have his power forward winger and Captain Anders Lee back. The Islanders blueline is led by Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech who are the best top pair in the NHL. Seymon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin might be the best net in the league. The Fishermen have veterans like Zdeno Chara and Zach Parise waiting in the wings to chip in. The Islanders are the best team 1-23 but can they best Tampa Bay in a best of seven?
  2. Carolina – The Hurricanes top line of Sebastian Aho centering Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov is one of the best in the NHL. 2nd and 3rd line centers Vinny Trocheck, and Jordan Staal give the Canes strength down the middle. Jaccob Slavin leads a defense that lost Dougie Hamilton but is still of one the leagues best. Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta talk over the goaltending duties since all of last year net minders were sent packing. Carolina is back in the Metro and should make the playoffs just off their number one line.
  3. Rangers – New York hired Gerard Gallant to bring a new attitude behind the bench. Gallant is just what New York needed. They always have talent now they’ll have swagger. Artemi Panarin is the biggest star on Broadway. He needs young guns Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko to follow his lead. Underrated Mika Zbanejad will be looking to live up to his huge new deal. Chris Kreider has been waiting for this rebuild to end and the winning to start. Ryan Reaves, Sammy Blais and Barclay Goodrow have been brought in to handle any of the rough stuff that might get in the way this year. The blueline is set with Norris trophy winner Adam Fox. Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller round out a large and mobile unit. Igor Shesterkin is a promising young goalie and his backup Alexandar Georgiev is a solid back up even if he’s not happy in is role. This is the year the Blueshirts become a playoff team again.
  4. Pittsburgh – The Penguins won the division last season then got bounced in the playoffs due to poor goaltending. It was a summer of discontent in Pittsburgh. Two of their top nine forwards left (Brandon Tanev, Jared McCann) and the third best defensemen Cody Ceci. None were adequately replaced. It was announced following surgery Hall of Famer Evgeni Malkin is out until Christmas. Then fellow Hall of Famer Captain Sidney Crosby out for the beginning of the season. Doom and gloom. The fifteen year playoff steak in jeopardy. Not so fast. Sid will only miss a few games. Geno is healing fast. Penguins still have forwards Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Kasperi Kapanen and Jeff Carter. Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin are still on the blueline. If goaltender Tristen Jarry can be regular season Jarry and not playoff Jarry everything will be ok. The Stanley Cup window is closed right now in Pittsburgh but not the playoff window is not.
  5. Philadelphia – The Flyers allowed more goals than anybody last season. Everyone was quick to blame goalie Carter Hart, but their defense was pitiful. Ryan Ellis and Rasmus Ristolainen were brought in to fix the defense. They will because it can’t be worse. The Flyers forwards need to help the defense too. Wingers Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee may not be Selke candidates but they score in bunches. The Flyers traded Jacob Voracek for Cam Atkinson to help fix the locker room. It remains to be seen if the locker room can be fixed as long Claude Giroux is there. He’s in the way of defenseman Ivan Provorov and center Sean Couturier bringing in a new era.
  6. Washington – The Capitals are officially in watch Alex Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s record mode. They did nothing this summer to improv their team. Nicklas Backstrom will feed Ovi in his office. TJ Oshie, Tom Wilson and Anthony Mantha will all play big boy hockey. But it seems stale in the Nation’s Capital. Washington always goes as Evgeny Kuznetsov goes. Kuzy has not done much lately except cause problems but he was not traded this offseason. John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov are very good defensemen who always wear out by the end of the year due to Washington’s lack of depth on the blueline. Goaltenders Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek have yet to make people forget about Braden Holtby
  7. New Jersey – The Devils are improving. They acquired Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Graves this summer to vastly improve their blueline. Talented centers Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier have had another year to put on man strength. Newly acquired Tomas Tatar will score goals. Young winger Igor Sharangovich is talented scorer with a canon for a shot and he’ not afraid to get greasy. If goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood can put it together this season the Devils may have more to talk about this spring than where is Miles Wood going at the deadline.
  8. Columbus – Good news Blue Jackets fans, John Tortorella is no longer your coach. Bad news, Blue Jacket fans Yarmo Kekalainen is still you’re GM. Good news, John Davidson is the Team President again and he already got Zach Werenski to sign a long-term deal to stay in Columbus. Let’s see if he can get Patrik Laine to do the same. At least with Jacob Voracek in town the post-game press conferences won’t be boring