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Bartnick’s musings on the first weeks of the NHL season

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It’s Daylight Savings Time. Halloween is over. Darkness is upon us. The light you see is from my television watching. I’m watching a ton of hockey, as usual. ESPN Multicast is amazing. It saves wear n tear on the remote. Here are some things I’ve noticed between nauseating election ads.

Pittsburgh is near the bottom of the Eastern Conference because of their awful defense. The two headed monster of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and the rest forwards have by and large have played better than expected with a few exceptions. Goaltenders Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist have been adequate under siege. Goalie Tristan Jarry before his demotion was even worse than the defense.

After a slow start Alexander Ovechkin is red hot. He may catch Wayne Gretzky this season after all.

Alexis Lafreniere may not be Crosby, Ovechkin or Connor McDavid but he has become a first line winger on a Stanley Cup contender.

I have defended Jacob Trouba over the years but his hit on Justin Barron was inexcusable. It was a predatory head shot on a kid in a game that was decided.

Is there anything more John Totorella than healthy scratching Matvei Michkov after he’s named Rookie of the Month.

Martin Necas is playing like the best version of Martin Necas more consistently this year.

Jake Guentzal has fit in nicely on Tampa’s top line. The Snake has always been able to think the game with the best of them.

If any team looked like they were going to have Stanley Cup hangover it was the Florida Panthers.It did not happen. The Big Cats have been a dominant force this season. They’ve overcome off-season departures and early injuries to Sasha Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk.

Boston is a hard to figure out but at least they’re easier to watch since announcer Jack Edwards retired.

GM Barry Trotz did acquired a lot of pieces this summer in Nashville but he never got a top six center.

Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde called out Captain Dylan Larkin. Larkin responded with two goals. Good on Larkin. He’s Detroit’s leader and needs to contribute more offensively.

Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor is the Hart Trophy ( MVP)  winner as of November 4th.

Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov comes in second.

Why is Ross Colton blocking shots? Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are incredible but can only do so much. Colton was on a heater and now he’s in the press box.

The Dallas Stars got swept in Finland by the Florida Panthers. Did Roope Hintz make the trip? I didn’t notice him.

Vegas is once again unbeatable at home. Did they lower the minimums at the blackjack tables?

Leon Draisaitl pulls a Evgeni Malkin when Connor McDavid is out.

Whether Quinton Byfield plays center or wing he should have scored a goal by now.

Goaltender Lukas Dostal is making this the year for the Ducks to finally trade John Gibson.

What happened to Elias Pettersson. Maybe he should not have signed in Vancouver.  

San Jose won three games in a row recently. They aren’t as bad on the ice as they are on paper. It’s a tribute to veterans like Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund and their professionalism.

The commercial with all of the NHL young stars and Sidney Crosby is magnificent.

Bartnick’s take over the sweaty summer

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August is the NHL’s only month of summer. Front offices are relaxing because their work is done until training camp. It’s time to hand out their grades. The grades are based if the roster improved compared to the one that ended the season.

ATLANTIC-  

Boston- The Bruins lost their top two centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci along with effective scoring wingers Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi . They did bring back fan favorite Milan Lucic. D+

Detroit- GM Steve Yzerman finally got his superstar winger Alex DeBrincat.  He acquired solid depth with JT Compher and Klim Kostin. He also paid steep price for mediocrity in defenseman Shane  Gostisbehere and Justin Holl. B

Buffalo- The Sabres needed depth on the blue line and signed Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson. B

Ottawa– The Senators replenished Alex DeBrincat’s fire power by signing Vlad Tarsenko. They also turned their net over to Joonas Korpisalo. B-

Montreal- The Habs got rid of some pieces that didn’t fit only to acquired pieces that aren’t any good. D

Toronto– New GM Brad Treliving brought in two bonafide top scoring wingers in Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. He needed to help the defense and only signed John Klingberg. Ryan Reaves clown act was unnecessary. B-

Florida- The Panthers will be starting the season with key defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour on IR. They let Radko Gudas leave and will start the season with an excess of bottom pairing defensemen. Anthony Duclair will be missed. D

Tampa Bay- The Lightning let their whole 4th line move on and replaced them with much smaller forwards. C-

 METROPOLITAN-

Washington– The Capitals locked up their heart and soul forward Tom Wilson. They also upgraded a few positions by bringing in Joel Edmundson and Max Pacioretty. B

Islanders- GM Lou Lamoriello locked up his two Russian goaltenders Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov for at least the next two years. He decided to run it back again with almost the same team he’s had since before the pandemic. C+

Rangers- The Rangers are hoping new coach Peter Laviolette gives them the patented first year Lavy bump because GM Chris Drury only signed old guys on the cheap to fill the roster. B-

New Jersey- The Devils had a productive summer. They brought in Tyler Toffoli. He’s a clutch scoring winger with Stanley Cups. They locked up Timo Meier for eight years on a fair deal. They resigned their important bottom six forwards and added a few more depth pieces. B+

Philadelphia- The Flyers newfront office seems content to be in the lottery next year because their only move was to bring in Garnet Hathaway. A dirtbag on the ice Hathaway was born to be a Flyer. C-

Columbus- The Blue Jackets have hired Mike Babcock to coach them. Babcock will be the next star to want out of Columbus. C+

Carolina- The Canes locked up their goaltender Freddie Andersen and Antti Raanta. Dmitry Orlov bolsters an already superb defense. Michael Bunting is not the scoring winger they were hoping for. B

Pittsburgh- The Penguins new GM Kyle Dubas was going to get an A before August 6th. He traded for Reilly Smith to replace Jason Zucker. Signed Ryan Graves as an upgrade over aging Brain Dumoulin on the blueline. Signed Noel Acciari, Lars Eller and others to fix an inept bottom six. On August 6th Dubas pulled off one of the greatest trades in franchise history. He rid the Penguins of almost all of previous GM Ron Hextall’s mistakes and acquired reigning Norris Trophy winner, 1st ballot Hall of Famer Erik Karlsson. A+

CENTRAL-

Chicago– The Blackhawks won the lottery and drafted generational talent Connor Bedard. They acquired Taylor Hall and Andreas Athanasiou. Corey Perry and Nick Foligno to protect him. A+

Minnesota- GM Bill Guerin’s team is in salary cap hell. He was able to sign Pat Maroon. Everyone likes Pat Maroon, except Jack Edwards. B+

St Louis- GM Doug Armstrong chose to do almost nothing except take a small chance on center Kevin Hayes because the Flyers will pay half of his remaining contract. B-

Winnipeg- The Jets got a a few solid pieces for their rebuild by dumping malcontent Pierre Luc Dubois to the Kings. B

Nashville- New GM Barry Trotz is turning over the roster quickly. He shipped Ryan Johansen to Colorado and bought out Matt Duchene. Ryan O Reilly and Luke Schenn were signed for their leadership as well as their talent. B+

Colorado– GM Joe Sakic is hoping Ryan Johansen can settle into their number two center position. Ross Colton and Miles Wood add speed, toughness and scoring on the wing. Sakic got young defensemen Bowen Byram to take a team friendly bridge deal. B+

Dallas- The Stars hope Matt Duchene , who signed for cheap, regains his scoring tough. Everyone who signed in Dallas this summer did. The Stars got nobody major but didn’t sign any bad deals. B

Arizona- The Desert Dogs signed Jason Zucker and Matt Dumba to reasonable one year deals that will be perfect trade bait come spring. B

 PACIFIC-

Anaheim- The Ducks GM Pat Verbeek brought in Alex Killorn and Radko Gudas to add veteran leadership and toughness to this young and kinda soft group. Troy Terry took a reasonable long term deal. A-

Calgary- The Flames big move was firing Head Coach Darrly Sutter. Now they have to find a new scapegoat. C-

Seattle- GM Ron Francis signed rising star defenseman Vince Dunn to a team friendly contract. Brian Dumoulin hopes to regain the step he lost in the Northwest. Francis continues his plan of steady growth by not landing a big fish in free agency. B

Vancouver- The Canucks signed two third pair defensemen Carson Soucy and Ian Cole. They also signed third line center Teddy Blueger.  C+

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San Jose- The Sharks GM Mike Grier traded the reigning Norris Trophy winning defenseman Erik Karlsson for Pittsburgh’s refuse and Mike Hoffman from Montreal. The Sharks did also get Pittsburgh first round draft pick but it won’t be a lottery pick. D

Vegas- The Stanley Cup Champs locked up key contributor Ivan Barbashev for a long time at reasonable money. They also locked up Cup winning goalie Adin Hill for two years. A perfect term to prove last year wasn’t a flike if last year was a fluke. A

Edmonton- The Oilers did almost nothing to help Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl win a Cup. D

Los Angeles- The Kings gave a King’s ransom the troubled center Pierre Luc Dubois. They then signed him to a huge, ridiculous long term deal. Dubois did not make the NHL Network’s Top 20 centers.  Even though the Kings treat him as elite ,Dubois has never scored over 30 goals. D

Joe Bartnick’s take on the NHL Trade Season

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The longest trade deadline in NHL history recently concluded. Beginning January 30th with Bo Horvat being dealt to the Islanders to James van Riemsdyk staying put on March 3rd. The actual deadline day had little drama but the week leading up to last Friday saw tons of talent change hands. The top teams in the East engaged in an arms race. I will not grade teams on what they gave up only what they got. Tampa Bay Lightning GM Patrice Brisbois maybe gave away company secrets when he explained that draft picks ( other than Connor Bedard) really aren’t that valuable. I will not be grading bottom feeder teams and those with no chance of making the playoffs. I don’t understand why teams didn’t trade for Arizona’s Lawson Crouse.  Every team could use him. He’s big, fast, tough, can score and is under contract.  Arizona’s window is not open for the foreseeable future unless they draft Connor Bedard.

EASTERN CONFERENCE-

BOSTON A, Bruins GM Don Sweeney had a fantastic deadline week. The Bruins acquired a top 4 defenseman in Dmitry Orlov and a nasty 4th liner in Garnet Hathaway. After Nick Foligno and Taylor Hall got injured he pivoted and brought in Tyler Bertuzzi.  All three of the newest Bruins have contributed already. He also squashed any distractions by signing would be free agent David Pastrnak to an eight year deal.

Toronto A-, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas finally admitted he has never constructed a team that wins in the playoffs and went out and got size, grit and former Stanley Cup winners. Ryan O Reilly (now injured) finally gives the Leafs a skilled forward who has won the Cup and not an individual award. Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn put some snarl and beef on the Leafs blueline. Noel Accairi and Sam Lafferty do the same for Toronto upfront. Dubas did not however do anything to straighten out his goaltending situation.

TAMPA BAY B-, GM Patrice Brisbois gave up a ton for rugged winger Tanner Jeannot. I love Jeanot but he should have used some of that trade capital on a defenseman. The Bolts appear to be a man short on defense.

BUFFALO B, The Sabres deserved a shot in the arm. Jordan Greenway is that shot in the arm. Riley Stillman is a little jab.

OTTAWA A, The Ottawa Senators are the Canadian Media’s Cinderella team. Although I think Jacob Chychrun is overrated, they did get the biggest fish in the sea on defense.

DETROIT C-, I understand cutting Tyler Bertuzzi loose but not Filip Hronek. Wait !!! Why am I questioning Steve Yzerman?

CAROLINA B-, The Canes acquired Shayne Gostisbehere and Jesse Puljujarvi. They could have done more.

RANGERS B, Rangers GM Chris Drury swung for the fences twice and hit two homeruns. Problem is he only needed one run. Who doesn’t want Patrick Kane and Vlad Tarasenko on their team? There is only one puck tho and the Rangers already have a ton of offense and a good power play. Who is going to backcheck ? Niko Mikkola is a huge, rugged defenseman and Tyler Motte is a gritty fourth liner. Mikkola and Motte were all they really needed. The Rangers are reminding me of the 2013 Penguins and the 2004 Maple Leafs. Both teams loaded up and both didn’t win the Cup.

NEW JERSEY A, The Devils got Timo Meier, the best forward available.

ISLANDERS A, GM Lou Lamoriello struck first with Bo Horvat who in one month has become the Islanders most important skater. Pierre Engvall adds some much-needed speed on the wings.

PITTSBURGH D, Ron Hextall has been horrific as Penguins GM. Nick Bonino and Dmitry Kulikov are fine accessories for this year’s playoff run but Mikael Granlund is exactly what the Penguins didn’t need a small, slow, soft perimeter player under a big contract for the next two years.

WASHINGTON B, The Capitals moved some unrestricted free agents but not all of them to keep fans and Alex Ovechkin engaged this spring.

WESTERN CONFERENCE-

VEGAS A, The Knights trading for quintessential bottom six forward Sammy Blais was shrewd and trading for goalie Jonathan Quick was genius.

LOS ANGELES A, Kings GM Rob Blake shored up his goaltending with Joonis Korpisalo and his defense with Vladislav Gavrikov. Zack MacEwen beefs up the 4th line.

SEATTLE C+, GM Ron Francis invoked the if it ain’t broke…..

EDMONTON B+ GM Ken Holland got Matitas Eckholm, the best defensive defenseman available. Nick Bjugstad is an unreliable forward.

DALLAS B+, All year Dallas seemed like they were one player away. Max Domi might be that player. Evgenii Dadonov is not.

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WINNIPEG B+, Nino Neiderreiter gives the Jets another big body with decent hands. Vlad Namestikov is a warm body. Winnipeg had no glaring holes to fill.

COLORADO B-, The Avalanche had been looking for a 2nd line center to replace Nazem Kadri all season. Lars Eller can replace Kadri’s physicality but not his scoring touch. Jack Johnson was brought back for sentimentality. The Avs need one more forward.

MINNESOTA B, GM Bill Guerin was able to improve his team and not put them further in to cap hell by acquiring John Klingberg, Marcus Johansson, Gustav Nyquist and Oskar Sundqvist. Guerin is throwing a lot against the wall. Something will stick.

CALGARY C-, The Flames got Troy Stecher, Nick Ritchie and Dryden Hunt. It’s too little too late to save their season.

Bartnick’s 2022 Trade Deadline Report Card

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LOS ANGELES – The 2022 NHL Trade deadline was slow to get rolling, but quickly picked up steam. Nearly 30 trades were completed with 40+ player changing sweaters and cities.

The only surprises were the quiet teams. Well, that’s not entirely true, there were teams like the Rangers who gave away mid to late draft picks to sure up the roster for the playoff push.

Otherwise, there were expected trades and little on the unexpected front. Here is the report card for all 32 NHL clubs.

ARIZONA- B-, The Coyotes did not trade away veteran assets. They signed young goalie Karel Vejmelka.

BOSTON- A-, The Bruins traded for and signed Hampus Lindholm to a long term team friendly contract.

CALGARY- A-, The Flames brought in versatile veteran forward Calli Jarnkok. They snagged Tyler Toffoli early in the season and he has played a part in their success.

CAROLINA- C-, The Hurricanes are another team taking a chance on Max Domi. They signed Jesperi Kotaniemi to an 8 year contract.

CHICAGO- B, The Blackhawks received two 1st rounders and more for Brandon Hagel but Hagel is a guy you build around.

COLORADO- A, The Avs got exactly what they needed a big tough defenseman in Josh Manson. Artturi Lehkonen Lehkonen and Andrew Cogliano are nice depth acquisitions.

DALLAS- B+, The Stars acquired Scott Wedgewood who has already won a game for them and top 9 winger Vlad Namestnikov.

DETROIT- B, The Red Wings received their 3rd line center of now and the future in Oskar Sundqvist for Nick Leddy.

EDMONTON — D-, The Oilers failed to address their horrid goaltending situation again. They traded for below average players Derrick Brassard and Brett Kulak.

FLORIDA- B+, The Panthers traded for Uber playoff defensemen Ben Chiarot. They got Flyer icon but unsuccessful playoff performer Claude Giroux.

LOS ANGELES- B, The Kings extended center Jeremy Lizotte for 2 years on the cheap. Troy Stecher gives the Kings some defensive depth.

MINNESOTA- A, The Wild got reigning Vezina winning goalie Marc Andre Fluery. They also got tough guy Nick Deslauries. Nick’s hands can score goals and throw punches. Jacob Middleton ia a sturdy defenseman.

NASHVILLE- B-, The Predators gained blueline depth with Jeremy Lauzon.

NEW JERSEY- B-, The Devils traded for goalie Andrew Hammond. They didn’t move any of their several tradable veterans.

OTTAWA – B, Goalie Anton Forsberg signed a 3 year extension for under market value. Travis Hamonic will provide the Senators a physical, veteran presence on defense.

RANGERS- A, New York greatly improved their bottom 6 by trading for Frankie Vatrano, Andrew Copp and Tyler Motte.

ISLANDERS- D+, The Islanders believe this season is an aberration and decided to not move anyone. They extended Zach Parise and Cal Clutterbuck.

PHILADELPHIA- D+, They did not get enough for their former captain Claude Giroux but Giroux did not help the Flyers by giving them only 1 team he was willing to waive his no trade to.

PITTSBURGH- B-, The Penguins did just enough to show they’re fans and the team they’re going for it. They traded for excellent top 6 winger Rickard Rakell while getting rid of dead weight Dom Simon and Zach Aston Reese. The Penguins didn’t address their lack of toughness or lack of depth on defense.

SAN JOSE- B+, The Sharks signed Tomas Hertl to a reasonable number for 8 years.

ST LOUIS- C, The Blues got Nick Leddy who is a solid veteran defenseman with offensive skills but Oskar Sundqvist is a good relatively young 3rd line center.

TAMPA BAY- C -, The Lightning remade their whole 3rd line. They gave Chicago a king’s ransom for Brandon Hagel. I’d rather have Matt Joseph then Nicholas Paul.

TORONTO- C-, The Leafs hope Mark Giordano finds the of youth in Lake Ontario. The Leafs needed a scoring winger, more depth on defense , bottom 6 help and probably a goalie.

VEGAS- F, The NHL rescinded their trade of Evgeny Dadonov to Anaheim.

WASHINGTON- C-, The Capitals added scoring depth in reacquiring Marcus Johansson. They didn’t address goaltending.

VANCOUVER- D, Wheeler dealer GM Jim Rutherford only acquired defenseman Travis Dermott. Tyler Motte was the only veteran he moved out.

WINNIPEG- B-, The Jets brought back Mason Appleton and added  spare part in Zach Sanford.

 

The 2021-22 NHL season, and the Dropkick Murphys are here, again

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The National Hockey League opens this evening. The opening will be more like what we all want and remember.

It will hopefully feel a little like the before times. It will also hopefully remind of the now times and PPE masks will be ubiquitous.

The 2021-22 season opens with two games including the Tampa Bay Lightning lifting their second straight Stanley Cup banner as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In Las Vegas, the Golden Knights, before this evening the most recent expansion club, will host the newest expansion franchise, the Seattle Kraken.

Moving vans were popular this off season.  Marc-Andre Fleury was moved the Chicago Blackhawks by the Golden Knights, for next to nothing.

Joe Thornton is plying his trade one more year, this time in Florida with the Panthers; Sam Reinhart is joining Thornton in Sunrise.

Duncan Keith is now with the Edmonton Oilers. Say that three times fast and Beetlejuice appears. Zach Hyman is also lacing them up for the Oilers this campaign.

Philipp Grubauer is icing for the Kraken after signing a free agent contract this off season.  He was replaced by Darcy Kuemper in Colorado for the Avalanche.

Mark Giordano was claimed in the expansion draft by Seattle and is now the Kraken’s first captain.

Frederik Andersen is the number one goalie in Raleigh with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Blake Coleman signed with the Calgary Flames.  No, seriously, he did.

The New York Rangers went from from young and squishy to young and hard edged. Ryan Reaves rejoined his former bench boss in Vegas, Gerard Gallant.  Barclay Goodrow joins him on Broadway after leaving Tampa with two Cups.

The Lightning will be looking to three-peat their Cup success.  Any fan of the history of hockey will note the difficulty of that feat.  Ask Any Islanders’ player from the early 1980’s.

“They’re probably thinking we did it once, why can’t we do it again?” the Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane, said. “Yeah, I think they could do it but hopefully someone gets in the way. Hopefully that’s us.”

Alex Ovechkin continues his chase to pass Wayne Gretzky’s goal title.  Question is whether or not he suits up for the season opener on Wednesday night.Speaking of not suiting up, Sidney Crosby (recovering from surgery) and Jake Guentzel (COVID19 return) will miss their opener this evening with the Pens.

The Blackhawks will welcome Jonathan Toews  back to the roster this season after a year away from the game.  That’s good news.

This evening we start our 21st season at Pro Hockey News. We, and our sister outlet, the PHN Podcast (@PHN_PODCAST) are happy to be bringing the new season to you.

We’ve also been thrilled by new blood entering the #TEAMPHN family.  You will be seeing their work soon in Belleville, Abbotsford, and San Diego.

We’ve also had to say farewell to several friends over recent years.  Hockey has also lost friends, fans, and family over the last 20 months. Let’s tap a stick for those who’ve moved on to a different path.

Remember them all as the hockey fans they were, celebrate their memories as your team hits the ice this week.

Oh, and wear a mask!

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