DirtyDeeds Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 Preseason buzz to keep you busy.... Who made the right moves over the summer?Who is moving up in this division and who will struggle or move down?Any surprises?Where do you think they will all finish after all is said and done? Tampa Bay Boston Detroit Montreal Florida Toronto Ottawa Buffalo Boston struggles out of the gate. Montreal is bigger but is lost with loss of their capt and some key parts. Florida finally starts to make some waves. Is Buffalo ever going to see some progress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted August 30, 2014 Report Share Posted August 30, 2014 1. Boston They were the best regular season team in the NHL last season. Chara is slowing down a little and they haven't replaced Iginla. But they remain an elite team who should finish tops in their division. 2. Tampa Bay A rising star in the league. I think they are still a year or two away from being top contenders, but they are already a strong team. The loss of St Louis hurts but Drouin will help fill the void. If Bishop and Stamkos can stay healthy they should be good. 3. Montreal Montreal is a bit fragile in that they don't score enough goals yet they aren't one of the elite NHL teams defensively. That said they are a young team with some decent offensive pieces that may score more this season. It really comes down to Price. If he is sold they should be fine. 4. Detroit Detroit is getting old and they don't have the young pieces coming in to replace their aging players. But they have the best coach in the league, Datsyuk is still a great player, and their division sucks. So they should challenge for a wild card spot. 5. Florida Florida got better. Huberdeau should be a player this season. Luongo helps in net. Bolland and Jokinen add depth up front. But I don't think its enough to move out of the basement into the playoffs. Good steps, but more is needed. 6. Toronto Toronto is a flawed team. They aren't strong at any one position and the pieces don't fit together well. Their coaching is also suspect. If Bernier is lights out they may challenge for a playoff spot. Especially if Kadri can take a step forward. But I don't like the general make up of this team and given the lack of patience and the bad contracts there isn't an easy fix. 7. Ottawa They lost Spezza without adding anything to replace him. They are going to need great goal tending and some stellar performances from their young players to be competitive. I don't think they are in the bottom 5 this season, but I don't think the playoffs will be close. 8. Buffalo Buffalo is stockpiling picks and prospects and leaving their fan base a lot to look forward to. But I don't see that changing next season. They got a tiny bit better so they may not be the undisputed worst team in hockey next season. But they will certainly challenge for the spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyerfan52 Posted August 31, 2014 Report Share Posted August 31, 2014 1) Boston. Still strong through out. 2) Montreal. Small & fast still works against many eastern teams. PK Subban still inproving offensively & defensively. Unless Price is injured early I see them here. 3) TB. Seem stronger every year. 4) Detroit. I'm nervous about counting them out. Every year we see them aging yet they always squeak in. 5) Florida. I think they got stronger but will still be on the outside looking in. 6) Ottawa. Not great but a few too many good players to count out. 7) Toronto. Other then JVR & Kessel there isn't much up front. D has many good secondary players but I have little faith in Phaneuf. Bernier/Reimer tandem is not as good as the TO hype machine (eastern media) would have us believe. 8) Buffalo. Great collection of young players but vets are has beens/never weres. Could be a power house in a few (as soon as 2-3) years with the youth coming in @ both forward & defense. Goalies young enough to be around & adequate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_People1 Posted September 1, 2014 Report Share Posted September 1, 2014 Tampa Bay - too much emerging talent. Drouin to debut. Hedman rising star. Boston - lacking RWs and depth to stay atop. Still two great lines. Solid Blueline. Montreal - one of the fastest teams out there. Will compete every night. Detroit - depth players are showing promise. A year or two away from putting it all together again. Toronto - it was a win-some lose-some summer. Looks like the same as last year. Ottawa - young talented team could be the surprise of the East. Florida - their future stars are still too young but a full year of Luongo helps. Buffalo - looks better than last year but last year was one of the worst in NHL history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DL44 Posted September 3, 2014 Report Share Posted September 3, 2014 I like Detroit to make some noise this year... like the Canucks, i don't think they can possibly be as unlucky as last yr with injuries... Also, Detroit has been getting old for 15 yrs now.. Datsyuk-36, Zetterberg-33, Cleary-35, Franzen-34 all legitimately post-peak players. Young studs... Tatar-23, Nyquist-24, Jurco-21, Sheahan-22, Smith-25, DeKeyser-24 1. TBL - i'm excited about seeing the offense of this team.. 2. Det - Young stars a yr older, expect them to be healthier 3. Bos - could been 2nd.. i don't see them dropping off too much from their President's Trophy.. but i would like to see it, so here it is. Suck it Bos. 4. Mon - just cuz it's tight ahead of them 5. Fla - just cuz i want to see Luongo hit 30 wins this season. 6. Tor - would make me laugh 7. Buf - actually added some nice pieces to help their youth so they don't pull an Edmonton. 8. Ott - loooong year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OilerPensfan97 Posted September 5, 2014 Report Share Posted September 5, 2014 1. Boston 2. TB 3. Montreal 4. Detroit 5. Toronto. 6. Florida 7. Ottawa 8. Buffalo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyerfan52 Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 1) Boston. Still strong through out. 2) Montreal. Small & fast still works against many eastern teams. PK Subban still inproving offensively & defensively. Unless Price is injured early I see them here. 3) TB. Seem stronger every year. 4) Detroit. I'm nervous about counting them out. Every year we see them aging yet they always squeak in. 5) Florida. I think they got stronger but will still be on the outside looking in. 6) Ottawa. Not great but a few too many good players to count out. 7) Toronto. Other then JVR & Kessel there isn't much up front. D has many good secondary players but I have little faith in Phaneuf. Bernier/Reimer tandem is not as good as the TO hype machine (eastern media) would have us believe. 8) Buffalo. Great collection of young players but vets are has beens/never weres. Could be a power house in a few (as soon as 2-3) years with the youth coming in @ both forward & defense. Goalies young enough to be around & adequate. Other that Boston not too far off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketdoctor Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Go Lightning! Hate them less than Montreal!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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