Central Division
1) St. Louis Blues
Strengths- This team is build on depth, and each line they throw out there is able to compete with any other teams top lines. Kevin Shattenkirk & Alex Pietrangelo are arguably the league’s best defensive pairing. T.J. Oshie, David Backes and Alex Steen fill out the league's most structured team top-to-bottom.
Weaknesses- Losing Ryan Miller to Vancouver leaves the job on Brian Elliott and Jake Allen who made a select amount of starts last year.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Paul Statsny, Peter Mueller, Carl Gunnerson
Place they Finish- 1st in Division and 2nd in Conference
2) Chicago Blackhawks
Strengths- Team did everything they need to do in the off-season by signing Jonathan Toews & Patrick Kane long term. They added Stanley Cup winner Brad Richards to play on the Power Play with a bunch of very good forwards. Duncan Keith is a shoe-in for a Norris nomination each year, and Brent Seabrook is very underrated. Corey Crawford is a plus this year, despite the harsh critics, the guy is a good goalie, in the top-10 of the league.
Weaknesses- Dealing Nick Leddy was a must under a tight crunch with the NHL’s Salary Cap, but it was a tough blow.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Brad Richards, Dan Carcillo
Place they Finish- 2nd in Division and 3rd in Conference
3) Dallas Stars
Strengths- They added more fuel to the fire, which in this case is a good thing. Tyler Seguin emerged last year and played very well on a line with Jamie Benn. Toss in Ales Hemsky and big centre Jason Spezza and the Stars have a very strong offensive unit. Kari Lehtonen keeps the team in games.
Weaknesses- Outside of Trevor Daley they do not have any shut down defenseman and he is 5ft 11 inches. Will Spezza and Hemsky buy in to the defensive scheme?
Off Season Moves Brought In- Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky, Andres Lindback, Patrick Eaves
Place they Finish- 3rd in Division and 6th in Conference
4) Colorado Avalanche
Strengths- They are young, fast, skilled, and more importantly they play both ends of the ice. Nathan Mckinnon, Matt Duchene, Ryan O’ Reilly and Gabriel Landeksog resemble the league’s best young team, with Head Coach Patrick Roy at the helm. Tyson Barrie will continue to develop as one of the league’s best puck-moving defenseman. They added veteran forwards Jarome Iginla and Daniel Briere, which will help them come playoff time. Semyon Varlamov is a legit number one goalie.
Weaknesses- Defense can look really bad some nights. Erik Johnson gets some help with veteran Brad Stuart as the team’s shut down defenseman.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Jarome Iginla, Daniel Briere, Brad Stuart
Place they Finish- 4th in Division and 7th in Conference (WC1)
5) Nashville Predators
Strengths- Shea Weber leads a young team into a tough year. They are one of those bubble teams that could end up making the playoffs. They added James Neal, Olli Jokinen and Mike Ribiero to help the offensive shortage. Their defense is set with Seth Jones, Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis on the back end. I have them in the playoffs based purely on my belief that goalie Pekka Rinne will rebound from injury.
Weaknesses- Added scoring but still need more.
Off Season Moves Brought In- James Neal, Olli Jokinen, Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy, Anton Volchenkov
Place they Finish - 5th in Division and 8th in Conference (WC2)
6) Minnesota Wild
Strengths- They can score in bunches. Thomas Vanek joins his former Buffalo Sabre Jason Pominville where he really had his best years. Mikko Koivu will vie for comeback player of the year and Zach Parise is good for at least 25 goals. On the backend they have reliable Ryan Suter and Jarred Spurgeon is one of the up-and-coming Dmen in the league.
Weaknesses- This team has good goaltending but too much of it with Nicklas Backstrom locked up long-term. While one of Josh Harding and Darcy Kuemper will be traded/waived.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Thomas Vanek, Justin Falk, Jordan Schroeder
Place they Finish- 6th in Division and 9th in Conference
7) Winnipeg Jets
Strengths- Team played better down the season last year under Head Coach Paul Maurice, but by that time they were out of it. Blake Wheeler is the team’s best offensive threat. They have one of the best home crowds in the league. Dustin Byflugien can play anywhere on the ice, and this year it seems like it could be at forward.
Weaknesses- Good players who just can’t seem to reach their potential. Look no further to Evander Kane. Ondrej Pavelec is not a number one goalie in the league. His good games are far and few. Did not fill holes in off-season.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Peter Budaj, Mathieu Perreault, TJ Galliardi
Place they Finish- 7th in Division and 13th in Conference
Pacific Division
1) Los Angeles Kings
Strengths- The defending Stanley Cup Champions kept everyone together including Marian Gaborik who plays very well with centre Anze Kopitar and should give them some more offense. Drew Doughty is one of the best players in the world and Jonathan Quick is a rock between the pipes.
Weaknesses- Shockingly, this team has stretches where they just do not score. They have become the masters at winning 1-goal games but those games take a toll on you, especially off a short summer.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Resigned Marion Gaborik
Place they Finish- 1st in Division and 1st in Conference
2) San Jose Sharks
Strengths- Even though they stripped the letters off Joe Thornton & Patrick Marleau this team is too gifted not to win. Their problems don’t take place during the 82 game season. Logan Couture & Joe Pavalski are studs and are good for 80+ point seasons if both are healthy. Brent Burns moves back to defenseman and plays with one of the best shut down guys in the game in Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
Weaknesses- Team just can not find success in the playoffs. Antti Niemi did not play well last year, which opened up the door for Alex Stalock.
Off Season Moves Brought In- None
Place they Finish- 2nd in Division and 4th in Conference
3) Anaheim Ducks
Strengths- DO NOT fool yourself. Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry together, are the best 1-2 punch in the NHL. They acquired Ryan Kesler who will give the Ducks the NHL's best 1-2 centre combo.
Weaknesses- They lose Jonas Hiller between the pipes which leaves it to second year players Frederik Andersen and John Gibson. Both have showed promise, but the sample size is too small at this point. They also loss Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu to retirement.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Ryan Kesler, Dany Heatley, Clayton Stoner
Place they Finish- 3rd in Division and 5th in Conference
4) Vancouver Canucks
Strengths- Call this team- Team Bounceback. Ryan Miller is better then both Luongo and Schneider, so it’s funny how things turn out. But, he is coming off a poor showing with St.Louis in the post-season and it’s also the place he gave up the “Golden Goal”. Henrik Sedin and brother Daniel should bounce back from poor seasons. Alex Burrows should score more then five goals. Rookie Bo Horvat looks like he will make the team.
Weaknesses- They lose their heart and pulse in Ryan Kesler. They added Nick Bonino and Radam Vrbata but should struggle to score. Defense is suspect.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Ryan Miller, Nick Bonino, Radam Vrbata, Derek Dorsett, Bo Horvat
Place they Finish- 4th in Division and 10th in Conference
5) Calgary Flames
Strengths- This team is one of those that are a few years away from really competing. Shawn Monahan looks like he’s a keeper. Mark Giordano is underrated for what he does for this team. Outside of him though, there is not much.
Weaknesses- Sam Bennett starts the season needing surgery on his shoulder. Need to find creative ways to score, don’t have the depth yet to compete.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Jonas Hiller, Mayson Raymond, Derek Engellend, Raphael Diaz, Devin Setoguchi
Place they Finish- 5th in Division and 11th in Conference
6) Arizona Coyotes
Strengths- They are a well coached team, and buy into the system. Mike Smith is a solid goalie, but he is as good as it gets in the desert. They added Sam Gagner which should bring some flare to an offense badly needing it. Keith Yandle despite trade rumors is a rock on the blue-line.
Weaknesses- Outside of Antoine Vermette and Gagner they don’t have much offense. Team should not give up a lot of goals based on the way they play, but they wont score much either.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Sam Gagner, Devin Dubnyk
Place they Finish- 6th in Division and 12th in Conference
7) Edmonton Oilers
Strengths- Do not know totally what to say about this team, that has been blessed with number one picks Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakapov. They have star-on-the-rise Jordan Eberle. David Perron and Teddy Purcell give this team some good scoring depth.
Weaknesses- Probably the worst defensive team in the league which is terrible news behind two backup goalies in Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth.
Off Season Moves Brought In- Benoit Pouliot, Teddy Prucell, Nikita Niskanen
Place they Finish- 7th in Division and 14th in Conference
WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF MATCHUPS:
(C1) St. Louis Blues v. (WC1) Colorado Avalanche
(C2) Chicago Blackhawks v. (C3) Dallas Stars
(P1) Los Angeles Kings v. (WC2) Nashville Predators
(P2) San Jose Sharks v. (P3) Anaheim Ducks
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