Northeast Division Preview

The NHL season is just three days away. With that being said, the NHL previews continue with the Northeast division. Boston made some major news in the off-season, signing superstar Zedno Chara to a five year 37.5 million dollar contract. The main questions for this division lie in Toronto, Ottawa, and in Buffalo. Let’s take a look at how the new look Northeast will shake down.   The only logical place to start in the northeast division is Boston. They made huge news with the Chara signing, which boosts their defensive corps. Lost in the headlines though, was the signing of depth players Wade Brookbank, Mark Mowers, and Paul Mara. Outside of Chara, the Bruins were in the news plenty of times last season, when they traded MVP finalist Joe Thorton to San Jose and Sergi Samsonov to Montreal. What weren’t talked about were the players they received in return, namely, Marco Sturm. Strum came in and gelled quickly with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Boyes. Look for this line to possibly break the hundred-point barrier. The main problem on offense last season was depth, and the signings of Mowers and Shean Donovan should remedy that issue.

    Chara might grab the headlines, but Paul Mara and Wade Brookbank bring in some massive toughness. Brookbank, who will most likely be on the third pair, does have some skating problems, but look for the Bruins to possibly use the left wing lock scheme, something that Brookbank can thrive with. This was the Bruins’ strength last season, which only got better with their off-season signings.

    The goaltending situation for the B’s might be where this team’s weakness lies. Who’s going to be the starter for the B’s? Andy Raycroft? No, he’s in Toronto.  The sure money is on Hannu Toivonen, only a twenty-two year old, who did play last season, but is still Calder-eligible. Tim Thomas was good last season, but don’t look for him to be the starter all season, if at all. Tuukka Rask, whom Raycroft was traded for, is still a few years off from cracking the pro roster. The Bruins are pretty deep at goal; their only problem is they are too young. The Bruins will make a playoff run, and it will depend on their goaltending. Look for them to see the seven to thirteen range.

    The quietest team in the NHL again, the Buffalo Sabers. Darcy Regier felt that with another season, they would be better than their last campaign, which was pretty impressive.  The Sabers really did benefit from the new NHL rules, with stars like Maxim Afinogenov, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere all having monster seasons. Thomas Vanek is looking to improve on a successful rookie campaign. Expect the last two sentences to be true, as the Sabers explode with offense in the new NHL.

    You might not know anyone on the Sabers defense, and Lindy Ruff likes it that way. Why, because they play as one. Teppo Numminen, still one of the league’s most underrated defensemen, might be the only name anyone outside of Buffalo has ever heard of. He is the leader of this defense, and his heard work ethic has rubbed off on his teammates. Henrik Tallinder and Jaroslav Spacek might be two of the better two-way defensemen in the league. Jay McKee might be gone, but this defense will be just fine.

    Once again, Darcy Regier’s phone will be ringing off the hook around the trade deadline. Once again, the Sabers field three goalies that could be regular starters on other teams. Ryan Miller will get the nod for this season, but rest assure Martin Biron, and Micheal Leighton will give him a good run for his money for the starter spot. Expect Biron to be shipped out, especially to teams like Florida or Colorado, whose goaltending is currently questionable. There is no doubt they are the deepest team in the league, and will win the Northeast. Expect them to finish anywhere from one to five.

    Montreal is an enigma. Guy Carbonneau takes over a team that was thought to be horrible, only to make the playoffs, and take a two games to none lead on the Hurricanes before losing the next four. The major question on this team has to be with their captain, and how much longer he can play. Even with that being said, this is still one of the deepest teams at forward in the league. Micheal Ryder is a potent scorer, and should be on the second line with Sergei Samsonov on the other wing. This could be the best scoring line in the NHL hands down. Their first line should be a great line to watch with Higgins, a pure goal scorer, and Kovlev as the wings for Saku  Koivu.

    The enigma for this team is on defense. The main question for them is, can they stay out of the box enough while keeping their smash mouth style of defense? Francis Bouillon is out until November, but when he returns, we should get our answers. Mike Komisarek is another guy to watch, as he loves to hit, but will his aggressive style cost the Habs in the puck control department? There are just too many questions on the Montreal defense for anyone to think they could have a shot at the division.

    Another team wondering who the starter will be is Montreal. Do they go with Cristobal Huet or David Aebischer?  Huet looks like the early favorite to take the spot, but Aebischer does have a few seasons under his belt as a starter of a top tier team. Once again, you still have to question if either one is a good idea, considering Aebischer has become a mediocre goaltender now that he doesn’t have Rob Blake to bail him out, and Huet was a career backup who had a great season. Montreal just has too many questions. Expect them to finish ninth to thirteenth.

    Another team that has questions to answer is the Ottawa Senators. The first, and most obvious question is, can they replace the loss of Chara to a team in the division? Another question will be, can Gerber keep the form that guided the Hurricanes to the second best record in the league last year? Sure, they are many pre season publications that have the Senators winning the cup this season, but pre season publications are only good for one thing. With that being said, Ottawa should not have any problems, past the first line of forwards. Heatley, Alfredson and Spezza is the best line combination in the league, and don’t be surprised if they break two hundred points as a line. Depth is a major concern, Patrick Eaves and Mike Fisher did have good seasons, but can they really duplicate that this season?

    The loss of Chara is going to leave a six foot nine inch hole that the Sens will have to cover. Yes, they have Wade Redden, but he can’t play all sixty minutes. Joe Corvo and Tom Preissing aren’t bad pickups, but they are aging. One possible answer to fill in for Chara is Andrej Meszaros, who had a great rookie campaign. Meszaros does play smart positional hockey, but his youth may come back to hurt him.

    Goaltending is another issue for this team. They lost Dominic Hasek to Detriot, but that is not the issue. Ray Emery helped keep the ship steady, but he is a career backup, like Huet in Montreal. Meanwhile, Martin Gerber backstopped the Canes to the playoffs, but struggled against Montreal, causing Cam Ward to come in, and eventually win the Conn Smythe. The question there is, was that a sign to come for Gerber, or just a hiccup in the road? As with everything, time will only tell. This is still a good team, and they will be in the top six in the East, but expect them to be in the four to six range.

    You will need a program guide to figure out who’s playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. John Ferguson Jr. fired Pat Quinn, traded for Andrew Raycroft, and signed Mike Peca, Hal Gill and Pavel Kubina. “Teflon” Paul Maurice named so because it didn’t matter how bad the Hurricanes were, he kept his job, takes over a Leafs team that anarchists would cry for order. Peca is a good defensive forward, with experience in big games, but he can’t take the offensive pressure off Mats Sundin, who seems to be aging faster and faster each day. Kyle Woodward and Matt Sajan must improve on their performance last season for this team to have a chance. The depth at forward is just not there.

    Defense is another matter for the Leafs. Hall Gill and Pavel Kubina give the Leafs the depth they need to compete. Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle are still stalwarts on the blue line, and should continue shutting down offenses in the league. The signings of Gill and Kubina will also give time for Carlo Colaiacovo and Staffan Kronwall to full develop into terrors for opposition offenses.  

    Goaltending issues should have been answered in the off-season, but they might have brought on more problems. For example, who is the real Andrew Raycroft? Is the one who won the Calder in 2004, or the one who was sent to the minors last season? Mikael Tellqvist is a solid goalie, but will most likely be the backup. Expect teams with goaltending problems to give JFJ a call around the deadline about him. The Leafs will continue to be the Laffs until they can figure out how to play offense in the new NHL. Expect this team to finish in the eleven to fourteen range, and JFJ to be fired at the end of the year.

    The east is done. The northeast division should end with Buffalo on top, followed by Ottawa, Boston, Montreal and Toronto.  We move to the west next, and that wacky Pacific division.