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After exploring the west teams, let's move now to the Eastern Conference and take a look at the Atlantic Division.
Monday 1 October 2018 25 minutes reading time
A division that gives us at least another great favorite to win the Stanley Cup: the Tampa Bay Lightning. But pay attention to the emerging Maple Leafs, an attacking power after the arrival of Tavares and the usual Boston Bruins. Buffalo and Florida will be the outsiders. Detroit, Montreal and Ottawa will focus on deep reconstruction.
BOSTON BRUINS
The Bruins have not made many changes in the off-season, showing that GM Don Sweeney has confidence in this group. So much so that at the deadline he had decided to go all-in buying Rick Nash in exchange for some future pawns. It did not go well, as did the attempt to bring to Boston Tavares or Kovalchuk. This year the competition in the Atlantic Division will be even more fierce with Tampa Bay and Toronto that have strengthened.
ATTACCOMarchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak is without a doubt one of the most dangerous offensive lines of the NHL. But behind them, Boston has some problems, especially on the right. Apart from David Backes, who should be on the third line, the Bruins could try to give space to the young Heinen, Bjork or Ryan Donato. Also to be defined, the third-line center: Riley Nash party (41 points last season), will not be an easy task.
DIFESAR very solid piece. Highlander Chara (41) remains one of the best defenders of the NHL. Next to him is Charlie McAvoy, his predecessor heir as the leader of this defense. Second respectable couple with Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo. For the third line Cassidy is spoiled for choice: in pole position the newcomer John Moore and Kevan Miller, but pay attention to Grzelcyk and McQuaid.
PORTIERITuukka Rask is a security. This season he should reach the goal of becoming the leader in duty games and wins. Last year he ranked sixth in the NHL by an average of goals conceded per game (2.36) and he played a dozen or so fewer races than in the last seasons. This year too should be able to rest more during the regular season thanks to the purchase of Halak as a backup.
BUFFALO SABRES
New year, yet another revolution at home Sabers, this time led by the wise leadership of GM Jason Botterill. The direction is clear: give a sponge to the disastrous management of his predecessor Tim Murray. And the supplies of O''Reilly and Evander Kane leave no doubt about it. The success of this latest reconstruction will also depend on the fact that the top prospects Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittlestadt do not disappoint the enormous expectations that Buffalo has in them.
ATTACK last year Buffalo had the worst attack of the NHL. And 22% of the networks were made by Kane and O''Reilly who, as mentioned, went away. But Blashill brought an important wing in New York like Jeff Skinner. In addition he added Sheary, Sobotka and Berglund. Let's not forget, moreover, that the Sabers have a certain Eichel on the roster.
DIFESAL 'arrival of Dahlin creates great expectations, however, it is difficult to imagine that he, alone, is able to make the leap quality to the department that last year was placed 29th for goals conceded. To be fair, the leadership of the Sabers did not do much, probably relying on the return to full capacity of McCabe and Bogosian who last year were stopped for a long time by injuries.
PORTIERIA surprised, in the off season Buffalo has let go of his goalkeeper Robin Lehner, expiring contract, entrusting the door to Carter Hutton, but has never been a goalie holder. The promising young man Linus Ullmark looms behind him.
DETROIT RED WINGS
For the first time since the beginning of the '80s the Red Wings have missed the qualification for the playoffs for two years in a row. Detroit is in a difficult situation: not competitive enough to point to the playoffs, but not scarce to the point of playing the possibility of a first choice. The work during the draft 2018, however, was excellent in perspective. During the free agency, on the contrary, little was done: the return of Thomas Vanek and goalie Bernier.
ATTACKS 'attack in 2017 /' '18 was placed only 28th in the NHL. Top scorer was the 24 year old Anthony Mantha with 24 goals. Disappointing Nyquist, with 21 goals, but a precision under the door really to be reviewed. Vanek will guarantee a few more goals, but it does not seem sufficient anyway. The withdrawal of Zetterberg, due to injury, will complicate, perhaps, further things. A confirmation of Mantha and a clear change of pace from Larkin will be required. Waiting for the debut of the prospects taken in the draft, Filip Zadina above all.
DEFENSE In this Detroit department, you'll have to fix something. The renewal of Mike Green is not enough. Ed Ericsson and DeKeyser are not keeping their expectations. Kronwall, on the other hand, has been falling for some years now. In this situation, the young prospects Cholowski, Hronek, Hicketts and McIsaac, will try to carve out a place on the roster.
PORTIERIJimmy Howard is a certainty and was probably the MVP of last season at Red Wings. Buying Bernier as a backup will serve to give serenity to the department.
FLORIDA PANTHERS
The Panthers are a fairly complicated team to decipher. At an absolute level roster, there are no great seasonal performances, with the exception of the 2015 / '16 that seems already far away. The management trusts the group and the coach. Outgoing, in the summer, only Vrbata, who retired. The excellent Hoffman is coming in.
ATTACKS first line should see Aleksander Barkov in the middle, flanked by Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgeni Dadonov. Hoffman should be on the second line with Trochek and Bjugstad. In the 3rd and 4th line the young talent Henrik Borgstrom, who did very well in his last year in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (52 points in 40 games), could also find space.
DIFESALa top-4 last year remained unchanged with Yandle, Ekblad, Pysyk and Matheson. The purchase during the free agency of the defender of coverage Kiselevich should ensure greater security in the defensive phase and will allow the first two lines to catch a little '. To contend the last place in the 3rd line Petrovic, Weegan and McCoshen.The main criticality of the department were the individual errors in the area exit: the Panthers, in fact, lead the NHL ranking as for giveaways (ie lost records) with beauty of 1,076. Yandle, Ekblad and Matheson, under this unhappy voice, are in the top 10 of the league.
PORTIERIRoberto Luongo and James Reimer should share the task of defending the Cats' door equally. Last year, Reimer played 42 games and Luongo 40. The arrival of Hutchinson as third goalie is a further caution to get a level backup, if Luongo, even given the age, should get injured or lose enamel.
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Turn in a few years a team that struggles to go forward in the playoffs in a fight for the first choice in the draft? The GM Marc Bergevin, anything but loved in that of Montreal, has succeeded in this little happy enterprise. There have been several exchanges that have led to results that are anything but satisfactory, starting with the sale of P.K. Subban in exchange for Shea Weber in 2016, moving from Galchenyuk before the summer and closing with the sale of Pacioretty. At the moment, Montreal does not seem to be a square coveted by the players: during the summer the Habs tried to bring home the free agent Tavares and Stastny, without success.
ATTACKSThis offensive is the most problematic department. Last year the Canadiens achieved only 2.52 GPG, finishing in 29th place in the NHL, despite an unexpected exploit of Gallagher, the protagonist with 31 goals. The feeling after the off-season is that the attack, instead of improving, has been further weakened with the departures of Pacioretty and Alex Galchenuyk, replaced by Max Domi, Tomas Tatar and Joel Armia. The most obvious lack is a first-rate center. That's why in the draft Montreal, surprising all, with the 3rd choice chose Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Will he be the center of the future of the Habs?
DEFENSAL defense of the Canadiens seems to be put better, but much will depend on the return of Shea Weber, out through injury at least until December. The good news is that Petry has proven to be a top-4. Also in the organization Habs there are some good prospects that this year, in all probability, will find a place on the roster: Victor Mete and Noah Juulsen will be able to grind minutes and experience.
PORTIERThe fate of the Habs, as often in recent years, will depend on the performance of Carey Price, back from the worst season of his career. Antti Niemi last year has replaced it quite worthily, but is confident to revise a price in great dust with Niemi that returns to be just a backup.
OTTAWA SENATORS
Very low moment in the history of the Ottawa Senators. After being a step away from the Stanley Cup final two seasons ago, the Sens literally deflated last year, reaching the 30th place overall. The locker room was not managed well, not even after the ruckus broke out due to the quarrel between the wives of Karlsson and Hoffman, who even came on social networks. Result: Hoffman presented to the Sharks, who then shot him in Florida. And captain Erik Karlsson also in the direction of San Jose, but to stay there and maybe win. The big ones have started to growl and another fracture between players and GM has been consumed not many days ago when Dorion sent the veteran Zach Smigth, very well liked by his teammates, in the waivers with the hope that it was taken by other teams or leave it in AHL. After the criticisms arrived from some players, the GM called Smith to train in the first team. But his future in the Sens jacket is anything but safe.
ATTACK a few certainties, at the moment, are Matt Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel. To support the three also the new 24-year-old Chris Tierney purchase that in San Jose has achieved 40 points in 82 games. In the Senators it should play a more prominent and more minute role, so it could improve its score. Behind them little else and a Bobby Ryan is steadily declining. Therefore, it is a space for young people who are the hope for the future: Logan Brown (11th choice in 2016), Colin White (21st choice in 2015) and Brady Tkachuk (4th choice in 2018).
DIFESAL Karlsson's farewell leaves a huge gap in the ward. Empty that the young Thomas Chabot, in his second year, will try to fill. The 21-year-old has proven to be a very talented player and a top-4 sure for years to come. Cody Ceci will also play a major role. To complete the department should be DeMelo, Wolanin, Wideman and Borowiecki.
PORTIERThe goalie owner Craig Anderson is back, like everyone, from a disappointing season: 23-25-6 and a SV% of .898. Anderson is now 37 years old but still has 2 years contract. 28-year-old Mike Condon did not do better with 5-17-5 and SV% of .902. It is not to be excluded that the newly arrived McKenna, who has behaved well with the Texas Stars in AHL, can find a place.
BAY LIGHTNING TAMPA
After three conference finals in 4 years, the Lightning hope that finally this may be the right year to reach the final and win their second Stanley Cup. During the off-season the Lightning have only signed the wing Andy Andreoff and are focused on the renewals of their expiring players, especially those of Ryan McDonagh and Nikita Kucherov. The feeling is that this is the last good season for this group of players to try the assault on the Stanley Cup: next year many will fall due (Gourde, Paquette, Erne, Point, Conacher, Stralman, Coburn and Girardi) and renewing them all will be almost impossible.
ATTACKS Tampa Bay attack is simply deadly, capable of scoring points with all lines; not surprisingly it was the best of the NHL, with over 3.5 goals per game. A department that has a great mix of young and veteran driven by Kucherov and Stamkos, able to have even six players above 20 goals and six goals over 50 points. The multiplicity of offensive solutions was the key element also in power play. Both lines of the special team performed well: the first led by Stamkos and Hedman and the second by Kucherov and Sergahev.
DEFENSEThe defensive department revolves around its leader, Victor Hedman, winner of the Norris Trophy 2018, which has put together 63 points and a plus / minus of +32. He will probably play in pairs with Ryan McDonagh, forming one of the strongest pairs of defenders in the NHL. In second and third line will be Stralman, Girardi, Coburn and Sergachev. The latter, in his rookie year, has shown all his skills to become a top-player.
PORTIERIn his first year as holder Vasilevskiy finished third in the Vezina Trophy, driving the NHL with 44 games won and 8 shutouts in 65 games, with an SV% of .920. Behind him the 26 year old Luis Domingue, who on the 11 occasions in which he was deployed has achieved a record of 7-3-1.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Expectations. Something that has been missing in Toronto for a long time. And that now the fans have. And how they are, especially after having signed the most important free agent in the era of the salary cap: John Tavares. With 105 points, last year, the Leafs got the franchise record. But it was not enough to avoid the 'exit from the first round of the playoffs against Boston.
ATTACCOL''attacco is without a doubt the strong point of this team. The first two lines will be the terror of many defenses, although there are no more van Riemsdyk and Bozak. If and when Nylander signs his renewal, Babcock will be able to line up with Matthews and Hyman in 2nd line. While in first place at Marleau, Tavares and Marner. Not to mention a 3rd line that few can afford in the NHL: the MVP of the AHL playoffs Andreas Johnsson with Nazem Kadri and Kasperi Kapanen.
DIFESASe in attack the Leafs have the 'embarrassment of choice, the defense is the department that most worries the fans. And it is probably the weak point that does not make Toronto, at least for the moment, a first choice among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. And yet the quality is not lacking, especially on the left, with Rielly and Gardiner excellent defenders who also contribute to offensive level . Hainsey and Zaitsev did not give the desired guarantees, as did Carrick. On the rise, however, the quotations of Travis Dermott and the new arrival this summer by KHL, Igor Ozhiganov. Waiting, of course, of the maturation of Timothy Liljegren.
PORTIERIAndersen last year played his best season and on many evenings when the defense was missed, it was he, along with the strikers, who delivered the 2 points to Toronto. In fact it is his the primacy of parades in NHL. A record of personal pride, but not for the defensive department. Andersen also came fourth in the voting for the Vezina Trophy. Behind him the backup role will be contested by the excellent McElhinney and Garret Sparks, who dominated in AHL. In the Leafs / Marlies system we also find Calvin Pickard.
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