The East, unlike the West, is not very powerful. There are several teams that of course are very solid, but the rest leave a lot of questions. The East has only won 3 of the last 9 Stanley Cups, and it doesn't look good on paper for this year either. So lets take a look at the Eastern Conference for the 2014-15 season.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins also lost long time winger Shawn Thorton during the offseason. Never a major scoring threat, but he was a big leader in that locker room. Iginla also left which leaves two spots open for the Bruins. Eriksson will take Iginla's spot in the top six, but prospects Ryan Spooner and Jordan Caron will flank the bottom six. Cap issues were the biggest cause of the Bruins being quiet this offseason, but they were not far from winning the East last year with this roster.
Key Additions: NONE
Key Losses: Jarome Iginla, Shawn Thorton, Andrej Meszaros, Chad Johnson
Buffalo Sabres
This team will not contend this year, but they are not far off with the moves they made. Goaltending will be the question with Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth as the top options, but their defense was improved with Gorges and Meszaros coming in and if Tyler Myers can find his form, they will have a solid blueline. The top six looks good with Moulson and Chris Stewart flanking Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson and Gionta flanking the rookie Reinhart.
Key Additions: Matt Moulson, Sam Reinhart, Brian Gionta, Cody McCormick, Andrej Meszaros and Josh Gorges
Key Losses: Christian Ehrhoff, Ville Leino, John Scott and Cory Conacher
Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes lost Manny Malhotra and Justin Peters in the offseason and really only added Jay McClement in the offseason. They will rely heavily on prospects like Zach Boychuk, Riley Nash, Elias Lindholm and Jordan and Eric's brother Jared. Needless to say, there are dark clouds ahead for the Canes this season, and unless they can shed the Ward contract it may last beyond this season.
Key Additions: Jay McClement, Ron Hainsey (resigned), Tim Gleason
Key Losses: Manny Malhotra and Justin Peters
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets lost several important players, but they did a good job or replacing them. Coach Todd Richards has a lot to work with and I would expect them to come in behind just the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division.
Key Additions: Scott Hartnell, Nathan Horton (signed summer 13), Brian Gibbons, Simon Hjalmarsson
Key Losses: Nikita Nikitin, RJ Umberger, Derek MacKenzie, Blake Comeau, Matt Frattin, Jack Skille and Nick Shultz
Detroit Red Wings
The Wings are not what they were. They are getting old, but their experience should allow them to make it 24 consecutive playoff berths in the down Eastern Conference.
Key Additions: NONE
Key Losses: David Legwand
Florida Panthers
The addition of Jokinen will bolster the top six that already has solid young players in Jon Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad. The bottom six was greatly approved with Bolland, MacKenzie and Thorton. Brian Campbell has been the head of the d-corps for years now, but Willie Mitchell will lighten the load a little on him. The pick of Aaron Ekblad should also help the Panthers immensely. The Panthers could sneak in the playoffs this year, but I think they may be a year or two away.
Key Additions: Jussi Jokinen, Aaron Ekblad, Willie Mitchell, Dave Bolland, Derek MacKenzie, Shawn Thorton and Al Montoya
Key Losses: Tom Gilbert, Scott Clemmensen and Jesse Winchester
Montreal Canadiens
It is a make or break year for the Canadiens. Michel Therrien is not popular among the players and there are rumors its win or the door for the Pens former coach. The Canadiens have the pieces in place to compete in the East, but ultimately I don't see them making it out of the Conference unless Carey Price single-handed does it.
Key Additions: Manny Malhotra, PA Parenteau, Tom Gilbert
Key Losses: Thomas Vanek, Josh Gorges, Brian Gionta, Daniel Briere and Devan Dubnyk
New Jersey Devils
The Devils shouldn't have a lot of problems scoring goals and if Adam Henrique returns to the form he was in in 2012 then the Devils may surprise some people. But overall, I think the Devils will fall short of a playoff berth again this year.
Key Additions: Mike Cammalleri and Martin Havlat
Key Losses: Martin Brodeur, Anton Volchenkov and Mark Fayne
New York Islanders
Snow did make some solid moves though this summer. He greatly improved the second line by signing Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski. Goaltending was also sured up with the signing of Jaroslav Halak and former Bruins backup Chad Johnson. The only question I have about this team is the defensive corps. If they can play like they did in 2012-13, they will make a run at a playoff spot. If they don't, the Isles will struggle to make the playoffs. Ultimately, the Isles will fall just short of a playoff spot, but they could surprise us like they did two years ago a make a run.
Key Additions: Nikolai Kulemin, Mikhail Grabovski, Jaroslav Halak, Chad Johnson, Cory Conacher
Key Losses: Evgeni Nabokov
New York Rangers
The good news for the Rangers is that despite losing Stralman, the defense and King Henrik are still very good. Dan Boyle will replace Stralman and Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh will again be heavily relied upon by coach Alain Vigneault. The Rangers added pieces to fill out their bottom six, but I don't think they can repeat last year. A playoff berth is not out of the question at all, but a deep run is highly unlikely unless the King is unbelievable.
Key Additions: Dan Boyle, Lee Stempniak, Tanner Glass, Matt Lombardi, Ryan Malone
Key Losses: Anton Stralman, Brad Richards, Brian Boyle, Derek Dorsett and Benoit Pouliot.
Ottawa Senators
David Legwand and Alex Chiasson were brought in to fill some holes in the forwards corps, but it will fall hard on Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan up front. Erik Karlsson will be good as usual, but it'll be a lost season for the Sens in my opinion. A shame, especially since Karlsson is in his prime.
Key Additions: David Legwand, Alex Chiasson
Key Losses: Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers will always give the Pens fits because of the hate and rivalry, but the Flyers are going no where fast this year. The team has underperformed and they did little to fix their problems from a year ago. I don't expect much from them this year, in fact, I don't expect them to even make the playoffs come April.
Key Additions: RJ Umberger, Michael Del Zotto, Blair Jones
Key Losses: Scott Hartnell, Steve Downie
Pittsburgh Penguins
To be short for this, I expect the Pens to be one of the top teams in the East and win the Metro without a problem.
Key Additions: Christian Ehrhoff, Patric Hornqvist, Nick Spaling, Steve Downie, Blake Comeau, Dan Carcillo, Thomas Greiss
Key Losses: Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen, James Neal, Jussi Jokinen, Tanner Glass, Deryk Engelland, Joe Vitale
Tampa Bay Lightning
Stamkos will be healthy and be captaining this team full time. Callahan will add great leadership and scoring touch on Stamkos' wing. 2013 top pick Jonathan Drouin will have a spot in the Top 6 now that Martin St. Louis is gone and there are several young players that will look to make an impact in the bottom six alongside the veterans Morrow and Boyle. The d-corps are much better with Stralman and Garrison additions to Carle and Hedman and Ben Bishop will look to keep the form he found for the Bolts last year.
Key Additions: Anton Stralman, Ryan Callahan (re-signed), Jonathan Drouin (2013 Pick), Jason Garrison, Brenden Morrow, Brian Boyle and Evgeni Nabokov.
Key Losses: Teddy Purcell, Nate Thompson, Anders Lindback, Keith Aulie
Toronto Maple Leafs
Overall, I don't see much good happening for the Leafs. Maybe they limp into the playoffs, but the East is not that weak.
Key Additions: Leo Komarov, Matt Frattin, Mike Santorelli, Stephane Robidas, Roman Polak
Key Losses: Dave Bolland, Nikolai Kulemin, Tim Gleason, Mason Raymond
Washington Capitals
The Caps added Brooks Oprik and Matt Niskanen to their defensive corps, but also added to great leaders in the locker room with those signings. The Caps should benefit greatly from those values from them this season. The biggest question will be can Ovechkin buy into Trotz's system and quit being so selfish? If he can, the Capitals may actually be a good team.
Key Additions: Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen, Chris Conner, Justin Peters
Key Losses: Mikhail Gravovski, Jaroslav Halak, Tom Poti
Eastern Conference Predictions and Winner
- Boston Bruins
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Montreal Canadiens
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New York Rangers
- Washington Capitals
- Detroit Red Wings
9. Florida Panthers
10. Philadelphia Flyers
11. New York Islanders
12. Buffalo Sabres
13. Toronto Maple Leafs
14. New Jersey Devils
15. Ottawa Senators
16. Carolina Hurricanes
It is a three-horse race in the East as far as I am concerned. The Pens will certainly contend, but I think the offseason changes and the growing pains will have them come up just short. I think they make the Conference Finals, but ultimately lose out to either the Bruins or Lightning. The Atlantic will come down to those two. If the Lightning can find chemistry and success, especially later in the year, I think they could go into the playoffs hot and make it all the way to the Cup Finals. Otherwise, the consistency of the Bruins will put them in the Cup Finals again with a rematch with Chicago. A team that could get hot late and make a run could be the Blue Jackets. They've done it the last few years and it is not completely insane to say they couldn't grind down any of these top three team in the playoffs.