2014-15 NHL Season

It’s that time again.  I know, no one cares about hockey.  Fine, but believe me this is one of my favorite times of year.  Football in full swing, baseball mercifully ending, and hockey about to begin.  I’ll jump right in.

 

Central

Chicago Blackhawks

St. Louis Blues
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Colorado Avalanche
Nashville Predators
Winnipeg Jets

Top Dogs:  The West is stacked, and the Central is tight.  Put the Predators in the East and they likely ease into the postseason.  When looking here, the Blackhawks and the Blues are the class of the division.  But, there are lots of interesting storylines.  Easily five Central teams make the playoffs.

Goalie Depth?:  The Blues come into this season relying on Brian Elliott in goal, who has typically been part of a tandem during his time in St. Louis.  Now he’s the guy, but does benefit from the best defense in front of him.  The Hawks endured an up-and-down season by Corey Crawford last year, who is a Cup-winning goalie, so any rebound by him would be greatly appreciated.

The Minnesota Wild goalie situation could be a post in and of itself.  Josh Harding, Niklas Backstrom, Darcy Kuemper, and Ilya Bryzgalov all started games last season.  While Harding is the unquestioned starter here, he’s out in first two months.  I will be watching this unit, particularly if a backup plays well and the Wild have a trade asset on their hands.

Question Mark:  The Avalanche tied a franchise record for wins last year, and then lost to the Wild in the playoffs.  Key to their success was Semyon Varlamov’s great play in goal.  The former Capital castoff was a finalist for the Vezina, and he may need to repeat that this year.  The team lost key center Paul Stastny, and replaced him with aging Jarome Iginla, who played great in the atmosphere of Boston.  I still think this team struggles.

New Possibilities:  The Stars and Wild are intriguing playoff teams from a year ago that got better in the offseason.  Dallas brings in Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky from Ottawa, who will immediately bring huge depth to this forward group.  The Wild signed Thomas Vanek, who is somehow only 30 despite being fairly well-traveled in the past few seasons.  He’s an offensive gem, which will help the Wild improve on their 2.43 goals per game from a season ago.

New Face:  The Predators let go of Barry Trotz as coach after last season, who was the longest-tenured coach in the league.  They brought in Peter Laviolete, who coached the Hurricanes and Flyers to the Cup finals in the 2000s.  He’s more up-tempo offensively, and it shows based on Nashville’s additions.  Olli Jokinen, Derek Roy, Mike Ribeiro, and Anton Volchenkov have all played very serviceable minutes elsewhere.  But, the possibilities for this team rest on goalie Pekka Rinne.  One of the best goalies in the world three years ago, Rinne has experienced severe hip injuries and can’t stay healthy.  The Preds will be better this year, but I still think they miss the playoffs by a bit.

Players to Watch:  Almost everyone in this division (excluding the Winnipeg roster) is worth paying attention to.  For particularly interesting cats, focus on Paul Stastny and Vladimir Tarasenko for the Blues.  Stastny comes over from Colorado and will reunite with his American Olympic teammates Backes and Oshie (who you should also watch by the way).  He’s rugged and can score, meaning the Blues just get better.  Tarasenko is also an impressive player who really played well last year (43 points in 64 games), and he’s a great option for a third line.

The Predators have James Neal now, who came over in a trade from Pittsburgh.  Neal is a proven goal-scorer (88 goals the last three seasons), but he benefitted tremendously from having Evgeni Malkin at center.  Mike Ribeiro is a deft center, but nowhere near Malkin’s level.  Neal will need to be sorta close to his old production if he wants to really affect this team.

Lastly, Nathan MacKinnon put together 63 points last year as an 18 year old.  He’s a bonafide star who will be around for a long time.  He’s easy to miss in Colorado, but shouldn’t be.

Pacific

Anaheim Ducks

Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Arizona Coyotes
Edmonton Oilers
Calgary Flames

Top Dogs:  No shock here.  The Ducks were the top team in the West, and the Kings won the Cup last season.  There’s really not much else to see at the top.  The teams are also fairly opposite in their emphasis.  The Ducks scored the most goals per game last year, while the Kings gave up the fewest. 

Soap Opera Division:  Very few folks follow hockey obviously, but San Jose has been a mess this summer.  After giving up a 3-0 series lead, the Sharks promised a change in their line-up, but instead they stood pat.  The team is choosing to go without a captain for the time being, after stripping Joe Thornton of that label.  The team also made no secret of trying to shed itself of Thornton and another former captain star, Patrick Marleau.  There’s lots of talent, and top centerman Joe Pavelski is a force, but this team might fall apart at the seams due to a leadership crisis.

Arizona wasn’t as bad, but the dismissal of Mike Ribeiro under a dark cloud was very strange.

New Layout:  The Canucks cleaned house after a dismal season last year, firing their coach, GM, and trading their longtime goalie Roberto Luongo.  Now, the Canucks bring in Ryan Miller, a goalie who is branded an elite power, despite being 21^st in save percentage since his otherworldly 2010 season.  I love the guy for his Olympic contributions that year, but Miller has not played as well as people like to imagine.  Unfortunately, Vancouver needs him to show up in 2014-15.  They lose their captain Ryan Kesler and welcome a new player in Radim Vrbata that has a chance to spur the Sedin twins after they went through a tough 2013-14.

New Name:  The Coyotes used to be the “Phoenix Coyotes,” and are now the “Arizona Coyotes.”  If you care, you already outnumber all Coyotes fans.

All kidding aside, the Coyotes have too many questions.  Oliver Ekman-Larsson is an elite defenseman, and Mike Smith has put together great stretches in goal over his career.  But losing Vrbata to the Canucks will strain Arizona to find any offensive fireworks. 

Team worth watching for the future:  I think the Calgary Flames are likely to finish pretty low this year, but there’s some serious talent here that is going relatively unnoticed.  Sean Monahan put up 34 points at age 18 last year, and the Flames bring in Boston College standout Johnny Gaudreau as another young gun.  The other area where they may really improve is goaltending, as Jonas Hiller comes over from Anaheim.  If he’s the long-term option, Calgary might surprise people. 

Players to Watch:  Ryan Kesler, the former Vancouver captain, was traded to Anaheim in the offseason.  He was beloved in Vancouver, before becoming disgruntled with his situation.  He is a former Selke trophy winner as the best two-way player in the game, and also wins a ton of face-offs (52.6 percent last year).  That first game back in Vancouver should be a doozy.

The Kings bring back almost their entire Cup-winning roster, but they would love to score a lot more during the season rather than waiting for the playoffs.  Marian Gaborik scored 30 goals in 45 games after coming to the team, so the pressure is on him to keep an offensive pace going.  Another Kings player to watch is Jonathan Quick, who is suffering from some questions about whether he’s truly an elite goalie or benefits from a great defense in front of him.

I will also keep my eye on Tomas Hertl, who burst onto the scene for San Jose last year with 25 points in 35 games before getting badly injured.  Given that San Jose seems to be looking for suitors of their old forwards, Hertl could be in for some greater workload.

Finally, the Oilers continue to toil in the wintry desert.  But, their forwards are young and interesting.  Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are top picks who should be good for a while, but we continue to wait for any real progress.  The goalies in Edmonton are the real question for this team.  Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth will likely frustrate the fantasy owners out there, but if they play well, it’s possible Edmonton hangs around in this division.

Atlantic

Boston Bruins

Tampa Bay Lightning
Montreal Canadiens
Detroit Red Wings
Ottawa Senators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Florida Panthers
Buffalo Sabres

Top Dogs:  Boston remains the class here, as they are one of the best teams in the East.  They will utilize the scoring by committee approach again, and I don’t anticipate them doing anything except rolling over this division, crunching a few heads on the way.  The Lightning lost superstar Steven Stankos for half of last season and still finished second in the division, and they have gotten better through a healthy Ben Bishop in goal and bringing Brian Boyle to serve an important grinder role on the penalty kill.  Montreal was a goalie’s legbone away from the Finals last year, and while I expect some regression due to attrition, the difference between them and the teams below is large.

Question Mark:  No one seems to know what to do with the Ottawa Senators.  Some have them as low as seventh in this league, while others have them finishing ahead of the Canadiens.  Ottawa had a tough season last year, with their goaltending regressing compared to prior playoff runs in the previous two seasons.  Erik Karlsson, a defenseman without much fanfare south of the border, is ridiculously good on the power play.  But, the Sens lost two-thirds of their top line last year, meaning it’s tough for me to predict them in anything higher than fourth.  And that’s generous, I bet they finish lower than that.

Question Mark #2:  Very few teams have questions like the Maple Leafs.  Coming within seconds of taking down the Bruins in the 2013 playoffs, the Leafs missed the playoffs last year under the weight of big contracts and bad defense.  The 256 goals let in by this team last year were fourth-worst, and they haven’t done much to really change anything.  Stephane Robidas broke his leg twice last season, and they rely on him for top minutes?  Eek.

Question Mark #3:  Thought we were done with these speculative teams?  Nope.  The Red Wings barely made the postseason last year, and enter the season relying on players who are well into their 30s.  That said, if the Olympics don’t happen last year, it’s likely Henrik Zetterberg comes back and plays more down the stretch.  He’s a key component for this team, as is goalie Jimmy Howard.  The Wings do bring back some youth movement that propelled them into last year’s playoffs.

Players to Watch:  First, Tampa Bay’s Ondrej Palat had 59 points last year and has an expanded role this season.  Have to expect him to repeat that output and then some.  I’ll also tag Gustav Nyquist on Detroit, who led the team in goals despite not playing a full season.

Bottom feeders?:  Hate to say it, but Buffalo should tank this year for the top pick if they can.  Florida will have a new goalie in Roberto Luongo who will hopefully improve after pedestrian seasons in Vancouver the last few years.  Not much to see here (maybe Aleksandr Barkov as a breakout candidate).

Metropolitan

Pittsburgh Penguins
Philadelphia Flyers
New York Rangers
Columbus Blue Jackets
Washington Capitals
New York Islanders
New Jersey Devils
Carolina Hurricanes

Top Dogs:  Some hockey enthusiasts will tell you Pittsburgh isn’t gonna be as good this year due to a change in the front office regime.  Those enthusiasts are morons.  The Penguins bring back the best stockpile of talent in the East, as you can never count out Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.  We should also mention the addition of Patric Hornqvist from Nashville, who embodies the type of player the Pens usually are able to seamlessly integrate into their attack.  I’d be remiss not to mention that despite the departure of two defensemen, the back line unit is still one of the best, particularly due to Olli Maata’s development.  He’s a shut down guy who can also be a part of the power play should it be needed.  This team continues to be scary.

Who Knows from there:  Your guess is as good as mine.  Seriously.

The Rangers will continue their model of solid defense in front of Henrik Lundqvist.  But, the Blueshirts lost Derek Dorsett and Brian Boyle, valuable fourth-line types who created massive forechecking issues for opponents last season.  I think the defense is good enough to bring them to the playoffs, but this team was better last year.

The Flyers are, I think, criminally underrated right now.  Claude Giroux may be hurt and experiencing some injury concerns, but the Philly units are, by and large, extremely solid.  The biggest concern will be in goal, where Steve Mason has not especially impressed since coming over from Columbus.  But, he’s the top goalie now.

Columbus is a trendy pick for this division, and I understand why.  They showed remarkable ability last year finishing fourth in the division and losing an entertaining first round series to the Penguins.  That said, the Jackets bring injury questions, as Nathan Horton returns from a year away and Ryan Johansen, an extremely promising young player, signed a contract only on Monday, with the season beginning this week.  Sergei Bobrovsky is a stud goalie though, and he will keep them around this season.

The Islanders will be another pick everyone likes, but I can’t seem to get on board.  John Tavares is good, as is Kyle Okposo (who put up almost a point per game last year), but the goaltending situation is worrisome.  Jaroslav Halak is not a guy I’d bank my team on, as he played below his skill level for the Caps in limited action last year.  I would not be surprised if Chad Johnson sees significant time this season backing up Halak.

The Devils are a similar bag of question marks.  Martin Brodeur no longer plays in Jersey, and Cory Schneider will be the undisputed top goalie for the first time in his career.  This team was 27^th in goals scored last year, so any improvement has to come from the offense.  Jaromir Jagr returns at age 42, meaning he’s seen ten years of Bushes in the White House since starting on the professional level.  He’s an amazing specimen, who had 67 points last year, his most since the ’07-’08 season, when everyone had written him off as done.  Around him, the Devils are stingy on defense, and have a great penalty killing unit.  But, in a weird twist, the Devils went 0-13 in shootouts last year, which directly impacted their ability to make the playoffs.

And then the Caps:  The fifth place finish I project is perhaps a spot too high.  Consider it a hometown gift, but I would be surprised if the Caps finish higher than fifth in this division.  Barry Trotz’s new system is bound to take some time to integrate, and the Caps have an intriguing lineup that any DC fan knows has an 80 percent chance of underachieving. 

When discussing the Caps, Alex Ovechkin comes up.  He has to play better on the defensive half.  He is back in his normal position now (remember Oates had moved him to right wing) so there may be greater comfort there.  He had 79 points last year, so there is obviously a contribution he will make, but unless it’s in the 100 point range, he’ll have to improve elsewhere.

The greater excitement should be for the defense, where bringing in Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik will improve this unit dramatically.  If it doesn’t, the whole offseason will have been a complete waste.  These two are the backstops for us, and they will eliminate the constant thorn for the Caps, who had rotating fifth and sixth defensemen for the past few years.

I could go on and on.  Bottom line is this: for us to play well, our top line needs to play better.  The depth I think is there (FYI, Evgeny Kuznetsov is going to be a stud this year, and will eventually be the number two center on this team).  Also, let’s put Braden Holtby on alert.  His pedestrian .915 save percentage is not good enough to put this team over the top.

Players To Watch:  I will mention Evgeny Kuznetsov again, as I wouldn’t be shocked if he fought for Rookie of the Year honors.  It will also be interesting to see how Scott Hartnell, an annual Philadelphia stalwart, fares in Columbus.  He may be just the kind of agitator they need, or he’ll flame out like Dave Bolland did in Toronto.  Thankfully, Columbus didn’t sign him, only traded for him.

I think the signing of Mikhail Grabovksi by the Isles is sneaky good.  He fought through injuries with the Caps last year, but is more than serviceable as a second center.  If he stays healthy, I think he’ll be a helpful addition.

Other than that, this division will go down to the wire.  Expect lots of fireworks and fun.