Atlantic Division Analysis

New Jersey: The first year of the CBA was a tough one for sweet Lou. Stuck with Malakhov, McGillis, and Mogiliny contracts, the GM will face some tough decisions. The re-signing of Scott Gomez and Patrick Elias was crucial but still, players like Gionta and Paul Martin are not sign yet. The Devils show a pretty balanced team and they can count on Mr. Shutdown himself: Marty Brodeur. Brodeur is the heart and soul of this team for many years, now, and I don't expect that to change. Having the best goaltender of the NHL in your net is "the edge". We will have to wait and see about the change that sweet Lou is about to make to keep his team under the cap. But still, the Devils is the team to beat in the Atlantic division largely because of their great goaltending.

Philadelphia: Primeau and Desjardins have retired and it will left a gap regarding leadership in the lockeroom. The resigning of Gagne will help the offense a lot and quite frankly, Clarke had no choice to resign him. There's no way you can be sucessful without your best goalscorer in the lineup. Like Ottawa, Philadelphia is a great regular season team but crumble in the playoffs. For a decade, Clarke failed to add a legitimate #1 goaltender who can bring his team to the next level and it's killing him year after year. Clark will have to fill the void at center and it will not be easy to do since the best free agents are gone. Snyder have express his displeasure regarding team's composition and it will be very interesting to see what will happend with Clark if things aren't going the way Snyder expect it. Still, Philadelphia is a very good team, but this year will be the same as the last one...a good regular season, but an early exit in the first or the second round due to a lack of solid goaltending.

Rangers: The addition of Brendan Shanahan will help the team, leadership and offensively wise. The Rangers will have a good offense with Jagr, Ruscinski and Straka leading the way. They produced well, last year, under the new rules and I don't expect them to stop this year. The goaltending is stable with Lundqvist and Weekes and the addition of Marek Malik will add depth to the blueline. Can the Rangers repeat their regular season success of last year? I say, Yes.

Islanders: Some people will never learn and Wang is a part of that category. He put a huge mortage on his team by signing DiPietro to a 15 years contract and fill up his front office with peoples who cannot handle the job. But do we have to be surprise since Wang keep Milbury so long behind the desk while he destroyed the team on a daily bases. The roster on the ice is still decent but off ice problems will plague the season. With a guy like Wang, everything is possible and you can expect the very worst for a team when hockey operations is controled by an owner who have an ego who make him think that he's an hockey genius. Garth Snow damage his credibility in this adventure as "ghost" GM.

Pittsburgh: A project: This team is full of talent with Crosby, Fleury and, maybe, Malkin. They have veterans to surround them but they still missing some pieces. The possible sale of the team will be a constant distraction and there's no indication that the head coach Michel Therrien will remain behind the bench all season long. Still, it will be a mistake to take the Pens too lightly and think that they will handle the 2 points graciously. A team full of young hungry wolves is always dangerous.

1- New Jersey
2- Rangers
3- Philadelphia
4- Pittsburgh
5- Islanders