Taylor Hall vs former team, Pennsylvania explosive derby: what will be the NHL East division

Oleg Shimansky

If in the Canadian Northern and warm Western divisions everything is more or less clear with leaders and outsiders, then the Eastern Division looks like the most group of death.

Here you and 3 Stanley Cup winners from the last 5 draws and the most high-profile transfers. So many intrigues are intertwined in this division that it’s hard to list everything at once: Taylor Hall against the former, the scoring top three of the founders of the league, the Rangers and the Bruins, who will be stronger this year in the explosive Pennsylvania derby, and many other obvious and not very intrigues.

Buffalo Sabers

Key changes in the off-season:

• Came Taylor Hall, Eric Staal

Buffalo wins the lottery by signing the most stellar free agent Taylor Hall. Even Jack Eichel felt freer – now part of the responsibility for the result will be removed from him and he will be able to play for his own pleasure. And as we know, for Jack, the graph of 1 point per game is not at all the limit. Let’s add here Eric Staal, a bosom friend of a yearning Jeff Skinner (potentially capable of consistently scoring 30+ goals in a season), one of the best scorers of the current Youth World Cup Dylan Cozenswho will have a chance in the top 6, and we will get a very combat-ready team.

If it weren’t for one thing… You’ll have to score points not with conditional Los Angeles, Ottawa or weakened Chicago injuries, but with formidable guys from their division. And this is where the weak point of the team comes out – the goalkeeper line. Yes, Linus Omark has been given a credit of trust, there is a fairly reliable backup in the person of Carter Hatton, but there are still doubts that these guys will be able to cope with the throws of Ovi, Pastrnak.

In defense, everything is more or less even: two Rasmus (Dalin and Ristolainen) will still be responsible for scoring on the powerplay, with Henri Jokiharju quite capable of adding to them when playing in equal lineups.

Forecast: 4th-6th place in the division and a serious fight for the playoffs

Boston Bruins

Key changes in the off-season:

• Gone Tori Krug, Zdeno Hara

The Bears have, in my opinion, the strongest top three in the league (although Colorado fans might argue). Therefore, it is not surprising that due to good chemistry the team has stable results and the best majority conversion percentage over the past 5 seasons. But one of the important cogs of the Bruins is lost – the main scorer-defender Tory Krug moved to St. Louis. The role of the first guy in the village (may the people of Boston forgive me) will now definitely pass into the hands of Charlie McAvoybut his nerves are often naughty and he can sit in the penalty box more time than spend on the court.

Jakub Zboril, Uro Vaakanainen and Jeremy Lauzon will make up for the losses of Hara and Krug. The first three in the attack really gnaw through any opponent, but there are nuances here too: Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak they underwent operations in the off-season and it is not yet clear in what condition they will approach the start. Fortunately, both are registered for the training camp, and Marchand has even been seen on the ice. The goalkeeper line is always in the top, you don’t even understand who is number one – Tuuka Rask or Yaroslav Galak. In general, Bruce Cassidy’s healthy players should be killing intrigue in this division and fighting for at least the Conference Finals.

Forecast: 1st place in the division and advance to the playoffs

Washington Capitals

Key changes in the off-season:

• Came coach Peter Laviolette, Zdeno Hara, Justin Schultz
• Braden Holtby is gone

As always, before the start of the season, the capital team is automatically recorded as a contender for the Stanley Cup, despite the older leaders. But if you have a team:

1. still rents an office in the left faceoff circle Alexander Ovechkin;
2. hands out assists with eyes closed Niklas Backstrom;
3. flies around the site Evgeny Kuznetsov;
4. and with all this, the best scorer of the team plays in defense John Carlson

it’s really somehow hard to believe that these guys can fly past the playoffs.

It seemed that the team in the off-season was framed by his heart affairs by the newcomer “king” Henrik Lundqvist (he will have to miss the season due to heart surgery), but another peppy veteran Craig Anderson from Ottawa was immediately discharged for safety net.

In any case, Ilya Samsonov will start as the main goaltender, and this is perhaps the most important moment for the fans of the Capitals: will he cope with the role of the first number after the departure of Braden Holtby. And, of course, aggressive Laviolette style: how much physics is enough for the aging team leaders and whether fresh blood in the person of Connor McMichael will get a chance.

Forecast: 2nd place in the division and advance to the playoffs.

New Jersey Devils

Key changes in the off-season:

• Cory Schneider is gone
• Corey Crawford, Dmitry Kulikov, Ryan Murray and Andreas Jonsson came

I would not count on the fight for the playoffs this year, the lack of stars and balance is unlikely to allow the team to take a place higher than seventh. It will be interesting to see the progress Jack Hughesthe new role of attack leader and powerplay for Nikita Gusevand as a two-time Stanley Cup winner with Chicago, Corey Crawford will be raising the “wood brothers” (or “forest brothers,” as you prefer) Blackwood and Wedgwood.

The defense received an extra boost from the signing of Kulikov and Murray, Devils fans believe that PK Subban will find his productive game again.

Forecast: 7th-8th in division and missed playoffs

New York Islanders

Key changes in the off-season:

• Devon Toews gone, Johnny Boychuk retired
• Ilya Sorokin came

The main star of the islanders is, however strange it may sound, Barry Trotz. The coach who made Ovechkin truly great, leading him to the Stanley Cup, will work with the Islanders for the third consecutive season. We already saw what the team is capable of in the regular season and playoffs last season, this time we should expect the continuation of the banquet. The smooth play of all links, a small number of goals conceded, a strong goalie line – this is all about the current Ailes.

In attack, everyone scores points, but a little more brigade from Lie-Eberle-Bovillier-Bailey-Nelson-Barzela. By the way, it would not hurt to sign the latter before the start of the season (while he is without a contract), Matthew is too good. Losses in defense are offset by the 18th pick in the 2018 draft Noah Dobson.

Forecast: 3rd place in the division and advance to the playoffs.

New York Rangers

Key changes in the off-season:

• Jesper Fast is gone
• Alexis Lafrenier has arrived

Such a division has already crept up that in many teams the Russian guys will be responsible for the result. This year, the Rangers will be responsible for the result will fall on the most expensive striker Artemy Panarin and a new first team number Igor Shesterkin. Yes, the halo of glory of King Henrik will hover in Madison Square Garden for a long time, but Igor is quite capable of producing results now.

Looking at the composition of the fives, there is a feeling that we will be watching the most interesting team of the coming years. Cheerful couple Panarin /Mika Zibanejad (third in the league in terms of total points after McDavid/Dreizatl and Marchand/Pastrnak), version Kaapo Kakko 2.0, another next-generation Alexis Lafrenier (by the way, both by age could still participate in the current youth world championship), the leader of the defense Tony DeAngelo – in short, the Rangers matches will not be bored. The team is young, provocative, but reaching the playoffs is a big question – the last Stanley Cup showed that the Rangers lacked fighting spirit.

Forecast: 7th-8th place in the division, crazy performance and flying past the playoffs

Pittsburgh Penguins

Key changes in the off-season: y

• Gone Matt Murray, Justin Schultz, Patrick Hornquist
• Came Kasperi Kapanen, Mike Matheson

The Penguins’ refusal to continue working with Matt Murrem looks like a gamble, because they will start the season with a goaltending pair of Jerry DeSmit. But, if you look closely at the results of recent years, it becomes clear that Matt needs a reboot. Pittsburgh is ranked among the contenders every year and this is absolutely rightly justified by the presence of Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Progressing well lately Jake Günzel (in general, there is a feeling that Germany is already the top team in terms of the names of the players represented in the NHL + 3 draft number Stutzel). The Penguins need to play their best hockey against Philadelphia, Buffalo and New York, in which case the playoff chances are pretty high.

The loss of Justin Schultz is quite recoverable one of the best blue-liners in the world presently Chris Letang. We will separately monitor the health of the leaders: in recent seasons, the losses of Crosby and Letang have always had a negative impact on the results of the team.

Forecast: 4th-6th place in the division and a serious fight for the playoffs

Philadelphia Flyers

Key changes in the off-season:

• Matt Niskanen retired
• Erik Gustafsson has arrived

Philadelphia under Alain Vigno looks very nice. Distribution of responsibilities across all threes, good game in attack and defense predetermined a high place at the end of last season. But most of the players’ lack of cup experience and the Islanders’ excellent play prevented the Pilots from achieving more than the second round of the Stanley Cup. For this season, the backbone of the team has been preserved, experienced Eric Gustafsson has been added and there are all the prerequisites for at least a fight for 3rd-4th place.

I would like to improve the percentage of implementation of the majority (in the series with the islanders it was 0 out of 13), for this you need to remember your bombarding exploits Claude Giroud, James Van Riemsdyke, Sean Couturier and Yakub Voracek. It is interesting to see how Nolan Patrick, who missed season 2 draft pick, returns to action, whether he becomes a full-fledged defense leader Ivan Provorov. What you definitely don’t need to worry about is the goalkeeper’s line in the face Carter Hart and his replacement Brian Elliott, these guys are able to bring more than 5 shutouts even in this difficult division.

Forecast: 4th-6th place in the division and a serious struggle for the playoffs.