The first couple weeks of October are underrated. They don't get nearly enough credit for being among the best in sports, which they should. Consider: the NFL regular season is just starting to heat up, the baseball playoffs are about to get going, and it's also opening week in the NHL.
Hockey normally gets lost in the mix there, especially considering they handed out the Stanley Cup in mid-June, which was only three-and-a-half months ago (and that short period of time still wasn't enough to keep Patrick Kane out of trouble). But here we are, ready to embark upon another eight month NHL adventure. If they follow the cycle, this should be the LA Kings' year to win the Cup (I'd like to take this chance to give the Cardinals an early congratulations on their mandatory odd-year NL pennant), but the Kings didn't even make the playoffs last season and are one of just a handful of good teams in the NHL.
More on the Kings and the rest of the Western Conference tomorrow. Today we focus on the East, which proves just how deep the NHL is right now. Take the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers won the President's Trophy last season and have legitimate Cup aspirations. So do the Islanders. And the Penguins. And the Capitals. And the Blue Jackets are better. And so are the Flyers. At least one of those teams won't even make the playoffs.
That's just the Met. The Atlantic's got defending conference champion Tampa Bay, a chic Stanley Cup pick. But that's only if they can get by a Montreal team that should be just as formidable as its been over the past couple years. And a rejuvenated Boston Bruins team. And a Red Wings squad that always finds a way into the playoffs. Buffalo, meanwhile, isn't going to be any good, but plenty of people will be watching the Sabres because of Jack Eichel.
Since I was just talking about the Atlantic, let's start there. I agree with the experts that Tampa Bay might be the best and deepest team in the East. Everything went right for the Lightning last year. Until they ran into the Blackhawks in the Finals. Well, they're gonna be very tough to beat again. We've only just seen the tip of the sword when it comes to Ben Bishop in goal. His health will be key, though. He was hurt in the playoffs two years ago and they got swept in the first round by Boston. Regardless, the Lightning should finish among the top three in the division and get into the playoffs, which is really all that matters. Like the Blackhawks last year, it doesn't matter where they end up getting seeded. You're not gonna want to face them.
I'm picking Montreal and Boston to grab the other two guaranteed playoff spots out of the division. The Canadiens have more talent than they know what to do with, and Carey Price is the best goalie on the planet. It's been 23 years since they last won the Cup, which is the last title by any Canadian team. If that drought's going to end, it'll be Montreal that does it. Boston, meanwhile, will rebound after missing the playoffs in 2014-15. Injuries and poor decisions are what cost the Bruins late last year. But that afforded their veterans some extra rest that could pay dividends late in this season.
In one of the biggest moves of the offseason, Detroit Head Coach Mike Babcock left for Toronto. So what did the Red Wings do? Naturally, they promoted their AHL head coach to the big league team. That team is like the Patriots in their annoying consistency. They always find a way. Will it lead them back to the playoffs? Most likely, but it'll be a grind. As for Toronto, hiring Babcock was a step in the right direction. The Leafs will be significantly better this season. It might not result in a playoff spot just yet, but give it a year or two. What I am sure of is that they'll at least be in the playoff conversation, which is more than you've been able to say about Toronto in the last decade or so.
Ottawa is just a tick below the other five teams. The Senators definitely have a chance to be a spoiler, though. Florida, meanwhile, is rumored to be a candidate for relocation to Quebec. This is a far cry from the Panthers team that won the Southeast Division a couple years ago. I feel bad for Roberto Luongo. I'm not even sure the Panthers will finish ahead of the Sabres. And like I said, Buffalo's at least going to be a draw with Eichel. Build a team around him, and you've got a good-looking future.
Picking a favorite in the Metropolitan Division is a whole different matter. Other than the Devils and Hurricanes, I can see each of the other six teams in the playoffs...but at least one definitely won't be. There are Stanley Cup aspirations abounding, and getting out of the Met might be one of the hardest tasks in hockey. Some might say it's the Central, but I'll go with the Met as the best division in the league.
After reaching the Finals in 2014, the Rangers backed it up by winning the President's Trophy last season. Unfortunately, they ran into the Lightning, the worst possible matchup for them, in the Eastern Conference Finals, although the loss might've been a good thing considering the injuries the Rangers played through in that series. All signs point to no letdown for Alain Vigneault's Blueshirts in 2015-16. It's tough to call in a division where the teams are thisclose, but having the best goalie in Henrik Lundqvist gives the Rangers the slightest of edges.
Meanwhile, the rival Islanders make the move from Nassau Coliseum to Barclays Center and hope they can get Brooklyn to embrace hockey (which doesn't seem likely). They've got the team to do it. They're young and they're good. Last season wasn't a fluke. It was the start of something. And getting out of that dump was a good thing.
As for Pittsburgh, Marc-Andre Fleury is starting to become a liability. For all the Penguins' offensive fireworks, their issues in goal are preventing them from being truly great. Everybody's on to the Penguins, who are a little overrated. Crosby and Malkin are good, but not as good as they think they are, and they have no supporting cast. Pittsburgh's the third-best team in this division at best. Maybe even fourth. That really depends on which version of the Capitals show up. Will it be the incredibly disappointing 2013-14 team or last year's edition that gave the Rangers all they could handle in the playoffs? They're counting on it being the latter. They've added some more scorers to complement Alex Ovechkin, who's desperate to actually win something before his career's over. And they finally have a competent goalie in Braden Holtby.
Deciding between the Blue Jackets and Flyers for fifth place and potentially grabbing that last wild card spot is incredibly tough, but I think Columbus is slightly stronger. The Blue Jackets added Brandon Saad to an offense that already included Ryan Johansen, Nick Foligno and Brandon Dubinsky. They also have Sergei Bobrovsky, who was an All-Star last season, anchoring the goal. This is a good, young team that was derailed by injuries more than anything else last year. Should they stay healthy, Columbus will be a team you don't want to play. And could be a real sleeper.
For the Flyers, Claude Giroux and Sean Coutourier are beasts, but the main concern, as usual, is in goal. They might need to rely on outscoring you. The Devils are in complete rebuilding mode, while Carolina is simply stuck in the wrong division. If they weren't in the Met, the Hurricanes would definitely have a chance to challenge for a playoff spot. I just can't envision them finishing ahead of four of these seven teams, though.
So, my playoff picks out of the Atlantic are Tampa Bay, Montreal and Boston. From the Metropolitan, it's the Rangers, Islanders and Penguins. With the wild cards both going to the Met: Washington and Columbus, ending Detroit's 24-year playoff streak. Out of those eight teams, you really could pick a name out of a hat to choose a Stanley Cup finalist. They're all that good. But if you held a gun to my head and made me pick someone, I'll say the Rangers beat the Canadiens in the conference finals.
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