Northeast Division Preview

With all due respect to the Southeast division, generally the weakest, there should be at least hope for two teams to make the playoffs, up from one last year. This season the Northeast division will also have two teams make the playoffs, down from four a year ago.

Ottawa Senators – The Senators have essentially the same core they have had for the past couple of years (Captain Daniel Alfredsson, Martin Havlat and Marian Hossa and Radek Bonk up front, with Wade Redden and Chris Phillips on the back end, and Patrick Lalime in goal). However, they have lost a few role players in Benoit Brunet, Bill Muckalt, and Juha Ylonen.

On Defense, Zdeno Chara has started to play up to his size after a slow start to his playing career on Long Island. Sami Salo will continue to be the point man on the powerplay, and Cutris Leschyshyn continues to throw his body in front of every shot directed at Patrick Lalime. Youngsters Shane Hnidy and Joel Kwiatkowski will be given the chance to earn as much playing time as they can handle, but if big Chara goes down for any length of time, it could mean trouble, especially in front of Lalime and his backup, Jani Hurme.

The offense will again centre around the core group of Senators who had good seasons last year. Alfredsson, Bonk, Hossa and Havlat will carry the bulk of the load, and much touted prospect Jason Spezza will be expected to have the regular fourth line centre’s spot. Look for him to get a promotion to the third line, or for 15-goal man Mike Fisher to be moved from centre to the right wing, allowing the two to play together.

The Senators are a stable team this year, and if Magnus Arvedsson sheds the moniker of underachiever, they could be dangerous. This team should be able improve on last years 94 points, and is my pick to finish first in the Northeast with 96-99 points (It pains me as a Leaf fan to say that).

Toronto Maple Leafs – This is a big transitional year for the Leafs. Curtis Joseph is gone, replaced by Ed Belfour, and rock-hard defenseman Dimitry Yushkevitch has been moved in favour of Robert Svehla. While both moves could be seen as attempting to tread water, what is more likely is that the Leafs’ numbers will sink below their hundred points last year.

The defense, with the subtraction of Yushkevitch, will be lead by the top four of Bryan McCabe, Tomas Kaberle (who will finish third in the NHL in points from defensemen this year), the newly acquired Svehla and the still-developing Karel Pilar. Aki Berg and Jyrki Lumme will finish off the top six, with kids Jay Harrison and Petr Svoboda looking for the seventh spot, along with Anders Eriksson.

Unlike their Ontario cousins in Ottawa, the Leafs only have three players who remain from their team at the turn of the century. Of those three, Mats Sundin should be able to put up the same numbers he has in the past. Alyn McCauley really picked up his game in the playoffs and the second-line centre spot is his to lose. Unfortunately, coach and GM Pat Quinn refuses to jettison Jonas Hoglund, instead letting him take a top spot on Sundin’s line, which could be better used if given to three other players on the leafs roster.

The outlook for the Leafs is grim this year. If lucky, they may squeak into the playoffs. If unlucky, Gary Roberts, heart and soul in the playoffs, will be out until March, instead of the predicted all-star break recovery expected after double shoulder surgery. Belfour and Trevor Kidd both expect to get a good number of games this season, and their egos could clash badly on a team already in a fragile state. The Leafs should get between 88 and 92 points this year.

Boston Bruins – All is not all right in Beantown. The Bruins, due to their stance of not signing anyone to big contracts, lost 41 goal man Bill Guerin to Dallas and last year’s starting goalie Byron Dafoe goes unsigned, replaced by the up and down Steve Shields.

Their D, however, is solid, if not too fleet of foot group. Hal Gill will resume the clearing of the crease duties, but there is nobody who can really lead the Bruins powerplay from the back-end. Glen Murray can’t do everything for this team. Having forwards like Brian Rolston and Michal Grosek should help somewhat with the defensive coverage in their own zone, which was what sank the Bruins in their first round loss to Montreal.

On offense, Joe Thornton and Sergei Samsonov are bright spots, but Glen Murray will not be able to break 41 goals like he had last year. 30, however, is definitely not an unattainable goal when working on a line with Jozef Stumpel. Martin Lapointe has to prove the contract he signed was worth the paper it was printed on, and defensive forward Brian Rolston has to continue to light it up on the penalty kill.

The Bruins, like the Leafs, are on a downward slope and should get between 88 and 94 points narrowly missing or making the playoffs.

Montreal Canadiens – This is a team with two players (Saku Koivu and Jose Theodore) and little else. Randy McKay should help with depth on the team, but its leading scorer, Yannick Perreault only notched 56 points.

The defensive core is unheralded, mostly because of Theodore’s heroics last season. However, the Habs are looking to shop oft-injured Jeff Hackett to both make room for up-and-comer Mathieu Garon, and because they think they can get a 3rd or 4th defenseman in return. Rookie Ron Hainsey will have to fight for a spot, and if he sticks to the roster, should be able to add a bit of an offensive dimension to the Canadiens blueline.

If Saku Koivu can keep the form he had in the playoffs, things are looking bright for Montreal. Mariusz Czerkawski will help on the second line to the right of veteran presence Doug Gilmour. Donald Audette, whose lacerated arm caused him to miss nearly 50 games last season should give the offense a much-needed boost. There are also several young players in the Habs’ farm system in Marcell Hossa, Mike Ribeiro and Eric Chouinard who can step up into the breach if the Injuries mount, like they have for the Canadiens in the past.

The Canadiens should miss the playoffs, with between 84 and 88 points.

Buffalo Sabres – The Sabres are the whipping boys of this division, and with good reason: they have one legitimate scoring threat in Miroslav Satan. Tim Connoly hasn’t matured yet into the player people thought he would become, but Maxim Afigenov may rise on this team.

The defense in front of Martin Biron is experienced and solid. They have the right combination of size and speed, but cannot be counted to put up points in any significant fashion. The Sabres were the third-best defensive team in the East last season and there is no reason that trend shouldn’t continue.

The Sabres actually did have four 20-goal scorers last season, but only Afigenov and Satan can be assured of reaching that number again. Curtis Brown and J.P. Dumont are simply too unpredictable as players, and the same goes for Chris Gratton, who can’t seem to put up good numbers two years in a row. There is little help on the way from the farm, but a trade involving one of the Sabres crop of good, young goalies could provide a 20-scorer who is somewhat dependable. The Sabres should get between 76 and 82 points, finishing up the Northeast division.