The NHL this season has been fascinating to watch both on and off the ice. It has featured Top Heavy Teams and ones that should be thinking about their long term future. What do we have in store for the East and Central Divisions?
Boston Bruins: Well it appears that the 1 year move to the East division was a bad idea for the Bruins. They haven’t had the easy schedule of Atlantic this season but are still in a good position to make the playoffs, right? Well Boston hasn’t made it easy on themselves. Aside from Pastrnak, Marchand, and Bergeron they have been inconsistent across the board. Tuukka Rask hasn’t been the same since last summer, and the middle 6 has been rough. Then they went out and got one of the bigger names on the market in Taylor Hall! (He finally is on a real team for once!) Well they have a rough stretch coming up against a few division rivals. If they win a majority of those games they should be in cruise control. Good luck!
Buffalo Sabres: This team has overtaken the Ottawa Senators as the most pathetic franchise in the NHL. (Dear God!) This is a team that tries everything they can to win in terms of bringing in players, coaches, and front office guys and they’re still in the basement is fascinating. Well I can say that having perhaps the hardest schedule in the NHL plus severe weaknesses in their power play are’t perhaps their biggest issues. I think it’s the Pegulas, they need to let the hockey guys do the things that are necessary to win. (It has so far worked for them with the Bills.) Not to mention Taylor Hall feels like he never left New Jersey at all and the Jeff Skinner contract is perhaps the worst in all of hockey. You know what I find out to be insane, they always seem to play well against the Flyers yet stink against everyone else in the East! (This is coming from a Flyers fan.) At least they can tank right? (YoYo Sound) Sorry, their 1st Round pick is in the hands of the Minnesota Wild thanks to the Eric Staal trade! Have fun being trapped boys!
New Jersey Devils: This is where I expected them to be in, not good, not bad. Just mediocrity. The Devils at least have some promising players that are starting to emerge onto the scene. Jack Hughes has played up to the expectations as a former #1 overall pick, and Pavel Zacha has also blossomed into a potential franchise Center. There has to be some problem right? Simply the power play Nikita Gusev has been cooked throughout the season and PK Subban being a puck hog. Every time he is on the ice Subban has been telling his teammates “Just give me the damn puck!” (Are you trying to be Keyshawn Johnson PK?) Well having a plus/minus rate at -13 won’t solve your problems buddy. They won’t make the playoffs but at least they have plenty of cap space next year to make a few moves.
New York Islanders: I have mixed feelings for this squad. When they are playing at their best they have a solid chance to make it to the Cup Finals, if they aren’t the offense goes ice cold and they have to be bailed out by Barry Trotz’s scheme. For a team trying to make a deep Cup run they will need all hands on deck if they want to get past the Capitals and Pens. Losing Andres Lee long term is going to hurt especially if they don’t win the division. They are going to need plenty of things to go their way. I think the Eggman is up to the task.
New York Rangers: When I look at these guys closely I see a young, hungry and exciting team ready to bust out in some cases. If not they’re mediocre. Despite his off-ice acts Artemi Panerin is still leading the charge (He was accused of a ridiculously inappropriate act that occurred when he was with the Blackhawks) and now that Kris Krider is back to full strength they at least have a chance at making the playoffs. To me the biggest problem for them is goaltending and defense, two key elements to succeed in the NHL. Hopefully the drama of what has been happening on and off the ice I feel like this is a typical story in the life of James Dolan. (At least the other team he owns is a playoff contender for the first time in almost a decade.) I don’t understand how the coaching staff can feed off of this.
Philadelphia Flyers: Just like last year the Flyers have been the tale of 2 teams. The 1st team has had plenty of drama consuming them whole, having to deal with the hardest division in hockey, and giving up the most goals in a month by a non-expansion team in NHL History. The 2nd Team hasn’t showed up yet but like last year they are one hot streak away from breaking out into their true potential. To do so, they need Carter Hart to snap out of the funk he has been in, and they need Sean Couturier and Ivan Proverov to overcome mid-season injuries. To me it feels like the trade deadline will define their season. I hope for my sake they make the playoffs only to get crushed by the big guns in their division. It’s as if Ron and Dave Hekstall never left this team at all. (Chuck Fletcher is falling into the same traps that doomed him in Minnesota!) How can you beat the Bruins yet get exposed by the Sabres the very next day? Just asking.
Pittsburgh Penguins: This is the typical Penguins season. Doubts surrounding the future of the team, their division is stacked, Crosby and Malkin are in their early 30s, and what are they going to do without Matt Murray? How have they responded? By putting up the usual standards of being near the top of their division. Even if Evgeni Malkin has been a bit off this season the 1st line has produced in bunches. Tristan Jari has been a mystery box in net at times but still has the Vezina Caliber potential. But to me the main concern is that they for the last 3 years have had one of the slowest defenses in all of hockey. It may not be a problem now but in the playoffs it will be an issue because of what has happened the past few years. Not only that but they finally freed themselves from Jim Rutherford, a GM that had some of his awful moves that he has made over the past few years that had held this team back. Then they replaced him BRIAN BURKE AND RON HEKSTALL! HAHAHAHAHA! (This team will be filled with North American studs in no time!)
Washington Capitals: Like the Pens this is another team that refuses to throw in the towel at its championship window. With Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Kuznetsov doing their usual antics on the power play the Caps boast some of the best offensive talent in the East. (As usual!) At least they have avoided the “Steamed Caps” narrative unlike last year when Ovi was shooting for goal #700. Now with TJ Oshie and John Carlson not too far behind in the point department. If they are going to do anything in the postseason they will need the goaltending to step up and Peter Laviolette not to fall into the same traps as he did in Nashville and Todd Reirden before him. At least there is no such thing as the 2nd Round hangover with the recent success but don’t have the 1st Round narrative come up in the future.
The East has been a total bloodbath as expected but if you look at the Central, it is very interesting since there have been a few shockwaves that have occurred. Carry on.
Carolina Hurricanes: The Brass Bonanza is back in session! A young, hungry and exciting roster has finally broken out into their full potential. Now that Dougie Hamilton has been healthy the defense isn’t as bad as it was last year, and on offense Sebastian Aho still leads the charge but this year there have been several other key players that have dominated as well. Examples: Vincent Trocheck and Jake Slavin, both of them are producing in bunches. To me I wonder what they will do when it comes to their starting goalie. Peter Mrazek, and James Reimer have been injured all year, but they have gotten a surprise breakout in Alex Nodeljkovic. If I am their coaching staff I keep in the guy who has the hot hand until he falls off. Hopefully he can do that.
Chicago Blackhawks: This team has clearly no true direction. When they try to win they self-destruct at the end of the season and miss out on a playoff spot. When they try to tank they turn back the clock to 2013. This is the 2018 LA Kings on steroids. You know what is insane, they have been doing this without Jonathan Toews. As long as Patrick Kane is in his prime the Blackhawks are in good hands. What I also find out to be expected about this team besides Kane’s strong play is that the young depth has emerged as well. Alex DeBrincat has transformed his game and has become a potential franchise cornerstone, and Dylan Strome is about to be in his prime. The one thing that I have found to be amazing about this squad is that they replaced Corey Crawford so quickly. I thought it would be Malcolm Subban but he has had a bad year, instead Meet the new demigod in net in Kevin Lankinen! I know they probably will get their butts kicked again in the playoffs but at least they’re on the right track in terms of future plans. (Just don’t mess it up Bowman!)
Columbus Blue Jackets: The Jackets at the beginning of the season looked like they would be a dark horse Cup contender. Now they are fighting to save their playoff hopes. At the very least they got rid of the cancer known as Pierre Luc-Dubois and replaced him with Patrick Laine who hasn’t been the game changer that everyone thought he would be. In this case Columbus is trying to avoid Mount Tortorella erupting on their slim playoff hopes but to maintain the respect of their local media they will need to make the playoffs in every form there is. At least they are healthy unlike last year.
Dallas Stars: Well at least they are trying to produce with who they have. Losing Tyler Seguin and Ben Bishop was going to be tough to overcome, but other than Joe Pavelski and a few others the offense has returned to being slow and uninspiring. How are they going to make it back to the playoffs with the struggles following a massive COVID outbreak. Considering that they don’t have the talent like last year to make noise it will be very hard to get past Nashville and Chicago in the standings. Hopefully I’m wrong about them. The Stanley Cup Hangover NEVER DIES!
Detroit Red Wings: The tanks are rolling just as much as last year! Even if more and more of the bad contracts that the team was locked into during the Ken Holland era are gone it still has been a disaster of a season for the Red Wings. At least Yzerman is doing a good job in terms of draft decisions. (He is in the same situation that he was in when he first got to Tampa Bay.)
Florida Panthers: Miami is once again blessed with another team that has championship potential. Are we sure that the state of Florida is not running the sports world. This team reminds me a lot of the 2010 Blackhawks. A team with a 2 headed monster in net, speed and youth emerging, plus the big guns on offense having sensational seasons. I wonder what these 2 teams have in common? Oh right, Coach Q! In just 2 years he has taken a franchise with no hope and mediocrity and turned them into a Cup contender. Even if the Sergei Bobrovsky contract looks like a Phil Kessel type black hole they have a strong future if they continue to play up to their potential. With Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov doing their usual antics the Panthers may have the most underrated Top 6 in the NHL. But how will it stack up come playoff time. Just don’t recruit the nerds unlike you did after the 2016 season.
Nashville Predators: What a stunning revelation! Early in this season the Predators were in huge trouble with star players with massive contracts not living up to expectations and Pekka Rinne reaching the end of his prime. Then in March, the rest of the team turned back the clock to 2017 and have returned to being the force they were a few years ago. Fillip Forsburg and Matt Duchane have overcome slow starts but each of them have produced in bunches. CRACK that is until both of them suffered the injury bug. Not to mention the defense isn’t as bad as it was in the playoffs the last 2 years. If they somehow get Jack Eichel I am going to lose my mind. Scratch that, Eichel is out for the season so that’s why they didn’t trade for him. Other than that it should be interesting to see how far they go. (I thought they were done but here we are, they’re back in contention.)
Tampa Bay Lightning: Even with Nikita Kucherov out long term and Steven Stamkos looking invisible at times, the Lightning are trying to prove that last year’s run to the Cup was no fluke. To me there are 2 types of goalies this season. Andrei Vasilevskiy and EVERYONE ELSE! What he has done this year is transform his game to another dimension. No longer will he have to hear the theories of choking he and the rest of this star filled team can be as loose as ever. As long as their high paid players produce as expected they won’t have to worry about Cap Hell this offseason.
Honestly the playoff race in these 2 divisions will be as close as ever. There are several teams that don’t deserve to be anywhere near the playoffs but this is why they play the games folks. Sorry it took me so long to put this out. At least we will have some interesting storylines over the next few weeks with the trade deadline and the final 15 games. Watch out everyone!
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