DHL Y29 East Preview
- Updated: April 9, 2020
There were quite a few teams making moves in the East this offseason, today we will look and see how they stack up against eachother.
1st – Buffalo
Adam has truly done a great job rebuilding the Sabres. Adding a franchise player in Matthews and an elite tendy in Andersen. Add in the fact that Adam’s team has a ton of depth and this is a true contender.
2nd – Washington
To me there are 3 teams that all have a legit shot to win the Orr division to get 2nd in the east. I gave the edge to Washington as they have a good amount of firepower with Bergeron, Carlson, Kucherov, Tarasenko and Giroux while also having a good netminder in Greiss.
3rd – Toronto
To me Toronto is the 2nd best team in the east, but with them and Buffalo(my first place team) in the same division Toronto falls to 3rd. Toronto arguably has the most talented roster in the east, so why place them at 3rd? Their goaltending is what’s going to pose an issue. Bobrovsky is by no means a garbage goalie, but he’s not a top end starter either. Toronto could easily take 1st place but it all depends on if Bobrovsky can outperform his sub-par ratings.
4th – Montreal
At this point a lot of teams either have a couple star players and no depth, or a lot of depth but no star players, so these rankings could be wayyyy off come the end of the season. Montreal was shopping a lot of their guys this offseason as they appear to be in the retooling stage. Despite this they still have a pretty good roster. What breaks them apart from the rest is that their roster is a solid two-way kind of roster and along with that have one of the best goalies in the league in Ben Bishop. Really good netminders are tough to find and Montreal has one of, if not the best goalie in the league.
5th – New Jersey
The Devils are a wild card in my opinion. They could push for the top spot in the east potentially, but with a lot of these rankings this really depends on the goalie. Halak has some good core stats but not a ton of EN. Surrounding Halak though are names such as Forsberg, Josi, Hertl, Wilson, Couturier and some guy named Leon Draisatil. This team is the true dark horse of the east. If Halak can catch fire at the right time these guys could win a cup.
6th – Boston
Juliet has done a great job putting the Bruins back together after they got embarrassed by the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs a couple of seasons ago and went into hiding. The Bruins have reemerged with a solid roster containing the likes of Tavares, Landeskog, and Petry leading the way. This team doesn’t contain a ton of star power nor an insane amount of depth so Boston might not be a “true contender” this year, but the best years are likely ahead of them, until Tavares leaves Boston to go south to play with Tampa of course.
7th – Florida
Rich’s team isn’t going to blow anyone away with their ability to score, but they will be frustrating to score on. Lehner is among the best goalies in the league and has Doughty and Suter in front of him. Add in one of the most defensively responsible forward groups in the league and they will make teams pull their hair out trying to score. Knowing Rich he’s probably got a couple of guys already lined up to help him with his potential offensive woes. Zucc is available Rich, just saying.
8th – Pittsburgh
Fuck I had a hard time placing Pittsburgh. Mack, Seguin, Marchand, Getzlaf and Krug are going to pile in the points, the real question is can they keep the puck out of their own net? Howard is arguably a better starter than Toronto’s Bobrovsky, only difference is Alex’s Leafs have a ton of depth and have a solid defensive group. This team’s playoff hopes ride on Howard not having a mental breakdown in nets.
9th – Ottawa
I really hate putting the back to back champs here and I know I’m going to look like an idiot. Shane’s team is like Rich’s team almost with a solid defensive group with some possible scoring issues but good depth. Unlike Florida though Ottawa doesn’t have Lehner to bail them out. Khudobin has some solid core stats but like Halak doesn’t have a ton of EN. I shouldn’t doubt a back to back champ though and will wait as Ottawa makes me look dumb. 6th place to 9th place in the east should be a battle all year.
10th – Winnipeg
Winnipeg is in a weird spot. They are not bad but at the same time not good. It is a solid group and could push for a spot but the lack of a true leader and a true starting netminder will hurt them. This team could fly under the radar and snag a low seed in the east but Yeo and his group will have to battle hard every night to accomplish this.
11th – Islanders
Matt Duchene will help this team win more than they would like to. Please keep Duchene the whole year so you can stay ahead of me, I’ll send you a $10 Harvey’s gift card, maybe, I’m kinda poor right now so can’t afford too much.
12th – Tampa
Svechnikov. That is all.
13th – Rangers
An actually capable goalie will prevent them from being the worst in the east. Solid future ahead for them.
14th – Philly
Another team with a solid future. A couple of better players than the Rangers but their goalies couldn’t stop a beach ball.
15th – Carolina
The hurricanes win the award for being the doormat of the east this year. A solid future ahead but boy is this going to be a rough year for whomever their starter is. Godspeed canes.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login