[TylerDCA]

The top 10 teams in the league last year were (by points):

1 Vancouver
2 Washington
3 Philadelphia
4 Pittsburgh
5 San Jose
6 Detroit
7 Boston
8 Tampa Bay
9 Anaheim
10 Nashville

Which one can you see missing the playoffs this year?

I will make a case for why each team may miss:

1. Vancouver - Hamhuis has battled injuries, Ehrhoff left, there will be more pressure than ever on Luongo
2. Washington - Hard to fault the Caps. Got a goalie, Ovechkin should bounce back, Carlson and Alzner should be better.
3. Philadelphia - Can they gel? There has been a massive change, with 2 core players leaving in Richards and Carter, a new goalie, and an aging defense. They also lost Leino and Versteeg, but picked up an aging Jagr and a feisty Max Talbot.
4. Pittsburg - The health of Crosby and Malkin is the biggest question of all. Crosby, Malkin and Staal played in the same game less than 10 times last year.
5. San Jose - More massive change, with the departure of Heatley and Setoguchi, and the addition of Burns and Havlat.
6. Detroit - With Rafalski gone and Lidstrom a year older is this the year that they falter?
7. Boston - Lost Ryder and Recchi, and swapped Kaberle for Corvo. You have to think with the core in place and Seguin getting better that they will remain strong.
8. Tampa Bay - The team is largely unchanged. The biggest question is whether they vintage Roloson can continue his strong play.
9. Will Hiller's health be an issue? Can Perry repeat his incredible season?
10. Nashville - The core of the team is still on defense and all are returning.

 

[esuhock22]

I don't really see any of these teams missing the playoffs, but if I had to guess I'd say either Philly or Tampa from the East and Anaheim from the West.

 

[SabresFan101]

Tampa and Nashville..but Nashville has a better chance of not making the playoffs.

 

[MadDevil]

I also think either Philadelphia or Tampa Bay. I don't see how you can trade two proven top six centers and consider yourself as good as you were before. Plus Pronger's health is a question mark. And Tampa, I'm just not sold on their goaltending. Roloson was good last year, but he turns 42 in October, and Garon isn't the most reliable backup plan.

 

[charlio lemieux]

Which one can you see missing the playoffs this year?


6. Detroit - With Rafalski gone and Lidstrom a year older is this the year that they falter?

Sooner or later the bubble has to burst.
I'm more inclined to think they haven't fallen back quite as much as the rest of the West has potentially caught up.

Division:
Chicago, should be much better not suffering a SC hangover. I see them as Div. Winners.
Columbus should be a bit tougher to put away with Carter and NAsh as opposed to just Nash. If Brassard and some of the other young talent step up they might make some noise.
St. Louis is a bit of a question mark to me. IS MacDonald a 70pt guy if healthy this year? Is Stewart a 35g powerforward? Boyes, Steen, Pietrangelo, Halak, the list of question marks goes on. Should they catch lightning in a bottle, they will be hell to play against any given night.
Nashville is always tough to play against. They need scoring, but everyone always says that.

Bottom line is that if Detroit has another bad bout of the injury bug the teams in their own division are better equiped to hand them a loss. Finishing 3rd in their Division could see them on the outside looking in in April.

 

[teylward]

As above I think they should all make the playoffs, but if I had to choose I'd go Nashville or Tampa. I think Philly will only just make it in, but won't last long in the playoffs.

 

[SabresFan101]

I also think either Philadelphia or Tampa Bay. I don't see how you can trade two proven top six centers and consider yourself as good as you were before. Plus Pronger's health is a question mark. And Tampa, I'm just not sold on their goaltending. Roloson was good last year, but he turns 42 in October, and Garon isn't the most reliable backup plan.

Tampa also lost depth such as Gagne, and Bergenhiem. Two key forwards. So yeah I can see them missing the playoffs.

 

[SabresFan101]

Sooner or later the bubble has to burst.
I'm more inclined to think they haven't fallen back quite as much as the rest of the West has potentially caught up.

Division:
Chicago, should be much better not suffering a SC hangover. I see them as Div. Winners.
Columbus should be a bit tougher to put away with Carter and NAsh as opposed to just Nash. If Brassard and some of the other young talent step up they might make some noise.
St. Louis is a bit of a question mark to me. IS MacDonald a 70pt guy if healthy this year? Is Stewart a 35g powerforward? Boyes, Steen, Pietrangelo, Halak, the list of question marks goes on. Should they catch lightning in a bottle, they will be hell to play against any given night.
Nashville is always tough to play against. They need scoring, but everyone always says that.

Bottom line is that if Detroit has another bad bout of the injury bug the teams in their own division are better equiped to hand them a loss. Finishing 3rd in their Division could see them on the outside looking in in April.

Boyes is with the Sabres now....

 

[6298]

I also think either Philadelphia or Tampa Bay. I don't see how you can trade two proven top six centers and consider yourself as good as you were before. Plus Pronger's health is a question mark. And Tampa, I'm just not sold on their goaltending. Roloson was good last year, but he turns 42 in October, and Garon isn't the most reliable backup plan.

Doesn't really matter if they were as good as before, they were one of the top teams in the league and only fell out of the top spot in the East at the end of the year. For a large chunk of the season, they were the best team in the NHL. They need to continue to improve/develop the younger players to maintain that status, but a bit a drop off in production in return for consistent goaltending should make them very close to, if not a better overall record as last year.

The aging defense argument...Pronger and Timonen have been aging for quite some time, but it's not like the rest of the d-men are falling apart like they have leprosy.

Lilja, Timonen, and Pronger are all 36, the other three (Mezsaros, Coburn, and Carle) are 25 and 26. The other 4 that remain average 22 years old.

We'll see how they do, I would be shocked if they don't make the playoffs though.

 

[MadDevil]

We'll see how they do, I would be shocked if they don't make the playoffs though.

I said that about the Devils before last season too.

It all really depends on how long it takes them to gel. If they can find some chemistry rather quickly, they'll probably be fine.

 

[Rookie]

I'd have to say Penguins;depending on the health of Crosby(although they did decently without Sid and Malkin in the lineup)...

Although I do believe Malkin is healthy,and Gonchar said he's never seen Geno working so hard,must be a good sign.

 

[swflyers8]

Heck. Maybe the Pens will miss if Crybaby doesn't make it back. Their defense isn't that solid as Martin and Michalek showed last season. They both, to me, did not doing anything for the Pens last year.

 

[MadDevil]

Heck. Maybe the Pens will miss if Crybaby doesn't make it back. Their defense isn't that solid as Martin and Michalek showed last season. They both, to me, did not doing anything for the Pens last year.

Martin and Michalek are what they are. Defensive defensemen with mobility who have no physical game and don't provide much offense. Anybody who expected anything more from them was just deluding themselves.