The Good, the Bad and the Obvious

The Good:

Pittsburgh-Washington: Guarantee of four great games. Three of the best players in the world. Strong defences. The likely matchup in the Eastern Conference final. One of the two are almost certain to play for the Cup. And I have a stupid man-crush on Ovechkin.

Calgary: Best defensive corps since the 2001 Avalanche. Best fans in the league. Best leader in the league. Best Canadian hope for a Stanley Cup.

San Jose: All offense, all the time. See previous post for my thoughts.

Chicago: Mix of youth and experience; strong run to the Western final last year; Huet is clearly number one in goal; Havlat gone, Hossa in - good upgrade.

Anaheim: Young team gelling at the right time. Smart move to jettison Pronger. Koivu and Teemu want a Cup together. Getzlaf, Ryan and Perry could be the best line in the league. Jonas Hiller is the real deal (see: the triple OT game in Detroit, which I saw first hand).

The Bad:

The situation waiting to happen in Edmonton: Pat Quinn wanted Dany Heatley, fine. Pat Quinn wanting to give up Cogliano et al for Heatley, not so fine. Quinn loves his vets (see: Toronto from 1998-2006), won't hesitate to grab a vet for prospects (see: Boyes-Nolan trade) and has Steve Tambellini (read: the guy he wanted to replace him in Toronto) running the team. This won't end well.

The Leafs' lack of scoring: Defense is good, offense not so great. Grabovski and Blake aren't going to win the Rocket Richard Trophy and they're the best the Leafs got. 1-0 and 2-1 will be a familiar score out of the ACC this year. And too many times, the Leafs will be on the wrong end of it.

Ottawa: Dysfunction reins supreme in Sens land. Still no defence beyond Volchenkov, goaltending remains a problem, Heatley's gone and is replaced by an overhyped second-liner and one season wonder. This will get ugly.

Phoenix: Nuff said

The Obvious:

The Habs are short: Fast? Yes. Talented? Yes. Tough? Maybe. Big? Not so much. Can they make the playoffs? Probably.

Rick Nash will regret that long term deal in Columbus: The shirt was ready for in Toronto. And bias aside, he is perfect for the Leafs. I see a Dany Heatley situation in the making.

Vancouver need more: Roberto and the Sedins got them to the second round. Roberto and the Sedins got big long term deals. Roberto and the Sedins didn't get noticeable help this off-season. Roberto and the Sedins need more if they want to go further.

The Red Wings will contend: But likely can't win their third straight Western Conference.

The Avalanche suck: My boys will be painful to watch this year. Really painful. Like, historically.

UPDATE:
The Leafs have mortgaged the future by grabbing scoring now. Phil Kessel will score goals. The Leafs have a better shot a making the playoffs. Two firsts and a second was a very steep for a 21 year-old. Good move in the short term. Maybe not so much in the long term.