Eastern Conference Power Rankings Position 5

[Inferno]

Rank what will be the best team in the Eastern Conference. You can choose to pick what team you think will win the East and be in the SCF, OR what team you think will finish 1st overall at the end of the regular season, use whatever criteria you think is most applicable.

Here are the current Division setups:

Atlantic Division
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Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division
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Carolina Hurricanes
Columbus Blue Jackets
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Washington Capitals


Here are the current results of our polls

Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins (60.53%)
Tampa Bay Lightning (76.00%)
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Metropolitan Division
Pittsburgh Penguins (58.54%)
New York Rangers (73.91%)
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Here are the current Eastern Conference Playoff Rankings:

Boston Bruins
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Rangers
Tampa Bay Lightning
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Playoff Matchups:
Boston Bruins VS Worst Wild Card Team (8)
Pittsburgh Penguins VS 2nd Worst Wild Card Team (7)
New York Rangers VS Metropolitan Division #3
Tampa Bay Lightning VS Atlantic Division #3


Poll to come shortly....

Click to read more...

 

[Inferno]

im going with Columbus...but i think its tough to call from here on out. I could see Philly, Washington, NJ, Toronto, Detroit and Montreal all up here

 

[Gardner McKay]

I think the BJ's. Price is overrated. Markov isn't getting any younger. And I want to see how Subban performs now that he has no motivation to score a big contract.

 

[Nanaki]

It's a crapshoot from here on out. I'm going with Cbus.

 

[Thirty One]

Devils

 

[Inferno]

Devils

Hard for me to jump on their bandwagon the way you have, if only because they are sooooooo oooooold.

Their important players:
Camm: 32
Elias: 38
Havlat: 33
Henrique: 24
Jagr: 42
Ryder: 34
Zajac: 29
Salvadore: 38
Zidlicky: 37

You could make the argument about guys like Josefson, Ruutu, Larsson, Clowe etc but the average age of the guy listed up there is 34 years old. Thats really effing old especially when Henrique and Zajac are bringing the average age down by 2 years.

The only guys the Rangers have up their in age are Moore (34) MSL (39) and Boyle (38)

the rest of your roster are 30 and younger.

im obviously not trying to compare the 2, but its such a stark difference. For such an old team to be able to succeed over the long grind of a season is pretty unlikely despite what the advanced stats may show.

They also have a terrible farm system with not much coming up, so if their old guys start going down with injuries, it would be a lot tougher for them to handle.

If NJ is up here, i think its because they played over their heads. I think they'll be more likely fighting for the last 2 playoff spots.

 

[silverfish]

Born and raised in SOUTH DETROIT.

Strong defense. Howard should bounce back. If the Magic Man and Zetterberg are healthy - I mean, these guys are STILL the Wings.

Was between them and the Habs for me.

Habs next. Then CBJ.

 

[RGY]

CBJ for me.

They need RJ situation taken care of.

Adding Hartnell was big for them. Fits their mold

 

[NYR Viper]

Went Columbus, Montreal is right there although I don't think there defense is all that great

 

[Thirty One]

Hard for me to jump on their bandwagon the way you have, if only because they are sooooooo oooooold.

Their important players:
Camm: 32
Elias: 38
Havlat: 33
Henrique: 24
Jagr: 42
Ryder: 34
Zajac: 29
Salvadore: 38
Zidlicky: 37

You could make the argument about guys like Josefson, Ruutu, Larsson, Clowe etc but the average age of the guy listed up there is 34 years old. Thats really effing old especially when Henrique and Zajac are bringing the average age down by 2 years.

The only guys the Rangers have up their in age are Moore (34) MSL (39) and Boyle (38)

the rest of your roster are 30 and younger.

im obviously not trying to compare the 2, but its such a stark difference. For such an old team to be able to succeed over the long grind of a season is pretty unlikely despite what the advanced stats may show.

They also have a terrible farm system with not much coming up, so if their old guys start going down with injuries, it would be a lot tougher for them to handle.

If NJ is up here, i think its because they played over their heads. I think they'll be more likely fighting for the last 2 playoff spots.

OK, but each of them only aged one year. (BTW, Notable omission: Andy Greene. I might argue he's their most important player.)

The 2002 Wings were old as ****, they won the Cup (http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000342002.html).

Obviously if they all abruptly show their age, the team is going to have some issues. Wouldn't bet on that, though.

And do you know what's a good way to avoid wearing down? Avoiding playing in the defensive zone.

 

[Off Sides]

Voted Montreal, if Galchenyuk breaks out and Parenteau fits which I think is possible. Tinordi maybe sticks.

 

[pld459666]

Caps.

think they are going to be real dangerous this year

 

[TheDirtyH]

Columbus. If Bob's healthy all year I think they grind out enough wins. I think they regress offensively particularly on the power play, but they'll get it done more often then not. Gut tells me they score more points against the west than most eastern conference.

 

[pld459666]

Hard for me to jump on their bandwagon the way you have, if only because they are sooooooo oooooold.

Their important players:
Camm: 32
Elias: 38
Havlat: 33
Henrique: 24
Jagr: 42
Ryder: 34
Zajac: 29
Salvadore: 38
Zidlicky: 37

You could make the argument about guys like Josefson, Ruutu, Larsson, Clowe etc but the average age of the guy listed up there is 34 years old. Thats really effing old especially when Henrique and Zajac are bringing the average age down by 2 years.

The only guys the Rangers have up their in age are Moore (34) MSL (39) and Boyle (38)

the rest of your roster are 30 and younger.

im obviously not trying to compare the 2, but its such a stark difference. For such an old team to be able to succeed over the long grind of a season is pretty unlikely despite what the advanced stats may show.

They also have a terrible farm system with not much coming up, so if their old guys start going down with injuries, it would be a lot tougher for them to handle.

If NJ is up here, i think its because they played over their heads. I think they'll be more likely fighting for the last 2 playoff spots.

Cammy, Clowe, Ruutu, Zubrus, Zajac, Elias, Henrique, Gionta, Jagr, Havlat, Brunner and Ryder are likely the starting 12. They average 32.5 years old.

The guys that are going to carry the offensive load for that team are 42, 38, 32 29 and 24 (Jagr, Elias, Cammy, Zajac and Henrique. The rest are marginal players and walking bandaids.

On defence, I like Greene and Gelinas, however neither Merrill nor Larson have shown much yet.

Salvador and Zidlicky are old.

Now, with regards to age. There's no guarantee that they will show decline or that they will get hurt.

The problem with an old team like this is that as the season progresses the collective age will start to show and unless you have 8 of the top 10 scores future Hall of Famers, you can't really rely on them carrying a team to the playoffs.

 

[eco's bones]

Columbus is up and coming.

 

[AHB*]

OK, but each of them only aged one year. (BTW, Notable omission: Andy Greene. I might argue he's their most important player.)

The 2002 Wings were old as ****, they won the Cup (http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000342002.html).

Obviously if they all abruptly show their age, the team is going to have some issues. Wouldn't bet on that, though.

And do you know what's a good way to avoid wearing down? Avoiding playing in the defensive zone.

2002 was a long time ago and a completely different style of hockey with no salary cap in place either.

 

[TheTakedown]

went for CBJ... Can't see anyone else here other than MTL... PHI is a wild card team with MDZ being their new #2/3 Dman, and the caps didn't get that much better imo

 

[RGY]

Caps.

think they are going to be real dangerous this year

With what army?

 

[AHB*]

I think the Caps will suck this year.

 

[Inferno]

yeah they also assembled a team full of hall of famers there.

Hasek, Shanny, Hull, Robitaille, Yzerman, Lidstrom, Chelios.

I cant remember a team that had 7 hall of famers on it.

7!

thats insane.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Caps suck

Voted Devils

 

[pld459666]

With what army?

What army are they going to need?

Who did they lose? Grabovksy?

They missed the PO's by three measly points.

They get a full season of Kuznetsov.

They get a defensive defenceman in Orpik

They get a RH PPQB in Niskanen

And now they have a coach that has a proven track record of understanding the fundamentals of defensive hockey while finally having some offensive talent to work with.

On defence, they have Carlson, Niskanen, Alzner, Green, Orpik and Orlov. Mike Green may be a disaster, but the rest are good.

 

[TheDirtyH]

What army are they going to need?

Who did they lose? Grabovksy?

They missed the PO's by three measly points.

They get a full season of Kuznetsov.

They get a defensive defenceman in Orpik

They get a RH PPQB in Niskanen

And now they have a coach that has a proven track record of understanding the fundamentals of defensive hockey while finally having some offensive talent to work with.

On defence, they have Carlson, Niskanen, Alzner, Green, Orpik and Orlov. Mike Green may be a disaster, but the rest are good.

I agree. Trotz spent over a decade doing more with less on the forward front in Nashville. The Caps defense looks plenty talented to me and that's Trotz's specialty.

 

[RGY]

Alzner and Orlov are average defensemen to me, nothing special. And Orpik's best days are behind him. He is getting slower and slower.

Kuznetsov is very unproven. Their depth is questionable and mediocre upfront.

I just dont see washington being better than CBJ, MTL, DET

 

[Net Front Presence]

Montreal