Atlantic Division Preview

This could be a very interesting division this year to watch. It may be the most difficult division to predict. My picks are:

1st - Pittsburgh
2nd - New York Rangers
3rd - Philadelphia
4th - New Jersey
5th - New York Islanders

Pittsburgh - This is a team that is ready to tear the league apart. This is a highly explosive team that will embarass some teams. Sidney Crosby, the most dynamic player in the NHL, will lead the charge. With a wealth of youth and a mix of veteran leadership, this team will be an offensive juggernaut.

New York Rangers - I really like the Rangers. They looked pretty impressive last spring in the playoffs when they were heavy underdogs against the Sabres. The Rangers live and die with the willingness of Jaromir Jagr to perform. It will be interesting to see if the addition of Russian prospect Alexei Cherapanov will have much of an impact. He could be a sleeper pick in hockey pools if he gets put on a top line.

Philadelphia - This is by far the most improved team from last year. Last year, they finished dead last in the league, but they ended up signing the biggest free agents on the market. I would expect Philadelphia to come out slow this year, but make a push at the end of the season. There are a lot of new faces and they will need to adapt to a different style of play. Gagne and Briere could become one of the deadliest pairs in hockey.

New Jersey - I really don't like New Jersey's chances this year especially with the loss of Scott Gomez. New Jersey's saving grace is the fact they hired Brent Sutter. This man is a winner. He has taken team Canada to various tournaments and has yet to lose a game. With young guns like Zajak and Parise, Sutter will be the perfect coach for these up-and-comers.

New York Islanders - This team usually stinks and this year is no exception. I think Ted Nolan will make this team overachieve again this year, but that is not saying too much. The Islanders needed to keep Ryan Smtyh and they need to start drafting players a lot better. I'm not going to expect too much from this team. They lost 40-goal scorer, Jason Blake, to the Leafs. They did not get better in the off-season, whereas, teams below them in the standings got significantly better.