Southeast

This will be the worst division in hockey this year. There will probably be only one or two teams from this division that will make the playoffs. Here is how I see the standings:

1st - Washington
2nd - Tampa Bay
3rd - Carolina
4th - Atlanta
5th - Florida

Washington - I have picked this team to finish first, but that doesn't mean I think they will be impressive. Granted, they will look impressive as the Capitals have some of the most exciting young players in the game. Backstrom, Semin and Ovechkin will be tough for teams to contain. The Caps have added forward Michael Nylander from the Rangers in the off-season and he adds depth to the Caps forwards lines. The Caps don't have the goaltending or the team defence to make a strong case for the playoffs.

Tampa Bay - I love Vincent Lecalvalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards. Unfortunately, there isn't much else to love about the Tampa Bay Lightning. This is one of the poorest defensive teams in the league. With a pre-season injury to top-defenceman Dan Boyle, the Lightning will have a hard time being much better than they were last year.

Carolina - Last year, this team got hurt by some key injuries. This is my wildcard team. I believe that Carolina can win this division as this is a weak division, but it will be interesting to see if Carolina can come back from a disasterous season last year after making the playoffs the year before. Eric Stall needs a big year. Erik Cole should help this team tremendously. Before I move them up in my rankings, I need more evidence that the old Canes are back.

Florida - I like players like Boumeester, Weiss and Horton. These guys are decent hockey players but they will not be able to take this team very far. This team was raped in the Roberto Luongo deal. The key player that they were supposed to get in return never played a game (Todd Bertuzzi). Jacques Martin hasn't been an effective coach in many years, and it begs the question whether the game has passed him by. His defence first philosophy worked wonders in Ottawa before the lockout, but since has failed miserably. The Panthers could be the worst team in the league this year.