1. Philadelphia Flyers

Being a defensive team rather than an offensive team might be better

2. Pittsburgh Penguins

The health of Crosby and Malkin will determine the teams success

3. New York Rangers

One player won’t change their fortunes, but it will help

4. New Jersey Devils

They’re not going to dwell on last season.  Instead they’ll push forward

5. New York Islanders

Time is running out to build a winner in Long Island

Flyers: G Ilya Bryzgalov, F Jaromir Jagr, F Jakub Voracek

Penguins: F Steve Sullivan

Rangers: F Brad Richards

Devils: F Eric Boulton

Islanders: F Brian Rolston, F Marty Reasoner

Gone is their captain Mike Richards and two of their best scorers in Jeff Carter and Ville Leino.  The Flyers completely changed their identity with the acquisition of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.  He finally solves their problem of finding a consistent goal stopper.  That will allow Sergei Bobrovsky to further develop into a top tier goalie. The return of Jaromir Jagr to the NHL is a headliner, but it isn’t expected to be a big help to the Flyers.  If they can get 50 points out of Jagr that will be a surprise.  As always when you have a top notch goaltender you must have a good defense.  It’s crucial that Chris Pronger stay healthy for an entire season.  Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle and Andrej Meszaros can’t do it without the big 6-6 defenseman.  The scoring will have to come from Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk.  Both have had great playoff statistics and now must step it up during the regular season.  Danny Briere will have to repeat his 68 point performance from last year.  If Jakub Voracek can live up to his billing as a top 10 pick with Columbus, the Flyers will be all right without Richards and Carter.

  

It’s simple.  So goes Sidney Crosby, so goes the Pittsburgh Penguins chances of winning the Stanley Cup.  If Crosby doesn’t miss as many games as he did last year, the Penguins will be contenders.  It has to be mentioned that even without Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the Pittsburgh finished second in the conference in points.  Emerging as one of the best defenseman in the NHL is Kris Letang.  His 50 point season last year was his breakthrough season and shows that he should be considered among the best in the league.  As long as the Penguins can get 30 wins or more from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, they will be contending with their rivals in Philadelphia.  Pittsburgh has tremendous depth on offense if Crosby and/or Malkin are out for a significant period of time. James Neal is another 30 goal scorer they acquired last year from Dallas. Tyler Kennedy had his best year to date with 45 points. And Chris Kunitz remains one of the most underrated forwards in the NHL. This is still a great team, but will be among the best if Crosby comes back.

They nabbed the biggest free agent prize in Brad Richards now they’ll need him to produce.  He is one of the best passing centers in the game.  His Stanley Cup title proves that when he was with Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier in Tampa Bay.  Also there was current Rangers head coach John Tortorella.  He knows how good Richards can be and welcomes his playmaking skills.  As will Marian Gaborik who must bounce back from a disappointing 22 goal season.  With Richards aboard that problem should be solved. The amount of young scorers the Rangers have is staggering. Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Derek Stepan all scored 20 or more goals last season.  Those goal stats should stay the same and even rise with Richards.  The Rangers have a mainstay in net with Henrik Lundqvist.  He plays so much that it’s crucial the Rangers give him some rest for a longer playoff run. There is still a weakness defensively for the Rangers, but youngsters Marc Staal and Michael Sauer are growing into their roles rapidly.  Expect the Rangers to make a move mid-season to improve in that area.

It’s hard to imagine the Devils being any better than last year. They did finish the season on an incredible run, but they didn’t make any major improvements in the offseason.  The only major change was naming Peter DeBoer the new head coach.  It will be interesting to see what he can do with this group.  Led by Ilya Kovalchuk, who had the worst season of his career.  He’s better than the 60 point performance from last season.  Another crucial aspect for New Jersey is the health of Zach Parise.  If he is healthy the Devils are a much better offensive team.  The only problem is if the Devils start out slow do they trade their best player in a contract year? Defense has been a stalwart in New Jersey for a long time, but how much longer does Martin Brodeur have left?  Johan Hedberg is just as old as Brodeur and he will be the primary backup in net. Whether defenseman Henrik Tallinder can improve upon his best season in New Jersey will be something to watch for.  They don’t have a lot of NHL prospects on defense, but Mark Fraser and Mark Fayne appear ready.