1. San Jose Sharks

This has to be the year they get over the hump and play for the Cup

2. Los Angeles Kings

The next step is to get past the first round of the playoffs

3. Anaheim Ducks

So goes G Jonas Hiller, so goes the Ducks season

4. Phoenix Coyotes

They’ve defied all odds the last 2 years, but not this year

5. Dallas Stars

A new head coach means a rough season in ‘Big D’

Sharks: D Brent Burns, F Martin Havlat, F Michal Handzus

Kings: F Mike Richards, F Simon Gagne

Ducks: F Andrew Cogliano, D Kurtis Foster

Coyotes: G Mike Smith, F Raffi Torres

Stars: F Michael Ryder, D Sheldon Souray

They went all in again this year with a bit of house cleaning in the offseason.  They dealt away two of the best goal scorers to get some help on the blue-line and add a playmaker to the offense. Brent Burns is the perfect complement to Dan Boyle on the blue-line.  Burns is more of a goal scorer while Boyle is perfect at setting up the scorers.  Both should make each other more potent. Martin Havlat is the playmaker that the Sharks have lacked. Other than Joe Thornton there isn’t anyone else that is a consistent threat to setup the other scorers.  Havlat has been an afterthought since signing his free agent deal in Minnesota.  He will be tasked with replacing Dany Heatley who hasn’t lived up to his billing in the playoffs for the Sharks the last two years.  With Thornton on the top line will be the reliable Patrick Marleau.  He is their best goal scorer and their catalyst on offense.  Following the top line are a slew of young scorers in Logan Couture, Ryan Clowe and Joe Pavelski.  All three are great players that make the Sharks team go.  Goaltender Antti Niemi was good, but not anywhere near what he was for Chicago two years ago.  He’ll have to be that if the Sharks want to win the Stanley Cup.

This is the Kings make or break year.  They have put all of their chips on the table to make a move this year at getting to the Stanley Cup Finals.  General Manager Dean Lombardi traded a top prospect in Brayden Schenn and an established player in Wayne Simmonds to acquire Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards. He then signed Richards’ former teammate when he played for the Flyers in Simon Gagne.  Two moves that will pay dividend for the rest of the team that is already in place.  Richards immediately helps on the power play and in penalty kill situations.  Gagne will be a good complement with Richards on the same line.  Anze Kopitar being fully recovered from an ankle injury should scare the rest of the league.  This could be an MVP year for him.  Dustin Brown, Justin Williams and Jarret Stoll are scrappy players who can also score goals with the best of them.  Which Dustin Penner will show up this year?  LA would like to see the former 30 goal scorer in Edmonton.  Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson could have another great young defenseman in Alec Martinez coming through the ranks after his late season performance.  Their blue-line is extremely deep.  Jonathan Quick had another great year in net for the Kings and will have to continue that upward trend for the Kings to get out of the quarterfinals.

There wasn’t a hotter team for the last two months of last season than the one in Anaheim.  They surged past a lot of teams in the Western Conference to host a playoff series.  Unfortunately they were knocked out of that series by Nashville, but the Ducks remain relatively intact and will have a healthy Jonas Hiller in net to start the season.  If Hiller doesn’t have anymore bouts with vertigo this season the Ducks will be a dangerous team.  The return of Teemu Selanne might not mean much, but his 80 point season last year was one for the ages.  He is without a doubt the heart and soul of this team.  Ryan Getzlaf must remain healthy for the Ducks to remain competitive, but even without him the Ducks were fine thank to last years MVP, Corey Perry.  His 50 goal season was one that many hockey fans will talk about for a long time.  Bobby Ryan could potentially have a season like the one Perry had last year, but he doesn’t have to do that.  His 70+ point seasons are just fine.  Look for Lubomir Visnovsky to not skip a beat after his 68 point season last year.  His fellow linemate Toni Lydman should continue to be an excellent complement to Lubo.  Cam Fowler had a tremendous rookie season last year and will only get better thanks to the many veterans the Ducks have on the blue-line.

With so much turmoil regarding the arena and ownership the Coyotes manage to compete and have been in the playoffs the last two years.  All the credit goes to head coach Dave Tippett who shouldn’t have been let go in Dallas.  What he has done is simply amazing.  This year is going to be even tougher for the Coyotes. They let go their franchise goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to Philadelphia.  To replace him they brought in Mike Smith who was once a top prospect in Dallas under Tippett.  Smith did underachieve in Dallas and Tampa Bay, but Phoenix is a perfect spot for him.  Less attention and less pressure in the sense that no one will expect him to replace Bryzgalov.  Captain Shane Doan continues to be a consistent scorer for the Coyotes.  Without a lot of support he doesn’t give in to the naysayers that don’t think Phoenix can compete.  Veterans Radim Vrbata and Ray Whitney are excellent complements and set a good example for the young players Phoenix is bringing along.  The time will come very soon that defenseman Keith Yandle will be nominated for the Norris trophy.  He is the real deal.  Pretty soon he will have another great defenseman alongside him in Oliver Ekman-Larsson.  Their 1st round pick in 2009 is quickly becoming a household name in the desert.