Feature Articles

The Blue Line: Prediction Time By James Meyerriecks

You are now entering the offensive zone. Just don't get caught with your head down!

As of now, this still isn't up in column form, though I've heard that it should be done some time this weekend (crossing fingers). The semi-weekly blog we'll be bringing you is now up and running, though it had to be done off-site. If you'd like to hear even more of my ramblings throughout the NHL season (in shorter, more controlled bursts), please feel free to check out Neutral Zone Trap! We'll be keeping NZT updated two to three times a week, posting relevant fantasy nuggets as well as the occasional ramblings around the league.

One of the best things about the "new" NHL is that there's a lot of player movement in the offseason. Whereas we saw about three teams (Colorado, Detroit, New Jersey) dominate the NHL for about a decade leading up to the lockout, we're likely to see shorter windows of success as teams become adjusted to the salary cap. We're also likely to see last year's bottom-feeding teams like the Blues and Penguins get better a lot faster than the bottom-feeding teams did prior to the addition of the cap.

The beautiful thing as we enter a new season is always that every team is starting fresh. For the first time in years, it really feels that way, as some teams' chances for success seem a lot more likely than they would have in the past. We'll also include some players to watch, which will focus on some sleepers or names that may be available on your waiver wire that you might want to check out.

Western Conference

1. Nashville Predators - Simply put, nobody can match their depth. Paul Kariya, Jason Arnott, and Steve Sullivan give them an elite player at each position, but it's impossible to go down the line and find a weakness on any of the lower lines either. Their blue-line corps is similar. Though they lack an absolute star defensively, the Preds boast three terrific pairings and basically have three #2 d-men (Timonen/Zidlicky/Hamhuis) and a couple of more #3 guys (Suter/Weber). A healthy Tomas Vokoun means a serious run at the Cup for Nashville.

Player(s) to watch: Alexander Radulov, Martin Erat, Josef Vasicek, David Legwand

2. San Jose Sharks - In Mark Bell, Joe Thornton, and Jonathan Cheechoo, the Sharks will boast one of the top lines in all of hockey. They have enough scoring depth behind the top line to dominate throughout the year. If there's a concern, it's along the blue line. Matt Carle is going to be a good one, and Kyle McLaren and Scott Hannan are nice stay-at-home options, but their depth along the blue line has very little experience. In Vesa Toskala and Evgeni Nabokov, they have a great goaltending tandem that should be amongst the best in the league.

Players to watch: Steve Bernier, Matt Carle, Milan Michalek

3. Edmonton Oilers - While many will look at the offseason trade of Chris Pronger and cringe, I see it as an even brighter ray of hope for the Oil. Last year's Western Conference Champs bring most of their roster back, and can look forward to a full season with a true number one netminder (Dwayne Roloson), an extra year of experience for some of their young guns (Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff, and Jarrett Stoll), and some nice offseason additions (Joffrey Lupul, Petr Sykora). While their blueline lacks a proven number one, they make up for it with depth. Marc-Andre Bergeron will be a stud on the Power Play; Jason Smith and Steve Staios are terrific stay-at-home guys; Ladislav Smid is a star waiting to happen acquired in the Pronger deal and will start the year in Edmonton. They have incredible depth, and very few weaknesses.

Players to watch: Marc-Andre Bergeron, Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid

4. Detroit Red Wings - Losing The Captain certainly hurts, and they've been surpassed by the Preds as the best team in the Central. Don't shed a tear, though. With Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg up front, they'll get by. Nicklas Lidstrom and Mathieu Schneider may still give this team one of the top defensive tandems in the league, and Dominik Hasek showed last season that he still might be the best goalie in the league when he's healthy. If Hasek can stay between the pipes, he's the wildcard that could help this team through the postseason.

Players to watch: Jimmy Howard, Jason Williams, Nicklas Kronwall, Jiri Hudler

5. Anaheim Ducks - The thought of having to face Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger together has to scare any opposing coach, but they can't be on the ice at all times. The rest of the blue line is strong, but not overpowering, with Francois Beauchemin leading the way. The trouble I see with the Ducks, who many are touting as one of the favorites in the conference, is their scoring punch. Teemu Selanne returned to have a career year at 35 last year, and had to carry the team way too much offensively. Young guns like Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Penner, and Corey Perry will improve as the season wears on, but I'm not sure they're ready to contribute enough to lead this team to a conference title. The goaltending is strong and deep, with Ilya Brzygalov and J.S. Giguere.

Players to watch: Corey Perry, Dustin Penner

6. Calgary Flames - The addition of Alex Tanguay on Jarome Iginla's opposite wing should make for career years for both of them, and it should help to correct Calgary's biggest problem last season (their lack of scoring). As of now, Matthew Lombardi is expected to play between them, and he should have a career year vulturing points off of the two. Unfortunately, that's where things go south up front for the Flames. Kristian Huselius gives them a nice talented sniper who hasn't really developed, and the addition of Jeff Friesen could give them another player capable of netting twenty goals on the wing. Tony Amonte appears to be done, and Daymond Langkow is a third-line center on a contender.... here, he's on the second line (and first, if Lombardi should struggle). Dion Phaneuf gives them one of the best young defensemen in hockey, and the rest of their defensive corps is loaded with good stay-at-home guys, led by Robyn Regehr. The X-factor is, of course, Miikka Kiprusoff, who has surpassed Marty Brodeur as the best goalie in the world. It's hard to win every game 1-0 or 2-1, though.

Players to watch: Matthew Lombardi, Kristian Huselius

7. Minnesota Wild - The Wild finally opened up the purse strings and made a couple of big signings this offseason, adding Pavol Demitra, Mark Parrish, and Kim Johnsson to a young, home-grown lineup. Marian Gaborik has already established himself as one of the best scorers in the league, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard took a step towards doing the same last season. Brian Rolston is coming off a career year, but he's shown in the past that he can be a strong second-tier guy up front. There's a lot of depth here, and a lot of scoring punch. While the team isn't particularly strong along the blue line, they do boast a couple of nice offensive defensemen in Johnsson and young Kurtis Foster. Coach Jacques Lemaire's system relies on his wingers to help mask his middling defensemen, and Manny Fernandez will again do a terrific job keeping the puck out of the net when the defense lets him down.

Players to watch: Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Kurtis Foster, Branko Radivojevic

8. Dallas Stars - Dallas took a slight step back last year, which can be largely attributed to their age. Most of the Stars' firepower last season was based on Mike Modano (35), Bill Guerin (35), Jason Arnott (32), and Sergei Zubov (35). Guerin and Arnott have moved on, but Modano and Zubov are back and another year older. New captain Brenden Morrow gives the Stars a nice younger scoring presence and a guy who will win all the battles in the corners. Jere Lehtinen is still one of the best defensive forwards in the league and can do some scoring of his own. Jussi Jokinen is coming along and could develop into one of the better scorers in the league. They'll continue to use a strong defensive system to keep Marty Turco rested between the pipes, but must see a strong rebound season out of one of the better pre-lockout goalies. Turco had, by far, the worst season of his career in 2005-06.

Players to watch: Jussi Jokinen, Patrik Stefan, Eric Lindros

9. Vancouver Canucks - The offseason saw them shed one of the bigger headaches in the league (Todd Bertuzzi) and replace him with a star at the position that has been their biggest weakness for years (Roberto Luongo). However, these are not your older brother's Canucks. Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins are going to have to carry the scoring lines more than ever in 2006-07, and that just means that teams can focus more on shutting those lines down. Luongo should have a career year backstopping this squad, but I'm not sure even that means a playoff berth is in the cards.

Players to watch: Matt Cooke, Ryan Kesler, Jan Bulis

10. Columbus Blue Jackets - The re-signing of Nikolai Zherdev really changes my thoughts on this team. They had looked like an also-ran without Zherdev, but the additional potentially dominant forward that they added when they managed to bring him back means that they should contend. Columbus could have three potentially dominant scoring lines, with Calder candidate Gilbert Brule centering Rick Nash and David Vyborny, Manny Malhotra centering Anson Carter and Fredrik Modin, and a couple of former first round picks in Zherdev and Alexander Svitov on the third line.... oh... and Sergei Fedorov will fit into the equation somewhere, won't he? The defense is also young and improving, and has a strong veteran leader in Adam Foote. If there's a problem here, it's that goaltender Pascal LeClaire is totally unproven. If he plays well, this team will be in the playoffs.

Players to watch: Gilbert Brule, Nikolai Zherdev, Alexander Svitov, Rostislav Klesla, Ron Hainsey

11. Phoenix Coyotes - Picking up Ed Jovanovski in the offseason really improves their blue line, while they have the potential to have two dominant scoring lines up front. Ladislav Nagy's return will again give the 'Yotes a premier scorer. The defense is strong, and Cujo can stop enough pucks behind him to keep this team in contention. They look like they're a couple of players away from making the playoffs, though.

Players to watch: Zbynek Michalek, Keith Ballard, Steve Reinprecht

12. St. Louis Blues - Last season's worst team made some nice crafty moves this offseason. By bringing back Doug Weight, they grabbed an elite playmaking center. Bill Guerin gives them a second power forward to work behind Keith Tkachuk. Jay McKee will help shore up a big weakness along the blue line. Manny Legace is a wildcard, as many think he'll fail outside of Detroit, but he's got some tricks in his bag. Healthy seasons out of Tkachuk and former Calder winner Barrett Jackman would make this team better even without the additions, but the moves they made could put them over the top and bump them a few spots. I don't see this team making the playoffs, but they'll be in it until the final month of the season at least.

Players to watch: Barrett Jackman, Jay McClement

13. Chicago Blackhawks - The Blackhawks went out and made some tremendous moves themselves this offseason, adding Martin Havlat, Michal Handzus, and Bryan Smolinski. Havlat gives them one of the best young scorers in the league, and could work well alongside (when healthy) Tuomo Ruutu. The 'Hawks have a lot of young talent along the blue line as well, as Brent Seabrook, Jim Vandermeer, and Duncan Keith all figure to be names on the rise in the next couple of years. All in all, the 'Hawks look to be just one or two more years away from being a playoff team, but they're not there yet.

Players to watch: Tuomo Ruutu, Brent Seabrook, Rene Bourque, Duncan Keith

14. Colorado Avalanche - Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk won't let this team go gently into that good night, but there's not a whole lot they're going to be able to do to improve the depth of talent around them. Marek Svatos gives them a quality scorer on the second line, and John-Michael Liles gives them a fantastic up-and-comer along the blue line. Simply put, though, the Avs don't run more than about seven or eight strong players deep, and that will leave them well short of making the playoffs. Jose Theodore will have to return to being the Vezina & Hart winning guy he was a few years ago for the Avs to have a chance.

Players to watch: Jose Theodore, Wojtek Wolski, Peter Budaj

15. Los Angeles Kings - The fact that I look at the Kings and see a team that wouldn't shock me that much if they made a run shows just how deep the West is. However, they're certainly the weakest team in an incredibly strong conference in my eyes. Craig Conroy won't repeat his career year on the first line, and the only potentially dominant scorers I'm seeing are Alexander Frolov and Mike Cammalleri. Simply put, in today's game, if you're not scoring a lot of goals, you're not going to win many games... particularly when you don't have an elite goaltender. The Kings have three solid goalies in Dan Cloutier, Mathieu Garon, and Jason LaBarbera, but none of them are capable of stealing many games. They'll have to with this bunch in front of them.

Players to watch: Mike Cammalleri, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown

Eastern Conference

1. Buffalo Sabres - Like the Preds in the West, the Sabres have as deep a roster as you're going to find. Maxim Afinogenov and Daniel Briere will lead a group of six potential thirty-goal scorers up front, while the addition of Jaroslav Spacek gives them a nice veteran leader for a strong young blue line corps. Ryan Miller emerged last season as a premier netminder, and will again backstop one of the best teams in hockey this season.

Players to watch: Ales Kotalik, Tomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, Brian Campbell, Dmitri Kalinin

2. Carolina Hurricanes - After winning the Stanley Cup last year, the 'Canes will find themselves with a bullseye on their backs all season. Despite the losses of Corey Stillman and Frantisek Kaberle due to injuries that will keep them out from three to six months, Carolina is deep enough to have a strong showing. Eric Staal, Erik Cole, and Justin Williams give the squad three elite scorers up front, while Rod Brind'amour will continue to be a strong leader capable of finishing with sixty points or so. The defensive corps is deep, and the goaltending figures to be strong with Conn Smythe winner Cam Ward and quality vet John Grahame backing him up. Just don't expect Ward to dominate like he did in the playoffs all year long.

Players to watch: Andrew Ladd, Tim Gleason

3. New Jersey Devils - Now that cap-gate is seemingly over (Malakhov was moved the other day, and Mogilny was officially ruled eligible on the exemption list), the Devils can finally move towards the '06-'07 season. While they're still not strong along the blue line, Colin White, Brian Rafalski, and Paul Martin give the team a solid enough core to compete. Patrik Elias, Brian Gionta, and Scott Gomez give the Devils three of the most dominant forwards in the league, while Zach Parise and Barry Tallackson give them a couple of nice guys with upside behind the top line. John Madden, Jay Pandolfo, and Sergei Brylin will again give the club some vital role players, while Jamie Langenbrunner is capable of netting 25-30 goals to help out. Martin Brodeur just needs to have a couple of more strong years to be considered arguably the best goaltender of all-time, and he should have another strong showing in 2006-07.

Players to watch: Zach Parise, Paul Martin, Barry Tallackson

4. Ottawa Senators - The Sens failed to address their biggest need (goaltending) this offseason, but they still have one of the most feared offenses in the league. While they added Martin Gerber to the fold as the new starter in net, he's going to leave them short in the playoffs yet again. Expect a big regular season in terms of Wins and GAA behind this incomparable unit. Ottawa will break up the best line in hockey (Spezza-Heatley-Alredsson) and bump Alfie down a line to help improve the scoring depth beyond the first line. Youngster Patrick Eaves will step in and should be able to vulture lots of chances playing alongside Heatley and Spezza. Despite losing Zdeno Chara this offseason, the blue line corps is among the best in the league. Wade Redden is well established as an elite defenseman, and Andrej Meszaros took a big step towards becoming one last season. Tom Preissing, Joe Corvo, and Chris Phillips all fit well into their roles, and all are fantastic two-way guys. The goaltending (Gerber and Ray Emery) will hold up throughout the regular season, but will fail them again in the postseason. The Sabres might beat them out for the regular season crown in the division, but the two may finish 1-2 in terms of points in the conference.

Names to watch: Patrick Eaves, Alexi Kaigorodov, Tom Preissing

5. New York Rangers - Led by Jaromir Jagr, the Rangers will again be in the hunt for the playoffs. The Czech line made famous by Jagr, Michael Nylander, and Peter Prucha should again be one of the better lines in hockey, while Henrik Ludnqvist has established himself as the top-notch goaltender that the Rangers have lacked since Mike Richter left. The additions of Brendan Shanahan and Matt Cullen should help the scoring depth. Where the Rangers are weak is along the blue line, and it will again cost them as they try to move beyond the first round of the playoffs.

Players to watch: Peter Prucha, Martin Straka, Marcel Hossa

6. Montreal Canadiens - Can Cristobal Huet repeat last year's success? The Habs will again run three tremendous scoring lines in front of him, and the defensive corps is solid if unspectacular. Huet was the X-Factor that turned the Habs from a fringe playoff team into a team that almost knocked off the champs in the first round last season. Saku Koivu gives them a tremendous leader on the first line, while Alexei Kovalev and offseason signing Sergei Samsonov should give them a pair of elite scorers to go with him. Michael Ryder and Christopher Higgins give the Habs a ton of depth up front.

Players to watch: Christopher Higgins, David Aebischer

7. Philadelphia Flyers - The top three in the Atlantic are really close, and the Flyers could easily switch places atop the division with the Devils and finish third in the conference. However, their lack of a truly elite goaltender, the lack of any consistent scoring depth beyond the second line, and the struggles that their defensive corps could have behind young star Joni Pitkanen leave the Flyers with more question marks than the Devils and Rangers. The top two lines should be money, with Peter Forsberg, Simon Gagne, and Mike Knuble giving them one of the most formidable first lines in hockey. Jeff Carter and Kyle Calder will give them a little depth behind them, but there's a major dropoff when the third line comes on the ice. Pitkanen may already be one of the best two-way defensemen in hockey, and Freddy Meyer has a lot of upside on the blue line as well. Mike Rathje and a healthy Derian Hatcher will give them a couple of stalwarts in their own zone, but they're aging and it's showing. Robert Esche and Antero Niittymakki give them a couple of potential number ones between the pipes, but neither seems capable of carrying the Flyers in the playoffs.

Players to watch: Freddy Meyer, Jeff Carter, Mike Richards

8. Florida Panthers - In an offseason that saw the team deal it's unquestioned star, the Panthers may have taken much greater steps forward than anyone wants to realize. Olli Jokinen truly emerged as a front-line superstar last season, and the addition of new linemate Todd Bertuzzi should make him even better. Bertuzzi will help to add a lot more scoring punch up front, as will the maturation of Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Rostislav Olesz, and Juraj Kolnik. The Panthers still have a couple of tremendous savvy vets in Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk up front as well, and should have the leadership up front to put a lot more pucks in the net. This team is actually very deep up front. Jay Bouwmeester looks poised to bust completely out of his shell after a strong finish in his third season. Mike Van Ryn also gives the team another solid two-way defenseman, while offseason pickups Bryan Allen and Ruslan Salei give them two more blueliners who thrive in their own zone. Alexander Auld won't be confused with Roberto Luongo between the pipes for the Panthers, but he showed last season that he's more than capable of handling the duties as a number one goaltender. The Panthers will make the postseason for just the third time in franchise history.

Players to watch: Jay Bouwmeester, Nathan Horton, Stephen Weiss, Rostislav Olesz

9. Tampa Bay Lightning - The 'Ning face two questions entering the 2006-07 season:

1) How much of a difference will Marc Denis make between the pipes?
2) Can Martin St. Louis come back strong in a league where the rules were altered to (seemingly) aid players like himself?

Denis will give the club a much better option than John Grahame in net, but he's not going to be able to carry this squad without a little more help up front and a whole lot more help from the defense. St. Louis should bounce back, and if he comes back to play like he did in 2003-04 when he won the Hart Trophy, this team won't be challenging for a playoff berth... they'll be challenging for home ice throughout the playoffs. Expect a much stronger year out of St. Louis and better goaltending. So why does this team fail to make the playoffs when they made it last season if they're going to see improvements in their two weakest areas from a year ago? The defense. Simply put, it isn't there. Dan Boyle is mediocre in his own end, though he's a heck of a Power Play QB. Paul Ranger is the only other defenseman that I'd even be looking at if I were an NHL GM. I suppose that you could give a little credit to Filip Kuba and Corey Sarich if you looked hard enough, but neither is anything better than a fourth or fifth defenseman on a contender. Denis may find that he had better defensemen in front of him in Columbus, which will really be saying something about just how porous the Lightning's blue line will be. The losses of Fredrik Modin and Pavel Kubina will really come back to haunt the last pre-lockout champs.

Players to watch: Paul Ranger

10. Boston Bruins - The Bruins join the fringe playoff group, but may fall a little short because of a lack of experience in net. You'd be hard-pressed to find a team that had a better offseason, as the Bruins added a couple of terrific guys along the blue line in Zdeno Chara and Paul Mara, picked up an elite pivot in Marc Savard, and managed to ink their own superstar (Patrice Bergeron) to a long-term deal. Savard will make Glen Murray and Marco Sturm look considerably better, while young guns like Bergeron, Brad Boyes, and Phil Kessel will help to add a lot more scoring punch up front. Chara and Mara solidify an impressive defensive corps, joining quality young guys like Brad Stuart and Milan Jurcina. Hannu Toivonen is one of the top goaltending prospects in hockey, but may take a little time to develop into a guy who is going to be stealing a lot of games for his mates. Tim Thomas provides him with an adequate backup coming off a career year. This team is incredibly talented and could easily finish in the top eight, but it's hard to get four teams in from one division, and the Sabres, Sens, and Habs are awfully tough as well.

Players to watch: Hannu Toivonen, Phil Kessel, Brad Boyes, Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm, Glen Murray

11. Atlanta Thrashers - No team in the NHL has a better pair of wingers than Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa, but the Thrashers have absolutely nobody who seems capable of leading them up the middle. Like baseball, help up the middle can be huge, and will keep the Thrashers from finally taking that elusive step into the playoffs. Slava Kozlov gives the Thrash another forward capable of finishing with 65+ points, but one line simply doesn't get the job done in today's NHL. The defense is primarily built of no-names, but is extremely solid top to bottom. Greg DeVries and Niclas Havelid are nice two-way guys, while Steve McCarthy has the potential to be one of the bust-out stars on defense as he's given the chance to run the Power Play for the Thrashers this season. Andy Sutton and Vitaly Vishnievski are terrific stay-at-home guys, and they'll help to keep the puck off of star young netminder Kari Lehtonen. Lehtonen has the potential to carry this team on his back to the playoffs, but I'm not seeing the scoring punch up front outside of the first line to help him.

Players to watch for: Steve McCarthy, Niko Kapanen

12. Pittsburgh Penguins - After the last few seasons in Pittsburgh, even a twelfth place finish in the East would be a nice step forward. Right now, they're very promising, and have two of the best young offensive talents in hockey in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Colby Armstrong took some major strides last season and was a monster after his call-up, but isn't nearly at the same level as either Malkin or Crosby. Offseason addition Nils Ekman will be a strong presence on both ends of the ice who should help cover for some mistakes when Armstrong and Crosby (his linemates) get a little too aggressive. Sergei Gonchar is coming off of what may be his worst statistical season in nearly a decade, but he's still an elite offensive defenseman. Ryan Whitney is coming along as a terrific two-way guy who has nearly the offensive talents of Gonchar and is much more skilled defensively. However, while they added Mark Recchi to the fold up front, they have very little depth either offensively or on the blue line. Teams will attack them on this front, and Marc-Andre Fleury will have a lot of defensive lapses to cover for. Fleury is certainly on the way up, but enters a make or break season in 2006-07 for his development. Expect him to answer the call, but don't expect him to carry the Pens to the playoffs, which he'll almost certainly have to do.

Players to watch: Ryan Whitney, Ryan Malone, Colby Armstrong, Jordan Staal

13. Washington Capitals - While the Pens boast one of the faces of the new NHL, the Caps boast the other in Alexander Ovechkin. There simply aren't enough superlatives in the English language to describe this kid. He has supreme speed, a blazing shot, terrific vision, and works as hard as anyone on both ends of the ice. Simply put, if there were one player I could build around for the next decade, I'd throw a dart to choose between Crosby and Ovechkin. Unfortunately, when you talk about the Caps, there's not much to talk about outside of him. The offseason signing of Richard Zednik could prove to be a shrewd investment, while the return of former first-rounder Alexander Semin could be another great addition for the Caps. However, even after signing Brian Pothier in the offseason, their defense looks like Swiss Cheese, and Olaf Kolzig is about as inconsistent a goalie from year to year as there is in the league. On the bright side, when everyone seems to be avoiding Kolzig in the preseason is when he usually seems to shine......

Players to watch for: Richard Zednik, Alexander Semin, Jakub Klepis

14. Toronto Maple Leafs - It was a shame to see the biggest (English-speaking) hockey town in North America have nothing to cheer for late last season, but it's going to happen again. While they're led by a tremendous number one center in Mats Sundin and have a pair of fantastic blueliners in Bryan McCabe and Tomas Kaberle, there's very little in terms of scoring depth and even less in terms of goaltending in Toronto. Darcy Tucker is coming off a career year, and should have another good one lined up next to Sundin. Alexei Ponikarovsky, Nik Antropov, Kyle Wellwood, and Matthew Stajan all have bright futures ahead of them, but only Antropov looks close to reaching his ceiling. Michael Peca will be a nice addition as a second-line center, but he's a checking line guy. What the Leafs so desperately needed to add this offseason was more scoring punch and an elite goaltender. While their trade for Andrew Raycroft on draft day could prove to be one of the shrewdest moves of the offseason, it's a major boom or bust pickup.

Players to watch for: Nik Antropov, Matthew Stajan, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Kyle Wellwood, J.S. Aubin

15. New York Islanders - When you take your backup goaltender and turn him into your GM, bad things are bound to happen... bad things such as giving a mediocre goalie who hasn't really proven much in the NHL a fifteen-year guaranteed deal. The Isles better hope that Rick DiPietro turns into a superstar, and they'd better hope that it happens fast. From the top line down, there's not much scoring up front. Miroslav Satan is still a borderline superstar, and Alexei Yashin still shows the occasional flash of brilliance. Jason Blake's 2005-06 performance (28/29/57) screams career year, which you usually don't see out of 32 year olds. Mike York is a decent second-line center, and Trent Hunter still has a little more upside on the second line, but that's about as far as I'd go. The Islanders have a nice stable of stay-at-home defensemen, and even a pretty decent puck-mover in Chris Campoli, but there's not much more on the blue line. As for DiPietro, sign me up if I can get a fifteen-year deal for having a losing record, a 2.85 GAA, and a .900 save percentage in four NHL seasons!

Players to watch for: Chris Campoli, Trent Hunter, Peterri Nokelainen, Robert Nilsson

Stanley Cup Champs: Nashville Predators

Conn Smythe: Paul Kariya
Hart: Joe Thornton
Vezina: Miikka Kiprusoff
Norris: Dion Phaneuf
Calder: Gilbert Brule
Selke: John Madden
Art Ross: Sidney Crosby
Rocket Richard: Marian Gaborik
Jack Adams: Barry Trotz

James Meyerriecks has been actively involved at FIC since its inception in 2001, and has been writing The Hook for the past four seasons. He's also represented FIC in a handful of Experts Leagues over the past three seasons and is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.

---