Eklund's Predictions?

Recently, HockeyBuzz blogger, Eklund, humored us with his predictions for the upcoming season.

Under his strict scrutiny, the Eastern Conference will finish:

EASTERN CONFERENCE 1. Buffalo 2. Pittsburgh 3. Washington 4. Ottawa 5. Philadelphia 6. Toronto 7. NY Rangers 8. Montreal 9. Boston 10. Florida 11. Tampa 12. NY Islanders 13. Carolina 14. New Jersey 15. Atlanta

The first red flag starts with No. 1- Buffalo???

Sure, Lindy Ruff's squad made it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but less we forget, they had Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. The Sabres made deadly mistakes in letting both Briere and Drury leave.

Last week, Buffalo was dealt more bad news when defenseman Teppo Numminen underwent heart surgery to replace a faulty valve.

That leaves the team without: Briere, Drury and Numminen.

The Sabres also let late-season acquisition Dainus Zubrus sign with New Jersey.

The Sabres will be a decent team this year, but not the power house of the East.

On a side note, there is no way Buffalo can win the division when they have to play Ottawa eight times.

No. 2- Pittsburgh!!!

I will agree that Eklund hasn't gone completely mad. I'm a huge fan of Sidney and Co. These guys are young, fast and have the potential to score at will. Malkin, Staal, Sykora, Gonchar, Sydor and Fleury? Yeah....Pretty sick.

I would have to put the Pens at No. 1 in the East and possibly the entire NHL.

No. 3- Washington??

Eklund must have a lot of faith in Ovechkin or he doesn't watch enough Southeastern Division hockey.

Rookie Nicklas Backstrom will be the top-line pivot for "Ovie," but he's only one man.

Kolzig is another year older, and the team hasn't really improved much. Glen Hanlon's team is pretty bland, and probably won't make the playoffs this season.

The next red flag is at No. 6- Toronto?

Maybe it's bias, maybe Eklund's magic eight ball told him to pick Toronto?

The Leafs added Vesa Toskala, Mark Bell and Jason Blake. All very solid acquisitions. Toskala will add to the goaltending depth, Bell will provide a huge body in front of the net (especially on the power play) and Jason Blake should contribute 30+ goals.

Here are my qualms with the Leafs:

1) Mats Sundin. It's time for a change. Mats has been a solid player for many years, but for his salary, why not try to lure free agent Dany Heatley next year? Sundin isn't putting up the points his salary demends.

2) Antropov. Steen. Stajan.

While these players are young, they continue to underperform each year. I keep waiting for a breakout year from just one of them, but sadly, each year I find myself disappointed.

3) 1967.

Enough said.

No. 8- Montreal.

I'll agree with Eklund. For the past decade, the Habs have annually shown their consistancy by remaining around the playoff bubble. I'm sure cardiologists do well in Montreal with all the anxiety and high-blood pressure cases around late March.

The only other red flag I see in at No. 15- Atlanta???

In fact, this isn't a red flag, but a Black Flag.

Under what basis can a team go from winning their division to dead last in their conference?

Let's look at the subractions from last year's playoff roster:

Keith Tkachuk- Returned to St. Louis
Scott Mellanby- Retired
Greg de Vries- Signed with Nashville
Andy Sutton- Signed with New York Islanders
Jon Sim- Signed with New York Islanders
Shane Hnidy- Signed with Anaheim
Eric Belanger- Signed with Minnesota
J.P. Vigier- Signed with Swiss Team


Additions:

Eric Perrin- Free Agent
Todd White- Free Agent
Ken Klee- Free Agent
Chris Thorburn- Trade w/ Pit
Bryan Little- '06 Draft (1st Rd., 12th Overall)
Brett Sterling- '03 (5th Rd., 145th Overall)
Tobias Enstrom- '03 (8th Rd., 239th Overall)
Mark Popovic- In the System

This may not look like the 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens line up, but the newly revised roster has the potential to be more dangerous than last year's.

The Thrashers increased in speed with Perrin, White, Little, Sterling and Enstrom.

General Manager Don Waddell finally found a center for Russian sniper Ilya Kovalchuk. As of now, White will take on these responsibilities, but if rookie Bryan Little is up to the task, don't be surprised to see #44 on the top line with Kovalchuk.

Last year's AHL Rookie of the Year and top goal scorer, Brett Sterling will add his heavy shot to the Thrashers roster. His presence should make up for the loss of Jon Sim's 17 goals last season. If Sterling can register more than 20 goals, it would be considered a great year for the rookie.

While Atlanta does have several question marks surrounding their line up, they should still be ranked in the top eight. I would put them slightly ahead of Montreal as of now with the potential to repeat as Southeast Division Champions.