Division Breakdown: Atlantic

With the NHL season exactly 22 hours away, I figured I would do like any mediocre journalist would do and write my pre-season predictions for this NHL season.

First stop, the Atlantic division.

1st Place: New York Rangers
With the amazing acquisitions of Gomez and Drury in the offseason, the Rangers will be the force in deep east to be reckoned with. Early reports said that Gomez's speed and explosiveness would compliment Jagr's play style, but recently Head Coach Renney paired Jagr with the more methodical play of Drury. Keep a close eye on who gets paired with who during the regular season because that, coupled with how good King Henrik is in net, will determine if the Rangers can pull through the Atlantic this year.

2nd Place: Pittsburgh Penguins
Syd the Kid is coming off 120 point season and with the addition of Petr Sykora flanking Sydney's right side now, these Pens will be a fun team to watch and are probably the most dangerous team on the power play. I don't know if Fleury is a good enough goaltender to put the Pens in first in the Atlantic, but if he does step it up (we've seen him do it before), watch out... this team may just go beyond the Eastern Conference Finals.

3rd Place: Philadelphia Flyers
After the Flyers appalling season (22-48-12) last year, there was only 1 way to go, Up. The city of brotherly love shelled out some cash-money-hoes in the off-season to sign Briere to an 8 year, $52million dollar contract. He will play on the line, dubbed "KGB", with Gagne and Knubble. They also added veteran defenseman Timonen from Nashville and right winger Lupul from Edmonton. I still think it won't be until next season that this team meshes together. Also, goaltending is in question. Can Martin Biron be the go to guy all season?

4th Place: New Jersey Devils
The only reason I put them ahead of New York Islanders is because the Devils have been known for a very structural (and boring) game. And of course you add in the Marty Brodeur factor and you can't be THAT bad.

5th Place: New York Islanders
No scorers, crappy defense, need I say more? Goal tending will be put to the test, but this is defiantly a rebuilding year for the Islanders, who are not going to get ANY help from their fans either after Rangers just picked up Gomez and Drury. They offered Ryan Smyth a bigger contract than Colorado did and he still with the Avs.

"Mic check, is this thing on?"

Gooooooooooooood Morninnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng VIETNAM!

I decided to write this article because I notice that a few people (coughstevescotttarieljenkrissymichaelcough) don’t know much about hockey, let alone fantasy hockey. I want the league to be close, along with everyone having a blast doing it. In order for this to happen, I will try to educate you a little bit. You will find in the content below, players to keep and eye on and who to stay away from. Most of the players are undrafted in our league (I think there is 1 or 2 on the NOT list, that are on teams).

I’ll be splitting this up into a few different articles. This week I covered C, RW and LW that may be sleepers. When I get around to it, I will cover Defense and Goalies. Then I will attempt to go over a few teams to keep and eye on and a few to stay away from.

Side note: As I sit here eating a wrap, finishing up this article I started last night during a few glasses of wine I notice we have around 1 day, 22 hours, 9 minutes and 10 seconds (roughly) until the start of the Regular Season. Yay.

Center-

You have tons of options with this spot. If your centers aren’t producing, you have a million other options. This season has a lot of high calibur and skillful “centre’s” to choose from.

Who’s HOT:

Petr Sykora – Pit: I’m going to kick myself in the ass for tipping you guys off to this one, but this is Syd the Kid’s center. He had 53 points last year with the Oilers, which isn’t too bad considering the Oilers were bad last year. After he recovers from the broken nose he suffered this preseason, look for him feeding Sydney all night long.

Peter Forsberg – Nsh: I would just keep an eye on him until he decides what he is going to do this season. Since he is UFA (Unsigned Free Agent), he will probably sit out until around January and then sign with a team that wants to put up the big bucks down the stretch. Yes, he is getting a little old, but the guy is still a MACHINE (as you saw during the playoffs last season when the Preds were at the Shark Tank).

Mikko Koivu – Minn: The Wild aren’t looking too bad actually. They don’t have a real explosive division which will give this 25 year old some room to work his magic. Last year he posted 54 points, but got some off season help take away from teams concentrating on him.

Tim Connolly – Buf: He missed all last year due to a leg injury, but a lot of people think this will be a breakout year for him if he can stay healthy. Buffalo lost Drury and Briere in the offseason, but they still have Vanek and company that will move from Line 2 to Line 1 and that leaves Line 2 open to Connolly and Pominville. If Connolly gets Pominville the puck, he will score against teams 2^nd defensive lines.

Who’s NOT:

Bill Guerin – NYI: Yes, he was a Shark last season. Yes, he netted 36 goals last season, but WHO exactly is going to get him the puck this season? Also, add in the pressure of becoming the Captain of your brand new team that is not going to have much fan support with Rangers just picking up Drury and Gomez. Sorry bud, I just smell disaster.

Sergei Fedorov – Cls: RETIRE ALREADY GRANDPA!

Right Wing-

Who’s HOT:

Brad Boyes – StL : The kid is going to be good this year. StLoo is probably one of the most under rated teams right now. Look for him to start putting up some big numbers around November when he gets into his groove.

Jason Pominville – Buf: If his line mate Tim Connolly can stay healthy and feed him the puck all season, look for a 70+ point season.

Nikolai Zherdev – Cls: Oozing with talent and he is just waiting for his time to shine. Lets hope he doesn’t turn into the next Alexei Kovalev.

Who’s NOT:

Todd Bertuzzi – Anh: First and foremost, this guy is possibly the BIGGEST douchebox in the NHL. Bad back, back attitude and bad influence on his teammates.

Alexei Kovalev – Habs: Possibly the most skillful player in the league, but his big problem is…. Dun-dun-dun, he hardly ever shows up to play. I only see him producing about 40 points this year. (He does have a really cool hockey video out though. If you want to see it, ask me in the office).

Left Wing-

This is by far the hardest position to pick people up late in because once all the good players are gone, the downward hill to bad players is steep.

Who’s HOT:

Dustin Brown – LA: Kings aren’t looking spectacular this year and he might be a long shot, but it is a contract year for him and he just may break through with a 60+ point season.

Sergei Samsonov – Chi: Another 4^th year player. This is the year he is either going to shine or drop back to the AHL.

Antoine Vermette – Ott: Watch out this year for this guy. He has RIDIC wheels and a scorers touch too. Coach John Paddock has stated he will be giving him a chance on the scoring line with Heatley and Spezza. Diamond in the rough?

Marcel Hossa – NYR: Hello Mr. Gomez, Hello Mr. Jagr, how are my new line mates doing on this glorious afternoon in NYC? He may not be as good as his brother, Marian, but he if you can’t produce on THAT line, WOW…

Who’s NOT:

Ruslan Fedotenko – NYI: He couldn’t get the job done on a STUD line in Tampa Bay, what would change on a chump line in New York? Nothing.

Marco Sturm – Bos: 224 shots on goal last season (led the league), 27 goals. Need I say more?

Hope this helps everyone out a bit. Tell me what you thought! Go Sharks (especially Thornton :P)

Dueces. Out.