Predictions of the 2009-2010 NHL Season (East)

Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division:
New Jersey Devils
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
New York Rangers
New York Islanders

Northeast Division:
Boston Bruins
Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
Buffalo Sabres
Ottawa Senators

Southeast Division:
Washington Capitals
Carolina Hurricanes
Atlanta Thrashers
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning

Eastern Conference Playoffs:
Washington Capitals
Boston Bruins
New Jersey Devils
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Montreal Canadiens
Carolina Hurricanes
New York Rangers

Conference Champion: Philadelphia Flyers
I don't predict any changes in the Eastern Conference playoff line-ups outside of seeding. The Washington Capitals are the most explosive team in the Eastern Conference, and I will not find it surprising if they are shot out of a cannon and carry a huge point streak early in the season into the top seed in the East, much like the San Jose Sharks did last year. Tim Thomas is considered to be the top goaltender in the East, but we'll see how an extra workload a season after a timeshare and a deep playoff run will affect him in the final stretch of the season in what looks to be a very tight race for the top 4 seeds in the East. Everyone is saying Martin Brodeur for the Devils is primed to have a huge bounce back season after the past 2 years were cut short with injury and disappointing playoff runs, and it's almost unanimous that he'll win the Vezina if that happens. But the Devils play in the hardest division of hockey, and I'm barely giving the Devils an edge over the likes of the Flyers and Pens under the assumption that Zach Parise is THAT good. But in the end, the Flyers are built for the playoffs. They have the nastiest third/fourth/defensive lines in the East, and although their top wingers aren't as great as others, with Jeff Carter and Mike Richards centering, their offense will be good enough. They're a team built to take a quick lead and hold on to it by wearing down the opponents over the last 30 minutes of a hockey game. This prediction is completely reliant on whether Emery is the real deal or whether he's just another failed comeback story, but I believe if Emery does waver a bit, the Flyers have the personnel (not just in the coaching staff) to give him a good smack in the face and get him back on track. Carolina could easily go deep and win a Conference championships, as they have the most balanced lines offensively (not stacked on the first/second like the Flyers, Devils, etc.), but their special teams need to improve drastically from their below average finish last year.

Possible dark horse teams are the Toronto Maple Leafs, as soon as they put less pressure on Toskala, and the Atlanta Thrashers, who look like the Capitals a couple of years ago in terms of offense. Granted, the Thrashers don't have Ovechkin. And I'm not buying the whole "Tampa Bay is the surprise team of the year".