NHL Eastern Conference Predictions 2011-12

by HBT on Aug 28, 2011 7:02 PM EDT

1. Washington Capitals- By adding Tomas Vokoun, Roman Hamrlik and Troy Brouwer, the Caps got even more talented this off-season. Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom and Green will all be hungry for comeback seasons in 2011-12 and I think the Caps will have their best season yet.

2. Pittsburgh Penguins- Last season, both Crosby and Malkin-- the Penguins top two players-- ran into injury problems. Despite their absence, the Penguins still managed to finish fourth in the East thanks to some great coaching by Dan Byslma. This year, with both the stars hopefully coming back healthy, I see the Pens winning the Atlantic and finishing top three.

3. Boston Bruins- The defending Stanley Cup champions will try and go back-to-back this year with a much similar line-up to last year's cup winning team.

4. Buffalo Sabres- After a quite disappointing season, the Sabres made major acquisitions in the off-season. They got themselves blue-liners Christian Ehrhoff and Robyn Regehr. Both will provide loads of support for former Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller who will be looking for a much better season in 2011-12.

5. New York Rangers- The Rangers made the biggest splash in the off-season as they signed top prized free agent Brad Richards. If him and Gaborik can both stay healthy, New York could end up anywhere near the top of the East. With Lundqvist in the crease, they are looking like a very dangerous team.

6. Tampa Bay Lightning- The Bolts had a very good season in year one under Steve Yzerman. With St. Louis and Stamkos leading the way, the big question is the goaltending: Will Dwayne Roloson be able to continue his heroics at 41?

7. Philadelphia Flyers- After their crazy make-over in the off-season, it's very hard to predict how the Flyers will do next season. I've put them at 7th but they could be much higher.

8. Montreal Canadiens- The Habs had a very successful season last year and they will be looking to build on it when next season starts in October. X-Factor: Can Carey Price play as good as he did in 2010-11?

9. Carolina Hurricanes- The Hurricanes had a very pleasant surprise from Jeff Skinner last season as he produced 63 points and took home the Calder Trophy. Sadly the Canes could not make the playoffs as they lost the last game of the season 6-2 to the Lightning. Carolina acquired Tomas Kaberle in July and they are hoping that he can give them an extra boost into the post-season.

10. Toronto Maple Leafs- It takes a Leafs fan like me to look at the depth charts of every team until I come to realize that the Leafs probably won't make the playoffs. But I'm not saying that they don't have a chance. They will surely be in the playoff race, especially after getting Cody Franson and Tim Connolly in the off-season. The one huge question facing Leafs nation: How will James Reimer do in his second season in the NHL?

11. New Jersey Devils- 13 straight years they had made the playoffs. But that streak came to an end in 2011. With Martin Brodeur getting old, I think it's safe to say that the Devils can say good-bye to the playoffs for a little while.

12. Winnipeg Jets- Canada finally got their seventh Canadian team as the Thrashers were re-located to Winnipeg. They are just not playoff ready yet though.

13. New York Islanders- Tavares, Strome, Grabner, Moulson, Okposo, Niederreiter...... the Isles have some very good young talent on their team. But before they can start thinking about the post-season, they need to find a goalie.

14. Florida Panthers- The Florida Panthers made lots of moves as they got big names, Sean Bergenheim, Tomas Fleischmann, Brian Campbell and Ed Jovanovski. But the departure of Tomas Vokoun will hurt a lot.

15. Ottawa Senators- Suddenly, the Ottawa Senators have found themselves at the bottom of the East in not only my predictions, but many others. The team is in rebuild mode and it will be a while before they can compete for the cup again.

Check out www.hockeybaseballtalk.com for more posts. Thanks for reading!

PensionPlanPuppets.com is a fan community that allows members to post their own thoughts and opinions on the Toronto Maple Leafs and hockey in general. These views and thoughts may not be shared by the editor of PensionPlanPuppets.com.

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Comments

My prediction is Philly will tank. Leafs will squeak into 1st place.

Don't follow me on twitter: @theninjagreg

by theninjagreg on Aug 29, 2011 11:14 AM EDT reply actions

I’m a leafs fan. And I approve this message

Pimpin ain't Parise!

by SPERO on Aug 29, 2011 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Dude,… what are you smoking ?

FLYERROB ! YOU STAY AWESOME FLYERS FANS ! ~ ~ ~ Lori Wilson Gray ~ ~ April 07th 1967 - May 27th 2011 ~ May you rest in Peace ~ I love you and miss you big Sis ! I cant believe at 44 yrs of age .. you went to sleep and never woke up. I promise to take care of Matt and Emily for you. With Love, your baby Brother.

by FLYERROB on Sep 4, 2011 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Crystal Meth

by ShahofToronto on Sep 6, 2011 1:56 AM EDT up reply actions

looks to me like a case of the crack pipe calling the crack stem black

Y'all Heard About Me, You Just Didn't Know It was Me

by JaredFromLondon on Sep 6, 2011 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I like you.

by DiaDud on Sep 7, 2011 2:53 AM EDT up reply actions

How amazing would it be to kick montreal out of the playoffs.

by ShahofToronto on Aug 31, 2011 9:44 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

i cant see NJ finishing 11th…. they started like 3-27 or something stupid and ended up in the playoff race (sort of)

by esto jr on Sep 1, 2011 12:12 AM EDT reply actions

You have the Rangers, and Sabres above Philadelphia?

Saaaaayyyyy Whhhhaaaaaa ????

Ok I agree to totally disagree with you on this one.

I will attempt to back up my opinion with the following.

The Rangers have HARDLY anyone for Defense that is all star material. Outside of Marc Staal, the rest of the D are a collective bunch of average Defenseman at best.
A 34 Year old backup goalie in Biron who has never really lived up to the potential is not a goalie who can carry this team if King Henry ever gets injured. So the Goaltending situation is not Solid. Their Forwards are their strength in Dubinsky, Callahan, Richards, Gaborik and Fedotenko I will give them that but again .. last year Gaborik had a subpar year and I wonder if Fedotenko and Richards can be healthy enough for 82 games and post season.

Now the Sabres,

This team has continually missed one element over the last 15 years except for 1999 SCF and the ECF in 2005 2006, and that is the Ability to rise up in adverse situations. they have been known to come up short every year of their Expectations. I know what your going to say .. So has Philadelphia come up short to their expectations almost every year as well but the one reason, IMHO, that I feel that Buffalo will come up shorter than Philadelphia is that this Buffalo team seems to always put all the pressure on Ryan Miller every season and Lindy Ruff has failed to address this situation. The Coach should remind this team with the talent that they have on Defense and Forwards that they should not sit back and watch and see how many saves Miller can make and Attempt to put the puck in the back of the opposing teams net.

If you can argue any of these teams may upset and be above Philadelphia it would probably be Buffalo but definitely not NY Rangers. However I would not worry if Buffalo finishes the Regular season Above Philadelphia because the Sabres post season series record against Philadelphia is 3 wins and 6 losses.

The FLYERS have acquired Bryzgalov, Braydon Shenn, Maxim Talbot, Jakub Voracek, & Wayne Simmonds along with Andreas Lilja. Their is allot of youth and depth on the FLYERS team that allot of people are not aware of.

FLYERS will finish 5th.

1. Capitals
2. Bruins
3. Penguins
4. Lightning
5. FLYERS
6. Sabres
7. Canadiens
8. Maple Leafs
9. Rangers
10. Hurricanes
11. Devils
12. Jets
13. Senators
14. Panthers
15. Islanders (Again in the Basement ~ going to start wearing game day Wool Sweaters instead of Jerseys because its damp and cold in the basement!)

Thats my Opinion… That opinion with a Toonie can get you a large cup of Timmy Ho’s Coffee.

by FLYERROB on Sep 4, 2011 1:30 PM EDT reply actions

Rangers were 9 RO wins behind Philly last year, but only behind three wins overall. Richards+Gaborik should be worth 2 more wins (10-12GVT), improvement from Dubinsky, Callahan, and Anisimov should be worth another, and improvement and growth on the blueline yet another. Net, four more wins.

Health from Pronger and Bryzgalov should add a win or so (I think Pronger has declined quite a bit after his surgeries, while Bob and Boucher were an above average tandem last season so there is not much room for improvement). Losing Richards and Carter (including influence on Giroux) I think will cost around five. Voracek, Simmonds, JvR, and Schenn should be able to hit three wins between them. Jagr should add another. Net: no change. I didn’t count shooting luck regression, either.

I don’t know how the Philly goalies are in shootouts, but Lundqvist is the best net minder, so while my estimations don’t see NYR beating Philly in RO wins, I see a tight race in total wins.

Red Line Station and @RedArmyLine, featuring coverage of the most frustrating team in the NHL
I believe in next year.

by red army line on Sep 5, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions

How would NYR be passed by a Leafs team that also added a C, except one much worse than BR?

I think NYI and NJ are much better than you think. Ottawa meanwhile is the thinnest team in the NHL.

Red Line Station and @RedArmyLine, featuring coverage of the most frustrating team in the NHL
I believe in next year.

by red army line on Sep 5, 2011 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually the FLYERS D Is waaaaayyyyyy Better than NY Rangers D. The additions of Voracek Simmonds and Schenn should be more than 3 wins. (Only Schenn is the Rookie here.)
NY Rangers are one Hamstring pull away from King Henry going down and Biron (hahahaha …. ) being the everyday starter… Bobrovsky is actually better than Biron.

I feel that the Maple Leafs are better than the NY Rangers in the make up of the team and the goalies … Maple Leafs appear to be better.

These are all opinions.

by FLYERROB on Sep 5, 2011 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions

The additions of Voracek Simmonds and Schenn should be more than 3 wins. (Only Schenn is the Rookie here.)

It’s not the additions that set them back – it’s the LOSS of Richards and Carter.

I feel that the Maple Leafs are better than the NY Rangers in the make up of the team and the goalies … Maple Leafs appear to be better.

Disagreed…. IMO NYR has a better overall Top 9 and Lundqvist is 1000x more proven than Reimer. You could make a case we have a better defense, but that’s about it.

Crazy would be NOT overanalyzing everything.
Lebda-free since July 3.

by nhlcheapshot on Sep 5, 2011 5:35 PM EDT up reply actions