This is the third of four parts previewing the 2015-16 NHL season:
Atlantic Division
Capsules may not include latest injury or roster updates.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Were it not for the fact that the Chicago Blackhawks are a modern day hockey dynasty, Steve Yzerman would have had his first Cup as a general manager after the ones he collected as a player in Detroit. Any other Western club in the final and it’s a done deal. Tampa is clearly the new Beast of the East. The Bolts' return is mostly intact with one minor free-agent signing — right wing Erik Condra, who penned a three-year, $3.75 million deal. Yzerman tried all summer to sign Steven Stamkos to an extension. Stamkos has 43 or more goals four times and has averaged 39 goals since coming into the NHL seven years ago. Tampa’s “Triplets Line” of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nitkita Kucherov was sensational last season with 199 points and each of them were better than plus-30! Ottawa’s riches in goal allowed Ben Bishop to be dealt to Tampa two years ago and he’s become a solid No. 1 on a team that simply outscores you (262 goals).
Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price did everything humanly possible to position the Habs as a playoff club with a magnificent regular season in which he won four awards, including the Hart and Vezina Trophies once again. His presence is evidenced by the fact this is a defensive club that tied Chicago for the league lead in fewest goals allowed (189). GM Marc Bergevin traded for 6-foot-3 forward Zack Kassian to give the Canadiens more size on a roster that has gotten bigger, but still lacks muscle at center. Max Pacioretty scored 37 goals — he has 33 or more three times now over the last four seasons but one of those was wiped out by injury. Bergevin is hoping that the trade deadline acquisition of defenseman Jeff Petry will allow P.K. Subban to take a bigger bite on offense. The only notable free agent signed was Alexander Semin.
Ottawa Senators
GM Bryan Murray made little changes to his roster on a club that rallied around The Hamburglar — goalie Andrew Hammond. This is one of those clubs that neither surprises nor disappoints, depending on your viewpoint, but we think the Sens are headed for 100 points this season under Dave Cameron, who gets a full year at the helm. One area he needs the club to dramatically improve is the power play which resided in the bottom third of the league (16.8 percent) last season. If Ottawa picks up where it left off — winning 23 of its final 31 games — watch out. Lots of young legs who can skate on this club and three prospects were all aiming to gain a roster spot in training camp, led by forward Shane Prince. As sensational as Hammond was, there’s no guarantee he hangs onto the starting job over Craig Anderson. Sens needs more offense. D-man Erik Karlsson (66 points) led them in scoring.
Boston Bruins
The big, bad Bruins of the Peter Chiarelli era that won a Cup not that long ago, evolved into something far less menacing in recent times, leading to wholesale changes throughout after missing the playoffs. New GM Don Sweeney stunned the hockey world by trading young defenseman Dougie Hamilton at the draft rather than risk an RFA offer sheet but this was one player worth the risk because franchise defensemen are few and far between. Losing Milan Lucic via trade that same day was entirely predictable and then Sweeney made a few more deals to reshape the Bruins in his image. What that image is remains to be seen behind Patrice Bergeron (55 points), who added another Selke Trophy to his collection. Claude Julien may be on a short leash behind the bench and needs young center Ryan Spooner to step up in the wake of trading Carl Soderberg. Losses of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg on the blue line (back surgery) are huge.
Florida Panthers
While some may scoff at the Panthers, this is a club that finished with more points than the Flyers last season. Florida allowed Scottie Upshall to walk away without re-signing and has high hopes that its young prospects will continue to blossom. Those hopes are buoyed by defenseman Aaron Ekblad winning the Calder Trophy last season. Florida did not make a single major free-agent signing or trade this summer and still has a number of older veterans hanging around, including goalie Roberto Luongo, who turns 37 in the spring. The team scored just 206 goals (second fewest in the division) last season. Panthers chairman Peter Luukko hopes ageless wonder Jaromir Jagr will have the same mentoring effect on Jonathan Huberdeau and Alexsander Barkov that he had on Jakub Voracek in Philadelphia.
Detroit Red Wings
Were it not for Mike Babcock’s departure as a free agent coach, it’s likely Jeff Blashill would have landed somewhere else in the NHL. After patiently waiting, he finally gets a chance with a club that is old, in transition, and without 37-year-old stable force Pavel Datsyuk, who is still recovering from offseason surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in his right ankle. The Wings historically don’t make a lot of moves or free-agent signings under GM Ken Holland. Yet they made a couple of significant moves this offseason with the signing of right-handed defenseman Mike Green (three years, $18 million) and center Brad Richards. They also committed $19 million to re-sign centerman Gustav Nyquist (27 goals, 54 points) for four years. Stalwarts Nik Kronwall (age 35) and Henrik Zetterberg (34) remain, but they’re getting long in the tooth in a very tough division. Detroit’s been a playoff club every season since 1990-91.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The ever-changing world of the Maple Leafs continued this summer with the shaping of the front office and the arrival of Mike Babcock behind the bench. Babs has eight years and a record $50 million of salary to figure things out for Mike Shanahan. There’s a full-blown “rebuild” in the Big T.O. and in earnest with the mega eight-player (including draft picks) deal that saw Phil Kessel depart for Pittsburgh. He had been the Leafs' most prolific offensive player for the past six years. James van Riemsdyk is the heir apparent to Kessel’s throne. Given Babcock’s repertoire for playing young Europeans, Kasperi Kapanen (son of Sami) seemed a possibility but he went to the AHL. What an odd fit for Lou Lamoriello as the Leafs’ new GM. Lamoriello never had money before and now he inherits Canada’s largest vault in Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment.
Buffalo Sabres
Hello Jack Eichel and welcome to Buffalo. Another club in the old “Northeast Division” that underwent a dramatic facelift. Then again, you could say that the Sabres have had a series of plastic surgeries every year since Danny Briere left. This is fully Tim Murray’s team now which is why uncle Terry is now an assistant to Dan Bylsma, who was on the open market a lot longer than anyone expected before being picked up in Buffalo to replace Ted Nolan. The Sabres were very aggressive at the NHL draft and during free agency as owner Terry Pegula has given them the go-ahead to do whatever it takes to get them back into the hunt again. Changes began at the trade deadline with the arrival of Evander Kane then continued with the draft deals that brought them flashy, young center Ryan O’Reilly, fellow forward David Legwand and goalie Robin Lehner. O’Reilly later signed a seven-year, $52.5 million contract. This club bears watching.