Atlantic Division Preview

We continue our breakdown of each division in the NHL, team by team. Today we examine the Atlantic Division. Of any division, this one gives commentators the most to talk about. We expect a lot of change from last season's standings. The guard is changing in the Atlantic. Teams like Boston and Montreal can no longer just idle their way to a playoff spot. They are now chasing the younger faster teams ahead of them.

8. Detroit Red Wings

After 25 years of playoff success, the Detroit Red Wings have finally hit their bottom. It was bound to happen. Players like Lidstrom, Yzerman, Datsyuk and Fedorov are not walking back into their locker room. This team is desperate for a rebuild. In order to rebuild you have to find young talent in the draft and groom them to be successful. Also, for the Red Wings they need to find their way out of some of their bad contracts. Niklas Kronwall is making $4.75 million at 36. Mike Green is an above average defensemen making $6 million this year. Justin Abdelkader is making $4.25 million per year for the next six years and he is little more than a good third line winger. Also they are paying two goalies over $4 million this season. If you have two starting goalies, that really means you have none. The future is bright with players like Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha still on their rookie contracts, but it will be a long road for Detroit to get back to the playoffs.

7. Florida Panthers

I am not sure what to make of the Panthers roster. I love the top half of their lineup. Ekblad and Yandle are both great defensemen. It is hard to believe Aaron Ekblad is still only 21 years old, he looks like a grizzled veteran. With Huberdeau, Trochek and Barkov leading the way offensively they have some quality forwards, but no star offensive power. They also brought Evgeni Dadonov back from the KHL to try and supplement the offense. I am not sure how much it will help. In 55 games previously played in the NHL, Dadonov only scored 10 goals. I also am not a fan of this team's depth. The back half of their lineup is a hodgepodge of career underachievers or completely unproven youngsters. The Panthers on paper do not appear to be in a position to make the playoffs, but they have enough talent to surprise a few teams.

Central Division Preview

We continue our breakdown of each division in the NHL, team by team. Today we are diving into the Central Division. This may be the toughest division in the NHL.The top six teams are all worthy playoff contenders. Of any division, this one seems to be the most likely to end up with five playoff teams. The top six could honestly go in any order. Very challenging to predict the way this division will go.

7. Colorado Avalanche

When you look at the Avalanche' roster, you would think this is a competitive team. Lots of high end talent throughout the roster, plenty of former top ten picks and all-stars. Nate MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Nail Yakupov, Erik Johnson and Semyon Varlamov are all high pedigree players. It is hard to believe that this team is projected to be the worst in the National Hockey League. Especially since they are just a couple years removed from winning this division, with the same core of players. Mismanagement and a poor organization culture have killed this team. The best hope is that they are able to trade Matt Duchene this season for some valuable future assets. I have a hard time believing Colorado can finish any higher than the bottom of this division.

6. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets are in a tough spot. They are a supremely talented team with a bright future. However, they are stuck in maybe the toughest division in the NHL. Last season the Jets took a big step forward, tallying 87 points on the season, but still not enough for a playoff spot. I have serious concerns about their goaltending. Steve Mason is expected to be the starter for the season, but he is not the type of goalie you want if you expect to be in the playoffs. Far too inconsistent. However, you have to love their blue liners. Tons of size and ferocity. Big Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers and Jacob Trouba are the Goliaths. While Toby Enstrom and Dimitry Kulikov can skate and make plays. This team's season will truly be decided by their young offensive stars. Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele are already stars. The question marks are players like Nik Ehlers and Marko Dano. If they're young forwards build on last season, the Jets could be a playoff surprise.

Pacific Division Preview

Over the next four days we will break down each division in the NHL, team by team. More importantly we will give you the power rankings for these divisions. You will know who is going to surprise and who will be looking at a lottery pick.

We will start in the Pacific Division. As always, the Pacific is top heavy and there is no doubt who the consensus number one seed will be. However, there may be some surprises as to the rise and fall of the veteran teams.

8. Las Vegas Golden Knights

This is going to be an extremely hard team to predict as the season goes. On paper they are much better off than previous expansion teams. This is thanks to the league’s strict rules on who each team could and could not protect. You have to be impressed with their veterans that will fill their top two lines. James Neal, David Perron, Reilly Smith and Jon Marchessault all give serious scoring prowess to what was expected to be a depleted lineup. On the back end they have Jason Garrison, Luca Sbisa and Nate Schmidt to give them some balance in their lineup. Fans have to be especially pleased with their goaltending. Marc-Andre Fleury is an incredibly lucky find for an expansion team. He alone can steal a lot of games for this team. The big and obvious concern is depth. Their third and fourth lines will be woefully bad. That is going to cost this team a lot of games. Also, you have to be worried about chemistry. This will be the first time most of these players will have ever played together. It can take years for players to gel and figure each other out. My expectation is the Knights are aiming for the top pick in the draft. It is fairly obvious when you look at all the draft picks they traded for and players they selected in expansion, this team has no interest in being competitive today. They plan to tank for high picks to be ultra competitive in a few years. Expect this team to make a lot of moves as the season goes.

7. Arizona Coyotes

No surprise here. The Coyotes finish near the bottom of the division nearly every season. However, they never seem lucky enough to land the top pick in the draft. Arizona did make some offseason moves of note. Adding Derek Stepan gives them a legitimate center and Nik Hjalmarsson is an excellent top four defensemen. They also have some nice young players returning in Anthony Duclair, Max Domi and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Ekman-Larsson would be a star player in any other organization. I also am very excited to see what Dylan Strome can do at the NHL level. He was the third overall pick behind Conner McDavid and Jack Eichel. The problem in Arizona is the same as it ever was. They do not have enough depth or scoring. An even bigger problem is they lost Mike Smith in goal and replaced him with Antti Raanta.You would be hard pressed to find anyone that thinks the Coyotes have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs.