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Early Rankings
by Paul on 07/25/08 at 11:31 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
With the exception of future Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan, Mats Sundin (the ponderous one), Joe Sakic and Teemu Selanne, all the big-name free agents have been snapped up, and the complexion of the vast majority of NHL teams is well-established heading into the dog days of summer.
Here’s a look at our Summer Power Rankings with less than two months to go before the start of training camp:
Eastern Conference
15. Atlanta Thrashers
The Thrashers, Leafs and Isles look to be in a heated battle for the No. 1 pick in next summer’s draft and the chance to land super prospect John Tavares. That’s about as good as it gets for the Thrashers, whose spotty lineup promises to make rookie coach John Anderson’s first season a long one.
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Comments
Boston #11? Are you crazy? The Bruins are better than Ottawa (name their starting goalie?), Buffalo (what quality player is left on this team?) and Tampa (name one of their defensemen or goalies?). Carolina could be awful. Half their defense retired and Cole was a huge part of that team. I even think the Rangers are a huge question mark. I would put the Bruins even with New Jersey as a 5th or 6th seed on paper.
Posted by kevin from boston on 07/25/08 at 05:50 PM ET
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In the East, Boston in, Tampa out. Let’s not forget that the Bruins made the playoffs last season. Their kids—Kessel, Lucic, Krejci—were super against Montreal. Bergeron will be back, and Tim Thomas never gets the respect he deserves. The Bolts’ additions were like cafeteria food—not very good, but plenty of it.
In the West, Phoenix in, Nashville out. Jokinen will make a profound difference, Turris will be this season’s Patrick Kane and Peter Mueller has a year of experience. Good moves on the blueline with Sauer and Hale and to add toughness (you need a good Fridge in the desert). They missed last season because Vrbata went cold down the stretch and the Yotes smartly walked away from the inconsistent winger. Most importantly, a whole year of Bryzgalov in net. Nash, meanwhile, continues to shed players. They’ll miss Zidlicky and Radulov, a bit of an under-achiever so far anyway, is a big question mark.
Posted by Leserv from Arizona on 07/25/08 at 01:51 PM ET