After the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world, the NHL had to make many adjustments to ensure they could have a 2020-2021 season happen. One of the major changes was division realignment in order to reduce travel and contain any potential outbreaks of the virus. With this realignment, the Buffalo Sabres were moved to the East Division (well, technically the MassMutual East Division, but who’s saying that every time?) and will only face off against teams in their own division for the duration of the regular season. With less games to be played and a lot of uncertainty still present in the world at large, each team has a very wide range of outcomes on the season, and it’s safe to say that every team in this division has the potential to be a real contender if the cards fall right for them. We already previewed the Sabres in depth, so it’s now time to look at what to expect from their competition this year.
Boston Bruins
Top Players: Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Tuukka Rask
Key Additions: Craig Smith
X-Factors: Matt Grzelcyk, Jake DeBrusk, Ondrej Kase
The Bruins are a familiar foe for the Sabres, as they are the only team coming over from the Atlantic Division with them. It’s been an interesting year for the Bruins, winning the President’s Trophy at the time of the pause, but losing in the semifinals to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. In addition, they decided not to re-sign longtime captain Zdeno Chara, which was a huge emotional blow for fans of the team. They also lost defenseman Torey Krug to free agency, and star forwards Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak may miss significant time due to injury. The Bruins are a well-run organization and still have plenty of quality players on the team such as Charlie McAvoy and new captain Patrice Bergeron, so it shouldn’t be surprising if they find a way to overcome these losses and still win the division. However, there are now some cracks in the foundation that could widen if the team isn’t completely on their game to make up for these new absences. Boston’s depth players must step up and Tuukka Rask needs to be a top 5 goalie again if the Bruins want to repeat as the recipients of the President’s Trophy, and they should still be a very tough test for the Sabres.
New Jersey Devils
Top Players: Nico Hischier, Kyle Palmieri, Mackenzie Blackwood
Key Additions: Andreas Johnsson, Ryan Murray
X-Factors: Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban, Nikita Gusev, Jesper Bratt
The Devils are the only team in this new East Division that had a worse season than the Sabres last year, and it shouldn’t be too surprising if they finish low in the league standings again this year. However, they are a fairly young team, and if their young players can show a lot of improvement they could be a dark horse in this division. Nico Hischier is already a top-six caliber two-way center, and while Jack Hughes struggled mightily last year he has the skill set to take a big step forward. P.K. Subban also had possibly the worst year of his career, but if he finds his game again it may help the team significantly. Nikita Gusev and Kyle Palmieri are solid wingers, and if Jesper Bratt can get signed he will be another nice addition. However, the Devils suffer from a lack of quality depth and their top players not being quite good enough to carry a team. Mackenzie Blackwood was hung out to dry frequently, and with Corey Crawford deciding to retire the Devils don’t have a quality backup behind him. Johnsson and Murray are nice additions, but ultimately it would take a considerable amount of luck and great development from the youngsters for the Devils to be a real threat in a division this stacked.
New York Islanders
Top Players: Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Ryan Pulock, Anthony Beavillier, Josh Bailey
Key Additions: None
X-Factors: Ilya Sorokin
The Islanders were one of many teams that encountered salary cap issues as a result of the pandemic, and considering they were already tight to the cap ceiling, it’s a miracle they were able to get Mathew Barzal signed before the start of the season with Devon Toews being the only cap casualty. Because of this, their roster is pretty much the same as it was last year: a bunch of guys that make you think “oh that guy’s decent I guess” but none that really stand out besides Barzal. However, everyone seems to count out the Islanders every year, which you can never do with a Barry Trotz coached team. His defensive system is what carried the Islanders to the Eastern Conference finals this summer. With top goaltending prospect Ilya Sorokin finally coming over from Russia, the Islanders will be an intriguing team to watch and play against this year-even if their play style puts you to sleep.
New York Rangers
Top Players: Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad
Key Additions: Alexis Lafreniere, K’Andre Miller/Jack Johnson
X-Factors: Igor Shesterkin, Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Strome, Jacob Trouba
It’s no secret the Rangers were dragged to the play-in round by an MVP-worthy season from Artemi Panarin last year. The Rangers have an odd mix of young players who aren’t quite ready to be contributors and veterans who may not replicate the season they had last year. Zibanejad and Strome both had career years in terms of their scoring totals, but they shouldn’t be relied upon to repeat that performance. On the other side of the coin, Jacob Trouba had a brutal first year in the Rangers defensive system after being acquired from Winnipeg. And then there’s Kaapo Kakko, who had one of the worst seasons in the age of analytics after going second overall in the 2019 draft. It’s difficult to say whether those players will repeat those performances, or whether they’ll regress upwards or downwards towards being average. Igor Shesterkin was fantastic in his small sample size of games last year, but it remains to be seen whether he can duplicate that over a full season as a starter. 2020 first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere should compete for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, while fellow rookie K’Andre Miller will likely have to fight infamous scapegoat Jack Johnson for minutes on the back end.
Like the Sabres, the Rangers are a team with a very wide range of outcomes that could be decided either by massive improvement from their depth players or their top talent being able to replicate career years.
Philadelphia Flyers
Top Players: Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux, Jacob Voracek, Carter Hart, Ivan Provorov
Key Additions: None
X-Factors: Travis Konecny, Nolan Patrick, Oskar Lindblom, Shayne Gostisbehere, James van Riemsdyk, Erik Gustafsson.
The Flyers finished the regular season on fire with an eight game winning streak, and carried that into the playoffs when they secured the first seed for the bubble playoffs. Unfortunately, they ran out of steam when they met up with the New York Islanders in the semifinals. Fortunately, the Flyers have a deep and talented roster on both forward and defense, and a great young goaltender in Carter Hart. They didn’t make any big offseason acquisitions, but they have two young forwards returning from long term absences in Nolan Patrick (migraine condition) and Oskar Lindblom (cancer treatment). It seems that they will be splitting up the “big 3” of Giroux, Couturier, and Voracek, but the supporting cast of the forward group is good enough for this to work in their favor. Travis Konecny broke out last season, and replicating that performance will be another boost for the team. Ivan Provorov leads a solid defense core that has a solid mix of experience, youth, and depth just like the forward group. If Gostisbehere and James Van Riemsdyk rebound from down seasons, look out-because this team will jump from an easy playoff bet to a legitimate Cup contender. It’s easy to see why the Flyers are the early favorites to win this division, and it should not be surprising to see them be contenders in the future as well.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Top Players: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel
Key Additions: Kasperi Kapanen, Mike Matheson, Cody Ceci
X-Factors: Bryan Rust, Tristan Jarry, John Marino
The Penguins had a very disappointing end to their season, as the Montreal Canadiens stunned them by defeating them in the play-in round. They now find themselves approaching a crossroads: keep grasping for their last chance at contention before their window shuts, or give in and start a rebuild. The legendary core of Crosby, Malkin and Letang is still elite, but they aren’t as dominant as they once were nor are they getting any younger. The Pens traded away Matt Murray to free some cap space and awarded the full-time starting job to Tristan Jarry, which seems to have been the right move, but time will tell how Jarry handles it. They have decent complimentary pieces on forward such as Jake Guentzel, Jason Zucker, and the newly-acquired Kasperi Kapanen. Bryan Rust broke out last season, but it doesn’t seem likely that he can replicate a point-per-game scoring rate (then again, playing with Malkin again could help). The forward group lost some solid depth pieces, so there may be more pressure put on an aging Crosby and Malkin. The defense is solid, led by Letang and the criminally underrated John Marino, but replacing the third pair of Johnson-Schultz with Matheson-Ceci is like lifting the anchor just to chuck it right back to the sea floor. On paper, this team appears to be a contender again, but if Father Time is unkind to their star players, the hockey world could see the Penguins finally fall out of consistent playoff contention.
Washington Capitals
Top Players: Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie
Key Additions: Zdeno Chara, Justin Schultz, Conor Sheary
X-Factors: Ilya Samsonov, Jakub Vrana, Tom Wilson
The Capitals are in a similar situation to the Penguins, just with less Stanley Cups to show for during their years of regular season dominance. This team looked completely overmatched in their first round series against the Islanders this summer, which is never a good sign with an aging core. Ovechkin and Backstrom have carried this team on their backs for years, and while Mike Green is long gone, they still have had guys like Kuznetsov, Oshie, and Carlson to support them in recent seasons. Those players are now also hitting the tail end of their primes, so it will be interesting to see how much longer they can hold onto a high level of play. It appeared that the Caps relied on their power play for goal production, which is not a reliable way to depend on sustained success. The Caps will need their younger forwards like Vrana and Wilson to step up and continue aiding in producing. Adding former Sabre Conor Sheary should help bolster the scoring depth, and Justin Schultz and Zdeno Chara (who is somehow actually still pretty good at 43 years old) should do the same for the defense. This team will ride or die with newly minted starting goalie Ilya Samsonov, who was very good backing up Braden Holtby last year. However, the Capitals lost a newly acquired veteran backup similar to the Devils when Henrik Lundqvist announced he would be forced to take the season off due to a heart condition. Just like the Bruins and Penguins, there are cracks in the foundation of the Capitals’ once-mighty structure, and it is possible that they may finally fall in a year as unpredictable as this one.
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