Northeast: Burke's vision coming to life with Maple Leafs
Division Report Cards: Northwest | Central
There's really not much to choose from when it comes to Northeast Division teams. The Buffalo Sabres finished first during the regular season, but didn't have enough size or depth to do any damage when things got tougher in the playoffs.
For their part, the Ottawa Senators finished a surprising second and actually gave Pittsburgh an early first-round scare, but ultimately couldn't match up and succumbed.
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| With Tyler Seguin and Nathan Horton, the Bruins are trending up. (AP) |
Here's a snapshot of the Northeast since the season ended.
Buffalo Sabres: With each passing season, the Stanley Cup window that seemed so wide for the Sabres after the lockout has been closing quite a bit more. It may even be shut now for a team that was the class of the Northeast Division during the regular season. But that was largely because of Ryan Miller's goaltending. Buffalo limped out after one round against a division rival that barely made the playoffs and have not done much to improve since. The Sabres signed a decent third-line forward in Rob Niedermayer and defenseman Jordan Leopold, but lost Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman, two critical members of the blue line that is so important to this team. The Sabres have a lot of cap space to fill out one or two spots on the roster, but they don't intend to use much of it. Heading: Down
Ottawa Senators: The will-he-stay saga this off-season involves Jason Spezza, but the Senators aren't over the barrel in this case the way they were with Dany Heatley. Ottawa may end up keeping Spezza and his game should be helped by the arrival of prized free agent Sergei Gonchar. He's the kind of quarterback the Senators have lacked from the back end for years, and his ability to move the puck should offset the loss of Anton Volchenkov's defense. Ottawa is bumping up against the cap now and probably now understands why Montreal wouldn't give Alex Kovalev a second season on a contract, so the Senators will end up giving more responsibility to younger players. And they'll enter the season with familiar questions about goaltending. Heading: Sideways
Boston Bruins: No point standing still for the Bruins after they blew a three-game lead and lost the second round to the Flyers. A healthier Boston team would have likely improved on its regular season mark, but the Bruins have already strengthened their lineup now and likely aren't finished with their tinkering. The Bruins used the second overall pick they obtained from Toronto to nab highly-touted Tyler Seguin and traded for Nathan Horton, a sometimes 30-goal man who had grown disgruntled in Florida but is still only 25. The Bruins are trying to move Marc Savard, who should bring a nice return along with Tim Thomas and his $5 million annual cap hit. Boston finished first overall in the East two seasons ago. This version could be better. Heading: Up
Montreal Canadiens: They had an incredible run through the playoffs because of goalie Jaroslav Halak, so they traded him when it was over. They dumped a couple of decent role players in Dominic Moore and Glen Metropolit and the problematic Sergei Kostitsyn as well, but Montreal was able to bring back Tomas Plekanec -- at a hefty $5 million salary. The Canadiens still have some holes to fill on a roster that really wasn't very good last season, but channeled enough adrenaline to pull off a couple of major playoff upsets. That's a lot to ask now that the post-season star is gone and Carey Price has been handed the job he hasn't yet won. First though, the Canadiens have to re-sign Price, who will certainly be using the serious raise Halak got from the Blues as a measuring stick. Heading: Down
Toronto Maple Leafs: There has to be a lot more to come this summer from GM Brian Burke, but the kind of team he wants to build in Toronto is starting to take shape. The Leafs have added a couple of nice pieces in the last few weeks, picking up Kris Versteeg -- a key member of Chicago's Stanley Cup winner -- in a trade and gritty forward Colby Armstrong through free agency. Expect more changes to come in Toronto with defenseman Tomas Kaberle remaining as one of the best trade bargaining chips around and the Leafs setting their sights on adding some offense. Heading: Up
