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Darkhorses

DoobeeDoobeeDoo

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I think if you ask most people who they think will win each division, it'll go something like this,

Atlantic Division: Boston Bruins or Detroit Red Wings

Metropolitan Division: Pittsburgh Penguins or New York Rangers

Central Division: Chicago Blackhawks or St. Louis Blues

Pacific Division: Los Angeles Kings or Anaheim Ducks.

Easy to tell why, these were the top teams in each division and all of these teams have enjoyed much success in recent seasons compared to others in the division. But what about the teams that aren't talked about, teams that haven't enjoyed much success but have potential to turn some heads this season? Figured I would look into each division and pick out a team that has the potential to catch everyone by surprise.

Atlantic Division
Toronto Maple Leafs: came within 10 minutes of putting the eventual Eastern Conference champsions/Prince of Wales Trophy winners away before they blew a 4-1 lead. In spite of this collapse, the Maple Leafs achieved a lot of good things last season. They lost Mikhail Grabovski but he wasn't a major player for the team last season. They replaced him with David Clarkson who gives them a good physical presence. Their defense is sort of their weakness, they allow a lot of shots, but they also have a very good penalty kill which constantly applies pressure when you enter their zone. By signing Jonathan Bernier, they have a very good goalie tandem. Jake Gardiner & Paul Ranger are 2 young dmen who should give their blue line an added boost. Main thing is for them to re-sign Nazeem Kadri. I think they're still lacking behind teams like the Bruins & Red Wings, but there's no reason for them to not be up there with the Canadiens & Senators as far as Atlantic contenders are concerned.

Metropolitan Division
Columbus Blue Jackets: I think this was the surprise team of the year last year and I think that this is a team likely to grow from last season. The way Sergei Bobrovsky you could argue they they very well might have the best goalie in the division (I personally think Lundqvist is the best but I could see the argument for Bobrovsky). They have a lot of good young dmen in Fedor Tyutin, James Wisniewski, Jack Johnson, Nikita Nikitan, & Ryan Murray. They have some good depth with forwards and now they've added a strong physical presence in Nathan Horton. On paper, I would put them up with the Rangers, and I think the 2 teams could easily have an interesting rivalry going with Rick Nash, Marian Gaborik, Derick Brassard, Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, John Moore, etc.. I still consider my Pens, the Rangers, & the Flyers to be the top 3 of the division, but the Blue Jackets could be in the mix with the likes of the Devils, Hurricanes, & Islanders.

Central Division
Winnipeg Jets: I really like the depth & balance of the Jets roster. Guys like Blake Wheeler, Evander Kane, Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd, & Olli Jokinen are very respectable forwards. Now they could add Devin Setoguchi to the mix, plus I'm intrigued to see how Mark Scheifele will do in the NHL. Their dmen are very solid with Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom, Grant Clitsome, & Ron Hainsey, plus young guys like Paul Postma & Jacob Trouba also look promising. Kind of iffy on the goalies, at times Ondrej Pavelec & Al Montoya look very solid, at other times they do not. If they could get consistent goaltending, I could see the Jets being up there and maybe even better than the likes of the Stars, Wild, & Predators. I still think they're a notch below the Blackhawks & Blues, but not by as much as one would think.

Pacific Division
Edmonton Oilers: seems like every year the Oilers have a roster that looks like they could finally return to their successful ways of the past only to disappoint. I think the Oilers will put things together and finally live up to that hype. As far as their forwards go, they're about as deep as anyone in the league (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle, Sam Gagner, Taylor Hall, Nail Yakupov, Ryan Smyth & now add David Perron). They got some talent on the blue line, but in general they tend to be soft & lack depth. Really like the Andrew Ference acquisition, I think he brings a lot of things that they were lacking. I also think the Oilers have a very underrated goalie tandem. In spite of playing behind a very weak defense, Devan Dubnyk has put up some very respectable numbers and Jason Labarbera looked very good for the Coyotes in place of Mike Smith when called upon. I think teams like the Kings & Ducks are still ahead of the Oilers, but I don't see why the Oilers can't be at the level of teams like the Sharks, Canucks, & Coyotes?

These are my darkhorses for each division. I also consider teams like the Lightning, Devils, Predators, & Coyotes to be teams that might exceed expectations this upcoming season. And who knows, maybe teams like the Panthers, Hurricanes, Avalanche, & Flames could even surprise me?

What do you guys think about my analysis, also, what are your thoughts on potential darkhorses for the 2013-14 season? Anyone you think I'm overlooking?
 

dash

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I think the Leafs really benefitted from the 48 game season and I don't know if they're going to be able to back up last year's success this season. As for the Oilers, they should be better with their young guys a year older, but I don't see them challenging for a division title (they should be in the hunt for a playoff spot in the West, though).

/Flames will be horri-bad this season, it's not going to be pretty.
 

DoobeeDoobeeDoo

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I think the Leafs really benefitted from the 48 game season and I don't know if they're going to be able to back up last year's success this season. As for the Oilers, they should be better with their young guys a year older, but I don't see them challenging for a division title (they should be in the hunt for a playoff spot in the West, though).

/Flames will be horri-bad this season, it's not going to be pretty.

Probably true. Leafs & Oilers got a lot of talent but their defenses are very questionable.
 

dash

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Just thought I'd drop this here...

HayesTSN: Bovada sports book has the Leafs & Habs tied at 9/2 odds to win the Atlantic. Both are ahead of the Sens, who are at 13/2. You buying that?

Sounds to me that the oddsmakers are just expecting a lot of action for the Leafs and Habs.
 

jstewismybastardson

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071408_sjp84_400x400.jpg




/oh ... sorry ... my bad
 

DoobeeDoobeeDoo

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Just thought I'd drop this here...

HayesTSN: Bovada sports book has the Leafs & Habs tied at 9/2 odds to win the Atlantic. Both are ahead of the Sens, who are at 13/2. You buying that?

Sounds to me that the oddsmakers are just expecting a lot of action for the Leafs and Habs.

That is surprising. I didn't think the odds makers would give the Maple Leafs such good odds. Guess I can't call them a dark horse anymore. Maybe I should change my dark horse in the Atlantic to someone else, perhaps the Lightning?
 
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