Twitter: @NickSymon
1. Anaheim Ducks- The return of age-less 41 year old Teemu Selanne has Ducks management breathing a sigh of relief, providing them with secondary scoring after their big three of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan. The bigger return to the Ducks could possibly be goaltender Jonas Hiller who has said he is full recovered from his bout with vertigo. Hiller can be an elite goalie when healthy and could be the x-factor for the Ducks to compete with the Sharks & Kings for the Pacific division.
2. Boston Bruins- There is always the concern of a Stanley Cup hangover but the Bruins have more than enough depth to overcome that. Sophomore Tyler Seguin could be the breakout player in 2011-12 after his dazzling performance in the latter half of last year’s playoffs. Seguin will probably stay on the wing this season which should see him get top-six minutes.
3. Buffalo Sabres- No one made a bigger impact in the off-season then the Sabres did. Sabres owner, Terry Pegula has brought the passion and more importantly the money to Buffalo – a perpetual small market team where players develop and then leave for the bigger pay day. New faces around the Sabres locker room include, Ville Leino, former Flame Robyn Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff, who join a healthy Derek Roy, up and coming Tyler Ennis and arguably the best goalie in the league, Ryan Miller. The Sabres should compete for the top spot in the east and possibly Lord Stanley’s mug in the spring.
4. Calgary Flames- I hate to be a broken record but the burning question in Calgary is, will the Flames be able to continue their success they enjoyed late last season, which saw them fall just short of the playoffs? Or was it just a team on a hot streak that is continuing to age? Personally I look more at the latter, hoping they prove me wrong. Captain Jarome Iginla continues to carry the team on his back as he approaches 500 career goals (484). Mikael Backlund was in line for a breakout year as he was slotted to play in between Iggy and Alex Tanguay on the Flames top line, but now with his recent injury he won’t likely see action until sometime in November – a big loss for the team, but possibly a bigger loss for Backlund’s development.
