We begin our preparations for the upcoming Fantasy Hockey season with a look at players who have moved onto new teams or others who will play more prominent roles. We begin with first of four columns exploring the Atlantic Division teams this year.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins' salary cap situation is such a mess that there will be subtractions from the current roster, because they still have Reilly Smith and Torey Krug as unsigned restricted free agents. Even with Marc Savard's $4M cap hit coming off the books on opening day, another current roster player will have to move from this roster to accommodate those key parts. In addition, we note that Niklas Svedberg will step in as the backup goalie. Number one goalie Tuukka Rask should expect to be called upon more than his 58 appearances last season. Veteran Loui Eriksson will be given an opportunity to reclaim a top-six wing position. This team will still be one of the best in the league, even though some of their core players have paid a high physical price for their style of play.
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres are making over a roster that now is stocking up on young prospects. Their top draft pick, Sam Reinhart, is expected to grow into a top offensive component. The Sabres took on several veterans this offseason for the two-fold purpose of insulating their younger players and meet the salary cap floor. They will look for the likes of Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges to fill a major part of that leadership void. Veteran defenseman Andrej Meszaros is another experienced hand that will help the new tandem of Michal Neuvirth and Jhonas Enroth in goal. The Sabres are in a clear rebuilding mode and will be stockpiling more talent in the next two amateur drafts, with a multitude of high picks.
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings have integrated a number of younger players into their lineup in the past two years. As they did not go outside their roster to add a significant piece this offseason they are hopeful that returning players make more positive strides. Certainly, they hope to see the continuing efforts of Gustav Nyquist, who notched 28 goals in only 57 games played last year. Stephen Weiss, who signed a five-year deal with a $4.9M annual cap hit, was a huge disappointment, with only four points and 26 games played; so he will be challenged to rebound. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg each missed 37 games last year - the Wings can't afford a repeat of that misfortune, but they're already off to a bad start with Datsyuk's training camp injury. They are two of the club's older guard, though, and it will be difficult for the Wings to stay among the league's elite teams unless more of their younger crew develops into high end players.
Florida Panthers
The Panthers spent some big money to acquire Dave Bolland (5 years/$27.5M) and Jussi Jokinen (4 years/$16M) to bolster their offense, but Jokinen has only topped the 20-goal mark twice in nine NHL seasons, while Bolland has never done so in his seven NHL campaigns. Willie Mitchell, at 37 years old, will help the development of young blueliners Dmitry Kulikov and Erik Gudbranson. The Panthers' signature move this offseason was the trade that brought Roberto Luongo back in the fold as their new number one goalie. At 35 years old, he has seven years left on his current contract, so he's hopeful of playing out the remainder of his career and finally content again as a Panther. Luongo's return may buy the Panthers a window of opportunity to compete for a playoff, but they also need some of the younger players to contribute much more.
Montreal Canadiens
While the Canadiens did sign another big, offensive-minded defenseman in Tom Gilbert and they bolstered their offensive in the trade market, by acquiring P.A. Parenteau, a top-playmaking winger, there biggest moves were completed when they re-signed a pair of key defensemen to long-term deals. Andrei Markov is locked up for three years ($5.75 cap hit) and P.K. Subban, the club's new leader inked a deal for the next eight years ($9M cap hit). The next key development to advance Montreal's cause is the growth of forwards Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk, as well as defensemen Jarred Tinordi and Nathan Beaulieu. The Canadiens have thrived on a great team concept and I wonder if the loss of two key leaders in Gionta and Gorges might cause some trouble until that void is filled.
Ottawa
Long-time Nashville Predator David Legwand finished last season with the Red Wings and continued his travels when he signed with Ottawa this summer (a 2-year/$6M deal). He will be expected to assume the role of second line center behind Kyle Turris. Third year pro (winger) Alex Chiasson is a key new piece here, acquired in a trade that sent Jason Spezza out of Canada's capital city. The best news of all for Sens fans would be a nice rebound year for goalie Craig Anderson or a breakout campaign for his partner Robin Lehner. The Sens will turn to Erik Karlsson and Bobby Ryan for their team leadership - that's a far cry from Daniel Alfredsson.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning spent big dollars to bolster their defense, signing Jason Garrison (4 years/$18.4M) and Anton Stralman (5 years /$22.5M) and added veteran goalie Evgeni Nabokov (1 year/$1.5M) as insurance behind starter Ben Bishop. The Bolts got great efforts from rookie forwards Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson last year. They are hopeful for continued development with that pair as well as a favorable debut for rookie Jonathan Drouin this season -- though Drouin's start to the season will be delayed by a thumb injury. Late season pickup Ryan Callahan committed to the Lightning (6 years/$34.8M) and is expected to be a key leader and strong two-way forward. Veteran forwards Brian Boyle (3 years/$6M) and Brenden Morrow (1 year/$1.5M) joined on and they hope Steven Stamkos can have an injury-free season to lead them. One of the league's biggest surprises last year, the Lightning have stocked up with more quality and will enter this season as a legitimately strong team.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs had a quiet, yet productive offseason. They brought in veterans Stephane Robidas and Roman Polak to bolster an inexperienced blueline corps. Then they turned over much of their third and fourth offensive lines by signing Leo Komarov (4 years/$11.8 M), Mike Santorelli, David Booth and Daniel Winnik - all experienced and capable forwards who will allow the Leafs to roll four lines. That is something new here under Coach Randy Carlyle, where the club has been known to dress fourth liners (usually tough guys) who could only be used for a few minutes each game. This offensive depth could be a very positive development to take some pressure off the top two scoring lines. The re-signing of James Reimer (2 years/$4.6M) should signal another battle for the goalie time with Jonathan Bernier. That's another positive here. The Leafs and their fans have to hope that this bottom up approach makes them a difficult team (albeit because of better depth than a toughness) to play against, just like the club that earned a playoff spot two years ago.