*Washington Capitals: Now that exciting superstar Alexander Ovechkin and the rest of Washington's youth movement have a few playoff games under their belts they should be even better than last year. The Caps lost G Cristobal Huet to the Blackhawks, and replaced him with former Vezina winner José Theodore-an upgrade considering that Huet was only with the team for the last month of the regular season. More importantly, Washington signed dynamic young defenceman Mike Green to a four-year deal this offseason. This team should be as electrifying as it was last year, and with a better start under Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, the sky is the limit.
*Tampa Bay Lightning: Tampa Bay had a productive offseason, which included signing the first-overall pick in the draft, Steve Stamkos. Tampa also added LW Ryan Malone, D Andrej Meszaros and G Mike Smith-all of whom came off strong seasons with their respective clubs. Even Barry Melrose and his famous mullet have been tempted out of retirement to join the team as head coach. Nevertheless, the fortunes of this franchise rest squarely on the shoulders of captain Vincent Lecavalier, who is determined to reverse his club's precipitous drop in the standings since they hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2004.
Carolina Hurricanes: The last time the Carolina Hurricanes were in a playoff game, they won the Stanley Cup. Now, after failing to make the playoffs for two straight years, former Conn Smythe winner G Cam Ward is feeling the pressure to prove that his play in that run was not a fluke. The young goaltender isn't solely to blame for the team's defensive problems, however. Over the past two seasons, Carolina has parted ways with most of the defensive corps from its Stanley Cup-winning squad. The addition of D Joni Pitkanen should fill a big hole along the blue line, but the loss of LW Erik Cole will put a serious dent in the team's offensive depth.
Florida Panthers: "Defence, defence, defence" will be Florida's mantra this season. In addition to having one of the best netminders in the league in Tomas Vokoun, the Panthers have traded away star forward Olli Jokinen and acquired defencemen Keith Ballard, Bryan McCabe and Nick Boynton. With that defensive core in place the Panthers should be able to keep games close-the only question is if they have enough scoring punch to turn close games into wins. Florida will need increased production from centres Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton if they hope to find themselves in the postseason.
Atlanta Thrashers: The Thrashers have one of the most exciting talents in the league in LW Ilya Kovalchuk. However, they will once again be plagued by problems on defence. The team that gave up the most shots in the league last season has taken steps to improve its defence with the additions of All-Star D Mathieu Schneider and the third-overall pick in the 2008 draft D Zach Bogosian. And while G Kari Lehtonen has shown flashes of brilliance he has also shown a demonstrated for uneven play and lingering injuries.
*-denotes playoff team
2008 Woodie Awards
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