Penguins, Capitals to face stiff challenges
With other teams improved, East looks wide open.
A few Pittsburgh Penguins players whose names are on the Stanley Cup, some of them twice or even three times, are gone.
The same goes for core players from the back-to-back Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington Capitals.
The goliaths of the East haven’t fallen apart, but maybe they’ve lost just enough to make the conference winnable for just about anyone. Pittsburgh no longer has forwards Nick Bonino, Chris Kunitz and Matt Cullen, defensemen Trevor Daley or goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Washington couldn’t afford to keep Justin Williams, Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk, the last of whom signed with the revamped New York Rangers.
The Penguins and Capitals are still favored to finish 1-2 in the tough Metropolitan Division, but improvements made by the Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes and a return to health for members of the Tampa Bay Lightning have cracked the Eastern Conference wide open. The season begins Oct. 4.
“The competition level is as high as ever,” Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask said. “There’s a lot of teams that have a chance to win the Cup. Making the playoffs, it’s very tough. I think we’re not the only team when we always say, ‘We want to make the playoffs and then we’ll see what happens,’ because then anything can happen. There’s no real favorites.”
Pittsburgh is still the betting favorite, and if Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Co. make it happen they’d become the first NHL team with three consecutive titles since the early 1980s New York Islanders dynasty. Then again, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is healthy after a knee injury ended his 2016-17 season, the Hurricanes got a top goaltender in Scott Darling and the Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to get better now that Auston Matthews and the kids have some playoff experience.
In a league with considerable playoff turnover from year to year, there’s no rest for the eight teams that made it last year: the Penguins, Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Bruins and Maple Leafs. But Fleury, now the starter for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, believes his old team has a chance to three-peat, and captain Alex Ovechkin says the Capitals will be good.
“Our goal is still to go out there and be the best team in the regular season and be the best team in the postseason,” Washington winger T.J. Oshie said. “It’s not a very far-fetched goal.”
Noteworthy: Toronto’s Matthews is only 20, but now there’s a new crop of potential teenage stars, including New Jersey’s Nico Hischier, the No. 1 overall draft pick, and Philadelphia’s Nolan Patrick, No. 2 overall. The Swiss-born Hischier turned heads in the preseason and in the process ratcheted up expectations . ...
The Canadiens lost defenseman Andrei Markov and winger Alexander Radulov and traded their top defensive prospect for forward Jonathan Drouin. Montreal probably should make the playoffs anyway because of goaltender Carey Price, who won the Hart and Vezina trophies in 2014-15.
“He is the best goalie in the NHL,” Drouin said. “He’s proved it for a lot of years now.”
Price has some competition in Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky and Washington’s Braden Holtby, the past two Vezina winners. The play of those three and Pittsburgh’s Matt Murray likely will determine the order of finish in the East . ...
The Rangers added Shattenkirk, re-signed Brendan Smith and traded Derek Stepan to retool while goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is still in his prime. Across town, the Islanders are hoping to re-sign captain John Tavares before he can become a free agent next summer.