A Real Fantasy Guide to Sleeper picks from each team

I’m sick of all these unrealistic posts of who they think will do amazing this year and take the cup and so on. I’m gonna go through each team briefly and talk about their playoff chances and players on their team that can blossom this year…

this segment is of the east only

Atlanta Thrashers- what’s more to say, pretty much the same team as last year but they lost savard….sure they signed hedberg, kapanen, rucchin and vishnevski, but needless to say this team will not make the playoffs, if not then no higher then 7th seed. If rucchin can step up his game he can be a great sleeper pick, as well as lehtonen whos finally got to play last year. watch out for holik as well, as if he remains healthy he could battle rucchin for the spot between kovalchuk and hossa.

Boston Bruins- The team that made the worst trade in recent hockey, giving away big Joe for….who? Anyhow, this team will improve this year, with kessel, savard, chara, bergeron, and boyes leading the way. murray will likely hit atleast 30 goals with kessel or savard as his centre. goaltending will be an iffy….it’s time to see if chara is relaly worth 7 mil….which he is not. drafting chara over lidstrom is a mistake in almost any league. Look for this team to make the playoffs but be knocked out by the second round max

Buffalo Sabres- Managing to keep almost all their players, their team is unstoppable. quick and speedy, plus they got rid of dumont giving vanek a chance to boom. afinigenov will increase in points slightly as well as hecht. this team is a playoff team no doubt, fighting for the top spot in the east

Carolina- Defending Cup champions will NOT do as good as last year. So many people have said they will, but when you win a cup, it means other teams are willing to give your players more to come play with them. Stillman is gone for a good amount of time, this team will be in about the 4th spot in the east. Staal will get atleast 90 points, but cam ward will not be able to have a strong season. Look for cole to get 30+ goals, and williams to have a stronger season. Look for grahame to be murdered in a mysterious accident the same night after he plays his first home game in carolina.

Florida- what can i say…u sold your franchise. he was willing to sign long term to, but u ended up getting bertuzzi instead. Vancouver totally got the better deal, however, bertuzzi will play better in florida than vancouver. jokinen will be constistanly good the whole season, and belfour and auld will split time. all in all i think this team will barely lose out on playoffs to the 9th spot

Montreal- Being a leafs fan, i hate montreal. But this team will soar. How they got quicker and faster is only amazing, with perezhogin, plekanek, higgins, koivu, samsonov, ryder, johnson, and ribero leading the way. this team will be placed around 3-5th spot. Perezhogin, higgins and plekanec will be easy steals this year, however their ice time may be cut with the new additions of samsonov n johnson. watch out for their linemates and draft accordingly.

New Jersey- If this team loses Gomez, their done. Unless a cheaper replacement with somewhat close skill or good chemistry is accuired, this team will go down the drain. Brodeur is NOT the goalie he once was. Brodeur needs defence, and ass he has is rafalski. Martin is decent and will be better this year, but on the bright side elias, if remaining healthy will be a top choice in your draft….he may even be around 2nd round but hes worth a first round pick no doubt…look for new jersey to get the 7ths spot in the east

New York Islanders- This team is rebuilding. Wont make the playoffs, but sillinger is a good late round pick.

Rangers- Jagr and shanahan. either these two will click and score every game, or will have no chemistry at all. Look for their centre to stack up assists, either straka or cullen. im glad that every other member or HTR realizes that prucha will be a deadly threat, however his ice time with jagr mayb be cut off since shanahan jumped on. either way, if prucha remains healthy, as well as jagr n shanahan and lundqvists last year wasnt a fluke this team will make the playoffs, but be no higher than 6th seed.

Ottawa- So many people think this team is still good. Definately not. Gerber will play like crap with pother gone. Meszaros will be good, the ASH line as well but not as deadly as last year. Look for Kaigorodov to get decent points….atleast 40. this team will make the playoffs but will choke as usual.

Philly- Yup, they got faster. If forsberg is healthy whole year, this team will be in top four. carter, sanderson, calder, umberger, are all good steals. calder will not be as good with philly. umberger and carter will have about 5-10 more points unless they play with forsberg or gagne. sami kapanen cud shine if hes healthy.

Pitsburgh- My favourite team no doubt. Crosby WILL beat ovechkin this year in scoring. Yes that is correct. I am sure i’ll get lots of comments about that, but you’ll see. Malkin and Crosby, if on the same PP line will rack up points. Armstrong will be a great pick if you can get him in the latter rounds. Ekman will produce with crosby. if not, the worst is he’ll produce with malkin. Look for this team to score goals, but lose games due to defence. Fleury has the ability to be a kippersoff in his later years, but that wont happen unless pitsburgh gets rid of gonchar and gets a defensive defencemen. if i had to pick one i wud rather have whitney on my team rather than gonchar. howver, gonchar will produce more if malkin is on the team, and look for recchi and leclair to have boosts in their point production. plus minus will be crap, so dont bother drafting a lot of these pens on your team. Only draft fleury if you need saves, not wins.

Tampa Bay- Look for st louis richards lecavalier and craig to be the only offensive threats. depending on how denis plays will affect whether they make the playoofs. i say 8th spot, as having kuba as a defencemen will help.

Toronto- alright leafs fans, noting new hear theres been so many posts about them. raycroft will not be amazing this year, if anything he will be good but his defence will make him seem amazing. gill is a slow turtle, but he’ll be usefull. kubina and mccabe overpaid, but then again useful. kaberle is our best defencemen, and im glad that we have coliacovo, white and our other marlies buddies in our future. maurice will boost this team, and play the young gunz more often. toronto WILL make the playoffs, anywhere from 3th-6th spot. a good sleeper? poni will break out

washington- Mr. A.O will obviosuly be great this year, being older. People have to stop thinking he’ll win the art ross, or even the rocket richard. watch out for alexander semin. if he plays with ovechkin, that line will be on fire. zednik as well. but if zednik or semin is looking for goals, their better off forming their own line without him. assists is all they will get if paired with ovechkin. look for ovechkin to be in top 10 of scoring in nhl for sure, but not as great as last year. teams will find ways to shut him down, hes just one kid, and hes not joe thornton.

well thats it for the east, im waiting to see what horrible comments get posted up. itll be nice to seem some good feedback. if all i get is crap i wont bother doing one for the west