Five story lines to watch in the Eastern Conference
1. Can the East be respectable against the West this season?
Only one Western Conference team, the Dallas Stars, had a losing record against Eastern teams last season. The Avs were 21-9-2, and St. Louis went 23-7-2. Western teams have won six of the past eight Stanley Cups. With some excellent players moving east to west this season, it’s hard to see the trend changing.
2. Can the Rangers make it back to the Finals?
Henrik Lundqvist had waited so long to make it to the Finals, but he still couldn’t take his team to the mountain top. The loss of forward Derek Stepan for a few weeks will hurt, but as long as King Henry is in net, this team has a shot.
3. Could Tampa Bay ascend as the new conference power?
A lot of people think so. They have a smart general manager in Steve Yzerman, a lot of good young players, a good young goalie in Ben Bishop and the return to full health of top scorer Steven Stamkos.
4. Is this Boston’s last kick at the can for a while?
The Bruins barely squeezed under the salary cap by trading Johnny Boychuk to the Islanders. A lot of other top players will see their deals come up next year, and it’s unlikely they’ll be able to keep them all. The window to win a Cup is closing.
5. Will Toronto’s foray into analytics pay off?
This summer, the Maple Leafs hired a couple of people to be full-time sabermetricians, and other teams are starting to follow suit. Is this the future or a fad? It’s a subject of lively debate among older and younger hockey people.
