Ever since a young St Louis team put together a miraculous late season run to break into the playoffs in 2008-09, it feels like the league has been waiting for the Blues to break out and start competing with Nashville, Detroit and Chicago in the Central division, but the reality has been very different. The team hasn't necessarily regressed, in the sense that their lack of playoff appearances can be as much ...

Nashville enters the 2011-12 season on a high after winning the franchise's first ever playoff series this past Spring. However, for a team like the Predators, every season is a new and difficult challenge. A low payroll meant that they were forced to part with a few more useful NHLers this offseason, but once again GM David Poile has a team with a clear identity that can play Trotz/Predator hockey and comp ...

Nicklas Lidstrom's announcement that he would be back for a 20th NHL season made sure that Detroit GM Ken Holland's only job was to tweak the roster, and larger adjustments are not yet needed. The Red Wings return with a fairly unaltered roster, and the look of a Cup contender once more. The team watched several veterans leave during the offseason including: Chris Osgood, Kris Draper, Mike Modano, Ruslan Sa ...

There is a buzz surrounding the Columbus Blue Jackets this season after an exciting offseason that involved GM Scott Howson bringing in a couple of big name players to bolster this roster. Howson started by trading for Philadelphia center Jeff Carter. Carter has three consecutive seasons of at least 33 goals, and provides the forward group with a legitimate top line scoring talent to go with Rick Nash. Hows ...

Chicago's 2010 Stanley Cup victory is forgotten, they got through a difficult 2010-11 season, and almost pulled off a remarkable recovery from 3-0 down in their first round series against Vancouver. Although they will be disappointed with their season, their comeback effort in that series was a testament to the talent of the core of this team. GM Stan Bowman made adjustments with the aim of constructing a d ...

NHL hockey has returned to Winnipeg, the city and the team are buzzing, and teams can expect an extremely difficult road trip into the small, packed building in Manitoba. Winnipeg is also lucky in that it inherits a franchise that was very much on the way up with lots of young talent. Atlanta started 2011 in a playoff place, and it took a dramatic slump in the second half to drop them out of the postseason. ...

The Washington Capitals have been one of the league's best teams in the regular season over the last four seasons or so. However, the old saying that regular season success does not equal postseason success has been oh so true in the nation's capital. GM George McPhee was once again forced to re-align his roster after the Capitals were swept in the second round of the playoffs by their division rival Tampa ...

Tampa Bay usurped expectations in 2010-11, not only making the playoffs, but by reaching the Eastern conference finals. GM Steve Yzerman and coach Guy Boucher formed an efficient combination, and this franchise looks well and truly on the up. However, maintaining those standards won't be easy, and while the likes of Yzerman are talking about improving on last year's performance, it would be a significant st ...

Few teams had quite the massive overhaul that Florida underwent during the offseason. GM Dave Tallon was determined to re-build this team from the ground up, and the result is a brand new looking roster. The Panthers had to over-pay a lot during the offseason, and still don't appear to have top end talent at every position. New additions include: Brian Campbell, Ed Jovanovski and Nolan Yonkman on the blue-l ...

It was case of adjusting this non-playoff roster for GM Jim Rutherford, not overhauling it in the offseason. Carolina has missed the playoffs in two straight seasons, but this is a team that looks like a playoff competitor, and the franchise has proven itself extremely dangerous once he makes the playoffs with two long runs since the lockout, including a Stanley Cup championship in 2006. Erik Cole, Joe Corv ...