Ann 215 Players To Watch For The '08-'09 NHL Season
October 7th 2008 16:00
15. The Tampa Bay Lightning
Yes, you read this right. In 15th place, I picked an entire team to watch. New owners, new management, new coach, new players. With all those changes that went on in Florida during the summer, we'll see if they'll get any better after last year's last-place finish. With so many players coming in, team chemistry will be the factor to watch here.
14. Alex Kovalev (Montreal Canadiens)
The 35-year-old winger surprised everyone last year when he finished the season with 84 points, his second-best season of his career. He was a major component in the Habs first place finish, being their best player in terms of points, goals, and powerplay goals. It was a stunning transformation from the year before where he collected a measly 47 points (18 goals, 29 assists). Now, the question is which Kovalev will show up? The king of the Bell Centre or the passionless Russian? Habs fans will hope for the former during their club's centennial season. His UFA status at the end of the season will probably play a part in what he decides to do.
13. Nick Foligno (Ottawa Senators)
I was impressed by the 20-year-old center towards the end of last season when he had to replace the injured captain, Daniel Alfredsson. Ottawa has been critized as a club without depth – contain the 'Big Three' (Alfredsson, Heatley, Spezza), and you should be safe. Foligno will play his first full season in the NHL, and will look to help them get some secondary scoring.
12. Phil Kessel (Boston Bruins)
Although the young center sits behind Bergeron and Savard on the center depth chart, he can also provide quality minutes on the wings of the top two lines. His polyvalency makes him a great asset in case of injuries, and maybe he'll be able to reach the 40-points milestone in his third NHL season.
11. Milan Lucic (Boston Bruins)
The giant winger quickly became a fan favorite in his rookie season with a physical play that leaves no chance to small defensemen. He'll have to watch out for the sophomore slump in order to break out as a dominant player.
10. Michael Ryder (Boston Bruins)
It's not often that a player who scored only 14 goals in a season gets rewarded with a three-year, $12 million contract, but such is the case for ex-Canadien Michael Ryder. Replaced by a youngster in Montreal, Ryder's one-dimensional simply didn't fit the Canadiens' needs anymore. In Boston, he'll get reunited with an old coach who'll try to get the best out of him.
9. Sergei Samsonov (Carolina Hurricanes)
Life has been hard for the talented Russian winger. After a miserable year in Montreal in 2006-2007, he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks who demoted him to the AHL in January 2008. In the same month, the Carolina Hurricanes claimed him on re-entry waivers. There, he finished the season with 32 points in 38 games. The 'Canes rewarded him with a three-year, $7.6 million, a bit less from his two-year, $7.05 million that he had signed with the Canadiens back in 2006. The Hurricanes' management will hope that he'll continue a high-production rate, especially after the loss of Justin Williams who will be sidelined for the next four to six months.
8. Mike Green (Washington Capitals)
After signing a four-year extension with the Capitals that will see him make an average of $5.25 million per season, the young defensemen will try to prove that last year's 56 points tally wasn't a fluke. A puck-moving defensemen, Green has become essential to the Caps powerplay and is one of several players that make this team an interesting one.
7. Fabian Brunnstrom (Dallas Stars)
This young Swedish forward came out of nowhere last spring in the Elitserien, quickly catching the eye of several NHL teams. Touted as the next Alfredsson, there's been a lot of skepticism about this player on the fans' part who still haven't been answered a very logical question: if he is that good, why wasn't he with the Swedish national team during the World Championships last spring?
6. Simon Gagne (Philadelphia Flyers)
Although there has been no confirmed date for his return to competitive matches, there is no denying that the Flyers will be a very dangerous team once the winger returns to action.
5. Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
Like Gagne, Bergeron will also return to the game after suffering a concussion in the fall of 2007. He looked good in the Bruins' 8-3 thrashing of the Canadiens in their first pre-season game. If he can stay healthy all year, the Bruins will have some nice firepower for the coming season. Although both he and Gagne will return to the game physically healed, it will be interesting to see if the way they got injured will affect them psychologically.
4. Jordan Staal (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Life is tough when you're playing in the shadow of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. With those two superstars in front of him, Jordan has always been relegated to a defensive role. Last year's playoffs showed that he can also produce offensively, and is on his way to be one of the best two-way players in the league.
3. Sergei Kostitsyn (Montreal Canadiens)
The younger Kostitsyn played only a handful of games in Hamilton last year before making the jump to the NHL. There, he quickly disloged Michael Ryder from the top line and went on to finish the seaon with 27 points in 52 games; an impressive number for a player who was at the junior level two years ago. He also showed some undeniable chemistry with his older brother as they were often used together on 4-on-4s, and/or on a line centred by Tomas Plekanec. Now, Sergei will play his first full year in the NHL alongside Robert Lang and Guillaume Latendresse. Management hopes that their line will bring secondary scoring on a consistent basis.
2. Mikhail Grabovski (Toronto Maple Leafs)
From being unable to find a regular spot in Montreal, the 24-year-old center has now turned into Toronto's number one center after the departure of Mats Sundin. Pre-season games have been promising. Indeed, Grabovski got a team-leading five goals, and eight points in eight games. However, anyone can tell you that pre-season and regular season are two different animals. It'll be interesting to see if he got stronger on his skates, or is he still prone to be quickly pushed away from the puck.
1. Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens)
The young goalkeeper was handed the number one gig last year after the departure of Cristobal Huet at the trade deadline. Although he performed solidly in the final stretch, he completely flamed out in the playoffs' second round which saw the Canadiens fall to the opportunistic Flyers in five games. He shed 28 pounds in the offseason in the effort to get to training in leaner form. The weight loss has been apparent in his movement – he is a bit quicker now – but training camp showed that he still has a weakness on his glove side. Price will have to fix this defect if the Habs have any chance to win the Stanley Cup this year.
Honorable mentions:
- Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins)
With both Gonchar and Whitney sidelined for the start of the season, the young defenseman will have to pick up his game on the first defense pairing.
- Gregory Stewart / Max Pacioretty (Montreal Canadiens)
Both of these players will start the season with the Hamilton Bulldogs in the AHL, but they'll be the first ones called up in case there's any injury on the big club. In last year's final game, Stewart showed that he had the speed and physicality needed to be a NHL grinder. He's already heralded as the next Steve Begin. Pacioretty made a name for himself during the pre-season after showing great speed and nice hands during the exhibition games. The buzz in Montreal was that he had to make the first team, but it'll be better for him to get used to the longer seasons of professional hockey after spending only one year in the NCAA.
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