Top 10 Biggest Questions Entering the 2011-12 NHL Season

With all 30 NHL teams ready to open training camps, some lingering questions remain. Here are the top 10 questions remaining around the league.

10) Will Jeff Skinner repeat his remarkable rookie performance?
Jeff Skinner was one of the NHL’s best feel good stories of the 2010-2011. The 19 year old Carolina Hurricanes winger scored 31 goals and 32 assists in his rookie season, and expelled a dominating presence on the ice. With the loss of Eric Cole in the off-season, and the addition of fellow wingers Anthony Stewart and Alexei Ponikarovsky, Carolina will be looking for Skinner to match his impressive rookie performance, and bring the Hurricanes back into the playoffs. A lot of Carolina’s success this season will depend on the Toronto, Ontario native, who went 7th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and is definitely living up to his name. But if he can open the season as he ended the 2010-2011, they should have no problem getting back into the playoff race.

9) Will Brad Richards excel on a deep New York Rangers team?
The New York Rangers won the lottery when the signed superstar Brad Richards to a 9 year deal worth $60 million. Now, the question on everyone’s mind is can he bring a sub-par New York Rangers team over the hump and make them a serious contender in April? The answer is yes. The 31 year old center scored 28 goals and 49 assists with the Dallas Stars last season, and there is no reason that he cannot match that on the big stage on Broadway in 2011. Look for him to be a dominant force on the ice, helping players like Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky return to prime form, and help the Rangers go deep into the playoffs.

8) Will the Boston Bruins repeat and take home the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row?
One of the biggest surprises of the 2011 NHL playoffs was the instant success of the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. Using a stellar defense led by the big man Zdeno Chara and Vezina Trophy-winner Tim Thomas, the Bruins battled their way through the Canadians, Flyers, Lightening, and the favored Vancouver Canucks. Now, the defending champions look to return to their former glory in 2012. They lost veteran forward Michael Ryder to the Dallas Stars, but added rugged forward Benoit Pouliot to an already tough roster. All in all, with Tim Thomas in net and Chara on defense you really can’t go wrong. And even though the question of offense always remains when talking about Boston, you can’t really argue with a team that out-scored Vancouver 23 – 8 in the Stanley Cup Finals the year before. Look for the Bruins to once again be favored to win it all.

7) Will the Florida Panthers be a better team this year?
As one of the busier teams in the NHL this off-season, it is hard to say if the Florida Panthers have improved at all. However, by adding some serious veteran talent to an already young promising roster, it would seem that the time has come for Florida to become competitive. The Panthers added 10 new players to their NHL roster, including Scottie Upshall, Kris Versteeg, Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky, and Marcel Goc. Along with life-time Panthers Stephen Weiss and David Booth their roster seems to be falling into place, as almost all of the new incoming players are NHL-ready and will fill the holes that have been gaping for years. The biggest question-mark however is their goaltending, with the departure of Tomas Vokoun to the Washington Capitals. Look for the Panthers to be a better all around team, and to just miss the playoffs by a few points.

6) Will the New Jersey Devils make the playoffs?
After a dismal start to the season, the New Jersey Devils fired rookie head coach John MacLean and brought back 66 year-old Jacques Lemaire to take his place for the remainder of the season. It worked. The Devils went on a 26-7-3 run to end the season, bringing a winning philosophy back to New Jersey. Now, Lemaire has once again retired and the Devils have hired former Florida Panthers coach Peter DeBoer to lead a still impressive roster, which features the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, Anton Volchenkov, and future hall-of-famer Martin Brodeur. The roster has relatively remained the same as it was at the beginning of the 2010-2011 season, other than top draft pick Adam Larsson, who was picked 4th overall by the Devils in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. However, with a healthy Zach Parise and an ever-motivated Ilya Kovalchuk at the helm, look for New Jersey to make a full turn-around and move back into the playoff picture in 2012.

5) Will the Minnesota Wild be more competitive offensively?
The Minnesota Wild and the San Jose Sharks must have sat down at the end of the season and had a nice long dinner to talk about their problems. For years, Minnesota has had to rely on superstar Mikko Koivu to score timely goals and create offense for Wild. Now, after two big trades between the Sharks and the Wild, and it seems now that their offensive troubles may be coming to an end. Minnesota acquired sniper Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi in two separate deals for Martin Havlat and offensive defenseman Brent Burns. Dany Heatley is a pure goal-scorer, though he has stumbled of late, scoring 26 goals and 38 assists last season. Devin Setoguchi, however, has been a goal-scoring machine for the Sharks, especially in the playoffs, scoring 7 goals and 3 assists in 3 rounds last year. Both of these players were brought in for one reason: to score goals, and they with the amount of talent both of those players have, scoring goals should not be a problem, making Minnesota an all around better team.

4) Will the Los Angeles Kings win the Pacific Division?
The Los Angeles Kings struck gold when the acquired superstar Mike Richards from the Philadelphia Flyers for prospect Brayden Schenn and tough-guy Wade Simmonds. Finally, GM Dean Lombardi has finally gotten the superstar he was looking for, after failing to sign Ilya Kovalchuk and Brad Richards (no relation) the year before. Mike Richards will now join a talented young roster that features Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, and former teammate in Philadelphia Simon Gagne, as well as Jonathan Quick in goal. Look for the Pacific Division to be a toss up between the Kings and the San Jose Sharks, who have also greatly improved their roster.

3) Will Sidney Crosby return to his pre-concussion form?
Sidney Crosby met with the media on Wednesday, September 7th to discuss his current status for the upcoming season. In the press-conference, Crosby said that although he is recovering and slowly making progress towards a full recovery, he is still not ready to rejoin the team for full practice. This comes as a huge blow to Penguins fans, as they have not seen their superstar center since the Winter Classic on January 1st, where he was hit on open ice by David Steckel and sidelined for the remainder of the season. With Crosby out of the lineup indefinitely big questions remain as to how competitive Pittsburgh can really be. The Penguins crawled by the end of the season without Crosby, and were not impressive in the playoffs as they were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightening in 7 games.

2) Will the Philadelphia Flyers continue to be competitive against a elite Atlantic Division?
One of the biggest surprises in the 2011 NHL off-season was the moves by the Philadelphia Flyers. In two seperate deals, they traded away superstar Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jakub Vorecek and 2 draft picks, and they traded away Mike Richards for top prospect Brayden Schenn, Wade Simmonds, and a draft pick. The Flyers let Kris Versteeg, Dan Carcillo, Darroll Powe and 2010 playoff hero Ville Leino sign elsewhere, but added top goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to fill the gaping hole that the Flyers have had in net since Ron Hextall back in the 90’s. They also added former great Jaromir Jagr who is looking to make a triumphant return back to the NHL. With all these moves, one this is for certain: the Flyers are going to be very interesting to watch this year. GM Paul Holmgren and the Flyers management made bold moves trading away two of their most exciting and promising young players for little/no return. Keep in mind, what the Flyers got back from the Kings and Blue Jackets was great, especially Brayden Schenn who is considered one of the top prospects in the league. However, there is no way the return they received can make up for the loss of Richards and Carter, especially on offense. With Chris Pronger and the Flyers defense in tact, look for them to once again be a solid team. However, with most of the offensive responsibilities now on the shoulders of young Claude Giroux and James Van Riemsdyk, look for them to waver as the season progresses into spring.

1) Will the NHL profit from a NBA lockout?
With an NBA lockout still in affect, it now seems more likely than ever that there will be no basketball in the fall. With the NHL ready to open their doors in October, it becomes ever more important that the NHL take full advantage of this hiatus of basketball during the prime hockey season of October to April. It is no secret that most NHL teams have been loosing money for years, due to decreasing attendance from the 2005 lockout. With the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring at the end of this up-coming season, it is becoming ever more important that NHL end the CBA on a high note. The NBA lockout presents a rare opportunity for the NHL to profit, and it is important that they take full advantage of the situation.


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