There are 4 divisions in the NHL, all with good teams and players in them. It is hard to really pin point how a team is going to do throughout a season which in turn makes it hard to pick the toughest division.
There are always teams that are close to each other and some that are incredibly separated in points. And that is how I am going to base this on. Which division has the most teams in the playoffs and which teams are closest in points from last season. Factor in some new additions to teams that should help them and I will try and figure out which division I think is the hardest.
Alright so the 4 divisions are the Atlantic and the Metropolitan in the East and the Central and the Pacific in the West. The two divisions in the East have 8 teams a piece while the West ones only have 7. Which won't have to much of an effect on how things would shake out in my opinion.
The difference in points in the Atlantic division was quite large last season. Boston ended the season with 117 pts and Buffalo ended it with just 52 points. Although there was a large difference between the top and bottom teams in the Atlantic division, the top 3 teams (Bos, TBL and Mtl) all had more than 100 points to end the year and Detroit had 93. All of those teams made the playoffs last year and are all poised to get there again this season. The other 4 teams in the division (Ott, Tor, Fla and Buf) all missed the playoffs and haven't changed a whole lot for the up coming season. Ottawa lost some of their leadership and the face of their franchise in Jason Spezza and didn't really replace anyone in the off season this summer. Toronto is still Toronto. They are led by Phaneauf who's leadership is questionable, and they are still the same team as last season with a few added parts. They tend to start off the season well where every Leafs fan plans the cup parade only to have their plans crushed by reality and their team missing the playoffs in the final stretch of the regular season. Even though they gained some experience I expect the same this year. Florida is a bit better this year with some new players joining their organization. The received the #1 draft pick in Aaron Ekblad, and added some defensive strength with Willie Mitchell. They also added some strength and scoring on the front end this season. We all also know that they added goalie Roberto Luongo at the trade deadline last year as well giving them a player who can backstop this team to a better record than 29-45-8.
Buffalo seemed to get a little better this year, but not a whole lot. They have an owner who isn't afraid to spend some money and is willing to bring in some top end talent. They added some speed, skill, goaltending and some strength to their team which may help them out a little this year. But its all going to depend on how the all gel together.
All in all the Atlantic division isn't the hardest division to play in. A couple teams got better and a couple seem to have gotten a bit worse. Which in my opinion will leave them with roughly the same spread of points between teams again this year.
Next is the Metropolitan divison.
This division was far closer than the Atlantic. The top 4 teams were Pit-109 pts, NYR-96 pts, Phi-94 pts and Cbj-93 pts. Those are all fairly close for one division and going from the top to the bottom of this division the spread is only 30 points. Which is still a fair amount but not as much as the Atlantic. The bottom 4 teams were Wsh-90 pts, NJD-88 pts, Car-83 pts and NYI with 79 points. Given the talent that is in this division I would expect this to be a close race every season. There were some changes to some teams in the Metro division this summer but I think that it wasn't enough to cause a huge gap from top to bottom. This is by far (IMO) the stronger division in the Eastern Conference and teams will need to play hard against teams that are in the same division to try and get ahead by the end of the regular season. Expect to see Washington towards the top this year under new coaching staff and the Islanders just off the bottom of the pile above Carolina. The Penguins and Rangers should be towards the top along with the Flyers and Devils, and the Blue Jackets could be a wild card with all of their current RFA issues continuing. All in all this is my second choice for hardest division in the NHL even though it is in a softer conference.
Now the Western Conference is a little different story. The two divisions are the Central and the Pacific. Both have some incredibly talented teams in them and teams that became way more of a threat this off season.
I'll start with the Central division and how they stack up.
The top 4 teams in the Central div last season were Col-112 pts, StL-111 pts, Chi-100 pts and Min with 98 pts. All of them have teams that are tough to play against and have depth throughout their line ups. Colorado was under rookie coach Patrick Roy who did well with a team he has history with. St. Louis had ups and downs last season but ended it well and in the playoffs. Chicago is, well, Chicago. They have depth and scoring and pretty much everything to make a good run for the cup. Minnesota has a pretty good line up and alright goaltending. All were within 14 points of each other and had tough match ups in the playoffs. This is also the only division where 5 of the teams made the playoffs last season. Dallas being that other team who finished off with 91 points. The Stars retooled the most it seems this past off season and look to be towards the top of this division if not the conference this year. The remaining teams in this division are Nashville with 88 points and Winnipeg with 84 points. This is the hardest division in the NHL I believe. It is so close through the top 4-5 teams that a bad week could cost you everything you worked for throughout the season. Every team in this division has a legitimate shot at making an appearance in the playoffs. Don't get me wrong, every team has the same shot at the start of the season and possibly even half way though the season. But this division has the most consistent teams who can make it.
The other division in the West as I mentioned before is the Pacific division. This is the division with the current Stanley Cup champs and perennial playoff teams.
The teams in this div are Ana-116 pts, SJS-111 pts, LAK-100 pts, Pho (now Ari) - 89 pts, Van - 83 pts, Cgy - 77 pts and Edm with 67 points. This division has both ends of the spectrum as far as play off teams go. The LA Kings who have won it twice in recent years and the Edmonton Oilers who have won a top 5 draft pick more than twice over recent years. The top 3 teams in this div have serious depth through their lines and good goaltending to back it all up. There have been some changes to the rosters this past off season but the team who made the biggest change was Anaheim. Trading a goalie, some roster players and gaining a few in return, they could have a very good shot at repeating as division leaders and making a strong push into the playoffs.
This division had only 3 teams that made the playoffs last season and also had the largest point difference from top to bottom.
Until the bottom teams can consistently perform through the season this will be a very divided division and the easier division in the West, if you're on a good team.
This is all being based on last seasons points per team, things may change and change a lot through this season. Only time will tell, but I still believe that the Central division and the Metropolitan division are the hardest two in the NHL and they should continue to be difficult to play in and against this season as well.
Now that its pre season time and regular season is just around the corner, lets see how correct I am with my thoughts. Drop the puck!
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