Coming into the season I thought the Rangers had a decent chance to be good and maybe they will get better as the season rolls along. They still seem a little suspect in key areas but they have some potential in a weak division, albeit one where the top three spots are fairly firm so now the wild cards have to compete against some good teams from the Atlantic to make it.

The Devils I think people don't understand just how bad they were last season and I think nationally people over-sold them the year before. When we were talking about potential upsets during the LAK-VGK series several people named NJ as a possibility. I just laughed. Hall was a God that year, basically dragged their sorry asses into the postseason. Last year they were even worse. Nico isn't a Swiss miss but he isn't a franchise player either, pretty solid No. 2 center for Hughes whenever he comes around. Not surprisingly, he isn't quite ready for the big time but he will be a star in a couple years. Simmonds' abysmal production from most of last season has carried over into this year and you wonder if he's much more than just a good third-liner now. They keep adding guys I like on defense (Vatanen, Butcher, Subban) but as a unit they are still very weak. Goaltending still an issue. I just think this team is a mess.