It's going to be one hell of a summer in the Atlantic Division this year. Between the Malkin trade rumors, the Pens' need of a first line winger, the Flyers' need of a goalie, the Devils need of an everything, and the Rangers need of offensive depth, it's going to be quite the spectacle to behold. So let's go team by team and break down what's happening with each.
Penguins
Penguins need a winger, Staal needs a raise, and they might need a new top pair defenseman. Rumor has it that management in Pittsburgh desperately wants a first line winger to play with Crosby and alleviate some pressure from the star center. Rumor also has it that they're going to free up the cap space (or acquire the winger) through the trade of Evgeni Malkin, which would also allow them to give more money to Staal and put him on the second line where he belongs. There are also rumors that Sergei Gonchar may be on his way out of the franchise, which would free up some space to sign a winger, or another top line defenseman. Here's what I would do if I were the Penguins. Firstly, let Gonchar walk, unless you can get him for less than the 2 million dollars. Secondly, trade Malkin for a second liner, a prospect, and some draft picks, and sign a good winger. However, if there are no good wingers on the market, that trade would have to include a top line winger. One interesting prospect would be to trade Malkin for a package like the first one stated, and then sign Ilya Kovalchuk. Another good move for them would be (if they had the cap space) to sign Anton Volchenkov in the event of Gonchar leaving. Though he is not offensively minded like Gonchar, their defensive corps is not quite strong enough to be a cup contender. The addition of a shutdown defenseman like Volchenkov would be an immense boost to the team's defensive prowess. In short, get rid of Malkin, get rid of Gonchar, get a winger, give Staal a raise, sign Volchenkov and that team immediately becomes better.
Flyers
The Flyers have to do very little this off-season to improve their team, they just need to get a goalie. The rest of their team is definitely quality. It's not necessarily the best team, but it's definitely adequate. Since the Flyers like aged goal tenders who are journey men, I say sign Chris Mason. He's relatively affordable, and he's legitimately good. The other options would be to trade for Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings, or for Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens. Price would certainly be cheaper, and he's also an RFA this season. However, he also has the greater risk of being an absolute flop. Quick on the other hand would be more expensive, but would have a better chance of being successful. Now you must be asking yourself, "Why would the give up Quick? He's young and he's pretty good." Well shut up and stop asking questions. The Kings have a better goalie in their system in Jonathan Bernier. The kid's a stud, and he's younger than Quick. Therefore, Quick should be attainable in a trade. Either way, if they get a goalie, they'll be in pretty good shape. Maybe they could use more depth at the blue line, but Pronger's still a shutdown guy, Timmonen doesn't suck, and overall they're team is pretty good. Get a goalie and they'll be legitimate.
Devils
What don't the Devils need this offseason. Marty may or may not retire, but either way they're screwed at goalie. Brodeur is ancient and will be awful, and anyone they'll get to replace him in the off chance that he retires will also suck. Paul Martin isn't coming back, Ilya Kovalsuck (no that's not a typo) isn't coming back, Bergfors is gone, Oduya is gone, their draft picks are gone, and Patrice Cormier (the infamous elbowing prospect) is gone. That leaves them without a goalie, without a defense, and without an offense. Firstly, to fix the defense, go after Dan Humhuius of the Nashville Predators, or chase another veteran defenseman and try to trade for them. One idea which would never happen would be to trade for one of the Rangers' many young defensive prospects like Ryan McDonagh, Bobby Sanguinetti, or Matt Gilroy. On offense, they should sign Marleau because they need a center to play with Parise, and Marleau's got a scoring touch. In essence, sign as many good offensive players as are available. The offense is putrid. In fact, just sign the best players available period, there is no part of this team that is even close to being acceptable. Nevertheless, they'll still end up being a second seed and will get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round.
Rangers
The Rangers have already done some stuff that is going to significantly increase the potency of this team's offense. Firstly, they signed Mats Zuccarello Aasen, who led the Swedish League in scoring this year and has 104 points in 90 games in his career in the SEL. He's also only 23 and 5' 7". They also signed their young prospect from Wisconsin Derek Stepan to a deal. Stepan is best known for being ranked as the sixteenth best prospect in the nation, and led the world juniors tournament in scoring as the captain of the US team. These two moves immediately strengthen the team's offensive ability. Gaborik and Aasen on the first line will be deadly, and Stepan will most likely be a good fit in the second line between Dubinsky and Callahan. The infamous "fourth line" of Shelley, Prust, and Anisimov will most likely be back which is an excellent checking and energy line (it's probably the best line on the team period). Still, the Rangers need to resign Girardi and Staal (who will be receiving a raise) as they will most likely form the team's top shutdown pairing. In fact, they'll actually be a pretty effective shutdown pairing. As much as everyone would like Redden and Roszival to go away, chances are neither of them are going anywhere. Unless Redden truly bombs at camp he will be on the roster once again causing havoc for the cap. Chirstensen, Prospal, Shelley, and Prust all also need to be resigned, and I would expect to see them all back except possibly Prospal now that Stepan is in the mix. The biggest needs of the Rangers now is a sixth defenseman and a third line forward. No offense to Matt Gilroy but he was too old as a rookie to ever be a truly good defenseman. Though he may find success on other rosters, he will not make it as a Ranger. That leaves a wide open sixth spot for another defenseman. I say bring up McDonagh or Sanguinetti, but who knows what will happen. As for the third line forward, I really want Ben Eager. I don't have the specifics on his contract but I know he might be a free agent this season. A player like him would increase the team's physicality enormously, and he has a scoring touch which is always good for a checker to have. Still, expect the Rangers to be no better than a seventh seed if they even make the playoffs.
Islanders
Here's what the Islanders need to do this summer. Number one, bury DiPietro's contract deep within the ground never to be heard from again. His woman with a thyroid problem of a contract will tie up way too much cap space for them to ever truly get any good pieces in place from the free agent market. Here are some interesting ideas for them, keep in mind, the cap space may yield great issues with some of these moves. Firstly, sign Kovalchuk, the Isles need offense and they need a winger besides Okposo to play with Tavares. Now that will never happen because Kovalchuk wants to be on a winner and won't want to be in the shadow of another franchise, but still, the Islanders need some offensive skill. They should also pursue Dustin Byfuglien, who is right now arguably one of the best power forwards in the NHL. They also need to draft a goalie, because they're not really going to find one in this market with DiPietro's contract. They also need to eliminate the scrubs from their team. They've become a haven for no name players looking for work. Mike Comrie would be a good and affordable addition to the team's roster, that is if Edmonton doesn't resign him. In short, get rid of some of these no names, get a good defenseman to play with Streit, get some more depth at forward, and everything will be on a track to a better future. Still, success will never come as long as DiPietro is on the books. Also they should consider signing Nik Zherdev, who though he is quite lazy, could provide some much needed offense.
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