Music: {allcanada} Sizing up the NHL's Eastern Conference

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The 2014-15 NHL season kicks off Wednesday. Sizing up the Eastern Conference:

Atlantic Division

Team to beat: The Boston Bruins have won their division in three of the last four seasons. They have won eight playoff rounds and 40 playoff games in that span.

Story lines: The Tampa Bay Lightning should be the Eastern Conference's most improved team. They have fortified their defense by adding Anton Stralman and Jason Garrison. They added playoff grit with Brian Boyle. Their goaltending was beefed up with Evgeni Nabokov as backup. Meanwhile, the Bruins lost leading goal-scorer Jarome Iginla, defenseman Johnny Boychuk and quality role player and tough guy Shawn Thornton.

Ranking the goalies: 1. Tuukka Rask (Bruins). 2. Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens). 3. Ben Bishop (Lightning). 4. Roberto Luongo (Florida Panthers). 5. Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings). 6. Jonathan Bernier (Toronto Maple Leafs). 7. Craig Anderson (Ottawa Senators). 8. Michal Neuvirth or Jhonas Enroth (Buffalo Sabres).

MORE: Team power rankings

Sleeper: Red Wings. Although pundits view them as on the decline, we don't know what kind of team they are because they are merging intriguing youngsters with proven veterans Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall.

Injuries of note: Datsyuk (shoulder separation) likely is out for two more weeks. Toronto RW David Booth (broken foot) is out for three to four weeks.

New coach: Gerard Gallant (Panthers).

What to expect: 1. Luongo's .919 career save percentage will make the Panthers far more competitive. 2. Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) will score 60 goals again. 3. Toronto coach Randy Carlyle will be on the hot seat from the opening game. 4. Alex Galchenyuk (Montreal) will become a 50-point guy. 5. The Sabres will end up with Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel or Noah Hanifin in the 2015 draft.

Most intriguing rookie: Tampa Bay's Jonathan Drouin, who is hoping to return from a broken thumb close to opening night. He's a dynamic scoring winger.

Prediction: The Bruins will win the division title, but the Lightning will end up as the Eastern representative in the Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens and Red Wings will make the playoffs. The Leafs will just miss. The Panthers will be improved but not enough to make the postseason.

Metropolitan Division

Team to beat: The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking for their third consecutive division title. They haven't finished lower than second in their division since 2006.

Story lines: The division looks wide open. The New York Rangers advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, then bought out 20-goal center Brad Richards and lost Boyle and Stralman to free agency. The Penguins traded high-scoring James Neal. They made enough changes that they're a difficult team to read. The Washington Capitals strengthened their defense with Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. Columbus Blue Jackets leading scorer Ryan Johansen missed training camp in a contract squabble, and Nathan Horton's return from a back injury is up in the air. It seems as if every team in the division has problems that leave each vulnerable to missing the playoffs.

Ranking the goalies: 1. Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers). 2. Sergei Bobrovsky (Blue Jackets). 3. Cory Schneider (New Jersey Devils). 4. Jaroslav Halak (New York Islanders). 5. Marc-Andre Fleury (Penguins). 6. Steve Mason (Philadelphia Flyers). 7. Braden Holtby (Capitals). 8. Cam Ward or Anton Khudobin (Carolina Hurricanes).

Sleeper: Islanders. Center John Tavares could flirt with 100 points, and Kyle Okposo could score 30 goals. With the addition of Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin and continuing improvement of youngsters such as Ryan Strome, the Islanders should be among the top offensive teams in their division. More important, they think Halak's presence will help cut down their goals against.

New coaches: Barry Trotz (Capitals), Mike Johnston (Penguins), Bill Peters (Hurricanes).

Injuries of note: C Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh) is 50-50 for the season opener. C Jordan Staal (Carolina) is out for three or four months with a surgically repaired broken leg, and teammate Jeff Skinner has a concussion. C Derek Stepan (Rangers) is out for four to five weeks with a broken leg. Columbus' Boone Jenner (broken hand) will miss five weeks and Brandon Dubinsky (lower body) is starting the season on the injured list.

What to expect: 1. Under Trotz, the Capitals will give up 20 to 25 fewer goals. 2. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby will score 115 to 120 points to win his third scoring title. 3. Washington's Alex Ovechkin will score 50 or more goals for the sixth time. 4. If Washington falls out of the hunt, Mike Green moves to the top of the list of rental players. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Many teams would covet an offensive defenseman with his skill level. 5. The Hurricanes will miss the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season.

Most intriguing rookie: Capitals C Evgeny Kuznetsov has the ability to be the NHL rookie of the year.

Prediction: The Penguins will win the division, with the Rangers, Blue Jackets and Islanders grabbing the other playoff spots. The Flyers, Capitals and Devils are in the hunt. Basically, every team in the Metropolitan except the Hurricanes has a shot at the postseason.