With the NHL season over, the 2010 draft completed, and free agency opened up, it's time to start looking forward to the 2020-2011 season. With the entrance of some top draftees into the league, such as Taylor Hall, big name free agents like Ilya Kovalchuk, and trades all over the league (such as the Blackhawks getting rid of Bufuglien, Versteeg, Eager, and others) the new season could bring some big changes to the dynamics of the NHL. This is simply a thread to discuss those changes: which clubs are rising, which are falling, who will breakout this season, who the favorites are for the 2011 Cup, etc. Hopefully there are some other hockey fans around here.

To start it off, I think that the loss of many of the Blackhawks players will shallow their team and could significantly hurt their team next year. However, Philly, who came very close to the cup last season, has only added to their team and could even take the cup.The Canadiens also did very well in the playoffs and with a few changes they could really come close to bringing the Cup back to Montreal. Though, with Halak going to St. Loius, they lost their hero goaltender. San Jose has decided to get rid of their star goalie as well, not resigning Nabokov and instead choosing to go with rising goalie Antero Niitymaki from free agency. I'm not sure why they are so upset with their playoff performance though. They did much better this year by remaining victorious through the first rounds and only lost to the Blackhawks, who would go on to take the Cup.

Other teams like the Avalanche (my home team), the Thrashers, the Coyotes, and the Oilers are in various stages in rebuilding. The Avalanche is concentrating on letting their young team grow up together, and with Craig Anderson to backstop them, I think they could be a real contender in a couple of years. Phoenix has also acquired some great players (like Wojtek Wolski) that allowed them to finish stupendously last season and they could really come back. On the other hand, the Thrashers and Oilers both missed the playoffs, but have made some big trades and acquisitions to try to revitalize their clubs and it will be interesting to see where it leads; the loss of Kovalchuk could greatly affect their numbers, but getting rid of their dependence on him could really help the club.