Detroit will, once again, be the team to beat in the NHL this year.
Hasek replaced by Joseph = same freaking team! So yes, they're getting old, they were old last year and they won the Cup so don't underestimate them.
Lucky for us, they won't be able to go for a second shot at Lord Stanley's trophy as they'll get their ass kick by Colorado! You guessed it! The Avalanches are my pick for this year's championship. With the return of Peter Forsberg and a team that still has Roy, Sakic, Hejduk, Tangay, Drury, Reinprecht, Foote, Blake, etc...they'll be a real menace to anyone in the west.
San Jose ( Selanee, Nolan, Marleau, Stuart, etc...)also has a pretty good team, so does Dallas (Modano, Hatcher, free agent Bill Guerin, etc...), St-Louis and Los Angeles. But Colorado will come out of the western conference.
In the east, the Flyers and Devils will probably battle for the top spot followed closely by Toronto.
Ed Belfour (Crazy Eddy for his pals) will probably be able to replace Cujo and the Leafs still have a pretty good team...the absence of Gary Roberts might hurt a littl but he'll be back soon enough.
The Flyers have a great team and represent a real offensive threat with the likes of Leclair, Gagné, Primeau, Recchi, Roenick, Williams, Desjardins, etc... But I'm kind of afraid of how new coach Ken Hitchcock will try to run things. He's mainly a defensive kind of coach and this might cause some problems with star players like Jeremy Roenick who is not afraid to speak his mind in public.
Pat Burns is back in the NHL! That's a good news for anyone who ever heard this man give an interview! He is honest and direct and this makes him a great "player" coach. That New Jersey team is use to this kind of coach (Larry Robinson) and will react very well to the change. With the departure of Holik to NY city, Scott Gomez is going to have to step up and raise his game level. Tverdovsky, Niedermayer and Rafalski is the best trio of offensive defense player in the league.
In Manhattan, the Rangers have made some big change. Dan Blackburn is now the main man between the pipes and Richter will back him up, helping his progression has a number one goaltender. The addition of Darius Kasparaitis to an already all-star defensive staff (Leetch, Poti, Malakhov, Lefebvre, etc...) will make the front of the net a dangerous place to stand. Bobby Holik will also bring some big-time body presence on the ice. If Lindros satys in good shape and plays with Pavel all year, we might see some surprises in New York.
I'm not sure who will face Colorado in the final but, quite frankly, I'm almost sure the Avalanches will crush whoever comes out of there.
My favorite team is still the Habs. Montréal sucked for years and it's damn time things get back to normal in this league. The Canadiens have to be succesfull for hockey to shine. With MVP Theodore in the net and veteran overpaid Jeff Hackett on the bench, the Habs have the best goaltending duo in the league. The defense is getting better with the addition of 2000 first round pick Ron Hainsey and the coming out of Andrei Markov. You add Brisebois, Quintal and Rivet and you have a pretty damn good defensive squad. There's also the giant called Mike Komisarek who played for Michigan (7th pick overall last year) who might make the transition in the NHL latter this year.
Koivu is back in shape, so is Audette. André Savard signed Randy McKay and traded for Marius Czerkawski. Doug Gilmour agreed to saty one more year. There's also Zednik, speedster Oleg Petrov, Perreault, Marian Hossa's younger brother Marcel, Ribeiro...
The Habs won't win the Cup this year, hell, they're going to have troubles making the playoffs with the strong competition that we have now, but they'll be competitive and that's all I want...for now!
Drury will definitely be missed though. But, CO has plenty of forwards, too many in fact. Centers converting to wing and all...
Datsyuk. Zederberg. That is it. End of list. Look at an outside report of farm systems as far as ranking and depth. Wings are not very high up. And as for the players on the above list minus Datsyuk, well... I would say they are serviceable at best. But that's my opinion. 
