The NHL's wild offseason should open the door for some surprise teams to make the postseason. The shortened season, condensed schedule and the crazed spending of free agency will give some teams hope to get back into the playoffs.
These teams didn't make the playoffs last year, but will expect to have success this season with new additions and another year of experience for young players.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes did all they could to improve this season by signing Alexander Semin and trading for Jordan Staal. By adding the two forwards, they are showing they are ready to win. Staal and Semin scored 25 and 21 goals last season, respectively, but will likely need to up their production.
Their defense is still very shaky and will need to improve this season. They gave up 243 goals during the season to finish 25th in goals allowed. The key to their success this season is helping out Cam Ward who faced the second-most shots (2,143) and made the second-most saves (1,961) in the league. The recent addition of Dan Ellis should help out and, if nothing more, create m ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Michael Dulka
NHL Predictions 2013: Surprise Teams Who Will Make the Playoffs
January 14th, 2013 by Michael Dulka Leave a reply »
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