The season is upon us and we have a lot to get to in this edition of Around the Rink. We’ll cover goalie drama in Boston, a rash of injuries in the preseason and then share our picks for the season! Let’s hit the ice!

First Period

64 Million Reasons: Man, oh man has the drama ratcheted up in Boston. Last week we talked about the ongoing negotiations between the Bruins and goaltender Jeremy Swayman, and it seems they took a real turn for the worst this week as team President and Bruins icon Cam Neely called out the goalie to the media.

The clip above seemed to be an attempt to push the negotiation along in public and put pressure on Swayman and his agent, but this stunt only seems to have angered them. Reportedly Swayman did indeed turn down an eight year 64-million-dollar deal to stay put in Boston, one that Boston felt was more than fair. It’s hard to blame the Bruins front office for feeling this way, as many of their star players over the last several years have taken discounts to stay in Beantown, but Swayman is looking to break the mold. Elliotte Friedman is now reporting that Swayman is thinking about formally requesting a trade out of Boston before the season begins and the Bruins have already claimed a goalie off waivers…could the wheels be in motion?

Second Period

Injuries Galore: Unfortunately, this NHL preseason has featured a significant number of injuries to big name players. Patrik Laine, Artemi Panarin, Macklin Celebrini, Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, Drew Doughty, and Ryan Lindgren have all been sidelined for some period of time due to injuries sustained in the preseason. It’s certainly frustrating to see this many big-name players laid up after getting hurt in a meaningless game, but it’s the unfortunate reality of going out on the ice in any setting. This has opened the dialogue up surrounding shortening or flat out eliminating the preseason, which I think patently stupid to suggest given the lack of quality we see on the grid iron in the NFL, a league that has completely delegitimized the preseason. I am open to the idea of shortening the preseason from six to four games but doing away with it is silly. If you want to stop injuries in these preseason games, stop dressing terrible players in the game who are just looking to hand out a cheap shot, looking at you Montreal.

Third Period

Western Conference Preview: We’ll start out west, where I have the eight playoff spots being split evenly amongst the two divisions. I have Nashville winning the Central following their big summer haul of Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei, to give this team some needed punch. I like the Stars to remain a real contender in second place, although they’re dealing with a bit of a hangover on their side from another deep run, with some notable bodies that have left the squad making their once vaunted D core not as scary. Colorado will once again be in this picture with their loaded top six led by Nathan MacKinnon, but is the depth there to help them? Finally, I have the Blues in the playoffs who now boast a very balanced lineup after adding Phillip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from Edmonton. The rest of the division has a mix of solid and pesky teams that bring plenty of intrigue like Utah in their new home and the Blackhawks who look better on paper this year.

Meanwhile in the Pacific division, I like the Canucks to win the division behind their high-end offense and a hopefully healthy Thatcher Demko. Coming in second is the team everyone loves to hate, the Las Vegas Golden Knights who despite some losses feel like a good bet to bounce back this year and have a more consistent regular season performance. The defending conference champion Oilers come in third for me in this division as they look to compensate for some frustrating RFA losses by bringing in solid vets, which happens to make them one of the oldest teams in the league, which could also mean the slowest. I have the Kings in the final playoff spot as once again they bring a solid lineup that looks like it will be held back by their goaltending and Drew Doughty’s injury, stopping them from doing better than a wild card place. The rest of the division is not strong, but if there is a potential surprise team in the mix, it’s the Calgary Flames who feature a host of solid veteran contributors and a new young goalie in Dustin Wolf who may drag them towards contention.

Overtime

Eastern Conference Preview: Meanwhile back east I have the Rangers winning the Metro (bold of me right?), as they return just about 90% of the roster that won the Presidents Trophy last year, and will likely be in the market for a big-time addition at the trade deadline as they remain all in. I have the resurgent Devils coming in second following the addition of gritty forwards and defenseman and the biggest of all, gigantic goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Flames who should stabilize the net. Despite losing a lot of faces from last year’s team, I have the Hurricanes in third, as they’ll still be able to lean on their structure and culture to keep their winning ways going. In fourth and rounding out my set of Metro playoff teams is the Philadelphia Flyers who I think will squeak in this year after just missing last year thanks in part to the addition of exciting youngster Matvei Michkov. The rest of the division will be competitive but lacks the pop that the top four I mentioned already.

Meanwhile in the Atlantic I like the Maple Leafs to top the divisional race as perhaps the most important addition was bringing in head coach Craig Berube, to mold them into a tougher team. My second-place squad is the Boston Bruins, who I think will take a jump as a team with the additions of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadarov to the lineup, assuming they don’t trade Swayman. Coming in third for me is the Panthers, who despite several losses still have plenty of talent and some of the best coaching and structure in the league which makes betting against them hard this year. My fourth and final playoff team from the Atlantic is the Tampa Bay Lightning who have an injection of life into the lineup with the addition of Jake Guentzel to their already strong top six, but similar to the Avalanche, they lack depth in the order to close the gap on the competition. Detroit, Buffalo and Ottawa should all be rather competitive this year, but it feels like a stretch to see them breaking into the playoff field in a crowded eastern conference.

Shootout

Stanley Cup Champ: New York Rangers. Yep, I picked my own team, why the hell not right? The Blueshirts are as good as any team in the league and if they can play their deadline cards right, a big trade can push them over the top. Why not believe in the boys right? I’ll say Rangers over Stars and we can circle back and laugh at me when I’m wrong.

You can find Nick on Twitter @YNWA9623, Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our fall of podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. The store is live, and Little Ed has been in the lab cooking up some can’t miss items for you fans. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon!