Russ is on hiatus for the summer, so I’ll be filling in for him. You Dobberities won’t miss out on half of the information for your fantasy leagues in these series of columns.

I’ll try to keep it the same as the articles from the West. First, I want admit that I’m not as informed about the East as I am with the West, so if there are any controversial items, be sure to make comments at the bottom of the page to open up some discussion.

The following table was the same from last week’s column, so make sure you pay attention to the numbers.

Enough of the stats, now onto the good stuff.

Atlanta – Top six fairly locked, but faces shallow competition from bottom-six

Top Six

Evander Kane – Nik Antropov – Dustin Byfuglien

Andrew Ladd* (RFA) – Rich Peverley – Nicklas Bergfors* (RFA)

Cavalry

Todd White, Bryan Little* (RFA)

Bottom Feeders

Clark McArthur* (RFA), Jim Slater, Chris Thornburn, and Eric Boulton

Much like the situation with the Avs 12 months ago, the Thrashers are heading into 2010-11 with a completely revamped team. There’s a few question marks remaining with Ladd and Bergfors, who are still yet to be resigned, but with close to $28 mil remaining, there shouldn’t be very many hiccups along the way. The combo of Antropov, Kane and Byfuglien would average a monstrous 6’4” as a trio, which would certainly send a few chills down the competition’s spines. Pev is under rated and makes for a great under-the-radar buy-low candidate. With the acquisitions of Buffy and Ladd, Little finds himself outside of the Thrashers’ top-six, but is only an injury away from weaving some “fourth year” magic. White has had a couple of solid seasons (60 and 73 points), but that’s with a superstar named Ilya Kovalchuk as his left wing. With the enigmatic Russian leaving for greener pastures, White will be left out in the cold this campaign.

Last year’s pre-season top-six:

Kovalchuk, White, Little, Peverley, Antropov and Slava Kozlov.

End of year finish:

Boston – Top nine fairly set, stiff competition from cavalry

Top Six

Milan Lucic – Marc Savard – Nathan Horton

David Krejci – Patrice Bergeron – Mark Recchi

Cavalry

Marco Sturm, Tyler Seguin*, Blake Wheeler* (RFA) and Michael Ryder

Bottom Feeders

Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton

With 196 goals, Boston ranked dead last in goals scored last season, but compared to 12 months ago their line up won’t allow them to repeat that feat in 2010-11. I don’t follow the Bruins all that much, so I just pieced together the top-six as best as I possibly could. I have four players listed in the cavalry who all have 50 point potential, which means that the competition for ice-time is going to be incredibly stiff in Beantown. I can certainly envision the top-six changing on a game-by-game, and possibly even period-by-period, basis throughout the year. With Savard and Bergeron possibly occupying the number one and two spots up the middle, Seguin looks prepped for third line duties, which might be enough to set him back of Taylor Hall in the Calder race come April. Bergeron has played wing previously in his career, but the Bruins will need his faceoff prowess (57.9 faceoff-winning percentage) up the middle than to shift him over to the wings. Instead look for Lucic and Krecji to be shifted during the season. One of Sturm, Wheeler, if signed, or Ryder will be relegated to fourth line duties, ouch...

Last year’s pre-season top-six:

Lucic, Savard, Krecji, Kessel, Sturm, and Ryder.

End of year finish:

Buffalo- Top-five locked, shallow competition from bottom-six

Top Six

Tomas Vanek – Derek Roy – Jason Pominville

Jochen Hecht – Tim Connolly – Tyler Ennis

Cavalry

Drew Stafford, and Tim Kennedy

Bottom Feeders

Paul Gaustad, Rob Niedermayer, Nathan Gerbe, and Mike Grier.

Nothing’s really changed all that much from last season in Buffalo. The thing that really surprised me, during my research, was that the Sabres actually ranked tenth in terms of goals scored last campaign, which is shocking considering they didn’t have any “big-named” offensive superstars on their squad. Roy continues to be consistently under rated, as his last three seasons have yielded productive numbers of 81, 70 and 69 points along with 218, 221, and 215 SOG. Connolly continues to produce as long as he remains healthy. He’s always a huge injury risk, but could definitely pay off for those who are willing to take a gamble. The top-five of Vanek, Roy, Pominville, Hecht and Connolly are pretty much set in stone. The sixth spot that Ennis temporarily occupies is completely up for grabs. I gave him the edge based on his playoff performance as he was tied with Pominville for the team-lead in scoring as well registering a team-high 20 SOG in the six contests against the Bruins. He just brings more offensive upside than Stafford or Kennedy. Hecht doesn’t carry as much offensive upside as Vanek, Roy or Pominville, but he is pretty consistent in putting up 40-point 200 SOG seasons. Consider him a deep sleeper for this campaign.

Last year’s pre-season top-six:

Vanek, Roy, Stafford, MacArthur, Connolly, and Pominville

End of year finish:

Next week: the Hurricanes, Panthers and Canadiens.

Questions or comments? Like always I’ll be ready and willing to discuss them in the comments section below.

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