Best Sixes in the Atlantic Division

Zach Parise	John Tavares	Marian Gaborik	Mike Richards	Sidney Crosby
Tomas Zajac	Kyle Okposo	Vaclav Prospal	Jeff Carter	Evgeni Malkin
Jamie Langenbrunner	Matt Moulson	Alex Frolov	Daniel Briere	Jordan Staal
Andy Greene	Mark Streit	Michael Del Zotto	Chris Pronger	Alex Goligoski
Henrik Tallinder	James Wisniewski	Dan Girardi	Kimmo Timonen	Kris Letang
Martin Brodeur	Dwayne Roloson	Henrik Lundqvist	Michael Leighton	Marc-Andre Fleury

The Atlantic Division looks a little like a train wreck at first glance. There has been a shift in some names, not having some of the usual suspects around, but with the top three forwards, two defense and goaltender by pool points (which only really affects the goalies), it's an interesting look at the best players in the division regardless.

The Devils don't technically have Ilya Kovalchuk signed as of Sunday night, so he doesn't get to make the list, but his inclusion would give the Devils a good looking trio, taking Langenbrunner off the 3rd spot.  The best top three, scoring-wise, has to go to the Penguins with both Crosby and Malkin, but that Flyers trio can do a job at both ends of the ice, which could arguably make them a better 'team' trio.   Since the hockey pool only goes on points for the forwards and defense, the Penguins get the top trio nod this time around.

On defense, that Flyers pairing of Pronger and Timonen is very formidable.  The Islanders and Rangers have a good top spot blueliner in Streit and Del Zotto, but their second punch isn't as strong as Timonen in Philadelphia.  The Devils don't have a lot of firepower in their twosome and the Penguins pair are still wet behind the ears. 

In goal, my favourite of this five is Brodeur, even today I like him a little bit more than most.  Lundqvist comes in a close second over a regular season and has the potential to be better than Brodeur this year, if the age decline is on in Jersey.  Fleury has grown in leaps and bounds, but there are more wins owed to the offense than there are to the goaltending in Pittsburgh and his style still has some holes.  Leighton has huge pillars of defense in front of him, making his job easier and Roloson will be chased down by DiPietro (health pending).

Depth plays such a huge factor again in this division, but if we were just talking this top six, I would take the Flyers right now, because of a good enough offense and a massive defense that runs the show.  The Penguins have enough offense to breakthrough, but the season series in Pennsylvania will be one of the more interesting ones to watch in 2011.