Changes in My Top Sixes

Like I said previous to when I did up each individual division the first time, these are not meant to represent the best players, just sorted by points scored in the 2011 season. I will likely change my representation of these teams further down the line, but this is only for comparison purposes, reflecting some of the changes made in free agency through two and a half days.

Plus, it gives me a chance to start using some of the new logo treatments for each team.  Today, it's the alternate logos, some of them really suck, but that's not my fault, it's all those teams gave me.

Patrik Elias	John Tavares	Brad Richards	Claude Giroux	Sidney Crosby
Ilya Kovalchuk	Matt Moulson	Marian Gaborik	Daniel Briere	Chris Kunitz
Travis Zajac	PA Parenteau	Derek Stepan	Scott Hartnell	James Neal
Andy Greene	Andrew MacDonald	Dan Girardi	Matt Carle	Kris Letang
Henrik Tallinder	Travis Hamonic	Marc Staal	Kimmo Timonen	Paul Martin
Martin Brodeur	Al Montoya	Henrik Lundqvist	Ilya Bryzgalov	Marc-Andre Fleury

Only a couple of changes in the Atlantic Division, the Rangers made the biggest upgrade, getting that centre that they need for their superstar snipers. Brad Richards is a massive help, but I'm not certain that he is enough to push the Rangers into the top two of the division just yet. I still have the Rangers in at number three. The Devils improved their top two defense by re-signing Andy Greene, but they still rank number four to me.

Milan Lucic	Thomas Vanek	Tomas Plekanec	Jason Spezza	Phil Kessel
David Krejci	Brad Boyes	Erik Cole	Nick Foligno	Mikhail Grabovski
Patrice Bergeron	Ville Leino	Mike Cammalleri	Milan Michalek	Nikolai Kulemin
Zdeno Chara	Christian Ehrhoff	P.K. Subban	Erik Karlsson	John-Michael Liles
Dennis Seidenberg	Tyler Myers	Jaroslav Spacek	Sergei Gonchar	Dion Phaneuf
Tim Thomas	Ryan Miller	Carey Price	Craig Anderson	James Reimer

The Sabres made a couple of improvements, while the Canadiens added some size up front... is it enough for a swap in positions in the standings? Not quite. I had the Canadiens in front of the Sabres in my last post and I think Cole is a much better addition to the Habs than Leino is to the Sabres today. Ehrhoff doesn't seem to upgrade enough over Leopold to put them over the top either.

Eric Staal	Stephen Weiss	Martin St. Louis	Alex Ovechkin	Bryan Little
Jeff Skinner	Kris Versteeg	Vincent Lecavalier	Nicklas Backstrom	Evander Kane
Tuomo Ruutu	Tomas Kopecky	Ryan Malone	Alex Semin	Nikolai Antropov
Joe Corvo	Brian Campbell	Brett Clark	Dennis Wideman	Dustin Byfuglien
Joni Pitkanen	Dimitri Kulikov	Victor Hedman	John Carlson	Tobias Enstrom
Cam Ward	Jose Theodore	Dwayne Roloson	Michal Neuvirth	Ondrej Pavelec

The Panthers were the team making the biggest splashes in the pool in the first couple days of signing, but their top six only really improved their goaltending and that was a marginal increase at best as well. Theodore over Clemmensen doesn't sound like much right now, maybe when Theodore starts reaping all that ice-time. The Lightning made a pretty big boost, because now they actually have a goaltender in their spot, so they will move up in my projected standings.

Now the Southeast looks a little bit more like this... Washington, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida and Winnipeg. Yes, Florida moved past Winnipeg, Versteeg looks better on the list than Antropov.

Jonathan Toews	Jeff Carter	Henrik Zetterberg	Martin Erat	David Backes
Patrick Kane	Rick Nash	Pavel Datsyuk	Patric Hornqvist	Chris Stewart
Patrick Sharp	R.J. Umberger	Johan Franzen	David Legwand	Patrik Berglund
Duncan Keith	James Wisniewski	Nicklas Lidstrom	Ryan Suter	Alex Pietrangelo
Brent Seabrook	Fedor Tyutin	Niklas Kronwall	Kevin Klein	Kevin Shattenkirk
Corey Crawford	Steve Mason	Jimmy Howard	Pekka Rinne	Jaroslav Halak

Only a blueline shift in the Central Division, one upgraded, the other downgraded... and yes, I think it makes a difference. The Blue Jackets won the Wisniewski sweepstakes by acquiring him before free agency started, while the Predators traded away Cody Franson on Sunday, taking him off the list (not like he was going to last on it, regardless).

As of today, it does make a difference, as my Central looks like this... Chicago, Detroit, Columbus, St. Louis and Nashvile, the Predators dropping two spots from a week ago.  Look for a bounce back up the standings when Weber is signed.

Jarome Iginla	Matt Duchene	Ryan Smyth	Martin Havlat	Daniel Sedin
Alex Tanguay	Paul Stastny	Jordan Eberle	Mikko Koivu	Henrik Sedin
Olli Jokinen	Milan Hejduk	Taylor Hall	Matt Cullen	Ryan Kesler
Marc Giordano	Erik Johnson	Ryan Whitney	Marek Zidlicky	Alex Edler
Jay Bouwmeester	Ryan O'Byrne	Tom Gilbert	Nick Schultz	Dan Hamhuis
Miikka Kiprusoff	Semyon Varlamov	Devan Dubnyk	Niklas Backstrom	Roberto Luongo

The only team to make a shift in their top six in the Northwest Division was Colorado and I think that was for the better. Adding a goalie and improving their second defenseman makes a big difference. Varlamov is the fourth-best goalie in the division, which now makes the Avalanche the fourth-best team in the division.

My Northwest Division now reads... Vancouver, Calgary, Minnesota, Colorado and Edmonton. It might have been a bit closer if Khabibulin was the better of the two goalies, points-wise, in 2011.

Corey Perry	Loui Eriksson	Anze Kopitar	Shane Doan	Patrick Marleau
Ryan Getzlaf	Mike Ribeiro	Mike Richards	Ray Whitney	Joe Thornton
Bobby Ryan	Brendan Morrow	Dustin Brown	Radim Vrbata	Joe Pavelski
Lubomir Visnovsky	Alex Goligoski	Jack Johnson	Adrian Aucoin	Dan Boyle
Cam Fowler	Stephane Robidas	Rob Scuderi	Michal Rozsival	Brent Burns
Jonas Hiller	Kari Lehtonen	Jonathan Quick	Mike Smith	Antti Niemi

Finally, in the Pacific Division, only one team here had changes made to their top six and the improvements were marginal at best. The Coyotes were last place in the division a week ago and adding Vrbata and Smith to their six didn't do enough for me to put them over the Stars for fourth place. Smith is the worst of the five goalies, Vrbata is the worst of the five forwards in the number three spot.