Second Sixes in the Northeast Division

Mark Recchi	Thomas Vanek	Brian Gionta	Alex Kovalev	Mikhail Grabovski
Blake Wheeler	Jochen Hecht	Andrei Kostitsyn	Milan Michalek	Colby Armstrong
Marco Sturm	Drew Stafford	Benoit Pouliot	Chris Kelly	Tyler Bozak
Johnny Boychuk	Steve Montador	Jaroslav Spacek	Erik Karlsson	Francois Beauchemin
Matt Hunwick	Chris Butler	Alexandre Picard	Chris Phillips	Luke Schenn
Tim Thomas	Patrick Lalime		Pascal Leclaire	J-S Giguere

Well, there is a notable absence on this second six table and that brings me to another point about these tables. They are full of players that are signed, so that goes for restricted free agents and why there is a blank spot in Montreal's back-up goaltender spot.

There are a few good names on this table, some of which may be good enough for the top sixes tables on some teams, which gives a greater potential for being snapped up at the draft.

Among the five teams here, I would have to say I like Ottawa to have theirs completed first out of this group, just because there are a lot more noticeable names from top to bottom, including a number of players who have top six potential.  Kovalev and Karlsson immediately spring to mind as guys who could draw some top unit time with the Sens, giving their potential for points a boost, while Leclaire can very easily be assumed as the number one guy going into the season, but doesn't have the points in 2010 to back him up for these tables.

If people have taken note of Johnny Boychuk from the 2010 playoffs, the Bruins have a very good second six as well, with some decent scoring up front, a good 3-4 pairing on defense and 2009 Vezina Trophy winner, Tim Thomas in net.  The Bruins have some scuttlebutt surrounding them still in this off-season and changes could be made, but today does shine brightly on Beantown and they finish a close second to Ottawa here.

A reasonable choice for somewhat of a sleeper will be Chris Butler of the Buffalo Sabres, which earns the team the third spot in the second sixes here.  Butler, a 23-year old blueliner, didn't drop into the 2010 Draft as a player, but still picked up 21 points from the blueline.  I'm not sure that his point production will be better, but he did rank 89th among defensemen.  Otherwise, you throw Vanek, Hecht and Stafford up front, Montador to finish the pairing and Lalime to scrape minutes behind Miller, you have yourself a pretty good six. 

I really liked Montreal's top six, even with Alex Auld, but of course, if I actually made the comparison of which team would finish first, it wouldn't be the Habs with Auld in that spot.  The five that Montreal have in this table are pretty good, but Picard will keep them from being completely picked apart in the draft, just because he's still a bit unknown.  He could surprise, if he gets minutes, but I imagine he'll be a waiver draft pick-up, if that's the case.

Finally, the Leafs depth up front is really what hurts this team in their second six table.  Sure, Beauchemin, Schenn and Giguere should go with relative ease, but Armstrong and Bozak have yet to really pop off the page as good fantasy choices, especially when it comes to straight scoring.  They may be eventually picked, but not before some of the fringe names that I've already mentioned.

Ottawa, Boston, Buffalo, Montreal and Toronto is how I see the second sixes in the Northeast going at the draft in a little over a month's time.