The NHL might be in the middle of a lockout, but before everything came to a halt teams were making moves preparing for the new season. The Eastern Conference had several moves that will have a big impact on players and the stats they produce.
The first big move that was made in the Eastern Conference was Rick Nash moving from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the New York Rangers.
Rick Nash has always been one of the most talented players in the league but playing in Columbus has limited his production. Playing for the Rangers will greatly improve Nash’s production. The Rangers have a much better team from top to bottom than the Blue Jackets. The better team will improve all aspects of Nash’s game, and Nash will make the Rangers better offensively.
The other big offensive move in the conference was Jordan Staal moving from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jordan Staal was always fighting for ice time and attention in a very crowded Penguins line up. Moving to the Hurricanes will give Jordan more ice time and more opportunities to get points. The most exciting thing about Jordan Staal moving to Carolina is that he will be on the same team as older brother Eric Staal and younger brother Jared Staal who played with the teams AHL affiliate last season.
Jordan Staal will have a better season with point production because he will be on a line that will give him much more ice time than he got in Pittsburgh. Playing with his brothers could also help Jordan because he would have more chemistry with his brothers. Carolina was a team that picked up at the end of the season and the addition of Jordan Staal could push them to the next level.
One move made in the Eastern Conference that could have the biggest impact is Anders Lindback joining the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Lightning have been a very good team over the past several seasons, but the biggest question mark the team had was their lack of a strong goaltender. Lindback has spent several seasons as the backup for Pekka Rinne, and is very similar in size and playing style to Rinne. When the NHL season eventually starts Lindback is set up to be one of the top goaltenders in the league, and will hopefully be the piece that the Lightning needed to make a deep playoff run.
Several teams in the Eastern Conference brought in some new faces to try and improve their teams. Most of the moves that were made make complete sense for teams, and should make the conference more competitive. If the NHL and NHLPA are ever able to come to a labor agreement, we all will get to see if the moves will pay off.