SOUTHEAST DIVISION

No. 1 Washington Capitals

Last Year: 43-31-8, SE Division champs, lost to Philadelphia (7) in first round.

Who's In: G Jose Theodore.

Who's Out: G Cristobal Huet, G Olaf Kolzig, D Steve Eminger, LW Matt Cooke.

What's Happening: The Capitals finished last season strong to wrest away the division title from Carolina in the final day of the season. Washington's going to be hard pressed to keep that kind of momentum up, but this team is wiser and better than last year.

The Prediction: Capitals win division for second consecutive year, make it to the second round as Alex Ovechkin makes a strong run at a second consecutive Hart Trophy.

No. 2 Florida Panthers

Last Year: 38-35-9, 3rd in SE.

Who's In: D Keith Ballard, D Bryan McCabe, LW Cory Stillman, D Nick Boynton.

Who's Out: C Olli Jokinen, D Mike Van Ryn, D Steve Montador

What's Happening: New coach Peter DeBoer is going to mold the Panthers into a tougher team, but there's still questions about how the team is going to score. With an improved defense and top goaltending, the Panthers are going to be in most games. Can they win them though? Last year, Florida lost more one-goal games than any other team in the league. That needs to be fixed.

The Prediction: Tough to keep picking the Panthers eighth in the east, but the skid has to end sometime. As long as Florida stays healthy, the Cats should be very competitive. The thought here is they hold off Carolina at the end. If Florida makes the playoffs, DeBoer will be a serious Coach of the Year candidate.

No. 3 Carolina Hurricanes

Last Year: 43-33-6, second in SE.

Who's In: D Joni Pitkanen.

Who's Out: D Glen Wesley, RW Erik Cole, D Bret Hedican, G John Grahame, C Trevor Letowski.

What's Happening: There's a lot of pressure on coach Peter Laviolette to get this thing back on track after the Canes missed the playoffs the past two seasons. Cam Ward is solid in net, but Carolina appears to have been bit by the injury bug. Again.

The Prediction: Hurricanes stumble out of the gate but catch fire late, only Florida somehow holds the Hurricanes off. Three consecutive seasons out of the playoffs could lead to a housecleaning in Raleigh.

No. 4 Tampa Bay Lightning

Last Year: 31-42-9, 5th in SE.

Who's In: LW Ryan Malone, C Steven Stamkos, D Andrej Meszaros, RW Mark Recchi, LW Gary Roberts, LW Vaclav Prospal, LW Gary Roberts.

Who's Out: D Dan Boyle, D Filip Kuba, LW Andre Roy, C Andreas Karlsson.

What's Happening: This has been one crazy summer in Tampa, with new owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie cleaning house and seemingly making a move a day. But will the Bolts be that much better? The defense is shaky and the goaltending questionable. The Lightning should be able to score, however.

The Prediction: Bolts find it hard to win every game 6-5 and miss playoffs again.

No. 5 Atlanta Thrashers

Last Year: 34-40-8, 4th in SE.

Who's In: D Mathieu Schneider, D Ron Hainsey, C Angelo Esposito, D Zach Bogosian, RW Jason Williams.

Who's Out: D Ken Klee, C Bobby Holik, RW Mark Recchi.

What's Happening: The team has a new coach in former AHL Chicago boss John Anderson. The Thrash have star power in Ilya Kovalchuk and Mathieu Schnieder but not much else. Still, Atlanta has pretty good defense and goaltending, so it could be competitive. Could.

The Prediction: Thrashers suffer through rough season, look forward to top pick in draft.

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