1. Sidney Crosby – If you know enough about hockey to be reading Illegal Curve, you don’t need me to explain this selection.
2. Alex Ovechkin – See above.
3. Vincent Lecavalier – The offseason additions should help tire out opposing checkers and allow Vinny to get some rest between shifts. He could come close to Crosby.
4. Evgeni Malkin – If this was a playoff preview, he’d be ranked lower.
5. 6. 7. Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson – Ottawa’s top three should each approach 95 points if healthy.
8. Martin St. Louis – He should be good for a point a game on the power-play alone.
9. Thomas Vanek – The Sabres aren’t what they were 2 years ago, and he might not be worth $10 million a year, but he’s still dangerous.
10. Ilya Kovalchuk – This prediction only applies if Atlanta isn’t relegated to the AHL by the All-Star break
11 and 12. Simon Gagne, Patrice Bergeron – These guys have loads and loads of talent. One disclaimer: PLEASE DON’T GET HURT AGAIN!!!! (sorry, I have both these guys in my 4-year pool…)
13. Marc Savard – Underrated, on a bad team, but still consistently reliable for a ton of assists and a respectable goal total.
14. Eric Staal – This speedster will be relied on heaviley this season and could easily be in the top 5; it wouldn’t surprise me at all.
15. Niklas Backstrom- This guy figured out the NHL in about 25 games and is poised to improve on his impressive rookie season. If he continues to play with Ovechkin, he could produce 90+ points.
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