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Last season, the Ottawa Senators posted the best record in the NHL, despite filing for bankruptcy protection and missing a payroll check just before New Year's Day.
Most of the players who came within one win of the Stanley Cup Finals will be back this season for the Senators, who are favored to repeat as Northeast Division champions.
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Marian Hossa, who led the team with 80 points, again will join with Radek Bonk
and Mike Fisher to form an imposing first line. The trio combined for 95 goals
while compiling a combined plus-27 rating. Ticketmaster
But Ottawa's primary strength is its depth.
Daniel Alfredsson led the team with 51 assists while playing on the second line and Martin Havlat scored 24 goals in 67 games while playing both wings.
Havlat, who has more points than any 1999 draft pick, was holding out through training camp.
Todd White proved his 2001-02 season was no fluke as he established career highs with 25 goals and 60 points. Jason Spezza, the second overall pick in 2001, provides depth at center.
Ottawa boasts one of the NHL's better two-way defensemen in Wade Redden, while 6-9 Zdeno Chara has a plus-59 rating over the last two seasons and is coming off his first All-Star appearance.
Patrick Lalime joined Chara at the All-Star Game, was second in the league with 39 wins and fifth with a 2.16 goals-against average. Backup Martin Prusek had a spectacular rookie season with a 12-2-1 record and .935 save percentage.
While financial difficulties had no on-ice effect on the Senators, the same cannot be said of the Buffalo Sabres. Ticketmaster
Like Ottawa, Buffalo filed for bankruptcy last season. And like the Senators, the Sabres were rescued by a wealthy businessman as Tom Golisano completed his purchase of the team last March.
Buffalo struggled to 27 wins and a last-place finish in 2002-03, but things are looking up following the acquisition of former Calder Trophy winner Chris Drury and the re-signing of leading scorer Miroslav Satan.
Satan, who had a career-high 76 points last season, ended his holdout just over a week before the season opener. With him on board joining Drury and diminutive center Daniel Briere, the Sabres could be the surprise of the division.
Drury was obtained from Calgary over the summer after four straight 20-goal seasons. Acquired at the trade deadline from Phoenix, Briere is a legitimate scoring threat who totaled 12 points in 14 games with Buffalo.
Young forwards like Maxim Afinogenov, Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt - all 24 or younger - must provide a solid supporting cast if Buffalo is to return to the playoffs for the first time in three years.
Derek Roy, a 20-year-old center, impressed in training camp and has a chance to make an impact. Ticketmaster
Joining Alexei Zhitnik on the blue line is Andy Delmore. Acquired from Nashville in the offseason, Delmore should help improve a power play that ranked 20th last season, although he does little to stabilize the defense.
One of the most intriguing battles in camp involved the goalies, with Martin Biron vying with Mika Noronen and Ryan Miller.
"You can see a wave of offense added to the team, from offensive defensemen to trying to get a good 1-2 punch on the forward lines," goaltender Martin Biron said. "I think you'll see a lot from the Sabres this year."
In Montreal, the Canadiens are looking to new general manager Bob Gainey for direction after missing the playoffs last season.
One of Gainey's first moves was retaining coach Claude Julien, who took over for Michel Therrien last January.
A top priority for Gainey and Julien is invigorating an offense that averaged 2 1/2 goals a game and a power play that ranked 25th in the league.
The team's emotional and offensive leader is captain Saku Koivu, who could miss the start of the season due to a sprained knee. The 28-year-old Finn led the team with 50 assists and 71 points in a triumphant return from cancer.
Speedy winger Richard Zednik netted 31 goals and should flank Koivu on the top line. Jan Bulis and Yanic Perreault combined for 40 goals last season, with Perreault leading the NHL in faceoff percentage.
Marcel Hossa could be ready to escape the shadow of younger brother Marian.
Andrei Markov emerged as Montreal's top defenseman last season with a plus-13 rating and 37 points. He and 21-year-old Mike Komisarek provide much-needed youth, while a healthy Sheldon Souray would lend a physical presence on the blue line.
Jose Theodore is trying to put a disappointing season - and a controversial offseason - behind him and rediscover the form that won the Hart and Vezina Trophies in 2001-02. He must be strong in net if the Canadiens hope to return to the playoffs and Julien hopes to keep his job.
"I've been feeling pretty good," Theodore said. "I feel pretty confident. I'm anxious for the season to start."
Like Julien in Montreal, Mike Sullivan will be in his first full season behind the bench for the Boston Bruins.
Sullivan, who was promoted from the Providence Bruins after Robbie Ftorek was fired last season, will have his top guns healthy to begin the season.
"I think we're probably stronger this year than we've been in a long time," Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs said. "We've got a basic team we've developed in the (Joe) Thornton draft and that era. They're still with us and they're better players than they were a year ago." Ticketmaster
Thornton, the team captain who was third in the league with 101 points last season, will be rejoined by winger Sergei Samsonov and Glen Murray - coming off a 44-goal season - on an explosive top line.
"Sammy is a huge part of our team," center Brian Rolston said. "It's gonna be great because he missed the majority of the season last year. If he can get back into the swing of things ... we should be rollin'."
The speedy Rolston will be counted on for strong special teams play and left wing Mike Knuble is looking to prove his 30-goal performance last season was no fluke.
While the Bruins' offense appears solid, the defense that tied for 24th last season has some holes to fill with the free agent defections of Sean Brown and Don Sweeney and an offseason automobile accident involving Jonathan Girard. Ticketmaster
Jacobs and the team walked away from Bryan Berard after he won his arbitration decision but re-signed Nick Boynton a week before the season opener.
The Bruins signed veteran Felix Potvin in an attempt to stabilize a questionable goaltending sitution, but he's coming off a subpar season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were relatively quiet in the offseason before signing veteran Joe Nieuwendyk, who was born in 1966, the year before the team won its last Stanley Cup. He gives Toronto a coveted second-line center and joins a veteran-laded cast.
Alexander Mogilny enters his 15th season and could join Nieuwendyk in the 500-goal and 1,000-point clubs. The 34-year-old Russian led the team last season with 79 points.
Center Mats Sundin has been a Toronto icon for nearly a decade and is trying for his ninth straight 70-point season. The 32-year-old captain also has 13 straight 20-goal campaigns.
Aging wingers Owen Nolan and Gary Roberts will be counted on to play important offensive roles, despite being banged up. Nolan will have to tough it out through nagging lower back pain and Roberts begins his first full season since undergoing double shoulder surgery.
Newcomer Ken Klee joins a defense that includes Tomas Kaberle, Bryan McCabe and Bryan Marchment.
Between the pipes for the Leafs will be Ed Belfour, who at 37 proved he had something left in the tank with a team-record 37 wins.