NHL Eastern Conference preview

By Fluto Shinzawa

Globe Staff / January 17, 2013

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Notable: No. 1 center John Tavares (31-50—81 last season) is a difference-maker. Tavares makes Matt Moulson better. Kyle Okposo is a good second-line scoring wing. Veteran Mark Streit stabilizes the defense and is a good mentor for youngsters Travis Hamonic and Calvin De Haan.

12. Florida Panthers

Coach: Kevin Dineen (second season).

Record: 38-26-18, 94 points, third in East.

Playoffs: Lost to New Jersey in first round.

Notable: The Panthers turned heads last season when a remade roster took the Devils to seven games. GM Dale Tallon, in his second year in South Florida, didn’t do much to upgrade the roster during the offseason. Some talent in Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann, Stephen Weiss. But no game-breakers.

13. Montreal Canadiens

Coach: Michel Therrien (first season).

Record: 31-35-16, 78 points, 15th in East.

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Notable: Lots of work for first-year GM Marc Bergevin to fix the rubble left by previous bosses Pierre Gauthier and Bob Gainey. The Canadiens have their centerpiece in goal in Carey Price. They need to re-sign P.K. Subban promptly. Montreal has a solid line in Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais, and Erik Cole. Depth drops off dramatically after that.

14. Toronto Maple Leafs

Coach: Randy Carlyle (second season).

Record: 35-37-10, 80 points, 13th in East.

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Notable: Franchise is still recovering from the sudden whacking of GM Brian Burke. On the ice, Toronto remains without an identity. They have B-level talent in Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf. But no franchise pieces. Must upgrade goaltending, whether it’s Roberto Luongo or someone else.

15. Winnipeg Jets

Coach: Claude Noel (second season).

Record: 37-35-10, 84 points, 11th in East.

Playoffs: Did not qualify.

Notable: GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s major offseason moves were signing Alexei Ponikarovsky and Olli Jokinen. Yawn. Ex-Bruin Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little had some offensive chemistry last season. Zach Bogosian (wrist) won’t be ready to start the season. Ondrej Pavelec shows flashes of top-tier goaltending, but hasn’t put together a consistent year.

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.