My pick for the best team in the East is the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I am now a believer in goaltender Matt Murray but he will need some relief at times and I see Marc-Andre Fleury getting about 30-35 games as a high priced backup. Fleury recently stated he wants to be the #1 goaltender for the Penguins so expect a battle for the position but I see Murray winning out.

Probably the only question mark facing the Penguins is defensive depth, but aren't most teams in the same position?

The Washington Capitals need to get over the hump and get to the Stanley Cup Final. Coach Barry Trotz will provide some stability and guidance while the team just needs to force themselves when it gets to the playoffs.

All out all the time should be their motto, they have the horses to get the job done, now they must prove it.

Next up is the Tampa Bay Lightning, is this their year? Steven Stamkos signed and happy in Tampa, goaltending will be good to great and they have scoring all through the lineup.

Steve Yzerman has done a tremendous job keeping the core of the team together, although they still need to sign RFA Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning may be forced to move some salary to get cap compiant so this is a team to keep an eye on as the season approaches.

My wild card team is the Florida Panthers. There have undergone numerous changes, from front office, to players to even a new logo.

To me the big question mark is in goal. I am not a fan of the James Reimer signing, five years for a cap hit of $3.4M was too long and too much and Roberto Luongo is 37 years old and recovering from hip surgery. The Panthers at this point expect him at 100% by opening night but age is without a doubt a factor too.

Regarding the rest of the teams in the East, I just don't see any of them in the same class of the above mentioned teams, but that is why they play the season out. Expect at least one team to come out of nowhere, who will it be?