Enjoy the celebration, Carolina. You won't repeat.

	The difference in the East might come down to Ryan Miller vs. Ray Emery. AP

On Monday night, the NHL crowned a new champion. On Tuesday morning, before the champagne stains had dried or razors began addressing playoff beards, the editors at SI.com asked me to predict the winner of the 2007 Stanley Cup.

Too early to think about it? Hardly. While fans focused on the late rounds of the playoffs, NHL GMs already were busy signing their free agents and draft picks, figuring out how much room they'd have to play with under the cap, and working on their final rankings for this Saturday's Entry Draft.

In short, they're plotting a course for next season's championship. If they can do it, I can too, right? Of course, there's a fly in the ointment. The only certainty right now is that no team's lineup is certain. The rosters that became familiar this season may look as different next year as Donald Trump without the bad hair.

The impact of a major free agent addition or subtraction -- say Zdeno Chara or Wade Redden on defense or Patrik Elias up front -- or a savvy, hole-plugging trade -- Roberto Luongo, anyone? -- would dramatically alter a team's potential next spring. So could something as unpredictable as health, as the crushed dreams of a number of 2006 Cup pretenders can attest.

For the sake of argument, let's assume the major bodies will stay where they are, or be reasonably replaced, and that all hands will be on deck come next spring.

So, will we have a Carolina repeat?

Not a chance.

I hate to rain on the parade for the Carolina faithful, but these Hurricanes are not a dynasty in the making. That's not to say they won't contend next season, or that another Cup isn't in the cards for this talented young core somewhere down the line, but Jim Rutherford will be hard-pressed to surround Eric Staal, Erik Cole and Cam Ward with the same level of veteran talent as he did so masterfully this year.

The odometer's already rolled on that blueline -- forget celebrating at Disney World, they're going to Boca Raton! -- and the potential arrival of top prospect Jack Johnson alone won't change that. The second line may have to be rebuilt as well. That's a lot of work to mix into a well-earned summer of celebration.

OK, how 'bout Ottawa? You know the Senators will be in the hunt. They had the best goals for/against ratio in the league, and given the potential of all that young talent up front, the offense will remain lethal.