Atlantic

New York

Rangers

LAST SEASON 44-26-12, sixth in East; lost in first round to New Jersey

KEY ADDITIONS C Matt Cullen, LW Brendan Shanahan, D Aaron Ward
KEY LOSSES D Tom Poti, C Steve Rucchin, LW Martin Rucinsky, C Petr Sykora

Brendan Shanahan should have arrived in New York wearing goalie equipment. Since signing a one-year, $4 million free-agent contract with the Rangers this summer, he has been deflecting suggestions that he was acquired specifically to provide much-needed leadership and mental toughness to a talented team that wilted under pressure. (After losing the division title to the Devils on the last day of the season, the Rangers were swept by New Jersey in the opening round of the playoffs.) Shanahan parried implications that his no-nonsense work ethic and grit would bring intangibles that 123-point right wing Jaromir Jagr lacks. "I'm excited about adding to the leadership they already have," Shanahan says.

His protestations aside, the 37-year-old winger, a three-time Stanley Cup winner in Detroit, will immediately become the leader on a team that went without a full-time captain after Jagr rejected coach Tom Renney's offer to take on the role before last season. "There was a point where I didn't just feel like the coach," Renney says. "I felt like the captain as well."

The durable Shanahan, who leads active NHL players with 598 goals, is coming off a 40-goal, 41-assist season and will most likely skate on power plays with Jagr, who is second on that career list with 591 goals. When he came into the league, Jagr won two Cups alongside Mario Lemieux in Pittsburgh, and he has been rejuvenated in New York by the company of five Czech teammates, who understand his style of play and his moods. Jagr remains the preeminent weapon on a young team built on quick forwards, mobile defensemen and splendid sophomore goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who led Sweden to the 2006 Olympic gold. With Shanahan, the Rangers may have staying power.

New Jersey

Devils

LAST SEASON 46-27-9, third in East; lost in second round to Carolina