Eastern Conference: Northeast

Toronto thought it had acquired a No.�1 goalie a year ago when it dealt top prospect Tuukka Rask, a former first-rounder, to the Bruins for Andrew Raycroft. But Raycroft's middling performance (he won 37 games last season but ranked below the top�30 in goals-against average and save percentage) prompted the Leafs to surrender a first-round pick for Toskala, who shared the San�Jose job with Evgeni Nabokov. Despite playing 12 fewer games than Nabokov, Toskala had one more win.

Blake, a 40-goal scorer with the Islanders a season ago, brings punch to a team whose second- and third-leading scorers were defensemen. Captain Mats Sundin took a $2.1�million pay cut, to $5.5�million, to free up money for a new linemate. "My only desire," says Sundin, "is to be part of a championship team here." That's not going to happen anytime soon.

MONTREAL CANADIENS

LAST SEASON 42-34-6 (10th in East)

KEY ADDITIONS D Roman Hamrlik, RW�Tom Kostopoulos, C Bryan Smolinski

KEY LOSSES C Radek Bonk, LW�Sergei Samsonov, D Sheldon Souray

The Canadiens are stuck in a rut, having finished fourth in the division four times in the last five seasons. Worse, the storied franchise is slowly losing its relevance. In the off-season Montreal went after big-name free agents Daniel Bri�re, Brian Rafalski and Ryan Smyth but were spurned by all three; Bri�re's decision was particularly galling because he is a Quebec native.

The Habs need help up front for captain Saku Koivu and on the blue line after losing Sheldon Souray, who was the league's top goal scorer (26) among defensemen, to the Oilers as a free agent. The one place Montreal seems set is in goal, where All-Star Cristobal Huet has fought off competition from Jos� Theodore and David Aebischer over the last two seasons to cement his position. But even if Huet repeats his performance of two seasons ago, when he led the league in save percentage, the Canadiens have too many other holes to even think about making the playoffs.

BOSTON BRUINS

LAST SEASON 35-41-6 (13th in East)