Step away from the free online fishing games for a minute and start thinking about your picks for the NHL season, and today we’ll look at the Eastern Conference, which is going to be a battle from start to finish as someone looks to replace the defending Stanley Cup champs from Boston.

Washington (+350) and Pittsburgh (+375) are favored, but the Capitals are more unpredictable than online casino sites with their great regular seasons followed by postseason failure, and until Sidney Crosby is healthy, the Penguins can’t win the conference. Philadelphia (+500) made some huge moves in the offseason, getting rid of former captain Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, but all eyes will be on Ilya Bryzgalov as the Flyers look to solve their perennial problems between the pipes.

Boston (+550) is in the mix, but they have to battle complacency and playing with a target on their backs and frankly, we can’t see Tim Thomas having the season he had last year in goal. Tampa Bay (+750) and Buffalo (+750) are sports betting darkhorses, but the Lightning is lacking in defense, while the Sabres need goal-scorers, so if you put them together, you would have the favorites.

The smart play is Philadelphia, although any of the top six or seven teams have a legitimate shot. The Flyers are balanced, but they’re also under a lot of pressure from their fans and that is going to be the biggest obstacle to their sports betting chances.

Turn off that fishing video from your trip earlier in the summer and check out the NHL odds for the upcoming season, as teams are preparing to enter training camp in order to start the preseason. It’s usually tough for rookies to hit the league on the ground running, but here are the top three first-year players we think will make an impact in 2011-12.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

As Bet Online football fans and players will be watching Carolina’s Cam Newton, the No.1 overall pick, NHL fans will have an eye on Nugent-Hopkins, another young and talented piece to the Oilers’ rebuild. He is an offensive stud who still has to get a bit bigger, but there is no pressure on him with Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle in front of him.

Adam Larsson

New Jersey had one of their worst seasons in recent memory, and goaltender Martin Brodeur suddenly looked mortal. Look for Larsson to step right in and help the future Hall of Famer as he has drawn the obvious comparisons to fellow Swedish blueliners Nicklas Lidstrom and Victor Hedman, but those aren’t bad players to be compared with.

Dougie Hamilton

Hamilton will be looked at as the last piece in the Phil Kessel trade between Boston and Toronto, but the Stanley Cup champion Bruins felt secure enough to let Tomas Kaberle walk as Hamilton is also a puck-moving defenseman. He makes bad decisions sometimes and he still has to fill out, but at 18, his upside is huge and he should impact Boston’s odds for years to come in your sports betting book.