You also can't go wrong with what Nashville is doing if you want to watch some solid goaltending. If you want to see rebuilding teams look at Edmonton and Toronto, and if I would also say look at the New York Islanders. They are playing very good hockey, have a lot of young guys and things are coming together for them.
As far as a team goes in NHL11, I'm currently Tampa Bay and it is a nice challenge. I'll give you a quick list of teams I think would be fun to be in an NHL11 and build up. Just a note, I will never suggest a shitty team because a) the NHL season is long, and with that comes a long time to "rebuild". I'm finding that out now as I'm about 65 games into my season and I am having a hard time finishing it off. and b) it is hard to get sliders right when you are a shitty team (think Atlanta) because your team is suppose to lose every night, so it is hard to judge good sliders off that.
Western Teams
Phoenix - They have a lot of good pieces, and would be a fun team to be. Even more so as you can add in the storyline of all the "will the team move" shit into your chise if you are doing one. But if not, they are still a good team to continue building. On the cusp and need just that little more to take them over the top.
Nashville - As I said, they have the goalie and they do have good players. This is a team that in game, no one plays as, but they are a playoff team. They just don't have the big names and no one gives them a look. They would be one of my teams to piick if I was redoing my chise.
Columbus/Minnesota - These two I almost picked. Again, they have pieces, but they need some work. Can't really go wrong with either. They habve some star players, so you won't get to pissed off. I was going to do a Blue Jackets chise because of Filatov and Nash.
Teams to avoid: Dallas/Calgary (Don't know why, I just find them to be a yawn to play with) Anaheim (To much top young talent, so not much fun) and of course, San Jose, Chicago, Detroit, Vancouver because who you want to rebuild.
Eastern Conference
Southeast divsion minus Washington - The entire division needs a rebuild. It is why I picked the Lightning. Atlanta is a damn challenge and a nightmare to play with. Florida and Carolina have a little bit of talent, but again a lot to do. Tampa has two top lines and a good defence core, but they need work on the depth and goalies.
Ottawa - The fun with Ottawa is that they have no real identity. Long gone are the days of always listening to "the big three" so now you just have a sens team who is a good team to start as when playing NHL11, as you won't be thrown into the wolves, but a lot of room for growth.
Islanders/Leafs - Islanders give you a lot of young talent, so you get the reverse of things in that you need the experience to make the team better. Toronto is kind of the same, as they have loads of you guys, a hard hitting defence core, and lately have been my team online and a lot of fun to play with.
Teams to avoid:Altanta (unless you want to throw your controller a lot), New Jersey/Washington/Pittsburgh (big three teams, with way to many stars, so it gets boring)
Hope that helps in picking a team.
