Looking forward one real year, there will be a LOT more competiton in terms of playing for the cup. For this, I'll predict who is at the top of each division:

Atlantic: Even with my personal bias, I believe it will be Tampa Bay's and Atlanta's division: Tampa Bay has been building up their players for a few seasons now, and they're beginning to bleed their way into the SHL roster, while Atlanta will be at their strongest by then as well. While both New England and Baltimore have their own prospect pools, I do believe Tampa is a lot closer to contention in comparison.

Great Lakes: Toronto does seem to have the future of the division in their hands. I'm not entirely convinced Hamilton or Buffalo will be completely out of playoff contention, but they will be significantly weaker than they are now.

Northwest: It's a tough division to distinguish, but I do think Minnesota and Seattle battling it out for the top. However, I don't think the rest of the division will be counted out; I think the Jets, Blizzard and Dragons are still around. This will probably be the Thunderdome division.

Southwest: Another tough one, Texas and Los Angeles will be the ones lording over the division. I could see San Francisco getting in on the action as well, but I'm not too sure at this point.