Waffle Watch: 2011 Boston Bruins draft pick update the Game on! edition; 1 Feb.

We;ll kick February's postings off with another look the waffle watch.

The NHL resumes its 2010-11 season tonight after the festive All-Star break in Raleigh.

The Bruins are in Carolina, which made it pretty convenient for Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas and Tyler Seguin, not to mention the Boston media down in Raleigh for the event.

Big night for the standings watch:

Florida at Toronto-- Head-to-head between the team the Leafs are hoping to catch and push down in the standings. The Panthers, despite not having a ton of talent, have not laid down and tanked this season. The guys appear to be playing hard for Peter DeBoer, who is on the coaching hot seat. A Florida win gives them an eight-point lead on the Leafs-- huge ground to make up in only 32 games (after tonight). Leafs win pulls them to within four and gets them out of a three-game winless rut.

Ottawa at New Jersey-- This game is a winner for Boston no matter what. Either Ottawa leapfrogs Toronto (assuming the Leafs lose in regulation) or the Devils gain some ground (again assuming the loss). Best case scenario is an OT game where both teams gain a point.

Islanders at Atlanta-- Doesn't look good for the Isles, but stranger things have happened. A win gets them to within four points of Toronto.

St. Louis and Calgary are the closest teams in the West to Toronto- eight points ahead. Wins for both extend that to a five-game lead, making it even more difficult for the Leafs to advance. Edmonton is idle, but even they are just five points away from Toronto.

Here's the re-posted picks one more time:

1st Round
5th overall- Toronto (43 points; 19-25-5)- Completes Phil Kessel trade.
25th overall- Boston (63 points; 28-15-7) (Boston moves to 25th by virtue of third seed- Northeast Division lead with fewest points of division leaders even though technically lower than other teams in standings)

2nd Round
42nd overall- Minnesota (55 points;25-19-5)- Completes Chuck Kobasew trade.
55th overall- Boston

3rd Round
78th overall- Phoenix (59 points; 25-17-9) - Completes Derek Morris trade.
Boston pick traded to Florida; Completes Nathan Horton deal

4th Round
115th overall- Boston

5th Round
145th overall- Boston

6th Round
175th overall- Boston

7th Round
186th overall- Florida (conditional 36 pts; 17-17-2)- Jeff LoVecchio, Jordan Knackstedt to Panthers for Sean Zimmerman, cond. 7th
Boston pick traded to Chicago (Zach Trotman)