Any of the following: Evgeny Plushenko, Alexei Yagudin (if he competes), Alexander Abt, Stephane Lambiel, Brian Joubert, Stanick Jeannette, Ilia Klimkin, and probably many more I've forgotten (not to mention dark horses)
Seriously though there are so many medal contenders in Europe at the moment. Lambiel, Joubert, Jeanette, Vlaschenko, Klimkin, Timchenko and Davydov would be my main ones to watch
Well, Plushenko is pretty much a lock for the gold...but other than that...
I would watch Joubert; definitely has the technical potential and the ability to get to the podium (2nd last year). Inconsistent this year on the GP, but still a factor.
Abt has been able to answer in the long program, so I don't think he'll be there (didn't he say last year that he was retiring?)
Dambier had a great showing at Cup of Russia (from what I heard; I couldn't get to the TV in time for that one ;-), but could be a factor
American TV is too nationalistic, so I haven't seen or heard about Lambiel, but from what I've read, he has good spins and has been fairly consistent. He was 5th last year, so watch him closely
My pick (and my favorite all season) for a podium is Kevin van der Perren (Belgium). He was 5th at Skate Canada, 2nd at Lalique, 4th at the GP Final, and very consistent from what I've seen with his triples (especially the triple salchow-triple toe-triple loop, which is excellent). I will be very surprised if he doesn't get on the podium.
Other to watch: Murvanidze (Georgia) always gets in there, Davydov (Belarus) was in the Final Group at Worlds (not all that great this year) and will probably contend.
Those are my picks. If you want a podium guess
1. Plushenko RUS
2. van der Perren BEL
3. Joubert FRA
Sorry--I'm going off of what I'm getting from American TV coverage and the competition results I've seen. Lambiel made quite a move last year, so he could very well be there.
I'm thinking that Plush is not a lock for gold, or even a medal, at this point. I'm also thinking he maybe will skip one competition, either Euro's or Russian nats (probably more likely nationals), to rest the knee a bit and be more prepared for Worlds.
Hmmmm, so then, my 'dream podium'....
1. Joubert
2. Abt
3. Lambiel
I'm sure that will not be reality! But, I'm looking forward to seeing how close that gets!
1. Plushenko
2. van der Perren
3. Joubert
4. Abt
5. Griazev, Klimkin, or Timchenko
6. Lambiel
7. Vlascenko
8. Davydov
9. Dambier
10. Jeannette (can France send 3 to Euros? if not...then) or Ivan the Bulgarian (I am blanking out on his last name)
11. Smalun
12. Wilson
13. Lindemann
14. Chiper
15. Toth
16. Zelenka
17. Tupikov
18. Jonas
19. Turkalov