you may want to wait a couple or three weeks before becoming alarmed at sst changes. keep in mind that merely a month ago people were talking about a dead gulf year due to below average ssts.. they have completely reversed in that time. i wouldn't consider less than 2C sst anomalies in the east atlantic as a storm count-changing variable anyway.. the extent of 25-27C waters and how quickly temps reach that threshold tends to matter more than whether you have pockets of heat anomalies out there (remember the huge area in 1995 and all the east atlantic early recurvatures). sst anomalies tend to affect your storm count more in the mid-latitudes.. where you get hybrid storms and storms that retain intensity to higher latitudes than otherwise. and off the u.s. east coast sst anomalies have been consistently above average for recent years (though cool pockets are apparent near the canadian maritimes).
the big factors to look for that will dominate storm formation patterns/numbers this season:
1) the multidecadal upswing
2) mjo waves/SOI
3) tropical pacific water profile (neutral.. cool 1/2, warm 3/4)
4) gulf stream/western north atlantic +sst anomalies
5) SAL in mid-late summer

for movement of systems, probably:
1) mean ridge strength, position, wavelength
2) NAO! timing of east coast troughs
3) TUTT intensity into the late summer
4) incidental strength of trade winds
5) east atlantic water profiles (mean strengthening rate, tendency to recurve early)
all of these are in one way or another connected to #1