|
It's that time of year again -- the slow, boring off-season. All of us are chomping at the bit to see the dumbest things to happen in the next NHL season. There are no free agents left of any consequence and trades seem to not be on the horizon, so let's go onward with our predictions thread so we can see how terrible our instincts are at the end of the year. EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Tampa Bay: With Guentzel locked up and Vasilevskiy primed for a rebound year, Tampa tells their naysayers that the decline period is not as inevitable as we think. They still have a drat good core. I believe the top four in the Metro will be extremely close to one another, but Tampa just wins it out. 2. Toronto: This year is something of a last hurrah until Marner is gone (probably). Berube is a different kind of coach and he'll serve them pretty well. It will still be a typical Toronto season of around 100 points and playoffs questionability. 3. Boston: The Bruins improved a little and they just came off a 109-point season. I still feel they are a step behind their Bergeron days, but they'll challenge for the division again. 4. Florida (WC): Florida is still excellent but there will be an element of "hangover" from two straight seasons in the SCF. Reinhart ain't scoring 57 again and Bobrovsky will probably regress. They'll just be very good instead of dominant. 5. Buffalo (WC): It finally happens. Ruff tends to have a good one-year effect on offense-first teams like the Sabres (think Dallas and New Jersey). They'll score their fair share of goals, but the difference is that they seem to have a good starting goaltender and the addition of Byram gives them a very nice top four on D. 6. Ottawa: I really like the Ullmark move. The Sens were hit with injuries and the worst starting goaltender in the league last season. I don't know that they will stay fully healthy. Jake Sanderson will become an elite defenseman this year. 7. Montreal: They are doing a nice job rebuilding. They'll improve again this season and be exciting to watch for the most part, but they still are missing significant pieces beyond their first line. Caufield scores 40 and Slafkovsky arrives as a near point-per-game player. 8. Detroit: The Wings scored a bunch of goals earlier in the season to launchpad an exciting start, but all the metrics said this was a terrible team with an abnormally high shooting percentage. I think that's still more or less what they are. Their roster is a grab bag of question marks beyond maybe six players. Hard to see Yzerman keep his job after this year if they continue to not show much upward mobility. It's been a long rebuild and there has been almost nothing to show for it. METRO 1. NY Rangers: With Carolina losing multiple key players, it's hard to see the Rangers not winning the division again. The entire team from last year remains in tact and they've gotten a deeper taste of what it's going to take to win a Cup. Smith was a nice addition. Lafreniere should elevate to 70+ points. It should also be assumed that Drury will be in a position to get a big fish at the deadline. To me, a year before Igor's extension and with Z/Panarin/Kreider a year older, this is the best chance the Rangers will have to make the SCF and put themselves in a position for a showdown with Stanley. 2. New Jersey: Welcome back to the playoffs, Devils! I don't want to romanticize this next season too much because things can go wrong and Dougie/Jack need to stay healthy. But it's hard to see, looking at the rest of the Metro, how they don't rebound. Markstrom and Allen, even if they are just .900-905 goaltenders combined (average), will represent a significant improvement in net. If Markstrom is somewhere around what he was last year, that is a massive improvement. Nemec and Hughes are a year older and should take the next step. The Devils have some question marks but I expect around 100 points from them. 3. Carolina: The Canes could fall out of the playoffs this year, but their defense (even after losing Pesce) and their coaching style makes them tough to play every night. If they deal with one major injury though, they will probably cede this spot. 4. NY Islanders: The Islanders should have a nice season. The additions of Duclair and a full-time role for guys like Kyle MacLean will give them some speed infusion. Addition by subtraction with guys like Martin and Clutterbuck. Health of the defense corps remains a question. I don't see them quite making it into the playoffs but they will do as they do seemingly every year: barely sneak in or barely miss out. 5. Washington: The Caps made nice moves to improve their depth. Their core guys are still old and declining and/or made of glass, so I don't think they'll be much improved over last year. 6. Pittsburgh: I was wrong about the Pens, I thought they'd be awesome last year after getting Karlsson. But their depth after Crosby and a rapidly-declining Malkin is really terrible up front, and Karlsson predictably regressed but more than I thought he would. I expect Crosby to give another Herculean effort but the Pens are on the inevitable road to rebuild town. 7. Philadelphia: The Flyers are doing a good job on the rebuild. I don't expect Torts will get as much out of the roster as he did last year, but they have some nice young pieces and Michkov out to be fun (unless Torts doesn't grind it out of him). They will give up a lot of goals. They will also not score many. Do the math. 8. Columbus: Probably the biggest laughingstock franchise in the league. They've tried to rebuild 3 or 4 times now? Time to try again from the bottom! WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Nashville: We all thought Nashville was going to rebuild under Trotz, except they decided to go Vegas on the league instead. They added Marchessault, Stamkos, and Skjei to an already pretty solid well-rounded team with an elite goalie locked up. 2. Dallas: Dallas should be great again. Pavelski retired but Stankoven will be a full-time player from the start of the season. Heiskanen will continue to be one of the most underrated players in the league. Their defense corps from top to bottom is really deep. 3. Colorado: I'm putting the Avs here because of their MacKinnon/Makar/Rantanen core, but the depth around them continues to decline and/or get injured every year. There is still a lot to like with the roster and adding Kylington was low-key shrewd. 100 points seems right for them. 4. Winnipeg (WC): The Jets will regress a little. Hellebuyck and a pretty decent group of forwards and defensemen will keep them from too big of a regression. They should be 96-98 point good, not 110-point good. 5. Minnesota: The Wild is a strange beast -- they have great young pieces but they have no identity and are playing the St Louis Blues game. Trapped in being pretty good but not good enough. They should improve this season if their goaltending doesn't implode, which it might 6. Utah: I liked the Marino and Sergachev additions and now with the psychological torment of Arizona behind the team, there's a lot to like around the pieces they have. They're a bit away from competing for a wild card, but I expect them to be respectably okay (mid-high 80's for points). 7. St Louis: The constant injuries and decline of their back end is unsustainable. Their core guys aren't good enough to elevate this team out of the basement, and I expect them to start a major re-tooling from the deadline through the next off-season. 8. Chicago: They'll be a little less dreadful after adding a couple of nice pieces to supplement the Bedards and the Levshunovs. They still aren't going to win much. PACIFIC 1. Edmonton: I feel this is probably their year, through to the end. I predicted them to win a President's Trophy last year, and only didn't because of a miserable start. They likely will this season. 2. Vegas: Their core is made of glass, but every year, despite these injuries, they go out and use LTIR to their advantage and get the biggest fish and maintain position for Cup contention. The same should be true in a weak division, but one of these years, it's going to stop happening, and I will love it. 3. Vancouver: Vancouver reminds me of the 2022-23 Devils. Everything went right for them, all of their core guys had career years, and they took the league by surprise en route to a huge breakout season. But this year, they are almost certainly not going to be as lucky and teams won't be caught off-guard. That being said, this is a division with three really bad teams and a clear degree of separation after the front four. So the Canucks will regress, maybe to a 95 point season, but it's still going to be enough to clear the playoff hurdle in the Pacific. 4. Calgary(WC): I have learned from picking the same teams to make the playoffs in my predictions, so this is one of my surprise teams. I like what Conroy did in the off-season with the Flames, and they suddenly have a nice group of players, a mix of younger and older pieces. Dustin Wolf is taking the reins this year as the starter, and this will hinge on how well he does, but I like him and think he can be around league average. Zary will take a step towards being a very good middle six player. 5. Los Angeles: Their goaltending with a now over-the-hill Kuemper seems very suspect. More playing time for Clarke should be interesting. The Kings started out great last year and I thought they were a sort of juggernaut, but they failed to stay there consistently and get to that next level. I don't see how they will be better than they were last year and injuries will probably bite them at some point. 6. Seattle: They have no star power but they do have pretty good depth. Even though the contracts are absurd, Montour and Stephenson are still solid players. Seattle should rebound just a little bit. 7. Anaheim: They will again be pretty fun to watch with their kids. They still have a big "playing defense" problem and you'd hope, if a fan, that they will start to address the depth more aggressively as they move from rebuilding team to a team on the rise. 8. San Jose: Sit back, relax, watch the kids, maybe win 25 games. Blackwood and Vanecek being their goalies does make me laugh as a Devils fan. Eastern Conference Champion: NY Rangers Western Conference Champion: Edmonton Cup Champion: Edmonton Most Improved Teams: Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Buffalo, Calgary Most Regressed Teams: Los Angeles, Vancouver, St. Louis, Detroit Hart: McDavid Vezina: Vasilevskiy Calder: Stankoven Jack Adams: Cooper Norris: Josi Lady Byng: Kaprizov Jennings: Oettinger Richard: McDavid Breakout Players: Luke Hughes, JJ Moser, Jake Sanderson, Juraj Slafkovsky, Mason MacTavish, Connor Zary, Adam Fantilli, Owen Power, Jack Quinn Ovechkin's Goal Total: 38 McDavid's line: 58-96-154 First Coach Fired: Drew Bannister (St Louis) Biggest Name Traded Mid-Season: Claude Giroux to the Rangers fawning deference fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Aug 11, 2024 |
#
?
Aug 10, 2024 18:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2025 05:43 |
|
|
I predict that we are all going to have a good time. Except for the Sharks and Oilers fans.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2024 14:13
|
|
|
Nybble posted:I predict that we are all going to have a good time. Except for the Sharks and Oilers fans. I predict that Sharks fans will actually have a good time. It won't be a successful time but it will be a good one. Oilers fans on the other hand are going to be back, baby, to being disappointed.
|
|
#
?
Aug 11, 2024 16:52
|
|
|
If the players on the Sabres are working their asses off this offseason and come into training camp prepared (which they did not do last year) and UPL continues to stand on his head and Lindy Ruff is a wizard, the Sabres will break the curse and make the playoffs.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2024 00:14
|
|
|
I may do a larger prediction, but I do predict Matthews will be the only reason I pay any attention to the Leafs before the playoffs. Would be great to see him try for 70 again.
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2024 00:59
|
|
|
I have a feeling the flyers will look like they're making strides and it will be some lovely luck with injuries, or Torts acts like Torts by the end of the season and everything craters. Maybe both?
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2024 01:19
|
|
|
The Islanders will continue to be the NHL equivalent of a 40 degree day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENdnlBdvM-4
|
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2024 02:18
|
|
|
EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Toronto: It's very close but Toronto enters August as my pick as the best roster in the NHL. They got the top end talent at forward and a deep blueline, some question marks around the goaltending. It is fair to ask if either of Stolarz or Woll can be a good playoff goaltender for Toronto but for the purposes of the regular season and with the strength of the rest of the lineup those two should be more than adequate to help the Leafs along to a division title.. especially because the rest of the division I am not as high on. 2. Florida: I have them as a safe playoff team but at the lower end of the cup contenders in the league at this point. There is probably some upside in this roster because their management team does such a good job of identifying depth assets and value contracts. Will still be an incredibly annoying team to play against and their forwards are as good as anyones, I'm just not certain that a blueline which features a whole bunch of reclamation projects after the top 2 guys is up to the challenge in the east. 3. Ottawa: gently caress it, I'm all in. Last year I called Vancouver as my team on the rise / darkhorse cup contender, this year I'm going with Ottawa. The rare instance where swapping out goaltenders can catapult a team to real success. Added a couple good glue forwards in Perron and Amadio to further bolster a really strong forward grouping and the defense while young has alot of upside. I'm also just not that impressed with some of the other potential contenders for a playoff spot in the division. 4. Boston (WC): To be clear Boston is not one of those teams I am not impressed with.. I mean compared to the highs of the franchise in the regular season over the last years this version is probably a pretty decent step back, but this team is still a solid bet for the playoffs and I could actually see them sneaking the division if everything goes right for them. They are very top heavy at forward with alot of dependence on Pastrnak and to a lesser extent Marchand, but I expect that their goaltending will still be excellent and their overall team defense as good as anyone's. 5. Tampa Bay: I guess someone had to be squeezed out when I ranked Ottawa up. I do like alot of what Tampa Bay has going on but I guess the depth at forward and defense is very lacking compared to other contending teams and Vasilevskiy appears to be on the downward slope of his career. 6. Detroit: I'm not entirely impressed with the work that Detroit has done in rebuilding and while I am perfectly ready to believe in Simon Edvinsson and a couple of the other young talents they have on the roster I don't think that these players close the gap which exists between the bottom teams and the playoff field. 7. Buffalo: It could be that I'm not putting enough respect on the likes of Jack Quinn, Owen Power, Bowen Byram and Devon Levi to elevate this roster but I don't see anything close to a playoff team here. The defense seems to be a disaster outside of Rasmus Dahlin and the fowards are not particularly impressive either. Goaltending seems to be looking more legit than it has been in Buffalo for many years now which is a good thing I guess. 8. Montreal: Clearly going to be lottery contention for another season, I agree that they are doing a good job of rebuilding in general but there is still a long way to go. METRO 1. Carolina: I've seen some people picking Carolina to potentially miss the playoffs and I don't really understand why that would be. Recognizing that they lost Skjei and Pesce from their NHL best blueline I still have them as the #1 blueline in the NHL by a mile lol.. The forwards are not particularly skilled throughout all the lines but they forecheck hard and play an excellent 200 foot game. The goaltending will probably be better than it was for Carolina during most of last year. Legit presidents trophy / cup contenders. 2. NY Rangers: I was probably wrong about the Rangers historically, I thought they were a pretty big fraud franchise that relied on shooting luck and goaltending to weasel on by.. and they do definitely rely on the goaltending, but the team has established themselves as being strong in all facets of the game. If there was one area of concern it's that their best forwards are all pretty aging out at the same time and maybe they struggle to keep performing like all stars for much longer. 3. New Jersey: I think the Devils got pretty hosed by their goaltending and bad injury luck last year, this was clearly a strong playoff team in different circumstances. Great top 6 forwards, great depth options at forward, excellent upside on the blueline with some of the most exciting defenseman prospects in the NHL.. and most importantly new goaltending that while not exactly a sure thing at the very least should do better than what they had last year. 4. NY Islanders (WC): Don't have too much to say about these guys, running back basically the same roster that has been pretty good but not great for years now. Best goaltending in the NHL though. blueline is starting to look a bit aged but they can probably beat out the rest of division for the playoff spot. 5. Washington: I do like how Washington pushed all their chips into the middle of the table and made some insane additions during the summer but I don't think it's very likely to work out for them. I'll be cheering for Ovechkin though. 6. Pittsburgh: oldest roster in the league, not a ton of upside.. Crosby and Malkin kind of left to carry the water by themselves at forward. Not seeing playoffs for this team but I understand that the underlying numbers last year were actually pretty good so maybe there's a chance if they can repeat the performance but get better luck. Not saying that there are necessarily oceans between Pittsburgh and the bottom playoff teams in my rankings. 7. Philadelphia: Despite a strong performance over last season I have Philadelphia as being much closer to a top lottery team than a playoff team for the time being. The goaltending seems unproven and/or awful, and there are no real all star caliber players on the roster (although there are a bunch of guys I'd be happy to have on any contending club in their depth positions). Maybe the sort of team Torts can elevate if the goaltending isn't outright bad. 8. Columbus: No hope for this roster. Somehow they are ruining the actually good prospects that they've been awarded over the last 5 years. Needs a complete reset. Eastern Conference General Impressions In general, I see the conference shaking out more or less like this Cup Favorites - Toronto / Carolina Cup Contenders - NY Rangers / New Jersey / Florida Playoff hopefuls - NY Islanders / Ottawa / Boston / Washington / Tampa Bay / Pittsburgh Rebuilding / non-contenders - Detroit / Buffalo / Philadelphia / Montreal / Columbus where I could understand if someone felt that the Rangers should be in the cup favorites category and I can understand some arguments that the Islanders are cup contenders. The rest of the placements I am pretty resolute on. WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Dallas: I was very disappointed with the off-season Dallas had. I thought there was a chance to upgrade the roster to cement the team as true cup favorites but instead they at best went sideways and arguably even downgraded on the blueline to the point where I'm not even sure I have them in the top tier of teams anymore. They should still win the division but what should have been basically a sure thing is now very much up in the air. The hope is that the younger half of the team can continue to flourish and lift this squad to even greater heights than the conference finals. 2. Minnesota: Probably an off the wall pick, but I have always had alot of respect for Minnesota's roster. This team put up 113 points in 2021-22 and 103 in 2022-23, they had a rotten time with injuries last year but I still think this roster is legit as a playoff team and darkhorse cup contender.. lots of things need to go right for them (not least of which is Jared Spurgeon needs to be healthy and pretty good) but this team has the tools to put up big win totals in the regular season. 3. Colorado: Very similar to Florida in that the management team has a history of making excellent depth additions and finding a way to get the most out of their reclamation projects and out-performing my expectations in the regular season. Could very easily end up 1st in the division and will be a cup contender as long as they have those MVP level players on their roster. I'm ranking them down because the goaltending is questionable in my opinion and I do feel like alot of their regular season success comes from running their top talents into the ground and at some point maybe they get burned running their roster like that. 4. Nashville(WC): I think it's not unreasonable to speculate that the Wild could end up competing for the division title but I am not by any means sold on this roster. The blueline outside of Josi and Skjei (who are both getting up there now) is absolute trash and the forward depth aint great either, although I recognize that adding Marchessault and Stamkos will be quite the shot in the arm. They went on quite a run last season to make the playoffs where they played as good as any team in the league, but I don't think that necessarily translates forward to this season. 5. Winnipeg (WC): A pretty well rounded team that is good offensively and defensively with one of the best goaltenders in the league.. really feels like Winnipeg should be a much better team than I'm predicting them to be. Could also see them threatening for the division title if things go their way this season (the central is very deep y'all lol) 6. Utah: I had Utah pegged as an early potential dark-horse pick for a playoff spot in the west, I thought there was a ton of upside to their roster and if some of the other teams ahead of them in the standings took a step back then the path could have opened. I am not thrilled with how the team chose to spend their money but there is still a good core of players here with some intriguing young talents as potential breakout candidates. I have them as significantly more likely to miss the playoffs though as I just think that the 5 teams ahead of them in the division are much better when it comes to the talent available on the rosters. 7. Chicago: They made some big upgrades in the off-season brining in alot of quality players to fill out their roster at all three position groupings. I think that they've actually elevated themselves above the other rebuilding rosters in the league which I'm not sure was the correct call considering that there isn't a whole bunch of near to NHL level talent pushing up through their system right now.. will be interesting to see what direction the organization takes in future off-seasons, but right now I'm fairly confident that at the very least Chicago won't be a free 2 points in the schedule for contending teams like they were last season. 8. St. Louis: Another team I am uncertain about the direction they are taking. They have a couple of elite talents at forward and some decent goaltending but not a whole lot else. They seem to have no chance to actually threaten for a playoff spot but the roster is likely good enough to put them out of the bottom 5 in the league. They need to break it down in the next year. PACIFIC 1. Edmonton: Probably the easiest team to pick to win their division, I don't really see how any other team in the Pacific really compares to what the Oilers can put out there at forward or on defense. They are starting to get squeezed by the cap however and it's not exactly clear to me how this team will improve going forward so this year is probably it. 2. Vancouver: The Canucks are for real despite the occasional attempts of their management team to sabotage their roster. Loved the addition of Jake DeBrusk and I while I'm a little concerned that the blueline is too much focused on big lumbering oafs I think that Rick Tocchet can mold something that works out of it and get this team on another playoff run. 3. Seattle: Honestly it was a coin flip between them and Vegas, I think the teams are actually similar in some ways.. Went with Seattle because of the heralded "new coach bump" and also I hate Vegas. Seattle does have some attractive pieces at forward and defense and alot of depth throughout the roster. Joey Daccord establishing himself as a legit #1 goaltender goes a long way towards getting this team into a playoff spot again in a very weak division. 4. Vegas: While I recognize that Vegas came very close to beating Dallas in round 1 last year and many people had them as a top 5 roster in the league, I personally think that they are due for a big step back in the standings. The depth of talent just isn't there at forward and they are going to struggle to score enough goals to be competitive on a nightly basis. I guess one way to look at this is that this was a team that was surprisingly close to missing the playoffs last season and the roster is now worse than it was for most of last year. Obviously a pretty solid chance I am wrong on this one but dare to dream. 5. Los Angeles: I didn't like the Kings last year and I still pretty much don't like them this year although I think their roster is actually slightly upgraded from the previous version and they should still be hanging around that wildcard spot. 6. Calgary: Of all the teams that are rebuilding the Flames are probably the ones who are doing it the best. Maybe they didn't get absolutely top dollar for all of the pieces they've traded away but I love how they've been able to bring up young talent into their roster and incorporate these players on the fly and the drafting has been absolutely killer for the last two years now. As things stand now they still have some odd fitting pieces that belong on contending rosters so if they move forward with this group I see them in that 35-40 win range instead of in the true basement of the league, but if they move out more pieces it could be that they can compete for a good lottery spot. 7. Anaheim: 8. San Jose: Two really bad teams that are virtually tied for last place in the Pacific division and overall in the league. San Jose probably has a longer path to walk than Anaheim who seems to have more top end prospect talent emerging onto the NHL roster. These two will be neck and neck with Columbus all year for position #32 in the standings. Western Conference General Impressions Same as for the east, I have the west seperated into pretty clear tiers of rosters Cup Favorites - Edmonton / Dallas Cup Contenders - Minnesota / Vancouver / Colorado Playoff hopefuls - Nashville / Winnipeg / Seattle / Vegas / Utah / Los Angeles Rebuilding non-contenders - Calgary / Chicago / St. Louis / Anaheim / San Jose Certainly I am probably alone in ranking Minnesota in the cup contenders bracket and I can see whereas people may feel strongly about Nashville, Winnipeg or Vegas being up in that place instead. Eastern Conference Champion: Toronto Western Conference Champion: Edmonton Cup Champion: Carolina Most Improved Teams: Ottawa, New Jersey, Minnesota Most Regressed Teams: Vegas, Tampa Bay Starsfan fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Aug 12, 2024 |
|
#
?
Aug 12, 2024 08:08
|
|
|
Nobody doing predictions huh
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2024 16:47
|
|
|
It’s a little early with teams still having to make moves, the Leafs have a potentially important roster piece hanging out without a contract who’s requested a trade, the Oilers are over the cap even without the offer sheets today, etc. Also tbh with life stuff going on I no longer pay enough attention to the league as a whole to have a real opinion on more than like 5-6 teams
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2024 17:25
|
|
|
fawning deference posted:Nobody doing predictions huh I thought about it but it's pretty depressing to think about where the Pens are going to finish this year. And also I did want to wait a bit longer to see what other moves are made.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2024 18:45
|
|
|
Starsfan posted:
Carolina coming out of nowhere with a money in the bank game 8
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2024 19:34
|
|
|
Darude - Adam Sandstorm posted:Carolina coming out of nowhere with a money in the bank game 8 lmao I didn't notice that, the ol wires got crossed. I'm leaving it in there to double my chances of predicting the team that comes out of the east.
|
|
#
?
Aug 13, 2024 21:25
|
|
|
I thought about doing predictions but I feel like they are going to just be similar to the standings from last year. Maybe New Jersey improves a bit now that their goaltending isn't dogshit and maybe Vancouver drops a bit after not having a sky-high PDO. But I think everyone else will finish about the same.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2024 02:44
|
|
|
I honestly have no loving idea, especially about the Metro, the one division I should know anything about. Like the Rangers and the Canes are still gonna be good and then... ??? Flyers, Isles, and Jackets I figure are gonna be fighting for the basement. Washington is basically an entirely different team now so who loving knows if any of that is gonna work? Probably not, but maybe? and then we say every year "this is the year the Devils are gonna turn it around" and we know how that goes and the Pens, good god, no thank you.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2024 02:54
|
|
|
fawning deference posted:Nobody doing predictions huh I predict that my teams will be bad.
|
|
#
?
Aug 14, 2024 12:52
|
|
|
Eastern Conference Atlantic 1. Toronto - Still a good roster with plenty of offensive talent, and they at least tried to bolster the defense. They need Woll and Tanev to stay healthy to be competitive, which is a big question mark. 2. Florida - Will probably take a bit of a step back from last year, but still a fundamentally good roster. Lots of offensive talent up front and solid goaltending, though defensive depth is an issue. 3. Boston - A pretty deep roster with some youth, but lacking top-end talent outside of Swayman and Pastrnak. Well coached, though, and the Atlantic has a big divide between the "good" and "bad" teams. 4. Tampa (WC) - Vasilevsky should have a bounce-back season and they still have top-end talent, but depth at both forward and defense is pretty bad. They'll be in a fight to make the playoffs but have a decent chance. 5. Detroit - The Wings have some pieces at both forward and defense, but severely lack depth and don't have a ton of top-end talent. They could potentially make a run at a Wild Card spot, but there are questions up and down the roster. 6. Ottawa - A young and promising roster saddled with the absolute worst coaching hire they could've possibly made. Goaltending should be improved with Ullmark, but I hope he enjoys odd-man rushes because he's going to be seeing a lot of them. 7. Buffalo - They desperately need UPL to be real good because the roster is still pretty trash. No real top-end talent in their forward group and awful defense after Dahlin (and Byram, if he stays healthy). 8. Montreal - A really young roster that lacks depth at all positions. They got some real good pieces developing but they're not ready to compete. Metro 1. Rangers - The most complete team in the Metro, top to bottom. I still have questions about their playoff performance, though. 2. Carolina - Lost some depth in the offseason, but their defense is still good. Forward depth is decent as well. They need Kotchetkov to step up in a big way due to Andersen's health issues. 3. Islanders - An okay roster with what should be good goaltending. There's a big mushy middle in the Metro, and the Islanders will be in a fight for a playoff spot. 4. New Jersey (WC) - Markstrom isn't the most reliable goaltender, but could potentially be a big upgrade in net. They need better luck with injuries than they had last year, especially Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton. They have the depth to start making some noise. 5. Washington - The Capitals spent the offseason re-arranging deck chairs, with moves that range from potentially good (Chychrun, Roy) to completely baffling (PLD). Last year was the first year Lindgren handled anything remotely resembling a starter's workload and wore down tremendously by the end of the year. Will be in the fight but they're not a contender. 6. Pittsburgh- This team is Grumpy Old Man Crosby and a bunch of grinders. They need goaltending to step up in a big way to have any kind of chance, and even then I don't think they're going anywhere. 7. Philadelphia - As always, Torts will get this roster to overperform, ie. they won't end up dead last in the league. They'll be in the playoff picture halfway through the season and then fall way, way out. 8. Columbia - Still a crap roster with no goaltending. Some nice young pieces but still a long, long ways from contending. I'm sure it'll happen some day! Western Conference Central 1. Dallas - An extremely deep and talented roster, forwards moreso than defense. Oettinger needs to remain consistent, but having Casey DeSmith as a backup will help. 2. Colorado - Good forwards, good defense, but not the deepest at either. They made a couple of sneaky good signings (Kylington) and picking up Middlestadt really helps with their forward depth. Goaltending is a big question mark, though. 3. Minnesota - A good team with depth at all skating positions, along with some superstars in the making (Faber, Boldy). Rossi finally being healthy helps a lot. I'm not sold on their goaltending, though, and they need better luck with injuries. 4. Winnipeg (WC) - Good depth at both forwards and defense, and an elite goaltender in Hellebuyck. They need Connor and Scheifele and to remain healthy. 5. Nashville (WC) - I honestly don't know how Nashville's going to perform. They added some offensive talent in the offseason, but also got significantly older. Locking up Saros long term will help a lot. The Pacific is also complete loving trash, meaning both Wild Card slots will likely go to Central division teams. 6. Utah - The Coyotes/Hockey Club have made some big strides over the last year. They've got a good, young core of forwards developing (gently caress you, Jim Benning, you fat sack of poo poo), and added some much needed defensive depth with Marino and Cole. They could be very good, but the Central is going to be the most competitive division by a mile, and I don't know who they leapfrog to get a playoff spot. 7. St. Louis - Still some forward depth, but their defense is old and not particularly good. Also, Binnington is unreliable as a starting goaltender. 8. Chicago - They'll be a bit better, especially if Bedard stays healthy, but their defense is loving trash. Jones, Brodie and Martinez will scare no-one as a top three. Pacific 1. Edmonton - Best top end talent in the Pacific, and they've made a lot of moves to improve their depth this offseason. Losing Broberg and/or Holloway would be pretty bad, though, especially Broberg because their defense still has question marks. Still, they should win the Pacific pretty easily. 2. Vancouver - Vancouver will likely take a step back, but they're still going to be plenty competitive. Vancouver's top end talent isn't as good as Edmonton's, but they have better forward depth. I've got concerns about their bottom three defense, though, and Demko really needs to remain healthy if the Canucks want to make a real run. Still, the Pacific is loving trash and they'll make the playoffs without any real issues. 3. Las Vegas - Vegas has decent talent up and down the roster, but it's pretty old and somewhat injury prone. Adin Hill has played really well for them, but has never handled anything remotely resembling a starter's workload so who knows how he'll play over a full season. They desperately need to remain healthy to have a chance, but again, the Pacific is trash so they have an okay chance. 4. Los Angeles - LA has some decent depth in both their forwards and defense, but no real superstars. Matt Roy signing in Washington is a big loss for their D. Finding a way to get rid of PLD and immediately trading for Tanner Jeannot is completely baffling to me, and I don't think their goaltending is good enough. They'll be competitive enough given how bad the Pacific is, but I don't think they make it. 5. Seattle - Seattle has okay forward depth, bad defensive depth, and no top-end offensive talent. If Beniers can keep developing it will certainly help, but this team isn't competitive. Daccord staying healthy might help, though. 6. Anaheim - The Ducks have some decent young players coming along at forward and defense, as well as a potential goaltender of the future in Dostal. They have a really thin roster, though, and they're not ready to compete. 7. Calgary - The Flames traded all their good players away over the last couple of seasons, and don't have much of anything left. Sharangovich is coming along nicely and Kadri still works his rear end off, but otherwise their roster is awful. They're pretty much praying that Dustin Wolf can come in and become a legit NHL starter right away, because they're hosed otherwise. I could easily see the Flames being bottom three in the league. 8. San Jose - San Jose is going to be bad and everyone knows it. Eastern Conference Champion: NY Rangers Western Conference Champion: Dallas Cup Champion: Dallas Most Improved Teams: New Jersey, Utah Most Regressed Teams: Los Angeles, Calgary
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2024 00:32
|
|
|
grack posted:5. Nashville (WC) - I honestly don't know how Nashville's going to perform. They added some offensive talent in the offseason, but also got significantly older. Locking up Saros long term will help a lot. The Pacific is also complete loving trash, meaning both Wild Card slots will likely go to Central division teams. Nashville feels like the biggest question mark in the league. They played well last season, but I am not sure if counting on Forsberg, Marchessault, Stamkos, O'Reilly, and Nyquist, to replicate their success will actually work (all are 30+). Josi is also entering his age-34 season, but I feel like he's the type to age gracefully. Like, they have an aging group of players, all of whom have had recent success, so it should work. But injuries and regression may play a role.
|
|
#
?
Aug 20, 2024 21:44
|
|
|
Ducks: Bad Gulls: Not Bad? I got nothin'
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2024 09:32
|
|
|
My biggest prediction is that I don't think Vancouver is for real. With Demko a huge question mark, I also just don't know if their team is well-build enough. Instead of the 109 points they got last season, feels like they may be closer to 90 points. I also think that Metro division is looking grim. I think we are only seeing the Rangers, Carolina, and New Jersey, make the playoffs. Maybe Washington can sneak in there. I'd be very surprised if any of Pittsburgh/Philly/Columbus challenge for a spot.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2024 17:08
|
|
|
Twin Cinema posted:My biggest prediction is that I don't think Vancouver is for real. With Demko a huge question mark, I also just don't know if their team is well-build enough. Instead of the 109 points they got last season, feels like they may be closer to 90 points. On the other hand I'm super burned out by this team being poo poo and would really like this not to be the case, so no.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2024 18:09
|
|
|
ThinkTank posted:On the other hand I'm super burned out by this team being poo poo and would really like this not to be the case, so no. I am pro-Canucks and take no pleasure in reporting this.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2024 19:14
|
|
|
Twin Cinema posted:I am pro-Canucks and take no pleasure in reporting this. Yeah, well, the Canucks are one injury away from exclusively playing EBUGs all season. That means they'll probably beat the Leafs but that's only two games.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2024 19:33
|
|
|
I might do the other divisions, but I’d probably just be guessing (more so) so might just stick to teams I’ve watched more than a couple of times last year. Pacific: 1: Oilers - I was considering doing an edgy pick suggesting they finish 4th or something, and I would worry if they could even tread .500 if they have some bad injury luck - obviously McDavid and Drai, but even a Bouchard injury would be really challenging to deal with - would force a 34yo Ekholm to play 25 minutes a night, which if that broke him could result in a complete mess on defence. Obviously every team is going to suffer losing all star guys, but nobody is more top heavy than the oilers. 2: Golden Knights - ofcourse if Edmonton have little to no injury problems they could have clinched the division by the trade deadline.. I don’t have much to say here, Vegas might only be good, but good might be enough for 2nd in the pacific. 3: Canucks - I’m quite worried about how confidence/momentum based the Canucks are, they rode a wave pretty much all season, shooting percentage, career years up and down the lineup. But I worry about their ability to get things back on track if things don’t go well; be it goaltending, any kind of slow start from Petey or even the slightest injury to Hughes, or the meh power play continues.The difference between the Canucks with Hughes on the ice vs off must be in the top 5 for the league. Lastly the fragile nature of the Canucks is only matched by the fan base who may or may not treat a 0-3 start with a zen like mindset (maybe I should include this pessimism in that fragile fan nature..) 4:Seattle - their deals they made in the off season were poor, but they were poor when looking at the team in 2-3 years, they probably get a little short term gain before those contracts become anchors. 5:LA - it wouldn’t shock me if the difference between 2nd and 5th in the division is only a handful of points. That said mushy middle seems to describe LA well. Perhaps I’m being too low on LA here, but at best I see them a wildcard that likely gets to play Edmonton, which hasn’t gone well the last three times now.. 6:Sharks - I actually think the sharks would be a really fun hockey manager team to play, thinking about reinstalling EHM and building the team up. Two teenage top 6 centres, potential star goalie and I assume a bunch of extra draft picks. Obviously not going anywhere this year, but one of the few pacific teams that look they could top out at something other than playoff bubble teams. 7: Flames - Have they got anyone left to sell? They don’t seem to be outright tanking, but I assume that’s just a PR / selling tickets thing. 8: Ducks - one of the reasons I think that Edmonton will be fine if they have any injuries, Vancouver will be fine if they have no goalie is the pacific basement is bad. Unlike the sharks I don’t really see the bright future here, having players like Zegras seemingly going down the good instead of the great path.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2024 23:37
|
|
|
I am surprised you don't see a bright future for the Ducks. Zegras is not living up the EA Sports Cover hype, but Carlsson still projects as an elite number 1. From what I have read, he projects higher than Will Smith currently does. They also just drafted Sennecke, who has a lot of potential. McTavish may not become a star, but I think he'll still be a great guy who can slot in the top-6. Then they have some good defenders in Mintyukov, Solberg, and Zellweger. Also, they traded for Cutter Gauthier, who projects to be a good player. Now, I doubt all these players actually pan out, just because that's the nature of prospects, but they have a really strong foundation. I think a lot of this rests on whether Carlsson can actually hit his ceiling. As of now, there's no worry it won't happen. As a team, they will still probably suck this season.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2024 15:39
|
|
|
MacTavish kicks rear end. Probably doesn't top out at more than 60-65 points but he's gonna be a very good two way center.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2024 17:08
|
|
|
MERMIS is going to score 100 goals. you heard it here first.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2024 18:15
|
|
|
fawning deference posted:MacTavish kicks rear end. Probably doesn't top out at more than 60-65 points but he's gonna be a very good two way center. Zegras is looking like a much better two way guy than McTavish imo. He may not have Mason's big body but his awareness and effort level is so much higher. I don't have access to fancy stats, but zegras was at -1 for the season, which is more than can be said for most of his teammates. Mason was -23, and had a high sh% of 14.6. Zegras shot 8.2%, uncharacteristically low after his last two seasons at 12+. Mason also plays fewer minutes on average. The thing McTavish does better, best on the team actually, is faceoffs. He has the only positive fow% on the team. But he can do that as a wing so who cares. I'd honestly like to see him on Carlsson's wing. He could just as well provide what Killorn is providing now.
|
|
#
?
Sep 12, 2024 02:03
|
|
|
Did I do one of these? I didn't do one of these, OK here go. EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Toronto: I don't know, I think it will be pretty close at the top but it feels like they're a motivated group this year and Berube will have them going early. 2. Boston: Assuming Swayman gets signed relatively soon, they should be really good again. That series he played against Florida is like the best series by a losing goalie I've seen since Fuhr with St. Louis in the 90s. 3. Florida: Probably a step back but they've got that Tampa vibe now where they'll turn it up when they need to. 4. Tampa Bay (WC): I think the top 4 are pretty close here. Guentzel is an upgrade over Stammer at this point. 5. Ottawa (WC): They've underplayed their metrics for so many goddamn years, I feel like it turns around this year with Ullmark 6. Detroit: They were worse than their record last year but the roster looks better this year, but probably not enough better? 7. Buffalo: I like this group! And bringing Lindy back is cool, I wouldn't be surprised if they made it, it's a probably a crapshoot between them and the two teams I ranked above. 8. Montreal: Building something but still quite bad, possibly worst in conference bad. METRO 1. NY Rangers: They've got to be the favorite to come out of the East. Feels like this is probably their year. 2. New Jersey: Markstrom/Allen is pretty underwhelming, but it's better than the trash fire they had between the pipes last year. A healthy Dougie/Jack should get them in somewhat comfortably I think. 3. Carolina: A bigger step back than Florida, but this division sucks and they're still quite capable of challenging for first if the Rangers have some key injuries or something. 4. NY Islanders: Perfectly capable of making the playoffs. I like the Duclair move. Would certainly not be surprised to see them in that 7th or 8th spot again. 5. Washington: Like Detroit, some interesting moves but they played over their head significantly last year. 6. Pittsburgh: If they couldn't get in the past couple of years with a healthy core I don't see how this group gets in. 7. Philadelphia: They should be proper bad this year and adding big time at the draft. 8. Columbus: Their system isn't as strong as you would like for a team that figures to be this bad, but a year of tanking will be good for them. WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Dallas: Probably the best team on paper after the Rangers (am I giving away my SCF prediction?). 2. Colorado: I feel like they could pull another run out of their rear end, but the window isn't going to last forever. 3. Winnipeg : Just a good veteran team with a lot of guys still in the tail end of their prime. 4. Nashville (WC): Bizarre roster, but strangely good and Brunette seems like the real deal. 5. Minnesota (WC): I feel like their young guys will take the next step and there's enough here to get in. 6. Utah: Totally forgot they added Marino/Sergachev. Their weird rear end draft picks in the Coyote era might come back to haunt them but they're getting there. 7. St Louis: Just real bad vibes. 8. Chicago: Still the worst team in the league after SJ. Bedard looks great but not Crosby/McDavid great I think? PACIFIC 1. Edmonton: I think this division sucks and I don't want to pick anyone to finish first. I'd like to say they'll be looking to the playoffs too much and drop a bit after that heartbreaker last year, but given that they were on track to miss the playoffs until that miracle second half, that seems less likely. 2. Vancouver: I want to pick them to miss with that bizarre Demko situation, but they still look pretty good. 3. Vegas: By default 4. Los Angeles: It feels like they've horribly mismanaged their assets but they could very easily over-perform my prediction here if Clarke and Byfield pop off. 5. Seattle: Certainly capable of making a run, kind of Islanders west without the intangibles. 6. Anaheim: I loved how they looked early season until they utterly imploded. Kind of here by default as well over Calgary/SJ but they have more upside. 7. Calgary: Seem to be finally settling into a real rebuild. Perhaps the Wolf can push them to 5th or 6th? 8. San Jose: The tank continues. Eastern Conference Champion: NY Rangers Western Conference Champion: Dallas Cup Champion: NY Rangers Most Improved Teams: New Jersey, Minnesota, Ottawa Most Regressed Teams: Detroit, Washington, Calgary Hart: McDavid Vezina: Oettinger Calder: Stankoven Jack Adams: DeBoer Norris: Fox Lady Byng: Elias Pettersson Jennings: Oettinger Richard: Draisaitl Breakout Players: Byfield, Vilardi, Slavkovsky, McTavish, L.Carlsson, Hutson, Edvinsson, Fantilli, Rossi, Perfetti Ovechkin's Goal Total: 28 McDavid's line: 39-92-131 First Coach Fired: Lalonde (Detroit) Biggest Name Traded Mid-Season: Uhhhh Taylor Hall to somewhere e: gently caress is Travis Green really coaching Ottawa? T-Bone fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Sep 26, 2024 |
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2024 06:35
|
|
|
Because I don't want to write about ALL the teams (I have no idea what I think about Minnesota), I have chosen to write about a few who I think will be better or worse than the consesus. Toronto Technically, the Leafs won their division during that weird "All Canadian" division year. But their last true division win in 99-00. I think this season is as good as any. They are not a perfect team. On paper, Florida is still the best team in the division, but that doesn't always mean the season will shake out as we expect. I can see Florida going back to 90-100 points. Tampa and Boston have a lot of questions, too. And then there's the mix of Detroit, Buffalo, and Ottawa, which I think can go either way for each team (for the record, I like Ottawa being the team to emerge, but I would have said the same thing last preseason, and we all know what happened after that). New Jersey Last season was a trainwreck, thanks in large part to absolute dog poo poo goaltending. Luckily, their young core is still as strong as any in the league. Adding Markstrom is a real question mark, because he's in his age-35 year, and it's hard to predict how he will actually perform. If they can get average goaltending from him, I think this team can be at the top of the league. Vancouver I already discussed this above, but without Demko, this team feels more like a 90-point WC team. They still have enough great pieces to be in the playoffs, but they are only a season removed from everyone leaving this team for dead.
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2024 16:05
|
|
|
EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Toronto: A good team cursed by misfortune rather than any particular flaws. I'm not sold on really any of their offseason moves (or lack thereof) but I still think the talent and depth is enough to push them over the top this year. They make the finals handily. 2. Boston: I refuse to write off Boston until such a time they prove they are no longer a strong playoff contender. 3. Florida: An early cup hangover feels inevitable but they'll turn it on in the second half. 4. Tampa (WC): I feel like the loss of Stamkos can't be overstated in terms of morale and locker room cohesion. Not everyone gets to be Vegas and act completely heartless all the time. Even with the addition of Guentzel I feel this is the beginning of the end. 5. Detroit: still not very good or bad at anything. I have never been sold on Lucas Raymond but you can't argue with his contract. 6. Buffalo: Still not there but maybe the team most likely to ride an unexpected good vibes surge to the playoffs this year. 7. Ottawa: I feel like good things just aren't allowed to happen to them. 8. Montréal: We're all gonna get real sick real fast of every single clip of Lane Hutson doing anything at all being shoved down our throats. METRO 1. NY Rangers: I agree with the consensus. The Rangers are probably the best team in what I expect will be the weakest division this year. 2. Carolina: The other okayish team but something just feels off about their construction. I can see them face planting hard. 3. New Jersey: Like all upstart teams they're likely not as good as their breakout year or as bad as their reality check year. 4. Washington (WC2): They did a lot, none of it all that sensible. It's another year of dragging old man Ovi to the finish line. 5. Pittsburgh: Another year older and deeper in the morass. Crosby keeps evading father time but their long term bets on their other aging stars are starting to look real bad. 6. NY Islanders: The NY Islanders were a pleasure to have in class this year. 7. Philadelphia: Can anyone explain to me why a team built around a stable of young, highly skilled European prospects brought in Torts as a coach? 8. Columbus: This is gonna be such a strange season for them. The on ice stuff doesn't really matter and while I'm sure they'll rally around the Gaudreau family they weren't good enough with Johnny Hockey. I'm not sure what they are without him. WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Colorado: Mackinnon looked outright pissed about how the team has fared post cup. He's one of those guys who can turn a team's fortunes single handedly and I think he does it on route to his second cup this year. 2. Dallas: An impeccably constructed team that somehow has a bunch of NHL ready young stars eager to step into the lineup. I just don't see any flaws beyond "can Oettinger face McDavid without barfing in terror this year?" 3. Minnesota: A team ready to take a nice step forward in my eyes. I doubt they advance far in the playoffs but I feel like they've built a non-Wild hockey team for the first time in their history. 4. Winnipeg (WC): Sure. 5. Nashville (WC2): I tend to believe that making a bunch of splashy moves in one summer does more harm than good to a team's chemistry. 6. Utah: Young and will improve in time. I'm not sure the fans will exactly embrace this team in SLC though. Still feels like a really weird fit. 7. St Louis: The NY Islanders were a pleasure to have in class this year. 8. Chicago: I don't know why they didn't name Bedard captain (or wait another season) given they'll live and die by him. They tried to course correct from giving too many rookies too much responsibility and I think it made them worse. PACIFIC 1. Edmonton: As loathsome as it feels, they really should win the West pretty easily this year. Anything less would be a huge underachievement. 2. Vancouver: I'll be moderately optimistic for once and say that while they're not likely to have everything break their way again, they're a solidly constructed team. They'll get bounced by Edmonton again most likely though. 3. Vegas: I think it was a bit underreported how much injuries and burnout affected Vegas last year. They'll be back because they always are. 4. Los Angeles: Will be in it until the very end but fall just short in the wild card race. They'll be an example used when the inevitable wildcard play in game is added in 2026. 5. Seattle: Having assumed the mantra of the league's new 2000s Minnesota Wild they have another completely uninteresting season. 6. Calgary: They got their arena, they can phone it in now. They'll sell hard at the deadline. 7. Anaheim: Probably gonna be fun to watch? 8. San Jose: I'll give Mike Grier credit for being able to maximize the return on the spare parts of his roster, but I feel like he's making the same mistake lots of rebuilding teams do in immediately handing the keys to the offence to a bunch of teenagers and hoping for the best. Eastern Conference Champion: Toronto Western Conference Champion: Colorado Cup Champion: Colorado Most Improved Teams: Minnesota, New Jersey Most Regressed Teams: Calgary, NY Islanders Hart: McDavid Vezina: Shesterkin Calder: Hutson Jack Adams: Hynes Norris: Makar Lady Byng: Pettersson? Idk Jennings: Hellebyuck Richard: Pastrnak Breakout Players: Stankoven, Hutson, McTavish Ovechkin's Goal Total: 29 McDavid's line: 32-80-112 First Coach Fired: Rob Brind'Amour Biggest Name Traded Mid-Season: Rasmus Andersson
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2024 16:58
|
|
|
I have come to grace this thread with the worst predictions once again, as is tradition. EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Florida 2. Boston 3. Toronto 4. Tampa Bay(WC) 5. Detroit 6. Ottawa 7. Montreal 8. Buffalo METRO 1. NYR 2. NJ 3. Carolina 4. NYI (WC) 5. Washington 6. Pittsburgh 7. Philadelphia 8. Columbus WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Dallas 2. Colorado 3. Nashville 4. Minnesota (WC) 5. Utah 6. Winnipeg 7. St.Louis 8. Chicago PACIFIC 1. Edmonton 2. Vegas 3. Anaheim 4. LA (WC) 5. Vancouver 6. Seattle 7. SJ 8. Calgary Eastern Conference Champion: Boston Western Conference Champion: Dallas Cup Champion: Boston First Coach Fired: Torts Biggest Name Traded Mid-Season: Kadri
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2024 21:37
|
|
|
EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Florida 2. Boston 3. Toronto 4. Tampa Bay 5. Buffalo 6. Detroit 7. Ottawa 8. Montreal METRO 1. New York Rangers 2. New Jersey 3. Carolina 4. Philadelphia 5. Pittsburgh 6. New York Islanders 7. Washington 8. Columbus WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Dallas 2. Colorado 3. Nashville 4. Winnipeg 5. Utah 6. Minnesota 7. St. Louis 8. Chicago PACIFIC 1. Vancouver 2. Edmonton 3. Vegas 4. Los Angeles 5. Seattle 6. Calgary 7. Anaheim 8. San Jose Eastern Conference Champion: New York Rangers Western Conference Champion: Dallas Stars Cup Champion: New York Rangers Most Improved Teams: New Jersey Most Regressed Teams: Winnipeg Hart: McDavid Vezina: Shesterkin Calder: Celebrini Jack Adams: Laviolette Norris: Bouchard Lady Byng: Point Jennings: Swayman Richard: Matthews Ovechkin's Goal Total: 38 McDavid's line: 44-94-138 First Coach Fired: Derek Lalonde (and Gallant will be replacement) Biggest Name Traded Mid-Season: Mitch Marner in some crazy deal
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2024 03:06
|
|
|
EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Florida 2. Boston 3. Toronto 4. Tampa Bay 5. Detroit 6. Buffalo 7. Ottawa 8. Montreal METRO 1. New York Rangers 2. Carolina 3. New Jersey 4. New York Islanders 5. Washington 6. Pittsburgh 7. Philadelphia 8. Columbus WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Dallas 2. Colorado 3. Winnipeg 4. Nashville 5. Utah 6. Minnesota 7. St. Louis 8. Chicago PACIFIC 1. Edmonton 2. Vegas 3. Vancouver 4. Los Angeles 5. Seattle 6. Calgary 7. Anaheim 8. San Jose Eastern Conference Champion: New York Rangers Western Conference Champion: Edmonton Oilers Cup Champion: New York Rangers Most Improved Teams: New Jersey Most Regressed Teams: Philadelphia Hart: McDavid Vezina: Sorokin Calder: Celebrini Jack Adams: Paul Maurice Norris: Cale Makar Lady Byng: Point Jennings: Swayman Richard: Matthews Ovechkin's Goal Total: 32 McDavid's line: 46-92-138 First Coach Fired: Luke Richardson Biggest Name Traded Mid-Season: Travis Konecny Nothing too exciting with my predictions tbh. I just don't see a lot of change happening in the standings.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2024 03:25
|
|
|
EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1.Toronto 2. Florida 3. Boston 4. Tampa Bay 5. Ottawa 6. Buffalo 7. Detroit 8. Montreal METRO 1. New York Rangers 2. Carolina 3. New Jersey 4. Pittsburgh 5. Islanders 6. Washington 7. Philadelphia 8. Columbus WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL 1. Dallas 2. Colorado 3. Nashville 4. Utah 5. Winnipeg 6. Minnesota 7. Chicago 8. St. Louis PACIFIC 1. Edmonton 2. Vancouver 3. Vegas 4. Los Angeles 5. Seattle 6. Calgary 7. Anaheim 8. San Jose Eastern Conference Champion: Tampa Bay Western Conference Champion: Edmonton Oilers Cup Champion: Oilers, Baby Most Improved Teams: New Jersey Most Regressed Teams: Winnipeg (though they still make the playoffs) Hart: McDavid Vezina: Markstrom Calder: Hutson Jack Adams: Kris Knoblauch Norris: Bouchard Lady Byng: Point Jennings: Shesterkin Richard: Matthews Ovechkin's Goal Total: 21 McDavid's line: 54-95-149 First Coach Fired: Lalonde Biggest Name Traded Mid-Season: Kadri
|
|
#
?
Oct 4, 2024 17:00
|
|
|
The Leafs are on the precipice of the longest goalscoring streak in league history and they're gonna mess it up with 2 or 3 games to go
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2024 05:57
|
|
|
VOTE1 posted:I might do the other divisions, but I’d probably just be guessing (more so) so might just stick to teams I’ve watched more than a couple of times last year. Why not, ATLANTIC 1. Florida 2. Boston 3. Toronto 4. Tampa 5. Buffalo 6. Ottawa 7. Detroit 8. Montreal METRO 1. Rangers 2. New Jersey 3. Carolina 4. Islanders 5. Philadelphia 6. Pittsburgh 7. Washington 8. Columbus CENTRAL 1. Dallas 2. Colorado 3. Winnipeg 4. Nashville 5. Utah (making playoffs) 6. Minnesota 7. St. Louis 8. Chicago
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2024 11:58
|
|
|
EASTERN CONFERENCE ATLANTIC 1. Florida - I think the division’s still theirs to lose, I don’t see any major departures and I believe less and less in a Cup hangover. Like most I think the top of this group is pretty even. 2. Toronto - I don’t think I’m as high on this group as others, there’s a lot of potential variance/risk in this roster between player age, injury, and relying on young LWs to take a step to make the roster feel complete. I also think there’ll be an adjustment period with Berube after many long years of a very different style under Keefe. But the top end of the group is still good, Woll has won me over, and they still topped 100 points with the worst goaltending in the league for half the season last year. 3. Boston - I gotta say, I didn’t like the Bs moves in the offseason. Lindholm ain’t ever living up to that deal, I don’t know that they needed what Zadorov brings to the table, and I think they lost quality forward depth. They still have their horses and their structure though so I think they’ll be close to the top of the group regardless. 4. Ottawa (WC) - Probably a bad pick because I do think their forward corps is overrated and they’re relying on an uneven D group. But I believe in Ullmark, they’re out from DJ Smith’s reign of terror, and I think they have a ceiling that other teams in the division don’t have even if they don’t reach it. 5. Tampa Bay - Would be safe to have them one spot above, but they’re increasingly reliant on two guys over 30 to do everything for them and Vasi is showing cracks. They can probably keep it going a little longer and I’m jumping the gun but their trajectory is clear imo. 6. Detroit - Miracle run team last year, made some incredibly bizarre moves and won’t repeat their almost success. 7. Buffalo - wtf is even going on here 8. Montreal - Even before the Laine injury the question I had with this team is “how do they not give up 300 goals?” I think they’ll be a lot more fun, I’m high on Slaf, and they could easily hop up a spot or two because I think the bottom of this group is pretty flat, but I don’t see a team that’s taking the next step this year. METRO 1. NYR 2. New Jersey Not much to say for the top two, they’ve both got deep groups. NJ relying on Markstrom is a little suspect but if he collapses I’m betting it’ll be in the playoffs. 3. Carolina- This group is just not as inspiring as it used to be, they’re gonna do their thing and be boringly good but the ceiling feels lower than it has in a while. 4. NYI (WC) - Hate to say it, but despite Lou’s chronic mismanagement I just can’t see another team grabbing the last spot from them. 5. Pittsburgh - I don’t think they’re better than last year and they didn’t have it then. 6. Washington 7. Philadelphia 8. Columbus WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTRAL I have no opinion on the central division, the top teams are obviously Colorado and Dallas again which is boring. PACIFIC 1. Edmonton 2. Vegas I think the top two here is pretty clear, can’t wait to see how Vegas cheats the cap yet again. 3. Vancouver - They went from a not legit team to legit very fast, I don’t think they’re a top team and there’s goaltending questions but they have the benefit of a weak division to hopefully work past that. 4. LA - Byfield looks like he might be ready to take off. Doughty getting knocked out hurts a lot, and this team shot themselves in the foot with trades, I think they could miss after a few years of sneaking in. 5. Seattle - Need goaltending to win games, hard to count them in until they figure that out. 6. Anaheim 7. Calgary 8. SJ
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2024 03:08
|
|
|
https://x.com/EASPORTSNHL/status/1843698039220748770/photo/2
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2024 20:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2025 05:43 |
|
|
I really hope it had McDavid winning the Conn Smythe again
|
|
#
?
Oct 8, 2024 20:27
|
|