I'm just happy to have a goaltender who may or may not be good, instead of three who quite obviously aren't.
- BINGO!

What a concept

I agree. I take Florida over Buffalo. Buffalo more in the Detroit/Ottawa range. Better, but not by a lot
- hawk35

You’ve obviously don’t know the huge weaknesses for Buffalo that prevented them from excelling, that being secondary scoring and Defense. At least on paper they obviously addressed those issues (though a true 2C would be nice if Mittlestat doesn’t improve).....Sooo to say Buffalo is now still in the same boat as Detroit or the Sens, who haven’t really addressed their deficiencies... is laughable

You’ve obviously don’t know the huge weaknesses for Buffalo that prevented them from excelling, that being secondary scoring and Defense. At least on paper they obviously addressed those issues (though a true 2C would be nice if Mittlestat doesn’t improve).....Sooo to say Buffalo is now still in the same boat as Detroit or the Sens, who haven’t really addressed their deficiencies... is laughable
- nikel

I mean, they're a little better now, probably.

Fox is going to win the Calder, Hart and Norris probably
- mdw7413

Homer!

I like the order of your picks overall, and I believe like every year there's gonna be some surprises no one sees coming. With that in mind, here's how I think it will happen this season:

Atlantic Division:
1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
3. Florida Panthers
4. Boston Bruins*
5. Montreal Canadiens*
6. Buffalo Sabres
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Detroit Red Wings

Tampa and Toronto will battle for the division until the last two games of the season, with Tampa losing out based on the results of the season series. Florida finally gets some credit around the league after some breakout years from the Finnish/Russian cohort (Barkov, Bobrovski, Dadonov, Malgin, etc.) and a full season of Bjugstad being healthy. Montreal gets the final wildcard after the Metro division tanks and most teams in it have poor records against all other divisions and some teams in it who dominate in their own backyard.

Montreal plays the winner of the Metro in the playoffs and Toronto continues its 2000-2004 Ottawa Senators levels of futility by losing to Boston in the playoffs for the fourth time in six years. Buffalo improves a lot but falls out of the race in March. Ottawa surprises by not finishing last in the league, but actually wins the draft lottery after going neck and neck with CLB and DET for the cellar all year after a strong start.

Metropolitan Division:
1. Washington Capitals
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Carolina Hurricanes
5. New Jersey Devils
6. New York Islanders
7. New York Rangers
8. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus tanks the year and will be chasing the Sens and Detroit for last in the league. New Jersey improves a lot but still not enough to get by the other teams in their division who they post very bad records against. Rangers continue to show limited progress but the aging of the King finally catches up to them and their goaltending depth is exposed. Carolina misses the playoffs by a point after one of the most exciting wildcard chases ever. Philadelphia finally has a coming out party for its defense, which ends up being one of the strongest in the league behind record offense from Ghostespierre and Provorov comes into his own. Most lopsided division outcomes are seen here.


Central Division:
1. Colorado Avalanche
2. Winnipeg Jets
3. Nashville Predators
4. Dallas Stars*
5. St. Louis Blues
6. Chicago Blackhawks
7. Minnesota Wild

Colorado explodes after extending Rantanen on a max deal in late October. Mackinnon is in the Art Ross race all season and their improved depth and defense are on display for the league to see. Winnipeg continues to regress marginally but still posts a 100+ point season. Dallas' retooling pays fruit, and STL is unable to keep pace after Binninghton experiences a sophomore slump and goes batpoop crazy on his teammates, blaming them all for his failures and the locker room collapses and a sell off occurs at the deadline. Chicago also goes full fire sale and tries to offload Toews to a playoff team for the assets needed to engage in a full rebuild. Minnesota performs as expected in the toughest division in hockey.

Pacific Division:
1. San Jose Sharks
2. Calgary Flames
3. Vegas Golden Knights
4. Vancouver Canucks*
5. Edmonton Oilers
6. Arizona Coyotes
7. Anaheim Ducks
8. LA Kings

Erik Karlsson explodes and has a typical EK65 season similar to what he did in his prime Sens years. He and Burns both post 75+ points and SJ has the #1 PP in the league all season. Calgary continues to perform well and Milan Lucic actually makes a valuable contribution to the team with a 20+ goal season. Him and Matthew Tkachuk tear the league apart with their obnoxiousness on Monahan's wing and CGY leads the league in terms of number of opposing players suspended while playing them. Vegas takes a step back after having to trade away a lot of depth for cap compliance, but continues to be competitive. Vancouver gets the final wild card spot after Nikolay Goldobin and Jake Virtanen have explosive offensive seasons to provide more scoring depth behind an improved season from Elias Pettersson. EDM continues to struggle from lack of offensive depth and goaltending woes, Arizona can't take a step forward and Anaheim and LA remain tire fires vying for dead last with Ottawa and Detroit.

Gonna be a fun season!

I can’t see the Leafs missing it. I know the defense is suspect to some, but the have a solid goalie and a deep offense. If they miss it, that means you have the Devils getting in over them. That’s like really bold.

I’d flip flop the Leafs and Panthers, but I still have Florida getting in. Honestly, I think I’d go Tampa, Toronto, Boston, Florida.

I’d probably also switch Carolina and Philly as of now, but if Hart busts out, you might be right. I hope you’re right.
- Hesh_

Its impossible to say where teams will place because every team has so many variables. For the Leafs it is:

-How does the new D hold up
-When does Marner sign
-Does Nylander bounce back
-Do Marner, Johnsson and Kapanen build on last year
- How does the Leafs bottom 6 hold up
-How do the Leafs fare if Andersen misses a long stretch due to injury. Hutchinson i dont think can handle it and as good as neuvirth is, he cant stay healthy to save his life.

Flyers have similar variables

How does Hayes perform
Will Hart, Konecny, lindblom NoPa build on last season
Does Niskanen and Braun stabilize the D
Do we lose 10 games straight again
Do we use 8 goalies again

From flyers stand point you can only go up on those last two parts right?

Anything can happen. Look at Isles last season

Good call on Islanders. they will have the biggest regression. Look at that team. It's bad. They overachieved so badly last year.

To the guy with the essay a couple of posts above: Bjugstad was traded last year.

Metropolitan Division:
1. Washington Capitals
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Carolina Hurricanes
5. New Jersey Devils
6. New York Islanders
7. New York Rangers
8. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus tanks the year and will be chasing the Sens and Detroit for last in the league. New Jersey improves a lot but still not enough to get by the other teams in their division who they post very bad records against. Rangers continue to show limited progress but the aging of the King finally catches up to them and their goaltending depth is exposed. Carolina misses the playoffs by a point after one of the most exciting wildcard chases ever. Philadelphia finally has a coming out party for its defense, which ends up being one of the strongest in the league behind record offense from Ghostespierre and Provorov comes into his own. Most lopsided division outcomes are seen here.

Gonna be a fun season!

- ahjnkn

I am not disagreeing with everything you've said, by any means. But, I think many teams would love to have the goaltending depth the Rangers have. The biggest issue is not Lundqvist's age or ability, it's his contract and history. If he weren't an easy choice to have his jersey raised to the rafters, they would have the young guys playing more often and begin the next chapter in full. But, that is another year + away from happening.
I will say that I believe the division will be close because I expect Pitt, NYI, CBJ and to a lesser extent WASH to drop off and allow somewhat of a changing of the guard in the Metro. If a whole bunch of things go right for the Rangers, they could squeak into that 3rd spot. Fingers crossed, 'cause that's what it will take!!

I mean, they're a little better now, probably.
- BINGO!

Yeah, there’s been a lot of changes, that’s why I prefaced it with, on paper, their secondary scoring should greatly improve...we won’t know the chemistry side of that equation until they get some ice time together.

But considering they have a very formidable top line, what should be a much improved 2nd line, and a greatly improved D corps, which will take some of the heavy lift off Risto and perhaps improve his D zone play...this all combines to form a team that SHOULD be nowhere near the likes of Detroit or Ottawa. That was my point, we shall see if it materializes.

Homer!

- Crushers68

Well I could have said the Rangers win the division.

Seriously though the Metro is so hard to predict, some older teams maybe on their way down, and a bunch of teams starting to make their way back.

I think the Caps make the playoffs and the BJ's don't. Other than that its all up in the air

Trevor clearly you can't be serious putting Chicago in 7th place ?
Let's break things down

Nashville , Winnipeg are not even remotely the same team they where last year.

Colorado has some question marks and their is no way st Louis after winning the cup with a unproven goalie will be anything more than 5th best

Chic ago just revamped their team defense , goaltending and if Crawford is healthy your looking at the best 1 , two punch in the entire league.

I'm putting Chicago fighting for 1st place in the division with Colorado.
- Taylorst1

This might be the dumbest take I'll read this month

Trevor clearly you can't be serious putting Chicago in 7th place ?
Let's break things down

Nashville , Winnipeg are not even remotely the same team they where last year.

Colorado has some question marks and their is no way st Louis after winning the cup with a unproven goalie will be anything more than 5th best

Chic ago just revamped their team defense , goaltending and if Crawford is healthy your looking at the best 1 , two punch in the entire league.

I'm putting Chicago fighting for 1st place in the division with Colorado.
- Taylorst1

Wut?

Nashville added Duchene and still has one of the best teams in the west

Winnipeg is the same team, all they lost was Trouba and Hayes who was just a late season pickup

St. Louis isnt magically not going to play well because their goalie is unproven.

Colorado improved significantly

Chicago is garbage. Yes Lehner can be a good addition but Crawford has had some health issues the past few seasons. You re revamped d is lead by dmen on their last legs and offensively chicago is arguably weakest in the west. Theres no depth behind Toews and Kane

You’ve obviously don’t know the huge weaknesses for Buffalo that prevented them from excelling, that being secondary scoring and Defense. At least on paper they obviously addressed those issues (though a true 2C would be nice if Mittlestat doesn’t improve).....Sooo to say Buffalo is now still in the same boat as Detroit or the Sens, who haven’t really addressed their deficiencies... is laughable
- nikel

I would love to agree with you but it really comes down to the sabres will have to show us that they have improved.

[quote=xShoot4WarAmpsx]Wut?

Nashville added Duchene and still has one of the best teams in the west

Winnipeg is the same team, all they lost was Trouba and Hayes who was just a late season pickup

St. Louis isnt magically not going to play well because their goalie is unproven.

Colorado improved significantly

Chicago is garbage. Yes Lehner can be a good addition but Crawford has had some health issues the past few seasons. You re revamped d is lead by dmen on their last legs and offensively chicago is arguably weakest in the west. Theres no depth behind Toews and Kane

Chicago was 8th in the league goals for. Have you ever heard of Alex Debrincat?
Check out his goals totals last few years. in the 40's!!! Ever hear of Dylan Strome? How about Brandon Saad? Andrew Shaw? No depth? There Defense stunk real bad. Im surprised you dump on the hawks since you live in hamilton surrounded by leaf nation and being a flyers fan. do you just keep you're mouth shut or ride the bandwagon come playoff time? still butt hurt from 2010? get over it

Wut?

Nashville added Duchene and still has one of the best teams in the west

Winnipeg is the same team, all they lost was Trouba and Hayes who was just a late season pickup

St. Louis isnt magically not going to play well because their goalie is unproven.

Colorado improved significantly

Chicago is garbage. Yes Lehner can be a good addition but Crawford has had some health issues the past few seasons. You re revamped d is lead by dmen on their last legs and offensively chicago is arguably weakest in the west. Theres no depth behind Toews and Kane
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

You didn't mention DAL. They improved significantly.

Nashville took a small step back as I think losing PK will have more impact than adding Duchene.

STL will be real good if their goalie is up to the task, but probably a wild card even if he regresses a little.

COL should be better, but I'm not sure I agree that they are significantly better.

WIN took a decent step back losing Trouba.

CHI improved their defense significantly. They also improved their situation in net. Aside from Kahun, they didn't lose any real offense. AA to a lesser extent, but Shaw should replace his points.
Maata and DeHaan are 25 and 28 respectively, so not exactly over the hill. They are also leaps and bounds better than what we had last year.
Your point about Crawford is exactly why we got Lehner. If Crow goes down, we now have Lehner and Delia in net instead of Ward and Delia. That is also leaps and bounds better than last year.
I stand by my earlier post that COL, WIN and CHI will be battling for the 2 wild card spots in the west.

You’ve obviously don’t know the huge weaknesses for Buffalo that prevented them from excelling, that being secondary scoring and Defense. At least on paper they obviously addressed those issues (though a true 2C would be nice if Mittlestat doesn’t improve).....Sooo to say Buffalo is now still in the same boat as Detroit or the Sens, who haven’t really addressed their deficiencies... is laughable
- nikel

Buffalo is such an unpredictable group. They could finish anywhere between 75 and 92 points IMO
-New Coaching Staff, HC seems better positioned for Pres of Hockey Ops rather than HC
-Another new system, and so far they have proven they can't effectively play in 3 different ones over the past 5 years
-several new faces to bolster the middle six, but still a hole at 2C and 3RW
-no solid option at 1RW if Rhino is the 2RW
-which goalie performance will show up? The .920 or .895 variety
-who is at RhD...they have like 346 2nd pairing RhD guys

Way too much unknown to be able to predict with confidence where thet finish.
That said, my guess it s about 85 pts...with a slow start and a stronger finish, but outside looking in.

1.Tampa
2.Boston
3.Toronto
Florida finishes 4th, and wins a wild card spot. They finish a lot closer to 3rd than the big three in the division would like.

I like the order of your picks overall, and I believe like every year there's gonna be some surprises no one sees coming. With that in mind, here's how I think it will happen this season:

Atlantic Division:
1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
3. Florida Panthers
4. Boston Bruins*
5. Montreal Canadiens*
6. Buffalo Sabres
7. Ottawa Senators
8. Detroit Red Wings

Tampa and Toronto will battle for the division until the last two games of the season, with Tampa losing out based on the results of the season series. Florida finally gets some credit around the league after some breakout years from the Finnish/Russian cohort (Barkov, Bobrovski, Dadonov, Malgin, etc.) and a full season of Bjugstad being healthy. Montreal gets the final wildcard after the Metro division tanks and most teams in it have poor records against all other divisions and some teams in it who dominate in their own backyard.

Montreal plays the winner of the Metro in the playoffs and Toronto continues its 2000-2004 Ottawa Senators levels of futility by losing to Boston in the playoffs for the fourth time in six years. Buffalo improves a lot but falls out of the race in March. Ottawa surprises by not finishing last in the league, but actually wins the draft lottery after going neck and neck with CLB and DET for the cellar all year after a strong start.

Metropolitan Division:
1. Washington Capitals
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
4. Carolina Hurricanes
5. New Jersey Devils
6. New York Islanders
7. New York Rangers
8. Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus tanks the year and will be chasing the Sens and Detroit for last in the league. New Jersey improves a lot but still not enough to get by the other teams in their division who they post very bad records against. Rangers continue to show limited progress but the aging of the King finally catches up to them and their goaltending depth is exposed. Carolina misses the playoffs by a point after one of the most exciting wildcard chases ever. Philadelphia finally has a coming out party for its defense, which ends up being one of the strongest in the league behind record offense from Ghostespierre and Provorov comes into his own. Most lopsided division outcomes are seen here.


Central Division:
1. Colorado Avalanche
2. Winnipeg Jets
3. Nashville Predators
4. Dallas Stars*
5. St. Louis Blues
6. Chicago Blackhawks
7. Minnesota Wild

Colorado explodes after extending Rantanen on a max deal in late October. Mackinnon is in the Art Ross race all season and their improved depth and defense are on display for the league to see. Winnipeg continues to regress marginally but still posts a 100+ point season. Dallas' retooling pays fruit, and STL is unable to keep pace after Binninghton experiences a sophomore slump and goes batpoop crazy on his teammates, blaming them all for his failures and the locker room collapses and a sell off occurs at the deadline. Chicago also goes full fire sale and tries to offload Toews to a playoff team for the assets needed to engage in a full rebuild. Minnesota performs as expected in the toughest division in hockey.

Pacific Division:
1. San Jose Sharks
2. Calgary Flames
3. Vegas Golden Knights
4. Vancouver Canucks*
5. Edmonton Oilers
6. Arizona Coyotes
7. Anaheim Ducks
8. LA Kings

Erik Karlsson explodes and has a typical EK65 season similar to what he did in his prime Sens years. He and Burns both post 75+ points and SJ has the #1 PP in the league all season. Calgary continues to perform well and Milan Lucic actually makes a valuable contribution to the team with a 20+ goal season. Him and Matthew Tkachuk tear the league apart with their obnoxiousness on Monahan's wing and CGY leads the league in terms of number of opposing players suspended while playing them. Vegas takes a step back after having to trade away a lot of depth for cap compliance, but continues to be competitive. Vancouver gets the final wild card spot after Nikolay Goldobin and Jake Virtanen have explosive offensive seasons to provide more scoring depth behind an improved season from Elias Pettersson. EDM continues to struggle from lack of offensive depth and goaltending woes, Arizona can't take a step forward and Anaheim and LA remain tire fires vying for dead last with Ottawa and Detroit.

Gonna be a fun season!

- ahjnkn

Bjugstad is a Penguin. So you blow your entire novel in your first paragraph.

Jets miss if Maurice is the head coach by the half way mark

Trevor clearly you can't be serious putting Chicago in 7th place ?
Let's break things down

Nashville , Winnipeg are not even remotely the same team they where last year.

Colorado has some question marks and their is no way st Louis after winning the cup with a unproven goalie will be anything more than 5th best

Chic ago just revamped their team defense , goaltending and if Crawford is healthy your looking at the best 1 , two punch in the entire league.

I'm putting Chicago fighting for 1st place in the division with Colorado.
- Taylorst1

And people say Leafs fan are delusional when it comes to assessing their own team! LMFAO

And people say Leafs fan are delusional when it comes to assessing their own team! LMFAO
- bullethead7

Don't judge all Chicago fans by this standard!

Don't judge all Chicago fans by this standard!
- tvetter

True. That post is the one and only post I have seen where I saw a hAWK FAN EXPECTED A BATTLE FOR first IN THE DIVISION.

i THINK MOST LIKE THE ADDITIONS WE HAVE MADE IN THE OFF-SEASON, AND EXPECT THE HAWKS TO BE IN THE HUNT FOR 4TH OR 5TH IN THE dIVISION, AND A GOOD SHOT AT A wILD cARD SPOT.

mINNY, SHOULD CLEARLY BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE dIVISION, 3-4-5-6 WILL BE A BATTLE i THINK.

(Damn Cap locks.....sorry!)

Bjugstad is a Penguin. So you blow your entire novel in your first paragraph.
- wreckage

Sacré Bleu!!!! Forgive me, was due to the auto-correct on my phone, was intending to refer to Borgstrom. I misspell things sometimes...

Florida has been predicted to make a jump up the standings every single year since booth and weiss were their young stars.

Yet here we are, 2 playoff appearances in the last 14 seasons