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NHL Season Predictions

  • Joe Walker
  • Oct 11, 2016
  • 4 min read

Hockey starts tomorrow.

Woah.

I know, I can hardly contain my excitement as well.

Along with league wide excitement - I, being a loyally devoted Flyers fan, am practically peeing my pants with the latest roster announcements. With the addition of top prospects Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny to the regular season roster, it’s also the 50th anniversary season of the team I hold so dear. And even though I will be placing a small amount on a Flyers Future Line for winning the Stanley Cup this year (it’s totally going to happen guys), I figured I should still give my predictions for the 2016-2017 NHL regular season…

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

  1. *Tampa Bay Lightning (53-24-5) 111pts.

  2. *Detroit Red Wings (49-23-10) 108pts.

  3. *Montreal Canadians (46-28-8) 100pts.

  4. **Florida Panthers (45-27-10) 100pts.

  5. Buffalo Sabres (38-33-11) 87pts.

  6. Boston Bruins (40-36-6) 86pts.

  7. Ottawa Senators (35-38-9) 79pts.

  8. Toronto Maple Leafs (35-40-7) 77pts.

Notes: I may be over valuing the Detroit young guns here, as well as the return of Carry Price. One thing I am high on though, is the Tampa Bay Lightning. I think they will run away with this division fairly easily, and hopefully right off the bat. I also may be undervaluing the Florida Panthers – but with the loss of Jonathan Huberdeau for the first 3-4 months of the season, I just don’t see the offense being able to hold up as strong as usual. And Roberto Luongo isn’t getting any younger…

Metropolitan Division

  1. *Washington Capitals (50-23-9) 109pts.

  2. *Pittsburgh Penguins (48-28-6) 102pts.

  3. *Philadelphia Flyers (44-27-11) 99pts.

  4. **NY Islanders (46-30-6) 98pts.

  5. New Jersey Devils (43-28-11) 97pts.

  6. NY Rangers (44-32-6) 94pts.

  7. Carolina Hurricanes (33-35-14) 80pts.

  8. Columbus Blue Jackets (36-39-7) 79pts.

Notes: On paper, the Capitals and the Penguins should have fairly close numbers to what they had last season. If anything, the Penguins were to have more since they had a slow start to last season. However, with the latest news about Sidney Crosby’s 3rd concussion – they may be in for another slow start this season. I am high on the Flyers (bias included), but I just think the young talent will allow them to roll on road games where defenses are going to have to learn the tendencies of these newcomers. I may be underestimating the Rangers a bit but I just think they are too old for this division, regardless of the addition of Jimmy Vesey. I like what the Hurricanes did this offseason, but that squad still has to be considered a bit of a rebuild. Finally – this division is going to be back and forth (from third place and down) all season long, look for another exciting finish for wild card spots.

Western Conference

Central Division

  1. *Chicago Blackhawks (49-26-7) 105pts.

  2. *Nashville Predators (47-25-10) 104pts.

  3. *St. Louis Blues (45-29-8) 98pts.

  4. **Dallas Stars (45-32-5) 95pts.

  5. Winnipeg Jets (39-36-7) 85pts.

  6. Minnesota Wild (36-33-13) 85pts.

  7. Colorado Avalanche (37-38-7) 81pts.

Notes: I wanted to put Nashville at the top spot in this division but I just couldn’t bring myself to put full faith in Pekka Rinne. With that said – I am willing to put just enough trust in Pekka to allow Nashville to fall into a playoff spot just 1 point in the standings behind Chicago. But that 1-point man…sorry Pekka. In all seriousness, Pekka needs to have a tremendous year in order for this prediction to come true, and I will give him the credit by saying – yes, the Nashville Predators are going to take lead on both the Blues and the Stars this season. I believe the Stars may fade regardless of the absolutely stacked lineup including Benn, Seguin, and Klingberg. The goaltending in Dallas scares me, a lot. I see the Winnipeg Jets jumping up the standings, swapping with the Avalanche. Unfortunately, I don’t think Colorado knows what they are doing let alone where they are going. They’re development gives me reason to believe that they will find themselves at the lowest of the low in the Central.

Pacific Division

  1. *Los Angeles Kings (51-24-7) 109pts.

  2. *San Jose Sharks (48-25-9) 105pts.

  3. *Anaheim Ducks (44-29-9) 97pts.

  4. **Edmonton Oilers (41-35-6) 88pts.

  5. Arizona Coyotes (39-38-5) 83pts.

  6. Calgary Flames (39-39-4) 82pts.

  7. Vancouver Canucks (28-40-14) 70pts.

Notes: The Pacific Division is almost as tough as the Metro in the East to call, but for different reasons. Each time has a grand mix of some fantastic veterans and young guns trying to prove their stance in the league. The tough part of laying down the predictions for these teams is how the veterans will last throughout the season (and even in single games i.e. overtime), compared to the skill the young guns will be able to produce. I admit – I ran heavy with the favorites of this division. And rightfully so! The Kings, Sharks, and Ducks all have a chance for the top spot. I look at goaltending to be the difference factor if Johnathan Quick can have a much better regular season compared to his 15’-16’ campaign. I believe he can. I am not all too confident in the Sharks veterans being able to produce like they did coming down the stretch last season. I may be too high on Edmonton, but honestly I don’t care. Because it’s Edmonton. If I am wrong about them possibly breaching 90 points in the standings pending Connor McDavid’s season long health, no one will notice. Because again, it’s Edmonton. Both Arizona and Calgary will be fun to check out every now and then over the course of the season to check in on young guys like Dylan Strome and Matthew Tkachuck – but will in turn, do nothing past the regular season. And my pick for the worst team this season will be the Vancouver Canucks because they literally have nothing going for them right now. They may be able to breach 30 wins (contrary to my predictions), but that will be off the sticks of Henrik and Daniel Sedin alone.

Overall Rankings (Playoff Teams Only):

  1. Tampa Bay Lightning

  2. Los Angeles Kings

  3. Washington Capitals

  4. Detroit Red Wings

  5. Chicago Blackhawks

  6. San Jose Sharks

  7. Nashville Predators

  8. Pittsburgh Penguins

  9. Montreal Canadians

  10. Florida Panthers

  11. Philadelphia Flyers

  12. NY Islanders

  13. St. Louis Blues

  14. Anaheim Ducks

  15. Dallas Stars

  16. Edmonton Oilers

Yup – you read that right Oil Country. I have your long awaited playoff berth coming Spring 2017.

Eastern Conference Champions: Tampa Bay Lightning

Western Conference Champions: Nashville Predators

2016-2017 NHL Stanley Cup Champions: Tampa Bay Lightning

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