There will be some new faces in new places heading into the new year. Anaheim (Randy Carlyle), Calgary (Glen Gulutzan), Colorado (Jared Bednar), Minnesota (Bruce Boudreau), and Ottawa (Guy Boucher) all have new head coaches going into this year. Then we have some players that have decided to switch cities. PK Subban was traded to Nashville, sending Shea Weber to Montreal. St. Louis picked up Neil Yakapov from the Oilers for draft picks. Anaheim picked up Jonathan Bernier from Toronto, while Brian Elliott gets shipped from the Blues to the Flames. Oh and Taylor Hall went to New Jersey from Edmonton. When the regular season opens, more players will have new places to call home. Milan Lucic (Edmonton), James Reimer (Florida), Andrew Ladd (Islanders), David Perron (St. Louis), David Backes (Boston), Kyle Okposo (Buffalo), Eric Staal (Minnesota), Vernon Fiddler (New Jersey), Justin Falk (Buffalo), Thomas Vanek (Detroit), and Jiri Hudler (Dallas), among others, have jumped ship to new clubs.
It's the centennial year for the league, now celebrating it's 100th year in operation as a league, so it should lead for one hell of a hockey season. To help with the celebration, the NHL is playing four outdoor games this year. The Winnipeg Jets will host the 2016 Heritage Classic against the Edmonton Oilers at Investors Group Field on October 23. The Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Centennial Classic at BMO Field on January 1, 2017, against the Detroit Red Wings. The game will commemorate the 100th season of the Maple Leafs and NHL as a whole. The following Monday, January 2, the St. Louis Blues will host the Winter Classic at Busch Stadium against the Chicago Blackhawks. Finally, on February 25, 2017, the Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Philadelphia Flyers at Heinz Field for the Stadium Series game.[21]
No more fluffy, here's what you came to read. Lets get right into it. Here's how the 2016-17 NHL Season goes down.
Western Conference
Central Division:
1. Chicago Blackhawks (107 Points)*
This could be sounding like a possible broken record here, but man the Hawks are good and going to be hard to beat. Corey Crawford is going to be Mr. Reliable in the Hawks net once again this year. Chicago made a major addition on the blueline, adding Brian Campbell to support stars Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook and give the Hawks a tremendous top four (along with Niklas Hjalmarsson). Chicago did lose Andrew Shaw and Andrew Ladd to in the offseason, but they still have plenty of talent left to work with on offense. They still have the league MVP in Patrick Kane, the rookie of the year in Artemi Panarin, and of course are lead by captain Jonathan Toews. Even with a more questionable bottom six forwards, the top six should provide enough to get them into the playoffs and capable of a deep run that could include a deep playoff run.
2. Dallas Stars (106 Points)*
Dallas is going to once again be a force in the Western Conference. They actually finished with the best record in the West last year, with 109 points and did it without Tyler Seguin most of the year due to injury. A big reason for that is the goaltending duo of Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen. Despite losing Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers in the offseason, the group appears stronger defensively thanks to the addition of Dan Hamhuis and a promising performance from Stephen Johns down the stretch and into the playoffs. They make take a bit of a step back this year, but with Seguin and captain Jamie Benn leading the charge for the best offensive in the league last year, they should be just fine and in line for that deep run into the playoffs.
3. Nashville Predators (100 Points)*
This might be a bit of a backwards step for the Predators this season. They traded away their captain and team leader, Shea Weber, to Montreal in exchange for PK Subban. Subban is a very good all around hockey player, nothing against him in that regards. Only thing against Subban is, he isn't quite the same leader that Weber is. But with the style of play coach Peter Laviolette likes to utalize, Subban will be a great fit on that Preds blueline. Nashville can still ride their top goalie Pekka Rinne to another fantastic run this year. Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi, P. K. Subban, and Yannick Weber make up a fine top four defensive pairing. Ryan Johansen, Craig Smith, Filip Forsberg and Calle Jarnkrok are all getting better and joining guys like Mike Fisher (new team captain) and James Neal at the next level. Nashville should be in great shape to, at worst case scenario, get back to the 2nd round of the playoffs.
4. St. Louis Blues (99 Points) (WC)
As good as St Louis has been the last couple of seasons, they are going to take a step backwards this year. St. Louis lost a lot in the offseason. They traded away goalies Brian Elliott and Anders Nilsson, and lost David Backes, Troy Brouwer, and Steve Ott to free agency. Three core guys from the playoff run last year are gone. St Louis has impressive defensive group and some talented forwards led by superstar Vladimir Tarasenko. David Perron was added to help bolster the offense a little, and to replace Elliott in net, Carter Hutton will work decently with Jake Allen in goal. This means the Blues have the potential to make it back to where they fell short last spring. They can't be counted at as a potential Cup winner, but they will try to give coach Ken Hitchcock a storybook ending in his final season.
5. Minnesota Wild (98 Points) (WC)
Bruce Boudreau has a bit of an undertaking here in trying to get the Wild back to the level they are used to in Minnesota. Adding a guy like Eric Staal to the lineup in Minnesota could be huge. Only thing you could knock against Eric Staal is that his offensive production numbers have gone down, and his point per game pace that he had in his younger days in Carolina are well gone. Solid goaltending with Kemper and Dubnyk make the Wild feel a little bit more secure. Ryan Sutter is coming off a career best year on the blueline a season ago, so he should be back to top form again this season. On offense, Minnesota is hoping that Zach Parise can come back from his injury filled year last year and be a productive force once again, just like he was when they signed him. Mikko Koivu is expected to have another good year, as is Erik Haula. For Minnesota to take that next step, they need Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Jason Zucker into consistent threats. They are close to doing it.
6. Winnipeg Jets (97 points)
Talk about a team making a jump, i can see the Jets being that team. Last year, Winnipeg just missed out on the playoffs, they couldn't catch a break in regards to trying to get in. Michael Hutchinson and Ondrej Pavelec are going to be counted on again in net, but if they fault, Connor Hellebuyck is ready to take playing time and run like crazy with it. Dustin Byfuglien and Tyler Meyers are expected to anchor the blueline once again this season. Injuries are what killed the Jets last year, but this year thbey are healthy and ready to rock on offense. Blake Wheeler lead the team in scoring last year and will do it again this year. Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers will both be expected to improve off good scoring numbers from last year. The core hasn't changed much since the playoff appearance two years ago. The addition of rookie Patrik Laine, the second-overall pick from last spring, and more internal growth should lead to a strong run at the postseason.
7. Colorado Avalanche (79 Points)
Could be another long season in Denver. Not a single player on the Colorado Avalanche roster had 60 points last year. The team has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and dropped eight points from a 90-point campaign in 2014-15 to 82 in 2015-16. New head coach Jared Bednar has some interesting pieces to work with this year. This year's defensive group of Francois Beauchemin, Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zadorov, Eric Gelinas, Fedor Tyutin, Chris Bigras and Patrick Wiercioch is the deepest they've had in years. Semyon Varlamov needs to get back to his old form, because lets face facts he wasn't great last year. Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Matt Duchene are going to need help from a supporting cast this season if the Avs hope to bring themselves back to some sense of normal for a team that's always had such high expectation.
Pacific Division
1. San Jose Sharks (103 Points)*
The defending Western Conference champions are going to be back in the thick of things again this year. Going with Martin Jones is a great move, he was brilliant for the Sharks last year in the playoffs. Only thing I might even question is who's behind him I mean the Sharks did give up James Reimer to the Panthers as a free agent and are now going with Aaron Dell as the backup netminder, which could be a problem if anything happens to Jones. So it leaves one to wonder just a little bit. But the Sharks are still deep enough that they can be able to compensate for it. Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and newly added David Schlemko make a solid top three for the Sharks. Oh yeah, they're also one of the deeper offensive teams in the league. adding a guy like Mikkel Boedker in free agency is a huge help, and this team has plenty of options for line combinations to create a deadly top nine and a very worthy fourth trio that could capitalize on matchups. San Jose may be one of the most balanced teams in all the West.
2. Anaheim Ducks (99 Points)*
Another good season should be ahead in Anaheim. I know they've won four straight division titles but they may take a slight step back this year. Goaltending is there. John Gibson and recently added Jonathan Bernier are going to make a fine one two punch in goal, in fact this maybe the best one two punch in the division. They lost some good players this offseason, guys like Jamie McGinn, Chris Stewart, and David Perron, so depth was hit a little bit. They did retool a little by adding guys like Jared Boll, Mason Raymond, and Antoine Vermette, all of which could be huge moves. One of the big knocks against the Ducks last year was lack of secondary scoring behind Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Still expect the Ducks to be a solid team once again this season.
3. Los Angeles Kings (98 Points)*
This is a bit of a surprise but the Kings will be able to get back into the playoffs again this year. I know they took a big hit when Milan Lucic left town in free agency, so that does leave a hole in the Kings lineup. They had a lack of scoring last year and it may rear its head again this year. But the Kings are still a good team. They have great goaltending in Jonathan Quick, Peter Budaj and even Jeff Zatkoff. Los Angeles also has solid defense lead by Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez. Anze Kopitar took over as Captain from Dustin Brown and should make an awesome leader. Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter Devin Setoguchi are expected to join Kopitar as the leaders on offense of this Kings squad. It might not blow everybody away but it will be good enough to get back into the playoffs once again.
4. Calgary Flames (97 Points)
This team may have something to work with, but right now its just not in place. Both of their goalies, Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson came by way of free agency and leave a little to be desired. Elliott has played more than 50 games in a season just twice in eight seasons and will likely get a good 60 or so this year. Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, Jyrki Jokipakka, and T. J. Brodie make up a pretty good top four on the blueline. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Troy Brouwer are going to be expected to lead a charge of a solid offensive hockey team. It won't be the same that it was two years ago when the Flames made the playoffs, but they are back heading in the right direction.
5. Arizona Coyotes (89 Points)
For each of the last four seasons, the Arizona Coyotes have missed out on the playoffs. I don't see that trend getting broken this year sadly, but the Yotes are making steps in the right direction. Max Domi and Anthony Duclair both played quite well last year and will be counted on to not only duplicate, but improve upon from those numbers a year ago. Captain Shane Doan is coming back as a mentor and traded for Alex Goligoski. Mike Smith needs to come back to form and stay healthy if they are going to stand a chance, although Louis Domingue is a serviceable backup. Adding talented players like Luke Schenn, Radim Vrbata and Jamie McGinn helps add depth to a team that could have some working talent to go with and make a little noise in the West.
6. Edmonton Oilers (86 Points)
Some of the bottom feeding days in Edmonton maybe starting to pay off. Moving into a new arena, Rogers Place, helps usher in a new era of Oilers hockey. Edmonton was the worst team in the West a season ago, but now they may very well be on the move up. Sure they traded away Taylor Hall to the Devils in exchange for Adam Larsson, a move which some question but could turn out to be a good thing for both teams. What has me a little puzzled with Edmonton is that they're relying on Jonas Gustavsson and Cam Talbot to tend goal, something that has been a bit of a weakspot for this team. Adding power forward Milan Lucic shifts the culture as the Oilers look to get more intensely competitive. If all goes well and Connor McDavid stays healthy, the team could make a massive jump and be a surprise playoff qualifier.
7. Vancouver Canucks (80 Points)
Vancouver has slipped over the last few years and I don't see it getting better right now out in Western Canada. Vancouver lost a lot of talent in the offseason, seeing Dan Hamhuis, Yannick Weber, Linden Vey, Radim Vrbata, Brandon Prust, Chris Higgins, and Matt Bartkowsk all bolt town. So they went out and added Loui Eriksson in free agency. Eriksson has history with the Sedin twins in international play and had a 30-goal, 63-point season with the Boston Bruins last year. They still have Ryan miller in Net, who is still a solid goalie, but they don't have much else to work around. Its going to be a long year in Vancouver.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (106 Points)*
Things are going to look good, I mean really good down in Tampa this season. This offseason, General Manager Steve Yzerman spent a lot of money to keep his core players in tact. Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Nesterov, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, among others, all got new long term deals. Smart thinking by Yzerman. Tampa made it to the Cup finals two years ago and the East finals last year. Ben Bishop has beomce one of the elite netminders in the league, as has Victor Hedman on the blueline. Steven Stamkos is a premire forward in this league, and that's putting it mildly. Tampa is good, they're deep and they're going to be the best team in the East this season.
2 Florida Panthers (101 Points)*
Talk about a team making a quick move up the ladder. Not too many people expected the youth movement in Florida to catch on quickly, but it did, and will keep going this year. Florida added some big pieces. They signed James Reimer to a long term deal, making him heir apparent to Roberto Luongo in net. They brought in Keith Yandle and Jason Demers to bolster a decent defense. On Offense, Jaromir Jagr is going to be leading the charge. Jonathan Marchessault came over from, Tampa to help bolster the offense along with Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, and Reilly Smith, the offense is going to be balanced in Florida. Watch out for the Panthers this year.
3. Montreal Canadiens (100 Points)*
A few changes have been made to one of the oldest franchises in the league. Swapping P.K. Subban's offensive upside for Shea Weber's gritty and physical play in his own end could pay off in the short term as far as being a cup contending team is concerned. Al Montoya was brought in as a solid backup to Carey Price, who is going to be the big concern for the Habs this season. Montreal goes as Price goes. Price was off to a hot start last year, and once he got hurt, the Habs tanked. Montreal still has a good all around team, with guys like Andrei Markov, Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, and Brendan Gallagher among others. Montreal has the talent, Price health depending, to get back to the playoffs.
4. Boston Bruins (90 Points)
The last two seasons haven't been kind to the Bruins, as they've missed the playoffs each of the last two years. Boston has plenty of talent to be able to put the puck in the net up front. Sure losing Loui Erikson and Lee Stepniak is a bit of a blow, but when you consider the fact that the Bruins still have Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, David Krejci, and they added in guys like David Backes, Boston shouldn't really have a problem with scoring. It's the blueline that has me worried in Beantown. Outside John-Michael Liles and Zedeno Chara, maybe even Torey Krug, you don't know what your going to get from the Boston defense every night. Tuukka Rask is a very capable goalie, but last year, he posted his worst save percentage in his seven pro years. So it leaves something to be desired. Still i think Boston has enough to at least make a run at it.
5. Detroit Red Wings (88 Points)
Well this is the end of the line. For the first time since the 1989-90 season, the Detroit Red Wings are going to miss out on postseason play. Pavel Datsyuk left home to play in Russia, and Brad Richards called it a career. Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek can do a fine job of keeping the Wings in a lot of games this season, but the blueline in front of them leaves a little to be desired. Outside of the top four in Danny DeKeyser, Jonathan Ericsson, Mike Green, and Niklas Kronwall, it really makes you wonder. Detroit did try and reload on offense this year with Datsyuk gone. Frans Nielsen, Thomas Vanek, and Steve Ott were brought on board to help out Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader, Gustav Nyquist and Johan Franzen. Detroit might be able to pull something out of the hat to keep the streak going, but it doesn't look good.
6. Buffalo Sabres (86 points)
This is a team that's finally starting to swing in the right direction. They lost Chad Johnson in net but they have Robin Lehner and Anders Nilsson, which might not be a bad one two punch. They aren't going to steal the show like other goalies in this division, but they're solid never the less. Justin Faulk was brought in late to bolster the defense, which was a good move adding him to play with Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, and Rasmus Ristolainen. Jack Eichel still the key cog in the offense, so to help him out they brought in Kyle Okposo. Those two guys along with Brian Gionta, Evander Kane, Matt Moulson (if he shows up and produces), Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Ennis can help put Buffalo in a better place for the future. This year, they still miss the playoffs.
7. Ottawa Senators (78 Points)
Canada's Capital has had a tough go since it snuck into the playoffs two years ago thanks to Andrew Hammond. He's still in Ottawa, but is playing second fiddle to Craig Anderson. The big problem with Ottawa is they're an old team and getting older. They swapped young center Mika Zibanejad for Derick Brassard. They also brought back veteran grinder Chris Kelly, who can play important minutes on the penalty kill and in defensive situations. They're hoping a healthy team of veterans can make a run, but just making it back to the playoffs would be a big improvement.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (75 Points)
The rebuild is still on in Toronto. Yes its the 100th year of the franchise, and yes the have the top pick from the draft Auston Matthews in the lineup, but that's not going to promise them getting more wins. They had 29 wins and 69 points last year, the worst numbers in the league. Frederik Andersen and Jhonas Enroth were both brought in to tend goal but its not going to help. Toronto isn't going to magically become playoff contenders overnight. They've got some nice pieces but its not enough to get them in.
Metropolitan Division
1. Pittsburgh Penguins (109 Points)*
They are the defending Stanley Cup Champions and have a decent shot to become the first back to back champions in the last twenty years. Its practically the same exact roster the Penguins had a year ago when they won the whole thing, so what's to say they can't do it again. The only real area of weakness for the Penguins is on the blue line, where they depend heavily on Kris Letang for big minutes and offensive contributions. The loss of veteran Ben Lovejoy in free agency puts more pressure on younger players like Olli Maatta, Derrick Pouliot and Brian Dumoulin to be more sound in the defensive zone as well. If the group struggles in front of expected new full-time starter Matt Murray in goal, the team could drop from sixth place in goals against and in turn lose home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
2. Washington Capitals (106 Points)*
The argument made above for the Penguins, you can make for the Capitals as well. This team did just win the Presidents Trophy as the best team in hockey last year. The only major piece the caps lost was Jason Chimera, who signed with the Islanders over the summer. So to make up for it, they added guys like Lars Eller and Brett Connolly to strengthen the forward depth. The team is loaded and should be a top regular-season club. The biggest question that still hangs over the heads of the Capitals is can they finally get over that hump and get passed the 2nd round? They haven't gotten that far since 1998? Can this finally be the year that Alex Ovechkin takes them to the promise land?
3. New York Rangers (100 Points)*
This year, the Rangers kick off their 90th season. Last year, they were bounced in the first round by the Penguins. The Boys from Broadway have done a little bit of retooling since the end of last season. Despite the trade that sent Derick Brassard to Ottawa for the younger Mika Zibanejad and the loss of defenseman Keith Yandle, the Rangers core is largely the same. They added a little more speed by adding Zibanejad, Michael Grabner and Nathan Gerbe. Adding those guys makes the Rangers look capable of rolling four lines that can create mismatches. Jimmy Vesey signed out of college adds yet another element which could make them a dangerous team. If Henrik Lundqvist can keep performing at a top level, the team will be a threat to represent the East.
4. Philadelphia Flyers (97 Points) (WC)
This team is going to be sneaky good. As a matter of fact they were last year too, thanks to their young blueline lead by Shayne Gostisbehere. They still have veterans like Mark Strei and Radko Gudas. Young guys like Brandon Manning and newcomer Ivan Provorov could help the Philly goaltending. Steve Mason and Michal Neuvirth could be the ones in net to help the Flyers. If things fall apart fast on the blueline they could be relied on more then in years past. Philly has talent on offense. Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn carry the team offensively and the supporting cast hasn't shown an ability to produce at a higher level. This team is good enough to catch a wild card spot.
5. New York Islanders (95 Points) (WC)
Things have taken a bit of a step back for the Islanders this season. After breaking out of the 23 year drought of winning a playoff round a season ago, the Isles lost some key players from that team. New York lost Brian Strait, Matt Martin, Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo to free agency. All they got back in return was really Jason Chimera and Andrew Ladd, who I do like as a pickup. Still think some of the depth at forward maybe a bit of a problem for the Isles, it does have me worried. The blueline is going to be fine, so is the goaltending. With the loss of some of the talent up front, the Isles have taken a half step back this season. They are a good team and will be a playoff bound team, of that there is no doubt. What has me worried is that they still haven't really been able to build a true supporting cast around their best player. Tavares is good but he can only do so much. If the supporting cast isn't there, then its almost a lost cause. Still the Islanders are going to be a playoff team.
6. New Jersey Devils (91 Points)
New Jersey hasn't been able to really produce much over the last couple of seasons in the goal department, leaving a lot of pressure on the goaltending and blueline. Corey Schneider got them close to making the playoffs last year, but when he got hurt the Devils lost all chance of making it to the playoffs. This is a team that will be better and will challenge for one of the Wild Card Spots this year. Bringing in Taylor Hall was a big move, considering how desperate they are for scoring. Their 182 goals were last in the NHL, but Hall has scored 20 or more in four of his six NHL seasons, with the other two shortened by injury. He has 328 points in 381 games and his presence could propel the Devils where they need to be. At the same time, they had to give up a top defensemen in Adam Larsson to complete the trade. IF anything happens again to Schneider, the Devils could be near the bottom, but they have the talent to make a run at it.
7. Carolina Hurricanes (80 Points)
Carolina will be lucky if they hit the 80 point mark this year. Eric Staal is no longer with the team, having left for Minnesota in the offseason, so that leaves a big hole to fill on this hockey team. Cam Ward and Eddie Lack could be good. but they need to improve on their numbers from last season. They'll rely heavily on Jeff Skinner and Jordan Staal and veteran newcomer Lee Stempniak for goals. If supporting scorers like Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask and Teuvo Teravainen disappoint, they could be a lottery squad.
8. Columbus Blue Jackets (74 Points)
Going to be another rough year in Columbus this year. Columbus could plummet to last in the league if the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers' offseason changes pay off and the Jackets' decision to promote from within turns out to be the wrong move. In 2013-14 the team had a 30-goal, 60-point forward in Ryan Johansen and a 50-point defenseman in James Wisniewski. They also had Vezina worthy play from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Last year, the top point-producing blueliner was David Savard with a paltry 25 points. No forwards scored more than 53, and Bobrovsky was outplayed by rookie Joonas Korpisalo in net. The team essentially stood pat this offseason hoping Seth Jones is the answer on the back end after dealing Johansen for him last season, and that the young players will improve quickly.
Stanley Cup Prediction: Lightning Over Stars!
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