This year, the league will be facing some new rule changes. The challenge of an offside rule has changed, and oh is it for the better. Coaches had used the offside rule to challenge for something as close as a millimeter. Now, in order to reduce the number of coach's challenges, a two-minute penalty for delay of game will be handed out if the review does not result in an offside being overturned. Coaches are now no longer allowed to call time outs after their team iced the puck, in order to rest their players. There is also now more of a crackdown by the refs on faceoff violations and slashing. Referees are now expected to enforce the existing two-minute penalty for slashing when players chop at the wrists and hands of a puck carrier. As far as the faceoff rule is concerned, referees are now expected to enforce the existing two-minute penalty for improper stance by a player taking a faceoff. This follows an extensive period where players have not been standing with their feet properly placed within the limits of the markings by the dot, with their bodies square to the end boards.
This will be an exciting year for the league as well, playing some very big games. We go international, as the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche will be playing in Stockholm, Sweden on November 10th and 11th. Once again this year, the game will be taken outdoors. The 100 Classic will be held on December 16 at TD Place Stadium in Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, featuring the Montreal Canadiens against the Ottawa Senators. The Winter Classic will be held on January 1, 2018 at Citi Field in Flushing, New York, with the New York Rangers playing the Buffalo Sabres. The Stadium Series will be held on March 3, 2018 at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, featuring two of last seasons playoff teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals. This year's All Star Game will take place on January 28th at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
We got some other new changes coming around the league this year as well. Detroit will now move from the Joe to its new home in the Little Caesars Arena, while the expansion Vegas Golden Knights will be playing home games at T-Mobile Arena. Washington (Capital One Arena) and Winnipeg (Bell MTS Place) will be playing in the same arenas, just with different names. We also have some new coaches taking over around the league. Vegas gets a brand spanking new coach in Gerard Gallant. They aren't the only team. Vancouver (Travis Green), Los Angeles (John Stevens), Florida (Bob Boughner), Dallas (Ken Hitchcock), Buffalo (Phil Housley) and Arizona (Rick Tocchet) all have brand new bench bosses for this season.
Enough with the fluff, lets get right into it. Here's how I see the 2017-18 National Hockey League Season going down!
Western Conference
Central Division:
1. Dallas Stars (105 Points)*
Last season was one that the Dallas Stars would like to forget. Goaltending was inconsistent and they badly missed the playoffs. In fact, the only team that had a worse record in the Central Division was the Colorado Avalanche. Antti Niemi, Patrick Sharp and Ales Hemsky have all left town for other teams, but there still plenty of talent on this hockey club. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza are expected to carry the offensive load, which they have no problem doing. They will get help in the goal department from newly signed Alex Radulov and Martin Hanzal. Taking a lot of pressure off this team will be Ben Bishop, who was acquired from Tampa last season. He solidifies a position that was a big hole in Big D last season. Now with Bishop and Kari Lehtonen patroling the pipes, along with a solid blueline core in front of them (lead by John Klingberg), look for Dallas to climb right back to the top again this season in the Central.
2. Nashville Predators (104 Points)*
After coming off the deepest playoff run in the history of the club, Nashville is set up for another strong season again this year. A march all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals has got to make this hockey team hungry for more this year. And who's to say they can't possibly make it again, they've got a very good hockey club. They did trade Colin Wilson to Colorado for a draft pick, but they were able to sign Nick Bonino and Scott Hartnell. They join an already solid offense, powered by Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson, and Ryan Johansen, among others. Plus with a loaded blue line with P.K Subban Ryan Elis, Roma Josi, and Mattias Ekholm as your top four, that's a pretty good defense unit. It also doesn't hurt when you have one of the best netminders in all of the game in Pekka Rinne as your number one goalie. If anybody watched the playoffs last year, you know how loud that Bridgestone Arena can get. This year it will be on full display as the Predators will be back in another playoff run.
3. Chicago Blackhawks (99 Points)*
Its been a bit of an interesting offseason for the Hawks this year. After finishing the year last year with not only the best record in the division, but the top overall record in all of the Western Conference, the Hawks were rudely knocked out of the first round in a four game sweep at the hands of Nashville. Since then, Chicago seems to have taken a few steps backwards. Marian Hossa will miss the entire season due to a progressive skin disorder and will undergo treatment. Also the Hawks traded Artemi Panarin to the Jackets for Brandon Saad, Niklas Hjalmarsson to the Coyotes for Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin. Finally the Hawks traded Marcus Krüger to Vegas for future considerations. Chicago still has a balanced offense thanks to Patrick Kane, Jonathan Towes, Patrick Sharp and Richard Panik. Some do wonder how well Kane is going to play without Panarin around. Chicago still has a soldi back end with Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith leading the defense in front of Corey Crawford. Chicago still has a good enough team to make the playoffs, but it won't be good enough for a deep run.
4. Minnesota Wild (97 Points)(WC)
There's a lot of talent on this good young hockey club in Minnesota. They finished three points back of the Hawks for the best record in the division a season ago. A big reason for that was Devan Dubnyk playing out of his head, winning 40 games for the Wild. He' have another very good year this. Minnesota did pull off a big trade this summer, sending Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella to Buffalo for Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno. There is a slight dip in talent level, but the change of scenery could be good for all four players involved in the trade. They laso lost Christian Folin, and Martin Hanzal to free agency and Erik Haula was taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. Still with that being said, this Wild team has plenty of talent to be back in the playoffs once again. There's a lot of talent on this Minnesota hockey club. Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Chris Stewart, Jason Zucker, Eric Staal, Nino Niederreiter all who are expected to help lead this heavy offensive attack. Then you have guys like Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter leading things from the back end, its quite clear that there's more then enough offensive talent here to make it to the playoffs. But because this division is going to be a really tough place to play this season, Minnesota won't get as high as they did last season. It will be a playoff appearance, sure. There's plenty of talent there to make this team get into the playoffs, but I'm not sure the mental toughness is there for a deep run.
5 . St Louis Blues (94 Points)
There's still quite a bit of talent on this team that Mike Yeo has to work with as head coach. One of the notable moves that the Blues made was sending Jori Lehtera and draft picks to the Flyers for Brayden Schenn. St Louis also added a little bit of depth by adding Chris Thorburn at the start of free agency. Vladimir Tarasenko still leads the offensive charge, along with Alexander Steen, and Paul Stastny leading the charge. Alex Pietrangelo, Carl Gunnarsson, and Carl Gunnarsson are going to be counted on big time on the blue line in front of Jake Allen. What has me worried is the injury bug that's already striking the Blues. Patrik Berglund and Jay Bouwmeester are already slated to miss time. Don't get me wrong, this is a very good Blues hockey club. I just don't know if they have enough talent to really be able to hang with the heavy hitters in the Western Conference. Its good enough to be a contending team for a playoff spot, but they will come up just short this year. But knowing Mike Yeo, and his past track record, he should have no problem getting the best out of his players and have them playing above expectations.
6. Winnipeg Jets (92 Points)
This is a very good, young Jets team that could be on the rise real soon in a tough Western Conference. Winnipeg did a good job solidifying its goaltending by bringing Steve Mason in as a backup to Connor Hellebuyck. The guys in the nets are going to be a big question to keep the Jets in the postseason. In front of the goalies, Dmitry Kulikov was added to help out guys like Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Meyers and Jacob Truba. There's plenty of talent up front for Winnipeg, lead by Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler and some guy named Patrik Laine, who's kinda good. This team had five guys score over twenty goals a season ago, so its clear the offensive talent is evident in this team. Only thing stopping it is the back end and how it can hold up in a tough conference.
7. Colorado Avalanche (70 Points)
This is still a young team in a rebuild mode. They have plenty of young talent in the form of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Matt Duchene. They've got talent around them up front in Colin Wilson and Nail Yakupov. On the back end Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson lead the budding last line of defense. On paper, the goaltending tandom of newly aquired Jonathan Bernier and veteran Semyon Varlamov are going to be alrighty. Varly has looked shaky the past season or two, so maybe having Bernier in as a backup could help get him back on track where he belongs. But lets face facts, Colorado was the worst team in the NHL last season, even with all that talent. They didn't do much of anything in the offseason to improve this hockey club. So what has to happen is this team needs to improve from within if they really want to try and make a jump back into relevance in the Western Conference.
Pacific Division:
1. Anaheim Duclks (104 Points)*
For the past five seasons now, the Ducks have held the Pacific Division crown as their own, something they do again this season, but by the skin of their teeth. The mark of a good team is being able to overcome, and Anaheim will have to do that at the start of the year. Injuries to Ryan Kesler, Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm could slow them down early, but they will be a contender in the end. And why not, the Ducks have a very good hockey club. Lets start from the back end out, they brought in Reto Berra and Ryan Miller to help out with john Gibson and sure up the goaltending. The only thing that remotly has me worried about Anaheim staying on top is their age. All of their big stars, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Antoine Vermette ,Andrew Cogliano, Francois Beauchemin, they're all in their mid 30's, which is why they will hang on by the skin of their teeth to the division crown. They have good young talent in Cam Fowler on the bqack end, but for my liking at least, there isn't enough youth up front yet that can replace that aging superstar talent. Still, with that being said, Anaheim is a very good hockey club and they will once again, for one more year at least, rule the Pacific Division.
2. Edmonton Oilers (103 Points)*
A season ago was the real coming out party for this young, rebuilt Oilers team. Conor McDavid took over the league, winning the Hart Trophy and becoming the only 100 point scorer in the league last season. There was a change in a couple of pieces for the Oilers this year, Jordan Eberle was sent to the Islanders in exchange for a good young talent in Ryan Strome. Andrew Ference called it a career and retired. But they also locked up a lot of their young, core talent, to long term contracts. McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Kris Russell, Zack Kassian all were given nice extensions to keep the core group of this team together. Cam Talbot has settled in as the number one man in Edmonton and has a lot of talent playing in front of him. Draisaitl and Adam Larsson lead the defensive charge for Edmonton, and McDavic has plenty of help on the offensive side of things. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Zack Kassian, Milan Lucic. There's a lot of talent on this hockey club and they have what it takes to possibly take that next step, which would be huge for this young team. But the big question is, once they make the playoffs, can they make it past the 2nd round?
3. Calgary Flames (100 Points)*
This could be a very good year for the battle of Alberta in 2018. Calgary has a shot at really pushing the Oilers to the limit this season. they did some rebuilding, losing Deryk Engelland, Lance Bouma, Brian Elliott all gone vqia free agency. There are a few new pieces that have been brought on board though. They traded for Travis Hamonic from the Islanders, got Eddie Lack from Carolina which are both nice additions to really bolster this hockey team. Oh and they added some guy named Mike Smith in net, and when he's on his game, he's kinda good. He did win 38 games for the Coyotes, but that was five years ago. Still, Smith has plenty left in the tank. This Calgary team has a solid defense, led by Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton, and it's among the league’s best. Calgary has plenty of hot young offensive talent to go along with that solid blueline. Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Bennett, Mikael Backlund, and Michael Frolik leading the young group, will help take the Flames to the next level. General Manager Brad Treliving has done a great job over the last three years building this team up to making them serious contenders in the Western Conference.
4. Los Angeles Kings (95 Points)(WC)
Los Angeles is coming off missing the playoffs a season ago by eight points. This year will be a bit of a bounce back year for the Black and Silver. Yes, Los Angeles is one of the older teams in the league, but they still have enough talent in the tank to get it done and get into the playoffs. One of the biggest reasons why they are always a threat to make the playoffs is their goalie, Jonathan Quick. Quick got hurt on opening night and missed most of the year, this coming a season after winning 40 games. Expect him to have a bounce back year this year in the Kings nets. Michael Cammalleri was brought back to fill up the opposing nets, helping add to an already veteran laiden lineup that also features Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik. They have a small young core on this team that features Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin, Tanner Pearson, and Drew Doughty. This team has a ton of experience and will be a tough team to beat. They are going to be a good team to go up against but with how loaded the rest of the West is, the best that this Kings team is going to be able to do is a Wild Card spot. Its been a weird feeling for the Kings, having missed the playoffs two of the last three years. This year they get right back into it.
5. Arizona Coyotes (94 Points)
This is a team that could be really good in the future. They did lose Radim Vrbata, Chad Johnson and Peter Holland. However, the Coyotes managed to pull off some pretty swift deals over the summer to improve their team. They snagged Niklas Hjalmarsson from the Hawks as well as Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta from the Rangers. This to go along with some of the outstanding young talent that's on this team. Dylan Strome and Clayton Keller are nice additions in their rookie seasons, and they will vastly help improve a team loaded with talent like Anthony Duclair, Max Domi, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Louis Domingue patroling the crease. It will be a little different watching the Coyotes play without Shane Doan in the lineup, as he has retired since the end of last year. He was the last connection to the old Winnipeg Jets. Because of the youth movement in the Desert, it could be a little while before they are a serious threat in the West. With the way things are looking right now, Arizona could be a solid team within the next couple of seasons.
6. San Jose Sharks (89 Points)
This is going to be a drastic drop off for a team that went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals two years ago and finished 3rd in the division last season. Patrick Marleau, the teams all time leader in most major offensive catagories, is gone, having signed with the Leafs over the summer. Otherwise the Sharks were kind of quiet in the open market this summer. They did lock up some young talent, signing Martin Jones and Marc-Edouard Vlasic to long term contracts. San Jose has some good young talent with guys like Mikkel Boedker, Logan Couture, Joonas Donskoi and Tomas Hertl. At the same time the older core of players like BRent Burns, Joe Thornton Paul Martin and Joe Pavelski aren't getting any younger. I think the prime years out in San Jose, at least for the time being, may have past them bye.
7. Vancouver Canucks (79 Points)
This team has some pieces to work with in the coming years. Erik Gudbranson and Christopher Tanev lead a relatively young blueline. The elder statesman on that defense is Alexander Edler, who's only 31. They have to defense a young goalie tandom, now that Ryan Miller is out in Anaheim. Jacob Markstrom and Anders Nilsson to handle the load in the nets on Canada's West Coast. They do have some young talent up front in the likes of Bo Horvat, Sam Ganger and Brandon Sutter. But some of their better talents are starting to get a little long in the tooth. Loui Eriksson, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Thomas Vanek are all in their 30's. There is a solid mix of talent in the Canucks lineup, but I'm not sure its really going to work out very well.
8. Vegas Golden Knights (67 Points)
It's been a long time since we've seen expansion in the NHL. There will be some growing pains with this Vegas, as there is with any expansion team. But the first year will be a solid test run to see how well the city of Las Vegas can work with hockey. As far as the on ice product, there's a decent mix of veteran and young guns. Marc-Andre Fleury, Jason Garrison, James Neal, and Deryk Engelland lead the veteran group, at least out of the ones who are healthy enough to play. Then, there's the young talent in Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, there's a lot going on in Vegas. The team was built from he ground up and its going to be tough for other teams to scout, which will make things interesting for this season. If nothing else, the Golden Knights should be fun to watch.
Eastern Conference:
Atlantic Division
1. Tampa Bay Lightning (100 Points)*
It was a disappointing year for the boys from Tampa last year. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Injury took a toll on the team including team captain Steven Stamkos playing only 17 games. But there were some bright spots for the Bolts. Victopr Hedman had a big year, as did Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Now Vasilesvskiy is the top man in the Tampa nets this year, and he's good enough to be able to take it and run with it. To bolster the lineup they added some big names with Dan Girardi and Chris Kunitz. They still very good, with talent like Ondrej Palat Tyler Johnson, Stamkos, JT Brown. They've got a nice mix of veteran and young talent. They can roll four lines and have a very balanced attack. That was a beautiful move by General Manager Steve Yzerman. he could have sold off a lot of talent and try to rebuild the team. Instead he kept the team together and added a little more grit to the lineup. Tampa is going to be another big threat in the East this season.
2. Montreal Canadiens (98 Points)*
After a fantastic year and winning the division a season ago, Montreal was quickly dispatched in the playoffs. They are looking to try and make a little noise again this year. They still have one of the very best in the game in Carey Price, who will still be at the top of his game again this season. He has Al Montoya still tending with him, but Price will get the bulk of the workload once again. Alexander Radulov and Andrei Markov are both gone, being replaced with Jonathan Drouin and Karl Alzner. They have Shea Weber, a returning Mark Streit, David Schlemko among others to take control of the blueline. They are solid but could be a weak spot. Scoring won't be much of a problem in Montreal. Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, Paul Byron, Andrew Shaw and Alex Galchenyuk lead a young attack. They have a good mix and could make some noise in this division. They could take a step back this year with the resurgence of Tampa and the charging of Toronto, but the Habs should still be in very good shape this year.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs (97 Points)*
This team is going to be good, very good. And for a long time at that. Expect a big year from Auston Matthews, who some are expecting a slump in his sophomore year, but I can't see that happening. He's going to almost do with the Leafs what McDavid has done in Edmonton, that's how good this kid can be. He's got a good mix of talent up front with him. Matthews has fellow young guns William Nylander, Mitchell Marner, and Mitchell Marner to go along with veteran talent like James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and newly signed Patrick Marleau. Signing a guy like Marleau uis a tad bit of a head scratcher only because of his age.He's 38 years old so who knows how productive he's going to be. Maybe this is the year he's trying to prove he still got something left in the tank and wanted to play on a competative team. He found one in this young Leafs team.
4. Ottawa Senators (95 Points)(WC)
Ottawa seems to be in a real good place right about now. Most of the core of this team is back in tact from a season ago, a year in which Ottawa not only finished 2nd in the division but made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, falling just one win short against the Penguins. The only real major change was adding more toughness to the team by bringing in Nate Thompson from the Ducks, otherwise the core group is still in tact. Captain Erik Karlsson is going to miss a little time at the start of the year with injury, coming off offseason surgery. He should be good to go by about Halloween. The big thing that could be a distraction for him. He also is due for a new contract at the end of the season so that could be a possible distraction. Craig Anderson is expected to have another solid year in net, and the hero against the Rangers in last years playoffs, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, will be counted on to provide more heroics as the season wears on. The reason I feel the Sens are going to take a step back this year is because they didn't really do anything to try and improve on the success of a season ago, which may end up hurting them. They get into the playoffs again, but they won't go very far.
5. Boston Bruins (94 Points)
Boston coming off a year last year in which they made the playoffs and are hoping to try and build off of it. The one thing that I give credit to GM Don Sweeny for is staying the course. Boston didn't really lose anybody to free agency, they also didn't really sign anybody either, sticking with the roster pretty much as it is. Anton Khudobin and Tuukka Rask are going to have good years in net again for Boston. Zedeno Chara has hit 40 and who knows how much he really has left in the tank to really be able to contribute. He has a good young defense partner to work with in 19 year old Charlie McAvoy, who's expected for great things in Boston. There's others on this blueline who can contribute, guys like Adam McQuaid and, when he gets healthy, Torey Krug. They have plenty of firepower to work with in Boston in Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, and Brad Marchand. Boston has plenty of scoring punch to help get the job done. They bot back Pastrnak on a nice extension, but that's about all Boston really did. Based on how good the rest of the division is, the Bruins are goona fall short of reaching the post season.
6. Buffalo Sabres (90 Points)
There will be vast improvements made in Western New York this season, as the Sabres are going to be on their way up from what happened last year. No team shook things up more in the offseason than the Sabres, who replaced general manager Tim Murray with two-time Stanley Cup winner Jason Botterill, and head coach Dan Bylsma with former Nashville Predators assistant and former Sabre Phil Housley. But that was just the beginning. They locked up Jack Eichel to a long term contract right before the start of the season. They traded Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno for Marco Scandella and Jason Pominville. They lost Anders Nilsson to Vancouver, but brought back Chad Johnson, who will split time in the nets with Robin Lehner. They also added a little depth by bringing in Benoit Pouliot. There's plenty of talent surrounding Eichel on this team. Matt Moulson and Kyle Okposo will be expected to provide plenty of veteran leadership for young talent like Ryan O'Reilly, Sam Reinhart, and Zemgus Girgensons just to name a few. This Buffalo team could be good down the road, but this year it won't click to be a playoff team.
7. Florida Panthers (85 Points)
As much as I hate to say this, the Panthers have taken a major step backwards this offseason. Roberto Luongo and James Reimer are going to be solid in those nets down in Sunrise. They've got some young talent to work with in the form of Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Huberdeau, Alex Barkov, Aaron Ekblad. A season of messy moves set the Panthers back big time, but with Dale Tallon again in charge, the ship seems to be turned around. Rough seas could still be ahead, however, especially if the health of star D-man Aaron Ekblad comes into question. They lost a lot of talent from last year due to the expansion draft and some bad dealings by upper management. Hope things do turn around in the Sunshine State.
8. Detroit Red Wings (84 Points)
After making a long run at the post season for the long stretch they did, it looks like the era of missing the playoffs may have begun. Detroit is opening a new building in Little Caesars Arena. Goaltending with Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek will be solid once again. Mike Green brings a steady presence to the blue line to go along with guys like Danny DeKeyser and Jonathan Ericsson. Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, and Riley Sheahan lead a young forward group that still has a nice mix of veterans like Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen and Tomas Tatar. There is a bit of a notable difference in the Motor City. There was a time when unrestricted free agents wanted nothing more than to be part of one of the NHL's most storied franchises. Those days are over. Even the most ardent Red Wings fans seem to understand that Detroit is no longer one of players' top destinations.
Metropolitan Division
1. Pittsburgh Penguins (108 Points)*
There's a reason why this club has managed to win back to back Stanley Cups. There hasn't been a team to be able to win three cups in a row since the Islanders of the early 80s. But its going to be an interesting year in the Steel City. They've lost Marc-Andre Fleury, Trevor Daly, Mark Streit, Ron Hainsey, Matt Cullen, Nick Bonino and Chris Kunitz all to free agency (Fleury was taken in the expansion draft). Antti Niemi was brought in to bacakup Matt Murray, who has the starting job all to himself. There still plenty of talent on this hockey club. On the blueline you got Olli Matta, Kris Letang (if he can stay healthy), and Justin Schultz leading the pack. Up front, you got Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, and Conor Sheary lead a young group that can still mesh well with veterans like Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin and of course, the best player in the world, Sidney Crosby. They still very talented and are going to be the top team in the division once again.
2. Columbus Blue Jackets (105 Points)*
Something special happened a year ago in Columbus. Running off 16 straight wins last season helped them gain something they really needed. They became believers in themselves and coach John Tortorella. Those good vibes were doused in a five-game loss to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, but if certain players can build off breakout seasons, the Jackets will be back challenging the Pittsburgh Penguins for the top seed in the East. They got better by adding a guy like Artemi Panarin from Chicago. They have the best goalie in the league in Sergei Bobrovsky. Defend that crease would be talent like Seth Jones, and Zach Werenski. Boone Jenner (when he gets healthy) will help lead the offensive charge along with the Bread Man, Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Brandon Dubinsky, and others. This Blue Jackets team is yong and hungary and they have a good balance of youth and skill and they can make a lot of noise in the East this year. But what I really want to know is can this young group get it done not only in the regular season, but when it really matters most in the playoffs.
3. Washington Capitals (100 Points)*
For the past two seasons, the Washington Capitals have finished as the President's Trophy winners with the best record in the league. This past summer, Washington has taken quite a hit. They lost Kevin Shattenkirk, Karl Alzner and Justin Williams to free agency. Then Marcus Johansson gets traded to the Devils to clear up cap space in Washington, almost out of necessity because of the contract extension signings for Andre Burakovsky, T.J. Oshie, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. They wanted to lock up the core for a while now to go along with Alex Ovechkin. They have the goaltending with Braden Holtby holding the fort down. The blueline, which is lead by Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov, and Brooks Orpik, are going with a bunch of unprovens behind them. It leaves something to be desired. Ovechkin, Backstrom and Oshie can lead the scoring charge, along with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky. The one thing that sticks out though, is that the depth doesn't seem like its really there in Washngton like it had been in years past. Washington is a playoff team no doubt, but they seem like they're going to take a step backwards.
4. Carolina Hurricanes (95 Points)(WC)
Talk about the surprise in the division, you got it in the Carolina Hurricanes. First, they pick up Scott Darling at the draft from Chicago, then lock him into a nice contract. By having Darling play in the nets with Cam Ward, it makes Carolina solidified in net, something they have really needed. They got a solid blueline, which is lead by new captain Justin Faulk, who is a good all around defender. Joining Faulk on the blueline will be Noah Hanifin, Jaccob Slavin and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Its a young blueline core that could take a little time to mature, but they maybe to gel and make something happen. Carolina has something going on offense as well. With Jordan Staal leading the charge, he joined by a returning Justin Williams, Sebastian Aho, Jeff Skinner, Elias Lindholm, and Marcus Kruger. This team has enough talent to surprise a few people and sneak into the playoffs.
5. New York Rangers (94 Points)
Over the last eleven or so seasons, the New York Rangers have been a model of consistency. They have only missed the playoffs once since the 2005-06 season. This maybe a step back for the Blueshirts this year. They traded Stepan and Raanta to Arizona, and they lost Dan Girardi to free agency. They bring in Kevin Shattenkirk, Ondrej Pavelec, and David Desharnais to try and help improve this team. There's plenty of talent on this Rangers hockey club. It starts in net with Henrik Lundqvist. Joining Shattenkirk on the blue line are Captain Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, and Brady Skjei. They can get plenty of scoring from Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider. Rick Nash could still be effective, as can young guns Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich. There's plenty of scoring talent that on this hockey club, there's no doubt about it. The onlyt thing is, I just don't know how well the defense and goaltending are going to hold up. Hank is getting older and his numbers have gotten a little inflated the last couple of seasons. If they want any shot at making the playoffs this year, Hank needs to be great.
6. New York Islanders (92 Points)
The Islanders just missed out on the post season last year, coming ever so close to making it back into springtime hockey. Now they are going to look to get back there. They made a splash this summer, trading Travis Hamonic to the Calgary Flames for draft picks, then sent Ryan Strome to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Jordan Eberle. That was really about it. Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of talent on this team. Thomas Greiss and Jaroslav Halak are holding it down in net. Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuck are asked to lead a defense that is very young, with guys like Calvin de Haan, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock. John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Anders Lee and Brock Nelson are getting plenty of support from young guys like Josh Ho-Sang, Anthony Beauvillier, and Mathew Barzal. There's just a lot of question marks on this team, and I really don't think there's enough talent here to get them into the playoffs. Oh, and this is a contract year for John Tavares. If they don't do something to try and really improve this team and get more talent around him, I wouldn't be surprised if he walks at the end of the year.
7. Philadelphia Flyers (89 Points)
There have been a few changes made to this Flyers team over the summer. They traded away Brayden Schenn to the Blues for Jori Lehtera. They drafted Nolan Patrick 2nd overall and brought in Brian Elliott to split time with Michal Neuvirth. Philly has a good mix of talent on this team. Shayne Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov, and Nolan Patrick to go along with veterans like Valtteri Filppula, Claude Giroux, Wayne Sommonds, Jakub Voracek and Dale Weise. It has a good mix in Philly to be good for a long time, but just not this year. The Flyers simply don't have enough reliable forwards, defensemen and goaltenders to make a serious run this season, but they are certainly headed in the right direction.
8. New Jersey Devils (88 Points)
General Manager Ray Shero has a tough task at hand in New Jersey. After finishing with the worst record in the East a season ago, the Devils have nowhere to go but up. How high they can go and how long it will take them could depend on a gifted 18-year-old Swiss forward who fortuitously fell into their laps. By winning the draft lottery and taking Nico Hischier with the first pick in June, the Devils took their first step toward respectability. I just kind of feel bad for goalie Cory Schneider, because he really has played his best hcokey in Jersey, but they haven't really been able to do much for him. They do have a bright future in Jersey with this team, but it hasn't quite fully arrived just yet!
(All predictions made before the start of the season)
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