Predict the 17-18 Standings

[Randall Flagg]

90% of the NHL rosters are 90% set for next season, so I figured now is a good time for a standings prediction thread. List them all out, or just say which teams you think jump and which ones fall back, or anything between, or nothing at all. We can predict other things at later points in the summer. 

 

Atlantic

1.) Tampa Bay (Stamkos stays healthy, revamped D with added Koekkoek)

2.) Toronto (Everyone predicting stagnation is thinking very wishfully, Matthews challenges for Art Ross and wins Rocket)

3.) Boston (Pastrnak establishes self as top 8 winger in the game, McAvoy and Carlo join Krug as a part of one of the best D corps in the division)

4.) Ottawa (solid team, another great effort from EK, probably don't recreate postseason magic)

5.) Buffalo (~90 point team, Jack takes the next step)

6.) Florida (could be anywhere from 2 to 7, I really have no idea what to expect, freaking love Barkov though)

7.) Montreal (Price is the ~12th best goalie, no defensive depth, no centers, coaching keeps them out of basement)

8.) Detroit (just terrible)

 

Metro

1.) Pittsburgh Penguins (roster takes a small step back, but Letang comes back and a full season of 59)

2.) Washington Capitals (bad offseason, still very good regular season team, 100 points instead of 115+ this time)

3.) Philadelphia Flyers (breakout seasons from Konecny and Provorov, solid contributions from the usuals and from Patrick, Gostisbehere returns to form and Gudas is actually good at defense tbh) 

4.) Carolina Hurricanes (not sure if good enough for playoffs but as we all know I kinda like this team)

5.) Columbus Blue Jackets (they're good, but not as good as last season indicates)

6.) New York Rangers (I think these guys take a step back but I see a Yankees-like shift away from throwing huge $$ at old vets and focusing more on younger players, their roster is surprisingly young, they have a good coach, and won't need to TOTALLY blow it up like I thought was all but guaranteed this time last year - they'll bounce back to a 2nd round team shortly)

7.) New Jersey Devils (better, slowly moving in the right direction. Got their Reinhart pick, need one more high one with some lotto luck to get their Eichel, and they'll be bang on our timeline)

8.) New York Islanders (total collapse, Tavares leaves and the team isnt far behind)

 

Central

1.) Winnipeg (surprise pick, not sure wtf I'm doing here but this division isn't the class of the league anymore)

2.) Nashville (huge confidence boost surges them up standings and to playoff disappointment, like 06-07 Sabres)

3.)Chicago (still solid, depth problems show down stretch and in playoffs)

4.) Dallas (better than last year, worse than 2 years ago)

5.) St. Louis (still makes playoffs, weak center depth but Fabbri becomes very good)

6.) Minnesota (ppl stop having career years all at same time, and people realize that Dumba actually isn't that good, regression from Suter)

7.) Colorado (still a freaking mess)

 

Pacific

1.) Edmonton (President's Trophy, Stanley Cup Finals appearance)

2.) Anaheim (Rakell and Silfverberg every bit as important as Perry and Kesler, almost as important as Getz, tremendous D)

3.) Calgary (Brodie-Giordano-Hamilton-Hamonic as good a top 4 as any)

4.) San Jose (stuck between mediocre and good)

5.) Arizona (~85 points, Dvorak is sweet, solid top 4 D)

6.) LA (ugly ugly roster)

7.) Vegas (bottom 3 finish in NHL)

8.) Vancouver (finish a point below Vegas, finally get that high pick their fans want and Benning is desperate to trade away)

Here are some copy paste formats:

 

Atlantic

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

 

Metro

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

 

Central

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

 

Pacific

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

 

Or 

 

East

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

 

West

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

 

Or just do the playoff teams:

East

Atlantic

1.

2.

3.

Metro

1.

2.

3.

Wild Card

1. 

2.

 

West

Pacific

1.

2.

3.

Central

1.

2.

3.

Wild Card

1.

2.

 

Or just do the bottom 5 teams in the league:

 

Losers

31.

30.

29.

28.

27.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Randall Flagg

[Thorny]

^ So, does Buffalo make it, or not? DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING!

[Randall Flagg]

^ So, does Buffalo make it, or not? DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING!

I was going to put (WC) next to teams but I couldn't pick out of those 4-5 slots in each division in the East :P

Edited July 12, 2017 by Randall Flagg

[Thorny]

Or 

 

 

 

I was going to put (WC) next to teams but I couldn't pick out of those 4-5 slots in each division in the East :P

Fair enough.

 

Also, the Jets aren't winning the division. No goaltentending or D. Also, I'd never live it down, here.

[Thorny]

Atlantic

1. Tampa Bay (Stamkos, Point, Kuch, Hedman)

2. Montreal (Price)

3. Buffalo (80 games from Jack)

4. Toronto (Good season, but Sabres own the head-to-head, WC 1)

5. Ottawa

6. Boston

7. Florida

8. Detroit (sucks, and management delusional)

 

Metro

1. Columbus (They aren't even THAT good, but Pens don't care about Reg. Season, and Caps finally start feeling that way, too.)

2. Pittsburgh

3. Washington

4. Philadelphia (WC 2)

5. Carolina

6. Rangers

7. Islanders

8. Devils

 

Central

1. Nashville

2. Minnesota

3. Chicago (regression begins)

4. St. Louis. (WC 1)

5. Winnipeg (Gary Lawless is gone to Vegas, should remove some dead weight, WC 2)

6. Dallas

7. Colorado (nice jerseys, tho)

 

Pacific

1. Edmonton (Easily)

2. Calgary

3. Anaheim

4. San Jose (I didn't want to list anyone here, West is severely regressing)

5. LA

6. Arizona

7. Vancouver

8. Vegas

 

*Seriously, the West is pretty terrible outside Edmonton, Calgary, and Nashville. TONS of regression across the board has begun. Were the conference power for a while, East is starting a long run of dominance.

 

And McDavid is gearing up for a Lebron like run of finals appearances. The Pacific in general is a joke in terms of depth of competition.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Thorny

[MattPie]

^ So, does Buffalo make it, or not? DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING!

 

90 points == miss!

[CallawaySabres]

All I know is that people around here are going to think the Patriots hatred is nothing compared to the hatred that will be geared towards Toronto when they win (and win a lot). God save us all if (when) Buffalo plays their first playoff series against them. 

[Thorny]

All I know is that people around here are going to think the Patriots hatred is nothing compared to the hatred that will be geared towards Toronto when they win (and win a lot). God save us all if (when) Buffalo plays their first playoff series against them.

 

The difference being that at least on paper, we are set to match up very reasonably against the Leafs. The real angst enters the fray when there is a huge talent discrepancy. See: TB12.

[LGR4GM]

I think the rangers miss the playoffs and I think Montreal does.

[thewookie1]

Atlantic

1. Tampa Bay (Bounce back)

2. Ottawa (Continued Karlsson)

3. Buffalo (Eichel is Great!)

4. Toronto [WC2] (Injuries catch up to them after last year's incredible luck)

5. Boston (Eliminated by Toronto on the last day)

6. Montreal (Drouin folds under the media after having 3 games without a point)

7. Florida (Jagrless and Ekblad-less)

8. Detroit (Larkin + Ye ole Zetterburg) 

 

Metro

1. Pittsburgh (Crosby + Malkin = Juggernaut)

2. Washington (Cracks are showing)

3. Columbus (Solid year again)

4. NYI [WC1] (Tavares and company click)

5. Carolina (Great Defense, underwhelming offensive firepower)

6. Philly (Close but no cigar)

7. NYR (Injuries and age really starts to show)

8. New Jersey (Hey maybe this time you might actually deserve a Top 3 pick)

 

Central

1. Blackhawks (Depth is frightening though)

2. Predators (Defense is good, scary good)

3. Stars (Upgrades everywhere)

4. Wild [WC1] (Solid season)

5. Jets (Looking better but something seems to hold them back)

6. Blues (Fell off a cliff after Allen sustains a groin injury)

7. Avalanche (Embarrassment to hockey, oh and Duchene is still there) 

 

Pacific

1. Ducks (Holding on for dear life)

2. Oilers (Biting at their heels)

3. Flames (Burning the midnight oil)

4. Sharks [WC2] (Old but still kicking)

5. Coyotes (Better)

6. Kings (Scoring, what is this you speak of?)

7. Golden Knights  (We are the Knights that say Ne!)

8. Canucks (We are the whales that have no idea what we are doing)

 

 

East

Atlantic

1. TB

2. OTT

3. BUF

Metro

1. PIT

2. WSH

3. CLB

Wild Card

1. NYI

2. TOR

 

West

Pacific

1. ANA

2. EDM

3. CGY

Central

1. CHI

2. NSH

3. DAL

Wild Card

1. MIN

2. SJS

 

 

Playoffs

Round 1:

NYI vs TB in 7  (Close series)

BUF vs OTT in 6  (We are unnaturally good against them)

TOR vs PIT in 5 (Matthews shows up, his team forgets to come with him)

WSH vs CLB in 6  (WSH likes the 2nd Round)

 

SJS vs ANA  in 4 (it just wasn't fair)

EDM vs CGY  in 7 (Epic series, McDavid is good)

CHI vs MIN in 7 (Boudreau can't win)

DAL vs NSH in 6 (See saw breaks in NSH's favor)

 

 

Round 2:

NYI vs BUF in 7 (Eichel > Tavares is proven)

WSH vs PIT in 5 (Why does Washington try anyway.....)

 

ANA vs EDM in 6 (Kesler likes laying on Talbot still)

CHI vs NSH in 7 (Kane is heartbroken)

 

Round 3:

BUF vs PIT in 6 (Buffalo bloodies the Pens but loses in OT)

 

ANA vs NSH in 7 (NSH wants a rematch and refuses to take no for an answer)

 

Finals:

PIT vs NSH in 7 (NSH wins their 1st Stanley Cup)

Edited July 13, 2017 by thewookie1

[pi2000]

FLA makes the playoffs.

[SabresFanInRochester]

Atlantic

1.) Tampa Bay* (Balanced team with strong goalie)

2.) Toronto* (Defense still needs to improve, and goaltending will be unreliable, but offense will light it up)

3.) Buffalo* (Defense improves dramatically, goaltending hurts them this year)

4.) Ottawa* (Anderson comes back to Earth; if Karlsson gets injured for any significant time, they finish in the NHL bottom 10)

5.) Montreal (Price will pull out a monster season)

6.) Boston (Will start slow, and never recover... just hover at .500 hockey)

7.) Florida (Team will struggle to score, and analytics critics will feast on them)

8.) Detroit (Too much key roster turnover in past few years)

 

Metro

1.) Pittsburgh* (As much as I hate it, their goalie and defense will shut down opponents, and Crosby and Malkin will lead their lines to win close games)

2.) Washington* (A lot of scoring, but defense will be exploited; goalie will bail out a little)

3.) Columbus* (Good goalie; team has a lot of confidence under Torts, but this will be their swan song.)

4.) NY Rangers* (Lundqvist posts pedestrian numbers, but the offense does enough to claim the final wildcard spot)

5.) Philadelphia (Reminds me of a team that needed to rebuild but tried to hang on for too long)

6.) Carolina (Went through a rebuild the past few years, but without superstars filling in the holes)

7.) New Jersey (NJ has the stigma of boring hockey... for a good reason)

8.) NY Islanders (This team will be at the bottom 5 with Vegas, Colorado, Vancouver, and Detroit)

 

Central

1.) Nashville* (Will continue to thrive based on fast team defense)

2.) Dallas* (Will be my most-improved team, along with the Sabres, based mostly on bringing in a new coach with fresh blood)

3.) Minnesota* (Team is built with the new model of offensive D)

4.) St. Louis* (Offense will keep them in games)

5.) Chicago (Their roster will see a major shake-up after a season that reflects their 2017 first-round playoff exit)

6.) Winnipeg (Great fan base, but that doesn't win games)

7.) Colorado (Will be in the final 3 worst teams)

 

Pacific

1.) Anaheim* (Team defense... common theme throughout my rankings)

2.) Edmonton* (Goalie will not be as strong this year)

3.) Calgary*

4.) San Jose*

5.) Arizona (Improving but lacking superstar depth)

6.) LA (Rebuilding)

7.) Vancouver (Worst 3)

8.) Vegas (Worst 3)

 

* playoff team