NHL 2014-2015 Season
Predictions
With the puck set to drop in NHL arenas, time to give my
predictions for the season. An asterisk
denotes a playoff team.
Eastern Conference
Metropolitan Division
1.)
Pittsburgh Penguins*
2.)
New York Rangers*
3.)
New York Islanders*
4.)
Columbus Blue Jackets*
5.)
Washington Capitals*
6.)
Philadelphia Flyers
7.)
New Jersey Devils
8.)
Carolina Hurricanes
Analysis: I think this is the deepest division in the
NHL. Arguments can be made for every
team except Carolina to be a playoff team.
Pittsburgh lost some pieces in the offseason, but is still the class of
the division as long as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are healthy. The Rangers had some subtractions from their
Eastern Conference championship roster as well as Brian Boyle, Anton Stralman,
and Brad Richards are no longer around, but are still very strong defensively
and still have Henrik Lundqvist. The
Islanders are much improved. Having made
the playoffs in 2012-2013, they fell off a cliff last year once John Tavares
got hurt in the Olympics. With Tavares
back, the addition of forwards Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski, Nick
Leddy and Johnny Boychuk added on the back end, and Jaroslav Halak between the
pipes, look for the Islanders to make the playoffs for the second time in three
years. Columbus is quite an
up-and-coming team with a roster with lots of promise and Scott Hartnell could
be a helpful glue guy for them.
Washington will be better as well having improved their defense bringing
in Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik from Pittsburgh and Barry Trotz was a good
hire for them. The Flyers weren’t able
to do much in the offseason due to their cap situation. Steve Mason might be their goalie for the
future but they have an average to good at best defense and will need to score
a lot of goalies to have a chance at the playoffs. Mike Cammalleri and Martin Havlat help the
Devils up front but there’s not enough offensive firepower to help Corey
Scheinder. Carolina will be cellar
dwellers without having done much to improve in the offseason and Eric Staal
and Jeff Skinner sustained injuries in the preseason.
Atlantic Division
1.)
Tampa Bay Lightning*
2.)
Boston Bruins*
3.)
Montreal Canadiens*
4.)
Toronto Maple Leafs
5.)
Detroit Red Wings
6.)
Ottawa Senators
7.)
Florida Panthers
8.)
Buffalo Sabres
Analysis: Tampa Bay will win this division with a healthy
Steven Stamkos and an improved blue line with Jason Garrison and Anton Stralman
on board. Boston won’t be far behind
though as Tuukka Rask will compete for the Vezina and Zdeno Charra is always a
threat to win the Norris. Montreal went
to the Eastern Conference Finals last year and may have won if Carey Price did
not get hurt. The Canadiens young
forwards and Price will propel them into the playoffs. Toronto and Detroit will vie for wild card
spots with the teams that aren’t in the top three in the Metropolitan but
there’s too much depth in the Metropolitan for me to see Toronto or Detroit
make the playoffs. For Detroit, this
would end of streak of over two decades of making the playoffs. Ottawa, Florida, and Buffalo will keep the
basement warm in this division.
Western Conference
Central Division
1.)
St. Louis Blues*
2.)
Chicago Blackhawks*
3.)
Colorado Avalanche*
4.)
Dallas Stars*
5.)
Nashville Predators
6.)
Minnesota Wild
7.)
Winnipeg Jets
Analysis: While I tend to lean towards the Metropolitan as
the deepest division in the NHL, the Central is also very deep. St. Louis is a very talented team that just
hasn’t been able to get it done in the playoffs. Nonetheless they’ll have another shot this
year. Chicago is always a force to be
reckoned with and Colorado, much like Columbus in the East, has an
up-and-coming roster of young talent.
Dallas is loaded offensively and while they have some question marks on
defense should be able to score enough to make the playoffs. Nashville could be the most improved team in
the West with Pekka Rinne healthy, a strong defense, and Peter Laviolette
behind the bench. Minnesota won a round
in the playoffs last year but there has to be an odd team out here. Similar to the Flyers in the Metropolitan,
Minnesota isn’t a bad team, there are just better ones in this division and
Winnipeg will be left at the bottom.
Pacific Division 1.)
Los Angeles Kings*
2.)
Anaheim Ducks*
3.)
San Jose Sharks*
4.)
Vancouver Canucks*
5.)
Edmonton Oilers
6.)
Arizona Coyotes
7.)
Calgary Flames
Analysis: The Kings aren’t going
anywhere. Anaheim and San Jose will
still be playoff teams but questions remain about Bruce Boudreau and Todd
McLellan. Vancouver should be a playoff
team with Ryan Miller solidifying their goaltending situation. Edmonton has young talent especially up front
and will be improved while the Coyotes and Flames struggle.
Awards
Hart Trophy (League MVP): Steven Stamkos- Tampa Bay
Rocket Richard Trophy (Most Goals): Steven Stamkos- Tampa
Bay
Art Ross Trophy (Most Points): John Tavares- New York
Islanders
Norris Trophy (Best Defenseman): Drew Doughty- Los Angeles
Vezina Trophy (Best Goalie): Carey Price- Montreal
Calder Trophy (Best Rookie): Jonathan Drouin- Tampa Bay
Playoffs
Metropolitan First
Round
Washington over Pittsburgh in 7
New York Rangers over New York Islanders in 6
Metropolitan Second
Round
New York Rangers over Washington in 5
Atlantic First Round
Tampa Bay over Columbus in 6
Montreal over Boston in 7
Atlantic Second Round
Tampa Bay over Montreal in 7
Eastern Conference
Finals
Tampa Bay over New York
Rangers in 6
Central First Round
St. Louis over Dallas in 6
Chicago over Colorado in 6
Central Second Round
Chicago over St. Louis in 7
Pacific First Round
Los Angeles over Vancouver in 5
Anaheim over San Jose in 7
Pacific Second Round
Los Angeles over Anaheim in 5
Western Conference Finals
Chicago over Los Angeles in 6
Stanley Cup Final
Tampa Bay over Chicago in 6
Happy Hockey Season!
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