Last night, on the latest Blackhawks Rinkcast, we teased predictions for this upcoming season. Now is a great time to give a more robust set of NHL predictions, from the staff.
Check out what these The-Rink writers expect to see in the NHL for this upcoming season.
Eric Andrews:
Stanley Cup: San Jose Sharks
Western Conference: San Jose Sharks
Eastern Conference: Tampa Bay Lightning
Conn Smythe: Brent Burns
Last Place: Ottawa Senators
Awards:
Hart – Connor McDavid
Art Ross – Connor McDavid
Rocket Richard – Patrik Laine
Norris – Erik Karlsson
Vezina – Andrei Vasilevskiy
Calder – Elias Pettersson
Jack Adams – Phil Housley
Biggest Surprise Team – Arizona Coyotes
Biggest Disappointing Team – Boston Bruins
Breakout Player – Ty Rattie
Disappointing Player – John Tavares – He will be good, just not MVP level how some think.
Central Division predictions:
WPG
NSH
STL
DAL
COL
MIN
CHI
Blackhawks player to watch: Dominik Kahun. I really liked what I saw when making the highlight video of him this summer and think he has brought good effort and energy to the top line with Toews and DeBrincat.
Mario Tirabassi:
Western Conference Champ – Winnipeg Jets
Eastern Conference Champ – Toronto Maple Leafs
Stanley Cup Champion – Toronto Maple Leafs
Conn Smythe Winner – Auston Matthews
Last-Place Team – Ottawa Senators
Awards
Hart – Connor McDavid
Art Ross – Connor McDavid
Rocket Richard – Patrik Laine
Norris – PK Subban
Vezina – Connor Hellebuyck
Calder – Casey Mittelstadt
Jack Adams – Phil Housley
Biggest Surprise Team – Buffalo Sabres
Biggest Disappointing Team – LA Kings
Breakout Player – Brock Boeser
Disappointing Player – Marc-Andre Fleury
1st Coach Fired – Guy Boucher
GM Fired – Pierre Dorion
Over/Under
Vegas Golden Knights Points (93.5): Over
Connor McDavid Points (109.5): Under
Rocket Richard winner goals (50.5): Over
Fortnite-related controversies (5.5): Over, there’s already 1 on the board
Ron Luce:
Western Conference Champions – Winnipeg Jets
Eastern Conference Champions – Tampa Bay Lightning
Stanley Cup Champion – Winnipeg Jets
Conn Smythe Winner – Mark Scheifele
Last-Place Team – Ottawa Senators
AWARDS:
Hart – John Tavares
Art Ross – Connor McDavid
Rocket Richard – Alex Ovechkin
Norris – Alex Pietrangelo
Vezina – Connor Hellebuyck
Calder – Elias Petterson
Jack Adams – Bob Boughner
Biggest Surprise Team – Florida Panthers
Biggest Disappointing Team – San Jose Sharks
Breakout Player – Auston Matthews
Disappointing Player – Pekka Rinne
1st Coach Fired – Guy Boucher
GM Fired – Pierre Dorion
Over/Under:
Florida Panthers Points (94.5): Over
Connor McDavid Points (109.5): Under
Rocket Richard Winner goals (50.5): Over
Fortnite-related controversies (5.5): Under
Jeff Osborn:
Stanley Cup – Tampa Bay Lightning
Western Conference – Winnipeg Jets
Eastern Conference – Tampa Bay Lightning
Conn Smythe – Victor Hedman
Last Place – Ottawa Senators
Awards:
Hart – Connor McDavid
Art Ross – Connor McDavid
Rocket Richard – Patrick Laine
Norris – Victor Hedman
Vezina – Andrei Vasilevskiy
Calder – Rasmus Dahlin
Jack Adams – John Cooper
Biggest Surprise Team – Buffalo Sabres
Biggest Disappointing Team – Minnesota Wild
Breakout Player – Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Disappointing Player – Cam Talbot/Devan Dubnyk
Central Division predictions:
Winnipeg Jets
Nashville Predators
Dallas Stars
St. Louis Blues
Colorado Avalanche
Chicago Blackhawks
Minnesota Wild
Blackhawks player to watch: Even though he did not make the team, I have a feeling Victor Ejdsell will finally break through and become a useful NHL player. Also, Collin Delia continues to push forward.
Marc-Louis Paprzyca
Western Conference Champ – San Jose Sharks
Eastern Conference Champ – Tampa Bay Lightning
Stanley Cup Champion – San Jose Sharks
Conn Smythe Winner – Joe Pavelski
Last-Place Team – Ottawa Senators
Awards
Hart – Nikita Kucherov
Art Ross – Nikita Kucherov
Rocket Richard – Alex Ovechkin
Norris – Victor Hedman
Vezina – Connor Hellebuyck
Calder – Andrei Svechnikov
Jack Adams – Phil Housley
Biggest Surprise Team – Arizona Coyotes
Biggest Disappointing Team – Dallas Stars
Breakout Player – Sam Reinhart
Disappointing Player – Marc-Andre Fleury
1st Coach Fired – Todd McLellan
GM Fired – Pierre Dorion