2021-22 predictions bound to go wrong

[yave1964]

DIVISION WINNERS

EAST Islanders

ATLANTIC Panthers

CENTRAL Avalanche

PACIFIC Oilers

 

STANLEY CUP FINALS Lightning in seven over the Avalanche. First threepeat since the Isles in the early eighties.

 

WILL THE KRAKEN MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? No. not even close

 

FIRST COACH FIRED Bob Boughner in San Jose.

 

HART TROPHY Conner McDavid.

 

HOW MANY POINTS WILL MCDAVID SCORE THIS YEAR? I have him pegged for 140. Wouldnt be surprised if he goes for a bit more than that including 100 assists.

 

VEZINA TROPHY Vasilevskiy. If I had to go longshot it would be Sorokin if he wrestles the net completely away from Varlamov because of the Isles defense first last and only aproach.

 

BIGGEST SURPRISES GOOD Rangers and Kings both battle for a playoff spot at least one gets in.

 

BIGGEST SURPRISES BAD Th Pens are fading, but my two biggest disappointments are the Hawks who went all in and will still miss the playoffs and the Hurricanes who a lot of people have atop the Metro, I think they are going to miss the playoffs altogether as they screwed up the teams chemistry too much.

 

HOW MANY CANADIEN TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver get in, leaving Montreal who made the SCF on the outside along with Calgary and Ottawa.

 

 WILL TORONTO MAKE IT TO THE SECOND ROUND? No. They will get bounced in the first round in four by the Lightning.

 

CALDER TROPHY Trevor Zegras wins with an outstanding season. Close behind will be Raymond and Seider from Detroit.

 

 BIGGEST NAME(S) TRADED AT OR NEAR THE DEADLINE Penguins fall out of race early and deal Letang. Same with Dallas and Pavelski/Radulov. Hertl almost certainly gone by midseason. Laine will be traded at some point. 

 

WORST UFA DECISION The Leafs keep Morgan Reilly who they cannot afford to resign, hoping for a deep run. After they are bounced quickly by Tampa he leaves signing with the Bruins.

 

LADY BING WINNER? Nobody cares.

 

HOW MANY GAMES WILL SID AND GINO PLAY? I HAVE THE KID AT 50 AND Malkin at 40. The end is nigh.

 

WHO WILL BE THE WORST TEAM IN THE NHL? Buffalo of course. Aaron Dell and Craig Anderson in net. Heh.

 

WHO WILL BE THE WORST REAL TEAM IN THE NHL? Part of me wants to say the Coyotes but I am going to say they will be bad but not terrible, I am going with the Sharks, Evander Kane a trainwreck, Hertl wants out, nobody will touch Karlsson, Burns is aging badly, same with Vlasic, reshuffled the deck chairs in net but still bad there. When Boughner gets the axe it will be a mercy killing. 

 

SO NOT EXACTLY ON A LIMB WITH COLORADO/TAMPA. IF I HAD TO CHOOSE TWO DARING TEAMS FOR THE CUP FINAL THEY WOULD BE  Flyers in the East. Washington, Pittsburgh both aging and fading, Carolina will step back. The Rags a fun team but not quite a real contender. The road through the division goes through the Island but I think the Flyers stack up well with the Islanders. Unlikely but a darkhorse pick.

Out West, Edmonton. A solid team, if they add the desperately needed goalie at the deadline they could go deep. Barring injury it is the clubs only concern.

 

WILL JACK EICHEL EVENTUALLY BE TRADED? Yeah, i hope so, quite frankly I am sick of hearing about it. Buffalo has screwed this up so badly they will only get 20 cents on the dollar.

 

TARESENKO? Only if the Blues fall out of contention. They seem to have patched things up a bit for now.

[ruxpin]

@yave1964

These discussion posts are more successful when the OP  is wrong about something.  Lol

 

I don't think there's anything I disagree with. I think the Carolina prediction is probably bold, but I also completely agree with it.  They're goaltending was good last year.  There was really no reason to blow it up to, in my opinion, replace it with lesser goaltending.   I really like some people still on the team, but I think their goaltending and chemistry kills them.