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NHL Standings Projections from USA Today


Starofthenorth

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4 hours ago, Starofthenorth said:

These are some harsh projections for the Wild. 

 

I'd put the Wild ahead of the Blackhawks as there are more questions in their goaltending than the Wild have in defense.  I also see them ahead of the Stars.   Add to the difference from last year the Wild also are starting the season with a healthy Parise.

 

52 points for the Senators is much too generous.  IMO the Ducks will miss the playoffs and I don't think the Predators and Maple Leafs earn 108 points.  The only way the Flyers obtain 105 points is if Carter Hart is the starting netminder.

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Overrated teams:

VGK: they won't pass the 100-pt mark. I see them fighting for a play-off spot only

WPG: Presidents' trophy for them? I don't think so. Of course they will fight for the division title, but not with so many points.

NSH: 108 pts seems to be a lot...

CBJ: I don't see them in the post-season.

 

Underrated teams:

MIN: 81 pts is not a lot. But the point is, we play in the most sh**ty divison of the league: the best one with no weak teams and no teams in rebuild mode.

DET: Only because I see them way over the Habs.

BUF: The surprise of the season for me after years of failure. They will definitely fight for a play-off spot.

Otherwise, these projections seems to be quite accurate for me. I didn't jump on the ceiling when seeing these.

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3 hours ago, TonyOday said:

The USA Today writing about hockey has about as much cred as me writing a paper on helium molecules in an excited state.

When I'm in an excited state I can't even think about helium molecules, let alone NHL standing projections.....

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USA Today semi-scientific guess 🤔did not pay attention on Boudreau personality as a coach. No way that with Boudreau we will have 81 points and the team will be on a last place in our Division. With Yeo maybe, but not with Boudreau. He will make everything to get good results during the regular season. Last year despite all injuries we played pretty even through the whole regular season, which never happened before. Fighting for the playoffs spot will be on extremely high level in our the most toughest Central Division as well as not an easy Conference. We have practically same, but healthier roster as last year plus the new and, in my opinion, not bad the 4th line. Goaltending maybe could give us some problems, but hope not real one.

 

    Interesting that in our Conference Ilya Kovalchuk is going to play for LA Kings, who played before with Zach Parise for NJ. He has all titles, including a Gagarin Cup winner(twice), except missing only a Stanley Cup. I think that is his main goal of his return to NHL. He came back from Russia  and settled in LA. Here is a link to read about:

https://www.nhl.com/kings/news/ilya-kovalchuk-sits-down-with-espn-to-discuss-his-transition-to-the-nhl/c-300302650

 

 

 

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13 hours ago, Alexandron said:

USA Today semi-scientific guess 🤔did not pay attention on Boudreau personality as a coach. No way that with Boudreau we will have 81 points and the team will be on a last place in our Division. With Yeo maybe, but not with Boudreau. He will make everything to get good results during the regular season. Last year despite all injuries we played pretty even through the whole regular season, which never happened before. Fighting for the playoffs spot will be on extremely high level in our the most toughest Central Division as well as not an easy Conference. We have practically same, but healthier roster as last year plus the new and, in my opinion, not bad the 4th line. Goaltending maybe could give us some problems, but hope not real one.

 

    Interesting that in our Conference Ilya Kovalchuk is going to play for LA Kings, who played before with Zach Parise for NJ. He has all titles, including a Gagarin Cup winner(twice), except missing only a Stanley Cup. I think that is his main goal of his return to NHL. He came back from Russia  and settled in LA. Here is a link to read about:

https://www.nhl.com/kings/news/ilya-kovalchuk-sits-down-with-espn-to-discuss-his-transition-to-the-nhl/c-300302650

 

 

 

Dom Luszczyszyn, a writer for the Athletic, ranks all the teams in the NHL and has the Wild at #15, ahead of the #16 Kings, #18 Blues, #19 Stars, and #20 Blackhawks.The Avs at #23. Just ahead of the Wild at #13 and #14 are Vegas and the Flames. I think you are right, its going to be a serious dogfight for all of these teams trying to get into the playoffs. He may have the rankings a little off, but IMO these teams should be bunched together like he has them rated. Injuries always play a role, but are going to be an even bigger factor this season, considering how evenly matched these teams are overall.

If the Wild stays relatively healthy, I agree that there is no chance they get only 81 points. I think closer to 95.

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On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 6:41 AM, TonyOday said:

The USA Today writing about hockey has about as much cred as me writing a paper on helium molecules in an excited state.

 

My electron shells are full.  I am not attracted to opinions like this at all.  Play the games!  Screw the paper.

 

Even credible talking heads and ink strained wretches are so wrong at the end of the year so often I give zero credence to a source like this.

 

BTW - where was Vegas supposed to finish last year and where did they finish?

 

Injuries are always huge factor and they are impossible to predict for the most part.

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Who cares?  Yet, they are not alone in expecting a setback this season considering how some of the better contenders in our division loaded up or are entering their prime.  The Wild just got older...and we were an old club to begin with.  That is not a formula for optimism.  

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My optimism is that Coyle, Nino, Zooker, and Parise all have productive seasons.  All (except Parise) are in their prime and, if healthy, can be impact players.  Doobie ain't great, but he's good enough.   The last few years the team hasn't been much help when the second season started.

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On 9/27/2018 at 6:41 AM, TonyOday said:

The USA Today writing about hockey has about as much cred as me writing a paper on helium molecules in an excited state.

 

If you're talking about getting helium molecules (as opposed to atoms) into an excited state, that would be a helluva good read. Never did figure out how many electron volts it would take to pull that off. 😉

 

As for the projected standings, the Central predictions look pretty solid if one swaps where MIN and DAL are at.*  Hope I'm wrong, but I just can't see the Wild finishing better than 4th or 5th in the division; just hoping we can hold off the Avs for the final wildcard spot, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from my colleagues in Denver.

 

On a more optimistic note, I look for Zook to go north of 40 goals this season, and look for Granny to rack up career highs across the board.

 

"Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put"

Winston Churchill

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IMO the Wild have several experienced guys who haven't put up career year numbers yet: Coyle, MiG, Zooker, and Nino.  Until reality and losses slap me upside the head, that's what I'm looking for this season!  All the planets align! Or I could pizz and moan and wail and gnash and bidtch and criticize.  Like rotty.  But where's the fun in that?

 

Big difference in realistically evaluating and just bad attitude hating on everything.  If it sucks so phucking bad, why pretend to be 

a fan?

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On 9/30/2018 at 8:10 AM, Fargocase said:

My optimism is that Coyle, Nino, Zooker, and Parise all have productive seasons.  All (except Parise) are in their prime and, if healthy, may be impact players.  Doobie ain't great, but he's good enough.   The last few years the team hasn't been much help when the second season started.

 

IMO, too much of the team's chances is based on hope.  

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USA Today aside, there's little love for the Wild early in the Great White North, where on TSN Sports the great Canuck hockey scribes after one week of puck rank Minnesota as a potential tank candidate at No. 28, behind even Buffalo. As they note, the Wild are strong defensively (thanks to our goaltender) but haven't produced many scoring chances, let alone goals. I'm not a believer that the sky is falling (though the snow is already up here in northern Minnesota) but it is disturbing to be a methodic team built to win 2-1 games in high-flying league (and Central Division) where we see scores like 6-3 and 7-6 and the likes in early going. Job security for netminders, though tenuous at best. Here's hoping Hammond is getting ready in case Doobie gets shell-shocked...….

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I don't have too much problem with these predictions.  Some of the point totals are off, but the standings are close.

 

If the Stars end up only 1 point behind the Blues and ahead of the Avalanche, that's a really good season in Dallas.  I'm actually not as high on St. Louis as many, so it may actually happen.  I still think the Stars' point total is a bit bloated, though.

 

I know I'm on the Wild board so I'll say this and run:  They should finish ahead of Chicago, but I see nothing more.  I'm sorry, but the window is closed.  Sorry to the bearer of bad news, but there really is no objective reason to see much more than fighting Chicago for 5th.  With or without Parise--who is really greatly overrated, IMO.    Wild fans deserve better.

 

I don't see where the Flyers are getting 105 points without an investigation.  They have a nice team, but that point total is bloated some.  So many things have to go right with their goaltending, and this is Philly we're talking about.

 

I'm okay with the order in the Atlantic, but I only have 3 teams coming out of that division.  I think New Jersey has a higher point total than Florida when all is said and done.  But the order seems okay.

 

I also don't have a problem with the Pacific, but if that's where the Oilers finish someone needs to be fired.

 

Overall, not bad on order, just kind of random with some of the points.

 

 

 

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I'd love to bet some big money that the Wild finish higher than Chi.  Toews is screwed.  No way he can carry the Black Hawks.   Their roster is full of dead weight.   Keith and Seabrook are shadows of their former selves.  Other Dmen really weak.   Early season success a fluke.

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  • 5 months later...
On 9/27/2018 at 2:38 AM, Starofthenorth said:

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I'm bumping this thread just to have the final comparison with those predictions as the regular season is now over:

 

Pacific: Kings & Ducks were highly overrated, as well as the Oilers. Not that far for the Canucks and Coyotes. Flames was the surprise. But overall, that division was unexpectedly the worst of the league.

 

Central: Almost bingo I would say (Both int terms of points and position). They just flipped the Jets with the Preds but that was really close (with STL too). 

 

Atlantic: Not that bad I would say. MTL did much better than expected and the Panthers was a half disappointment. Like expected, The Sens finished dead-last.

 

Metro: Quite difficult. OK with WSH, PIT and CBJ, but the Isles, Devils, Hurricanes and Flyers were really far from the predictions.

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