The NHL regular season started on October 2 with the reigning champion St. Louis Blues facing the formers champions Washington Capitals in their hometown. The Blues season started of rough, losing in overtime to the Capitals 3-2.
However, just like the NBA, these teams have a long road ahead of them with an 82-game schedule to determine the playoff contenders.
We are now a week and a half into the regular season which is a perfect time to determine who is on a good path to make the playoffs. Again, just like the NBA, eight teams from each conference make the playoffs meaning that you can be average and still make it into the playoffs.
However, the biggest difference comes in the fact that there are three teams from each division who will make it, along with two wildcard teams. This shows that there is still importance of the divisions, something the NBA does not have.
For these predictions we will look at the divisions and wildcard winners first, then break them down into the conference standings.
Atlantic Division
1. Tampa Bay Lighting (2-2-1)
The Lightning had the best record last season and were tied for the most wins of all-time with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62). This all led to a major disappointment when the playoffs started, losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets in four games.
The Lightning have been a mainstay in the playoffs since the 2010-11 season, since then they have only failed to make the playoffs three times. For as often as they have been in the playoffs, they have failed to win the Stanley Cup Finals since the 2003-04 season.
Their lineup will look a little different this season, by trading forward J.T. Miller to the Canucks for multiple draft picks and signing defensemen Kevin Shattenkirk and forward Pat Maroon. They are still led by long time center Steven Stamkos, who has been one of the most consistent players since entering the league in 2008.
Shattenkirk will be joining one of the best defensemen in the league in Victor Hedman, who was the winner of the Norris Trophy in 2017-18 (best defensemen). They also have last year’s Hart Trophy winner (MVP) in Nikita Kucherov who scored the most points (128) in a season since 1995-96 when Mario Lemieux scored 161.
Andrei Vasilevkiy, winner of the Vezina Trophy (best goalie) signed an eight-year extension for the Lightning coming into the season. The 25-year old was one of the best goalies in the league last season and will only continue to improve.
There’s no question that the talent is there on the roster, the question now comes to can the Lightning utilize their talent and make a strong playoff push to make it to the Stanley Cup Trophy.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (4-0-1)
The Maple Leafs made the playoffs last season by finishing third in the division; however, they are looking to improve on that after getting bounced by the Bruins in the first-round last season. This could be made possible by the power of their forwards. Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner both played their way into a new contract and will be starting the season under that contract.
In 212 career games Matthews has 205 points, showing he can contribute to the scoring column with the best of them. Injuries have been the only plague to his young career thus far, in the past two season he has missed a total of 34 games. When healthy he can be a great player, but that is the key, can he stay healthy.
Marner has been the top scorer for the Maple Leafs the past two seasons and will look to continue that this season, attempting to eclipse the 100-point mark for the first time in his career.
Frederik Anderson is back and healthy this season after fighting through a groin injury down the stretch last season. He said he is willing to cut back on playing time, ensuring his health for later seasons. This means they will have to be more reliant on Michael Hutchinson, who earned the backup role.
The biggest concerns for the Maple Leafs will be a new defensive line and the penalty kill team. Four new defensemen were added to the roster, with the amount that this team can score it looks like defense will be a key contributor as to how far they can go.
The penalty kill unit will also look different, as three of the four players are gone from last season. They ranked 16th in the NHL last season at 79.9 percent, but the number went down significantly in the playoffs, only killing 56.3 percent of their penalties. This will be an area of concern and it looks like chemistry will be the biggest thing to work through.
If they can find a way around this chemistry issue, with how good their offense is then they should have no problem making it back to the playoffs.
3. Boston Bruins (4-1-0)
The Bruins were strong enough to make it to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but this is a new season and a different team. The biggest differences will be with the health of their stars. Patrice Bergeron has so far played in every game after receiving a shot to treat a groin injury in the offseason. Anders Bjork is still out and fighting back for a return soon. Bjork has played for the Providence Bruins and is quickly making his way back up the ranks to join the Bruins soon.
Defensemen John Moore and Kevan Miller have not played this season and it looks like Moore will be out until late November and Millar will not return until completely healthy. The Bruins are playing these injuries smart and waiting for the right time for these players to return.
With all the injuries and aging core players they will be reliant on young prospects this season. Up to this point in the season they have not been reliant on these young players, they have revolved around their core players. With these players getting older they will have to play these guys sooner or later so they can start giving their core players a rest when they need it.
One of these players includes goalie Tuukka Rask who has been brilliant in his career. For as good as Rask is, they cannot overload him this season. In order for the Bruins to be as good as possible then they will need to keep Rask healthy so when they make a deep run as expected then he will be healthy for the playoffs.
Metropolitan Division
1. Washington Capitals (3-1-2)
The Capitals had a tough time matching postseason success from 2018 last season, losing in the first round to the Carolina Hurricanes. They started the season off well by defeating the defending champion Blues in St. Louis. This was with a new head coach, in Todd Reirden after Barry Trotz resigned and was hired by the Islanders.
The Capitals showed that they were not willing to overpay for players by not resigning Brett Connolly, who signed with the Florida Panthers in the offseason. They will also be without Andre Burakovsky and Devante Smith-Pelly for the current season.
New forwards were added to reinvigorate their bottom two lines and give their top lines a larger break. Their championship core is returning with one of the best goalies in the game in Braden Holtby. They are focused on building around that core to help them return to the promised land and win another championship.
Mental lapses seemed to be the biggest problem down the stretch last season, this is an issue that will need to be fixed this season for the Capitals to be at full strength.
This is hoped to be made possible with some of the roster turnover. By changing up the players and lines on their roster the Capitals look to throw last season out of their memory and focus on this season.
2. Carolina Hurricanes (5-1-0)
Last season after finishing as a wildcard team they managed to make their way to the Eastern Conference final where they ended up losing to the Bruins. This is the first time since 2009 where the Hurricanes made it to the playoffs, and they are looking for more than just make the playoffs.
They cannot be satisfied with just ending their drought for one season, they are looking to fight their way back this season. This could be made a little tougher without their captain from last season Justin Williams. It seems like the leadership will be coming from veteran player Jordan Staal. Without Williams we can also start to see the emerging leadership of young stud Sebastian Aho.
Aho signed a new contract coming into the season, now comes the time when we find out whether he will live up to the contract. Aho had a career high 83 points last season and he will only look to improve on that mark to show he was worth that contract.
In goal they got everything they needed last season with the duo of Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney. McElhinney is gone this season after signing with the Lightning in the offseason. The fight for the number two goalie spot will be decisive in whether or not the Hurricanes are a playoff team.
3. Pittsburgh Penguins (4-2-0)
The Penguins have a revamped roster going into the season. After an offseason trade they will need to replace the offensive effectiveness lost from forward Phil Kessel. Alex Galchenyuk will be one of the players that they are hopeful will match the offensive efficiency.
They still have the rest of their core intact, including future hall of fame Sidney Crosby. With new players around that core they will have to work on putting all of their pieces together to work cohesively together.
This will be a problem that will be continuous for the Penguins, as their head coach thought the main reasons for the lack of success (for the penguins) the past couple of seasons. Evgeni Malkin was one of the players that Sullivan brought up by Sullivan and they met earlier in the year so Malkin could air his grievances.
Pittsburgh has one of the best top lines in the NHL, now they will need to find players who can work well together when these players are not on the ice. The Penguins are looking to bring back the success of recent play, and this will all start with the play of their secondary lines.
Eastern Conference Wildcard
1. Florida Panthers (1-2-2)
The Panthers had a very strong offseason by signing a three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach, a great goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky and forward Brett Connolly. This is all in hopes that they will make a return to the playoffs after missing them in each of the previous three seasons.
Their head coach Quenneville is no stranger to the postseason, leading his teams to the playoffs in 18 of his 22 seasons. With the new revamped roster that will be the plan for this season, one concern comes in the players chemistry, with so many new players, a new coach, and new systems they will have to be able to jell quickly before the season gets out of hand.
The Panthers are not off to a great start this season, but it is still early, and they have 77 games to right their track. This is partly due to their defense which has allowed 20 goals, a differential of -7 to start the season. This was their biggest problem last season where they allowed 273 goals and had an NHL-high 1,234 giveaways.
This is a trend that will have to turnaround quickly, they have a dangerous offense, but they need to give their offense the best chance to win the game, being down big early is not the recipe for that.
All the talent is there for the Panthers, now they just have to find a way to work well together. Only five games into the season there is time and the Panthers should make it work, but it may not come in time to grab one of the division spots in the playoffs.
2. Columbus Blue Jackets (2-3-0)
The Blue Jackets were riding high on momentum last season when they swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs last season. Then the offseason happened, and they lost leading scorer Artemi Panarin, starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, and deadline acquisition Matt Duchene.
Without its top performers from last season it will not be an easy task to return to the playoffs, but they have a balanced roster that could get it done. There are good players in the system that will not get a chance to show what they are about now that some of the best performers are gone.
Alexandre Texier and Pierre-Luc Dubois will be two young players they look to as they hope to keep their postseason streak alive. They may not have a top scorer who outshines everyone, but they will be a very balanced team with a lot of scoring involved.
In goal they will be relying on Joonas Korpisalo who is off to a good start this season, having a 2.75 GAA, and an .892 save percentage.
The Blue Jackets will be bringing a different style of play into this season and they hope to return to the playoffs even without their top players, after a rough start it looks like it could very well happen.
Eastern Conference Matchups
1. Washington Capitals vs. 4. Columbus Blue Jackets
1. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. 4. Florida Panthers
2. Carolina Hurricanes vs. 3. Pittsburgh Penguins
2. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. 3. Boston Bruins
Central Division
1. Winnipeg Jets (4-3-0)
The Jets have been one of the better teams in the league in the past couple of seasons, but they were never able to get over that final hump. This may be even tougher after losing three key veteran defensemen.
After losing some media attention this looks like a year where the Jets can surprise people with their on-ice talent. There top forwards and centers have not changed much and are one of the best offensive units in the NHL. After losing forward Brandon Tanev they will have room to showcase their prospects on the third line.
On defense they will rely on their first-round draft pick Ville Heinola to learn quickly and produce immediately. The Jets will have to rely on this defense this season to once again be one of the top teams in the league. Their offensive talent is incredible and will need help from their defensive unit to be one of the best teams in the league.
They will be reliant on both veterans and young talent. The Jets have a very youthful team who should bring a lot of energy to the team. This should do them well as they have a drive to be one of the best teams and make it back to the postseason.
2. St. Louis Blues (3-1-1)
The Blues are looking to have a repeat on their success from last season when they won the Stanley Cup. They brought back a lot of players from last year’s team which should help bring chemistry to this team. Losing Pat Maroon may hurt early on, so they will have to replace the forward internally.
They like the young players in their system who have a mixture of power and speed, which is good for the evolving game today.
One thing they will have to change is the path their season took last year. St. Louis was last place in the standings on January 3 before an incredible second half run led them into the playoffs.
They will not be able to rely on that type of play again and they will need to show from the get-go that they are one of the best teams in the league and they are worth of returning. Their goalies will be a big point in this, and Jordan Binnington is starting the season off right. Binnington currently has a 2.98 GAA and a .910 save percentage. Binningto will not be able to do it alone and they will need big play from their backup Jake Allen.
3. Colorado Avalanche (4-0-0)
The Avalanche are looking to return to the postseason this year, but this time they are looking to do it with home-ice advantage. In the past two seasons they have made the playoffs as the second wild card team, something they would like to change.
They are off to a good start if they want to change this, they are 4-0-0 right now and this is big part to their goalie play. Both of their goalies, Pavel Francouz and Philipp Grubauer have been playing great to start the season.
This is on top of one of the best centers in the league in Nathan MacKinnon who scored 99 points last season. They also resigned Mikko Rantanen who is returning from an injury and will be back at full health for the season.
The Avalanche have attempted to get younger and faster, and that is exactly what they did. They have a lot of young defensemen who they hope will be able to provide quickly this season.
Eric Johnson is still looking to return to his best form after shoulder surgery, and Ian Cole is not expected to come back until December. Once those two are back at full health the Avalanche could be one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL this season.
Pacific Division
1. Vegas Golden Knights (4-2-0)
The Golden Knights have been one of the best teams in the NHL since its inception, they shocked everybody by making it the Stanley Cup final in year one. They are entering their third season and they are trying to see if this is the year it can all come together.
The Knights lost defensemen Colin Miller and forward Nikita Gusev in the offseason, otherwise the Knights are virtually the same team from last season. The weakest part of their team comes on the defensive side, not that they are bad on that side, but they do not have that one top start in the defensive line.
This can be forgiven though as they have one of the top goalies in the league in Marc-Andre Fleury who is still playing at a very high level at age 34. Fleury is 4-1 on the season with a 2.13 GAA and a .933 save percentage.
Put that along with their offense which includes Jonathan Marchessault , William Karlsson, Max Pacioretty, and Mark Stone and they have all the pieces to make it back to the postseason.
2. Calgary Flames (2-3-1)
The Flames were disappointed last season when they went out in the first round to the Colorado Avalanche after posting the best record in the Pacific Division. They’re looking to turn things around this season in an effort to make it farther than last season.
This will start with the play of forward Matthew Tkachuk, who put up a career-high 77 points last season. They will also need good play from their goaltenders who played well last season early on but faded down the stretch.
David Rittich will be joined by a new partner in Cam Talbot in between the pipes this season, which if they keep their timeshare approach could be very beneficial as they have two starter quality goalies on the roster.
They still have one of the best defensemen in Mark Giordano who won the Norris Trophy at 35-years old. He had a career high 74 points and was their key player when it came to big moments. He will still be on the penalty kill unit, but they will need to put some more help around him. They had the most shorthanded goals last season but ranked 19th when it came to killing a penalty. They were too aggressive last season on the kill, this season they will have to be a little less aggressive to be more successful.
3. Edmonton Oilers (5-0-0)
The Oilers finished in seventh place in their division last season, not where they wanted to be at all. This season they added a new head coach in Dave Tippett to change the tide in Edmonton. So far this is working, they are undefeated on the young season.
This is in large part to their star players Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They are on a tear to start the season and they will need to be great all season long if the Oilers look to make the playoffs. They are also getting good production from James Neal, who they acquired in a trade in the offseason. Neal is coming off his lowest scoring season ever, this season he is already a third of the way there with seven points.
So far, they have been using a tandem goalie approach and it is working very well. Both Mikko Koskinen and Mike Smith have a save percentage over .900. If they are able to share the workload like this then they should be able to stay fresh all season long and give the Oilers a healthy goaltending squad all season long.
Defense was a very large problem for the Oilers last season where they allowed 271 goals, sixth-most in the NHL. This season Tippett is bringing a new defensive approach which should help cut down on those goals allowed. Part of this was due to their penalty kill unit which ranked 30th in the NHL, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks.
So far this season the defense has much improved and they have only allowed 13 goals, which has been enough to notch a win in each game. They cannot expect this type of offensive efficiency all season so the defense will need to tighten up, but they are off to a good start this season.
Western Conference Wild Card
1. San Jose Sharks (2-4-0)
The Sharks didn’t make a splash in the offseason after losing their captain Joe Pavelski, but this was a team who fell just short of the Stanley Cup last season. They lost some other pieces from their team last season, but they like the depth they have which should help return them to the playoffs.
They will be very reliant on young players this season and they will need to find out what they can do and quickly. They are off to a slow start this season, but these players are still working their way around the ice and have time to make up for a slow start.
These players will have some veteran leadership around them which should help the players learn a little quicker. Certain key players were resigned which should help the Sharks retain the chance of being a playoff team.
This could be a rebuilding season for the Sharks, but they are not concerned about the depth they have on the team, this is a good sign from a team who is looking to bounce back into the postseason.
2. Nashville Predators (3-2-0)
The Predators look to continue their run as the Central Division champions, they added a top center in Matt Duchene. They will also be doing it this season without one of the best defensemen in P.K. Subban after trading him to the Devils.
Losing Subban will hurt early on, but the Predators feel confident that defenseman Dante Fabbro coming in can fit in well as one of the top defensemen. Obviously, he will not be able to fill the role of Subban right away, but they felt confident enough in their defensemen that they no longer needed Subban if they were going to get Duchene.
With a bolstered offense the area for concern will now be defense. Losing a top defensemen is no easy task, but the Predators have a strong young core at defense that they can hopefully replace him with.
Their offense will be stronger this season, now they will have to cash in on power play opportunities which ranked last in the NHL last season. They are already starting that off better this season, ranking 15th in the league. They will need a stronger offensive attack this season as the defense looks to mold together.
Although they may not win the division again, their playoff streak should not disappear, and they should sneak into the playoffs this season.
Western Conference Matchups
1.. Vegas Golden Knights vs. 4. San Jose Sharks
1. Winnipeg Jets vs. 4. Nashville Predators
2. St. Louis Blues vs. 3. Colorado Avalanche
2. Calgary Flames vs. 3. Edmonton Oilers