2022-23 NHL Season Predictions
The 2022-23 NHL season starts tonight with two prime time games. The Penguins will get going on Thursday.
Calgary Flames are the top team. Los Angeles Kings are second, Edmonton Oilers third, Vegas Golden Knights fourth, Vancouver Canucks fifth, Seattle Kraken sixth, and Anaheim Ducks seventh.
Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk didn't want to stay in Calgary. The Flames pivoted and added Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar. San Jose Sharks are predicted to finish 8th this year.
The Kings are on the rise. Kevin Fiala is another great pickup.
The team in doubt is Vegas. They have unproven goalies in Adin Hill and Logan Thompson. I put them fourth mainly because I don't have much faith in the bottom half of the division.
2022-23 NHL Season Predictions: Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, and Arizona Coyotes.
The Avs are not going to win their division this season. They might start slow after a short summer.
The Wild have some young, fresh talent up front and should be one of the more solid teams in the league. Marc-Andre Fleury has had some good and bad years in his career.
The Jets are the team that makes me least confident in their placement in the division. They have some talent in place, but they seem to be missing that "it" factor.
2022-23 NHL Season Predictions: Calgary vs. St. Louis, Los Angeles vs Edmonton, Minnesota vs Dallas, Colorado vs Nashville, and the Central division grabbing both wild cards.
2022-23 NHL Season Predictions: Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are the 8th team to be picked for the top 8 in the NHL's standings.
2022-23 NHL Season Predictions. Florida's defense looks shaky in its depth, Tampa has lost key pieces from their Cup runs and Boston has many key players injured and set to miss time.
2022-23 NHL Season Predictions: Senators, Bruins.
Pittsburgh Penguins are the top team. Carolina Hurricanes are second, New York Rangers third, Washington Capitals fourth, New Jersey Devils fifth, and New Zealand Islanders sixth, while Columbus Blue Jackets are seventh.
The Penguins are poised for a successful regular season. The top three teams could be very close by the end. I suspect the Capitals could finish as high as second at times.
The Devils are the team I'm bullish on for the upcoming season. CBJ and NJD could flip spots.
The Rangers and the Capitals are in danger of falling out of the playoffs. The team that made it to the last year's playoffs might be a new one.
The Atlantic and Metro fourth place finishers will get in. Toronto vs. Ottawa, Tampa vs Florida, Pittsburgh vs Washington and Carolina vs NYR are the potential Eastern Conference matchups.
