Edmonton Oilers
The oilers are pretty much a given to make the playoffs unless Leon and Connor both pull a "Gone Girl" and vanish from earth. Their defence is very lackluster which could be a problem come playoff time, and Darnell is still eating 9.5 sheets which hinders depth big time. I love the additions of Arvidsson and Skinner who could be good producing forwards on team friendly contracts. You can never count the oilers out, but I don’t know if they have the defensive depth to get over the hump. Look to see them improve their right side defensive depth before the deadline.
Prediction - McDaddy puts up 160 points, and the oilers cruise to first in the division.
Calgary Flames
Calgary has some really good pieces… to sell. Sell everything and restart. This team is not built to win but they have a great future in Zary, Wolf, and Parekh who will be the new core moving forward. The only way I see this team competing for a playoff spot is if they get the old huberdeau back and their rookies make a big jump. The addition of mantha is very vanilla as he is a very inconsistent 3rd/ 2nd liner. Look to see the Calgary Flames issue a copyright strike against the Ottawa PWHL team in the near future. Those logos are fraternal twins.
Prediction - Huberdeau gets sent down and they finish 7th in division.
Anaheim Ducks
The ducks are an interesting team as they are a few years from breaking out, but they are loaded to the gills. I'm expecting big things from McTavish and Carlsson this year but NHL 23 Cover Athlete Trevor Zegras is a forever question mark. If he can put it together they have a good chance at becoming a monster in this division. I like how they went out and got some scoring depth in Fabbri to help get these guys into their first playoffs, but I don’t think they are mature enough yet. I’m very excited to see what cutter the savage can do, or if he’s all bark no bite. Captain Gudas might break the record of tilly's in a single season after sticking up for all these guys.
Prediction - Cutter Gauthier says something dumb in the media and they finish 6th in the division.
LA Kings
In my opinion the kings have a little better, but similar makeup to their roster. They have very promising future spots in Byfield, Clarke, and potentially Turcotte, but also have some great veteran pieces. If the Kings drank some of the Golden Knights water they could get some serious returns for Doughty and Kopitar and start the retool. Fiala and kempe are still relatively young and have lots more hockey left to surround the young guys with some grade A players so this team could still be solid for years and years to come, but this year is not their year.
Prediction - Rob Blake is on pairing 3 by year end and they finish 5th in the division.
Seattle Kraken
I really like the additions that Seattle made this offseason. Snagging Stevenson and Montour gives this team some oompf they were missing last year. Beniers is a franchise type player if he can come into his own and they have a solid, dependable D core. If these guys can add some scoring depth, and Joey Okay plays consistently, I could see them making a good push in the playoffs. Still don’t like their jerseys but that’s a blog for another day.
Prediction - Buoy gets into some legal trouble and they finish 3rd in division.
Vegas Golden Knights
I’m not too sure what the identity of the knights is anymore because they continue to dish guys left and right that had a major impact on the team. They have aging stars in Stone and Hertl who could drop off any year now and their forward group looks very weak compared to years past. If Holtz can turn it around and play with Eichel that could be a serious issue for teams to deal with, but that’s a big if as we haven’t seen major minutes out of Holtz yet. Their D core is the pretty much the exact same which is a bright spot for Vegas, but I don’t see this team matching up well against top heavy teams this year. I’m not even a Vegas fan, but I’m mad they got rid of Marchy - the heart, soul and oh ya, he’s 2 years out from a Conn Smythe… make it make sense.
Prediction - Evander Kane gets traded to Vegas and files for bankruptcy again, and they finish 4th in the division.
San Jose Sharks
I’m not going to sugar coat this, San Jose is going to be one of the worst teams in the league again, but at least they will be fun to watch. These guys have one of the best prospect pools around and have a bright future ahead of them, but not this year. I can see Macklin having some growing pains at times like Bedard did due to his size, but he is a future star that will figure it out. That’s really it, I mean what else can you talk about with this team.
Prediction - Jumbo Joe evicts Celebrini by the end of the year and they finish dead last.
Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver surprised a lot of people last year, but not I. The makeup of those team is too good not to make the playoffs, they were just lacking experience and ran into Connor Mcdavid. I think the Canucks had one of the best offseasons. They added some gritty playoff experience up front in Heinen and Debrusk, and some size on the backend in Vinny and Forbert to replace the second coming of Big Z. They have a solid looking roster that could go all the way. If Silvos can start the year how he battled in playoffs, they should be set up at the top of the division for when Demko comes back. If it is indeed their year, please refrain from burning the city down again.
Prediction - Michael Bublè shows up to the home opener on shrooms, and they finish 2nd in the division
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