The sens. I think they could finish ahead of Anaheim and Detroit if things go well. Them not being 31st would be a huge upset.

Pittsburgh could miss the playoffs for like the 1st time in the Crosby era which would be surprising.

besides gibson and a 1 or 2 forwards they are brutal

i think the pens could miss but it relies on njd and nyi. canes, caps are locks and i expect phi to make the playoffs.

Rangers or Stars

Isles again

they have an impressive youth talent and good backend + gibson. If they have gibson they can make the playoffs, the kids need to put up goals.

Biased pick: Rangers
Unbiased: Chicago. Can see them in the playoff hunt with improved D, better forward depth and a backup plan if Crawford goes down.
I also think Arizona can make some noise if Raanta stays healthy, Phil is a great add and Keller should bounce back, this team almost made the playoffs last year.

Yotes. If they stay healthy, they are a top-3 team in the Pacific, and could really push for a top-2 spot.

I think we expect the stars to do good again, rangers kinda but I think they’d rather get a good pick from management

Vegas, SJS, ANA/Yotes/CAL would be my guess. Vancouver maybe, EDM lul

I meant more along the lines of the Stars will probably make the WCF.

Chicago is a great choice

Don't know if so surprisingly, but the Pens lineup seems to be somewhat depleted at the bottom end. Don't think they make the playoffs.
I've seen so many posts with the Leafs finishing second in the Atlantic. I don't see it. They finished just third last season and four points from finishing ninth in the conference. With their defence being worse than last season, the Leafs will be in a group just trying to make the playoffs.
Babcock coaches his last NHL game in April.

ah, that’s too hard to decide rn haha for myself

I see many leafs fans thinking the defence is better, barrie will bring points but that’s not what they need. I think extending or resigning Barrie is a terrible choice, trading Nylander (leafs fans hate hearing it) is my favourite choice for a big name D man. If he’s playing well by December if I was Dubas I would shoot to the wild. Maybe Brodin + more as Nylander > Brodin.

I think Trotz can make it happen again in NYI, and the Devils look sick. If Blackwood can because thing this year then watch out. I wouldn't sleep on the Rangers either, they got a lot better. Even Philly and Washington made better improvements to their depth.

Not including The Blue Jackets who lost everything, every team in the Metro did a better job of improving their team than Pittsburgh. Granted the whole division is pretty iffy in net so Having Murray gives the Pens a leg up, but there's going to be a lot of hard fought games in that division.

Columbus will be fine if they get any goaltending at all

Rangers in the playoffs, I could see that, big surprise if they take a division spot.

Montreal or Buffalo could find a wild card.

In the west I would be surprised if jets miss and the Yotes get in.

I think of all these the Rangers May surprise the most people this year. I don’t know why. Adding Panarin, Trouba and kakko are all huge moves.

Anaheim isn't quite there, yet. They still have another year or so in their rebuild until they really threaten for a spot.

Vancouver and Edmonton are a crapshoot, but I don't really see anything with them that leads me to believe they are significantly better than they were last year.

Vegas has taken a step back, IMO. They lost Miller and Gusev (who didn't really play for them last year), and Fleury is another year older, and still has very little help in the form of a backup goalie to give him some rest. They finished with 93 points last season, and I expect about the same. I don't see them really being better than they were last year.

Calgary is still a top-3 team, but I don't see them replicating the 107 point season they had last year. Statistically speaking, it's far more likely that they regress back towards the mean.

San Jose takes a step back this season. They lost a big piece of their offense from last year (Pavelski), and Jones ended the year with a sub .900 SV%. If Jones has another year, like he did last season they could be fighting to get in as a wild card this season.

The Yotes added both Kessel and Soderberg to their offense, and are hopefully getting a full year from Chychrun and Raanta. If they stay healthy, it's feasible that they could be sitting anywhere from 90-95 points at the end of the season.

But again, this is just my opinion for how the Pacific will shake out.

To be honest I would not be surprised to see them battling to get ahead of Ottawa and Detroit. They barely made the playoffs last year and lost so much. They will be fine in the future. They already have some great pieces to build around. Werenski, Jones, PLD and Anderson.

IMO, so Leaf fans HOPE their defence is better. Gardiner and Barrie. That's even. Gardiner had fewer minutes on the PP, which is why his points were down compared to Barrie Zaitsev and Ceci...that's even, I wish. Zaitsev didn't get enough credit for his heavy minutes on the PK. Hainsey was good, letting Reily play recklessly. Hainsey big, big, minutes on the PK. No Leaf replacement for Hainsey is nearly as good.
Agree with you. And some time (this year, next summer?). the Leafs should trade a winger to get cap space get a solid Dman. Leafs cap and player structure might better in 2020/21.
Forced to go with a 21 man roster this season (unless there is a trade) is a losing proposition in my eyes.

I think their roster is fine, an I’m also totally expecting a PDO bender like the Islanders had last year.

I'm gonna say Devils or Avs.

The leafs are not going to do as good as people think. **** the leafs.

Chicago will go to the 2nd round

Think most leafs fans see a division spot. 2nd or 3rd. What do you think? Wildcard or a miss?