Toronto Maple Leafs:
Toronto got a lot better this offseason. I don’t love the idea of picking up like 50 bottom 6 players as they did but it’s really a win win scenario for them. They may have a overflow of potential players to the point where some maybe not get a NHL spot and could be traded later on, but a surplus is always better than a lack of depth. Toronto will have many different “cogs” to rotate and try out in their machine. They have a lot of potential if they can find the right fits and balance their cap. Adds like Jumbo and Simmonds are good moves to bring stability to the bottom 6 and they have a few characters who could fit nicely in their top6 who are paid under a mil or just over (soup boy, nic r, vesey, kerfoot too if they find jumbo well at 3C). And obviously Brodie (while not my favourite choice they made) adds a great amount of stability to their backend and will definitely improve their team.

Overall the leafs got better and also have a ton of options with all their signing adds, prospect potential, and call ups.

This team is 2nd if not 1st.

Montreal Canadians:
I love the moves this team made in getting a incredibly deep offence. Toffoli will be huge, especially for his cap hit. Anderson is a wildcard - he could make this team lethal, or blunder near 6 mil in cap space. This team should be 3rd - but this is the deepest division next year so there’s a case for 4th. But also a case for 2nd.

Vancouver Canucks:
I don’t love the choice of losing Markstrom but it made sense. Adding schmidt for dirt cheap was great for them, and getting holtby is huge gamble that could payoff. This team needs money for the future so while they didn’t exactly improve 10 fold, they didn’t get much worse. Holtby and Demko will decide if this team is 3rd or missing the playoffs.

Edmonton Oilers:
I think they’ve done a lot of good this offseason but losing klefbom hurts a lot. As well as they need to hope their goaltending holds strong again. But they made some great pick ups at the same time. Turris at 1mil is huge, I think that’ll be a underrated signing - he’s got no more baggage and no he’s gets to prove himself. Kahun under a mil is criminal as he’s definitely banking on getting paid by playing with Leon or Connor. Kids gonna make money next season and odds are the oilers do not pay him if he puts up unreal numbers, so expect a wild ride for 1 season. And while I love to knock Barrie I think he’s a good fit in EDM (never thought he was awesome to begin with in TO). With klefbom gone to Barrie will get more time and more pp1 time/ more offensive zone starts. Not saying he’ll be a stud but I think he could do well (just as easily burn out or light it up - but I think he won’t burn out). This team is first or second - especially if their goaltending holds up and they can survive losing klefbom as time that he would eat up.

Calgary Flames:
There’s still some work to be done on their roster imo. But Markstrom is a huge add. This team could easily be top 3 or be out of the picture. The way it is with these Canadian teams - they all got better. The Simon and tanev pick ups are very helpful tho.

Winnipeg Jets:
Assuming Helly plays well, this team has no reason to regress. With rookies Samberg and Heinola getting shots this year they could easily get a solid top4 filled out. This team has all the tools to put together a playoff run - they just got to figure it out. A TDL add would be huge for them - which I expect them to make waves at TDL.

Ottawa Senators:
Lol Ottawa woulda loved to be in the Atlantic division. They made a ton of moves and spent a ton of money - too bad every other team who was already better than them; each got better. The Canadian division is the toughest division now and will be the hardest to predict. Ottawa could have made a push for the wildcard in the Atlantic - now I’m not so sure. Murray, Dadonov will be big - Norris and some kids called up will definitely be exciting. There will be some exciting hockey in the nations capital.

It’s also way to hard to tell that this div will take 2 wildcard spots over the Atlantic + metro (maybe a central team gets moved in idk) mix

hot damn

I think MON and CGY should be over EDM

Switch EDM and Vancouver and it’s a perfect list.

Edmonton improved their overall roster - and have the two highest output offence players. While losing klefbom hurts I think somehow they’ll survive it. I don’t love their tandem in net but they just need to play above .900 which we shouldn’t doubt they can’t, at this point they’ve held up. I think they’ll somehow survive the klefbom injury and Barrie will be a factor. Kahun will likely put up over 60 points I believe.

Good list. I really agree with this.

I don’t think Vancouver holds up. In such a tough division they need some time. I think the roster is good enough to do damage but as I said they miss out to a tiebreaker. Just small things will cause error but they won’t be bad. Holtby I have doubts and they’ll need a transition as they have no cap and can’t fit TDL adds until Eriksson is gone

Fair enough

So did MON & CGY not improve more??? CGY adds Markstrom, Tanev and Leivo and MON adds Toffoli, Allen, and Edmunsson. EDM did improve but more than MON & CGY??? I dont think so

But if I remember correctly EDM was the best Canadian team last year. Meanwhile the next closest was Toronto. If you read my comment at the top (the first, a full explanation). I praised the Canadians but I think they were still the 24th place team last year and going to third is already a massive jump they should be proud of. I don’t like Calgary’s configuration. They could easily be a top team but I if you look at the roster chart - they’re behind by like one win. Fourth and fifth (WPG and VAN) are ahead of Calgary by 2 points in my rating and Montreal is barely ahead of them. Calgary here is like 4 points outside of the playoff picture - it’s not like I’m saying they’re bad. If you look how deep this division will be I bet some team over 80 misses the playoffs

Calling Calgary a 75-85 point team is a pretty hot take. Nearly every player on the roster had career worst years and they still finished 3 point of of 2nd in the pacific division with a game in hand.

I think the biggest problem with Edmonton is that with Klefbom out their D is left being carried by Nurse and Bear after that they really start to fall apart. Then you factor in the goaltending tandem and it has the potential to be disastrous. On the other hand the Forward group is one of the best in the league so maybe they can carry the team until Klefbom returns. Either way this is a very strong division and in my view 5 teams (Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver) all have a legitimate shot at top spot or 5th depending on how their season plays out.

I'd go:

TOR
MTL
EDM
CGY
WPG (flip a coin with WPG, CGY)
VAN
OTT

Basing it off playing in a tougher division, obviously I don’t have the logs on hand of Calgary’s schedule last year so I could be ****ed and they had a really rough schedule lineup. Just assuming they didn’t - and are going to have to play these Canadian teams more and than the metro/Atlantic/central mix division which will also be tough. By no means am I saying they’re gonna suck

Yeah, a team who should be a playoff team isn’t gonna make it this year (assuming it’s 16 teams). Here it’s Calgary/ Vancouver with Winnipeg at 4th getting 1 wildcard (if the Canadian div gets 1 wildcard, if they get two than its Vancouver and peg getting it with Calgary missing out).

Unless Calgary repeats this year with their horrible puck luck I just dont see how they can finish below 4th. They made the 2nd biggest upgrades this offseason among every Canadian team and Montreal being the team with more was quite a few steps behind them to begin with. I agree that it is Toronto's division to loose but of all the teams in the Canadian division I think Calgary is the only one with a legitimate shot at finishing above them. However I will say if Winnipeg can add to their blue line they might take 1st OA in the division.

I can see all the teams but OTT in each spot....if Vancouver suddenly wins 5 in a row and Toronto loses 5, it will completely flip as it's not like those wins are against other divisions like in the past...these teams are close in my opinion and injuries can derail any of these teams...EDM is my wild card for the fact of they have the talent up front to win it but injuries on the Defence and lack of a good goalie may hurt them

Montreal is not going to be that good. Top 3 is Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver. Then likely Winnipeg and Calgary. Montreal will be 2nd last

Stats vs Canadian teams in 19-20

Montreal - 10-3-2 pts 22
Toronto - 7-3-4 pts 18
Ottawa - 4-6-4 pts 12
Winnipeg - 9-3-0 pts 18
Edmonton - 7-6-2 pts 16
Calgary - 8-4-2 pts 18
Vancouver - 5-10-0 pts 10

So the final standings vs Canadian teams last year was

Montreal 22 pts
Winnipeg 18 pts
Calgary 18 pts
Toronto 18 pts
Edmonton 16 pts
Ottawa 12 pts
Vancouver 10 pts

I think this is a good starting point for predicting the standings in a Canadian Division. After all of the moves made Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton made gains. Winnipeg, Ottawa and Vancouver seem to have stayed the same. If we break down each team in terms of points added I would say Montreal gained 12-15 points, Toronto 10-12 points, Calgary 8-10 points and Edmonton 5-8 points. Winnipeg, Vancouver and Ottawa broke even

So the final prediction would be

Montreal 34-37 points
Toronto 28-32 points
Calgary 26-28 points
Edmonton 21-24 points
Winnipeg 18 points
Ottawa 12 points
Vancouver 10 points (I don't really think Vancouver finishes here it is just based on last years stats and improvements this offseason)

That is why I say this division will be tight through the top 5.

Stats taken from Hockey Reference by eliminating U.S. opponents see link

https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/VAN/2020_games.html

BBB