My predictions for the 2023-24 standings and awards:
PACIFIC:
Edmonton: Great regular season team as usual, and now they have better defence. If Stuart "Stache" Skinner remains at least NHL-average, they're getting this spot.
Las Vegas: They're not the champs for no reason, incredibly deep team with high-end talent, even if they're getting older and just came off a long run.
Seattle: Continuing their steady forward progress
Calgary: Too good not to bounce back, right??
PLAYOFF LINE
LA: Lots of talent here... except in net. I'm not sold on Talbot-Copley
Vancouver: Mediocre team outside of Quinn and Petey.
GAP
Anaheim: They're not the Sharks
San Jose: Bad team last year, now they lost EK and Meier. A few years away
CENTRAL:
Dallas: Good all-around team, top 5 goaltender.
Colorado: No Landeskog hurts a bit but they still have Nate, Mikko, and Cale. Georgiev is no slouch either.
Minnesota: Maybe Boldy takes the next step, strong defense, deep forward core, but I'm not sold on Gustavsson repeating last year. Rest of the Central isn't that good so 3rd spot seems right.
Nashville: As long as Saros stays healthy, they have a chance to get to the playoffs. Otherwise a mediocre team
PLAYOFF LINE
Winnipeg: Please just commit to a rebuild already... Hellebuyck is gone after this year. Otherwise in pretty much the same position as Nashville. Mediocre team with a top-5 goaltender.
St. Louis: If Jordan Binnington decides to focus on being a good goaltender, they can make the playoffs. I just don't think he's going to do that. Team in front of him is solid though.
Arizona: They're in front of Chicago because of goaltending.
Chicago: Trying to leave the Toews/Kane era and immediately start a Bedard/Eiserman era or something.
ATLANTIC
Toronto (Presidents' Trophy): So much talent all over the roster. The true test comes in May (if they can even get there).
Tampa: Missing Vasy for a couple of months, and they don't care too much about the regular season because they don't really need to.
Florida: If they get the Bobrovsky that singlehandedly beat Toronto and Carolina, first place. If they get Finals Bobrovsky, they miss the playoffs. Here's the middle ground.
GAP
Boston: Lost their top 2 centres, and Ullmark and Swayman are due for some massive regression to the mean after both of them had absurd 22-23 seasons.
Buffalo: Rising team, now with a full season of Devon Levi
PLAYOFF LINE
Ottawa: Very top-heavy roster which still isn't quite as good as the teams above them, but I wouldn't be surprised if they rose above Buffalo to steal the playoff spot
Detroit: Lots of pieces that seem kinda thrown together, and the tandem of Husso-Reimer is suspect, especially after last year.
GAP
Montréal: Need goaltenders, and a couple more years.
METROPOLITAN
Carolina: Best defensive top 6 in the league with 8 NHL-level players. Deep forward core that can withstand a month or so without Svechnikov, and Anderson-Raanta-Kochetkov is a solid if not outstanding trio in net.
New Jersey: Most talented team in the division, just not as much stifling defense as Carolina, and not quite as strong in net.
Rangers: Lots of scoring talent plus a top 5 goaltender, not as much depth and definitely a worse G2 than Carolina and NJ
PLAYOFF LINE + GAP
Islanders: Similar to Nashville and Winnipeg. Mediocre roster, top-3 goaltender, near the playoff line.
Capitals: Alexander Ovechkin is 72 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.
Penguins: Getting older, and EK doesn't actually fix any of their problems. Will still come close to playoffs.
Jackets: I am a believer in Tarasov and the young core, they'll take a big step this year and be close-ish to playoffs. 4-7 will be very close.
LARGE GAP
Flyers:
MAJOR AWARDS: Winner (unordered top 5)
Hart: Connor McDavid (Mitch Marner, Matthew Tkachuk, Jason Robertson, Jack Hughes)
Vezina: Juuse Saros (Igor Shesterkin, Jake Oettinger, Ilya Sorokin, Frederik Andersen)
Norris: Rasmus Dahlin (Cale Makar, Miro Heiskanen, Adam Fox, Dougie Hamilton)
Selke: Sasha Barkov (Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Staal, Nico Hischier, Anze Kopitar)
Calder: Connor Bedard (Luke Hughes, Devon Levi, Logan Cooley, Adam Fantilli)
Richard: Tage Thompson (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Timo Meier, David Pastrnak)
Ross: Connor McDavid (Mitch Marner, Matthew Tkachuk, Nathan MacKinnon, Jason Robertson)
vs. 
vs. 
vs. 
vs. 
vs. 
vs. 
vs. 
vs. 
Reply
CapFriendly
CapFriendly