I feel it's OTT, BOS, CBJ, SJ,
maybe MIN, CGY(it all depends on Mike Smith),

Call me crazy I also wouldn't call it unreasonable if NSH misses

This is all assuming all starting players play 82 games

Ottawa, CBJ, Calgary, and Nashville will all make the playoffs for sure

Im going to screen shot this comment so you better be right lol

Definitely Boston. Maybe Ottawa, San Jose, Minnesota, St. Louis, and/or Calgary depending on their goaltending situation.

Boston, Ottawa, Chicago, and San Jose.

Are you guys serious?

Please tell me who, other than Edmonton and Anaheim, has a chance of finishing ahead of Calgary in the Pacific

VEGAS!

San Jose, LAK with a healthy Jonathan Quick (I hope you don't seriously think LA are bad just because of last year, with Peter Budaj as their #1 G fo 3/4 of the season)

Boston, Ottawa, Montreal, Columbus, Minnesota, and one more team that people will think i'm crazy for ... i know that's a lot but that's what i think.

MInny, Montreal, and I'm gonna make a big guess here and say Washington

Peter Budaj was outstanding for the Kings when he played...nobody is taking that into account. San Jose lost the production of Marleau, and they're counting on Meier/Hertl/Labanc/Boedker to make up for those goals. Not to mention the odds of Burns replicating his performance from last season is highly unlikely. Calgary bolstered a defense that was already a top 5 defense core in the league, and now it's probably top 3. They'll have much more stability with Smith as their goalie, and some of their young forwards are only going to take steps forward. Calgary is in the playoffs for sure

I'm going to politely ask you to explain this one, so then I can rant and tell you why we will make it

Teams that will make the Playoffs (reasonable certainty) that made it last year:

Eastern Conference : Pittsburgh/Washington/New York Rangers/Columbus/Toronto/Ottawa/Montreal

Western Conference : Nashville/Chicago/Anaheim/Calgary/Edmonton/Minnesota

Out : Boston/San Jose/St Louis
In : Tampa/Winnipeg/Dallas

So based on what I'm predicting:

Pacific: Edmonton, Anaheim, Calgary (all locks)
Central: Nashville, Dallas, St. Louis
Wild Card: Chicago, Minnesota
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Only team I missed from the West that has a chance was Winnipeg. If they make it, only one of CHI/MIN/STL is out, and it prolly won't happen. Other than that, no one else has a chance to make it. SJ lost a top 6 winger and #5 dman, and didn't replace them. Pavs, Burns, Jumbo, etc. each got a year older. I don't see a chance there. As for LA, again, no chance. Quick is shaky in goal; the defence outside of Doughty and Muzzin isn't good, and the forward group is also relatively weak compared to other teams.


Metro: Pittsburgh, Washington, Columbus (all locks)
Atlantic: Tampa, Toronto, Ottawa (all locks)
Wild Card: NYR, Montreal
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Ottawa will make it. Their forward group is strong, the defence is set especially with elite Karlsson in charge, and the Anderson-Condon pair is really good. They lost Methot. So what. They have Chabot who can come and fill that role in. Done. Other than that, nothing changed since last year. Anderson might have a full season, Brassard, Dzingel, etc. might have even better years. That's it.

Washington is also a lock. I don't care if they lost Alzner, MJo and Williams. The core is still crazy and intact. Backstorm and Ovi are top 10 NHL forwards undoubtedly. Oshie, Burakovsky, Vrana, etc. are also a strong set of wingers, Kuzy is a 1AC who plays 2C. Carlson is the elite offensive dman, Niskanen and Orlov are top pairing guys and they have a few other young dmen that will come in (which cancels out the loss of Alzner IMO). Add in a top 5 NHL goalie in Holtby. That's an enviable group, despite their losses.

As for Columbus, the young guys only can go up from here. I see Jones/Werenski putting up 50, Wennberg making it clear he's a true 1C, and guys like Bjorkstrand, Anderson will break out. Add in an elite set of wingers and the second best goalie in the league. Lock to make it.

The only question is if MTL makes it or not, and if they don't either Buffalo and Boston is in. With that, the only teams that won't make it are: MTL/BOS, and SJS, and a sliiiiiiight chance one of STL/MIN/CHI misses. That's it. All those other teams will be in again

the question was which team has a chance to finish ahead of Calgary in the standings besides EDM and ANA, I agree that CGY defense can be considered one of the best, but I'm not convinced with M.Smith in net, people said the same when they got Elliot, and that didn't turn out like everyone wanted. So that's why I put LAK and SJ on par with the Flames.

And you have to agree that regardless of how Budaj played, Quick is an improvment. Budaj did play well though, even if he played 60 games (which is fitting of a starting goaltender), he was still only putting up numbers fit for a backup goalie, win % of 50, which is what you expect of a good backup, and his save % was tied for 20th in the league. You could make an argument that his GAA was top 5, but that's more indicative of how good LAK defense is, because if you look at goalies with 60 games + played, he faced at least 300 shots less than everyone else.

Why is everyone thinking the Blues are out?

I would like to know that too

Agreed. IMO almost everyone from this year's playoffs will be back, with one or two exceptions max

First of all, I just wanted to say this is a HUGE guess and highly unlikely. My reasoning is that they lost so much over the offseason. Johanson, Schmidt, Alzner, Shattenkirk (we knew would be a rental) and Williams. After losing that, they have a solid top 6 but no depth. As of now, the defense has three proven guys in Orlov, Niskanen, and Carlson, with rumors Carlson will be dealt at the deadlineI don't know much about Caps prospects but Bowey seems ready to make the jump. I he can't, they'll be stuck with a shell of Brooks Orpik playing. As for forwards, they better hope Vrana and Barber are ready. Overall, bad depth and lack of scoring form the bottom six

All of those losses were expected except Schmidt and MOJO. It's going to hurt, but we have three defenseman capable of playing on the top pair (and what rumors are there that Carlson is being dealt? people on this website don't count). Christian Djoos was the third highest scoring defenseman in the AHL last season, and the top two are lifetime AHLers. Orpik is decent on the third pairing, it's his contract that has everybody in a fuss. Bowey is more than capable of playing 16-18 minutes per night on defense. Last season Brett Connolly scored 15 goals playing 12 minutes a night in 60 some games. What happens when he plays around 80 and gets 15 minutes per night? Wilson will see a bigger role, he showed that he has some sort of offensive upside in the Toronto series (albeit not a lot). Vrana has an incredibly high ceiling, he should absolutely come around 30-40 points this season. Barber/Walker won't need to do a ton, since they'll be getting fourth line minutes. Plus when you throw in the fact that we have the best 1-2 goalie tandem in the league by far, two number one centers, and the greatest goal scorer of the generation, the only way we don't make it back to the playoffs is if we get hit hard by the injury bug.

People are still sleeping on Boston lol. We lost no major players and added youth and speed. We get a full year of McAvoy and Carlo now has a year under his belt. People are really underrating what Boston could do. Are they a cup favorite? no, but they could win a series or two in the playoffs.

Their forward depth is quite weak. Marchand, Bergeron, Pastrnak is a great first line. But beyond that, nothing is that scary. The Atlantic is getting tougher too, with Toronto and Buffalo on the upswing, and Tampa Bay should be returning to contention.

People have been saying Buffalo are on the rise for years now, Since they acquired O'Reilly if I remember. and even with the addition of Eichel, people have been emphasizing this more and more. I think as long as they have Lehner as there #1 Goalie, bottom feeders they will stay.

My Atlantic standings prediction:

1. Tampa Bay
2. Toronto
3. Montreal
4. Boston (wild card)
5. Ottawa
6. Buffalo
7. Florida
8. Detroit