August Playoff Predictions!
Posted 6:28 PM ET | Comments 0
.................................................................................................................................. Here are my playoff predictions or better yet guesses for the upcoming season. I’ve also included some forecasts or guesses for some individual players. For general context, my idea for someone who will have a big year is an increase of say 10-20% in their ppg compared to last year. For declining players, they may be just below last year’s pace or could very likely see a drop of greater than 10% in their ppg production. .................................................................................................................................. In the West, depth rules. .................................................................................................................................. In the East, goaltenders are king. .................................................................................................................................. I think there is a lot of parity in both conferences. In the East, the two extra teams will make it a real dog fight for the last couple playoff spots. Realistically, teams 4-14 in the East could easily be in or out depending on goaltending performance throughout the year. Same could be said for teams 7-11 in the West; of these teams, the ones with the best goaltending throughout the year will likely make it. .................................................................................................................................. Here it is. .................................................................................................................................. WESTERN CONFERENCE ............................................................................................................. 1 Stl - Lots of depth, lots of players in their prime. Pietrangelo, Berglund with big years. Ott in decline. .................................................................................................................................. 2 Ana - Getzlaf, Kesler and Perry carry the team. Cogliano with a big year. Solid young goaltending. Heatly useless. .................................................................................................................................. 3 Chi - Toews/Kane with big years. Hossa with a good year. Sharp & Richards to be in decline. .................................................................................................................................. 4 LA - Big years from Doughty and Kopitar. Stoll, Williams, Richards will all be in decline. .................................................................................................................................. 5 SJ - Big year from Couture. Thornton continues to produce. Pavelski and Hertl with good years but a slower pace. Loss of Boyle will hurt. Marleau will be in decline. Management hurts team. .................................................................................................................................. 6 Min - Window closing fast on Parise, Koivu, Vanek, Suter but still lots left to carry the team this year. Pominville to start declining. .................................................................................................................................. 7 Col - Mackinnon, Duchene, Landeskog, O’Reilly all with big years. Solid goalie. Johnson with a big year. Iginla to do well. Tanguay with a decent year. Loss of Stastny a step back. Briere in the press box more than on the ice. .................................................................................................................................. 8 AZ - Goaltending and D-men solid. OEL, Gagner, Boedker, Hanzal and Stone with big years. Doan stays steady. Vermette starts to decline. Erat needs to retire. .................................................................................................................................. 9 Edm - Big years from Eberle, RNH, Perron, Hall, Yakupov, Schultz. Goaltending holds them back. .................................................................................................................................. 10 Wpg - Solid team. Look for lots of offensive from Wheeler, Ladd, Kane, Frolik, Little, Bogo, Buff and Enstrom. Pavelec is the new Toskala. .................................................................................................................................. 11 Dal - Hemsky, Peverley (if he plays), Cole, Horcoff, Gonchar will all decline. Weak D. Big year from Big Benn. .................................................................................................................................. 12 Van - Burrows, D. Sedin, H. Sedin, Vrbata, Miller will all be in decline. Bonino better but not enough. Edler to bounce back. .................................................................................................................................. 13 Cal - Flames appear to be moving in the right direction, but are a few years away. Backlund with a big year. .................................................................................................................................. 14 Nash - Fisher, Jokinen, Riberio, Roy all in decline. Worried about Rinne coming off his hip surgery. Weber with a big year, but can't do it all. .................................................................................................................................. EASTERN CONFERENCE .............................................................................................................. 1 TB - Stamkos and Hedman with big years. Solid depth. Bishop can be dominant. Backup G better. .................................................................................................................................. 2 Pitt - Crosby, Malkin, Hornqvist, Erhoff, Letang with big years. Kunitz, Dupuis will both be declining. MAF lots of wins, not great stats. .................................................................................................................................. 3 Bos - Still very solid. Lots of very good players in their primes. Lucic with a big year. Rask is great. .................................................................................................................................. 4 NYR - Brassard, Hagelin, Stepan with big years. Lundqvist still great. St. Louis with a good year. Nash is an enigma. .................................................................................................................................. 5 Mtl - Pacioretty, Desharnais with big years. Bourque,Parenteau, Plekanec in decline. Price still the key. .................................................................................................................................. 6 NJ - Jagr is ageless. Zajac, Cammalleri and Henrique to have big years. Ryder, Havlat, Clowe will all be in decline. Schneider gets them in. .................................................................................................................................. 7 Clb - Steady as she goes. Dubinsky with a big year. Hartnell in decline. Bob gets them in. .................................................................................................................................. 8 Det - Zetterberg and Datsyuk still have something left in the tank. Nyquist with a good year but slower pace. Franzen to decline. Don't expect much from Weiss. Goaltending just good enough. .................................................................................................................................. 9 Phi - Voracek, Simmonds, Giroux with big years that carry the team to the brink of the playoffs. Umberger and Lecavalier continue declines. D too weak. .................................................................................................................................. 10 NYI - Maturing team lead by Tavares/Okposo. Secondary scoring by committee. Couple more years for the D yet. I had a hard time not putting them in the top 8. .................................................................................................................................. 11 Wash - Ovi, Backstrom, Niskanen with big years. Ward, Laich to decline. A team stuck in neutral. .................................................................................................................................. 12 Tor - Transition year. Nonis and Carlyle fired. JVR, Kessel and Gardiner with big years. Kadri with an inconsistent year. Clarkson with 12 goals. Roster overhaul coming. .................................................................................................................................. 13 Ott - Turris with a big year. More of the same from Karlsson. Legwand to be a disappointment. Will be competitive. .................................................................................................................................. 14 Car - Goaltending not strong enough. J. Staal with a breakout year. Just can’t see this team being better than any other team in in the Metro. .................................................................................................................................. 15 Fla - Too many over the hill veterans and not ready young players. Huberdeau with a breakout year. Boyes and Kopecky in decline. .................................................................................................................................. 16 Buf - Playing for the 20%. I with some reservation think Stewart may have a breakout year. .................................................................................................................................. Stay thirsty