Emily Redenbach
1 – Edmonton Oilers
2 – Anaheim Ducks
3 – Los Angeles Kings
4 – Calgary Flames
5 – San Jose Sharks
6 – Vancouver Canucks
7 – Vegas Golden Knights
8 – Arizona Coyotes
Edmonton may have gone out in the second round but credit where credit is due, that was the first time since Twitter was invented they’d made the playoffs and what I did see from them was a lot of potentials. They can build from the experience and find success in the second coming of Gretzky – that’s what we’re calling Connor McDavid now isn’t it? They’ve got quite a few of the pieces they need to launch a solid campaign this season.
The Ducks, who are usually quite strong in the regular season, are getting older and in my opinion didn’t add enough in the offseason to be the tough powerhouse they usually are for those 82 games. Still, they do have the Kings number during the regular season and while I’m quite happy with the personnel changes the Kings have made, it may take time to get a solid team where they need to be. If it takes, say 82 regular season games and then 16 postseason games, that’d be perfect timing for me.
Calgary has a fairly solid team, but in recent history, they tend to do better in the standings not because they’re amazing, but because the Kings don’t live up to their potential. This year I think the Kings will have what it takes to douse the Flames playoff hopes (presuming that the Central Division stays as strong as it does and takes the two wild-card spots.)
The Sharks also have an aging team and despite my obvious love of Martin Jones, they didn’t impress me during their playoff run last season, so I can’t imagine they’re going to have a huge upswing come October. They’re out of their window.
The Canucks and Coyotes both needed to do more than they did to become contenders. And the Knights? They’re not going to do a whole lot out of the gate. I wasn’t hugely impressed with their draft. Sure they’ll be entertaining but nothing to worry about.
Stanley Cup Champ Prediction
It’s about time for a West Coast Team to take back the title from the Penguins, isn’t it? While I desperately hoped it’d be the Predators last season (so, so close and how much fun did Nashville have with that Cup run?? I’m definitely a Smashville fan now) can they go all the way again? It’s incredibly rare for a team in this age of hockey to mount a successful run after losing out on the Cup the season before. Of course, this one is always difficult to predict at the beginning of the season, before injuries plague a team’s bid, before the right team trades for that missing piece. I’m going to go for the Wild Card team here, just for the fun of it. I loved what I saw from the Maple Leafs last playoffs. They had character, they had grit, they had Auston Matthews. Wouldn’t a Toronto-Edmonton final be such an entertaining series?
I’m never good with the predictions but who knows right? 🙂
