Happy birthday to my favorite player ever, the one and only Sidney «The Kid» Crosby

It’s also my fathers birthday today.

And it’s also the birthday of the Habs beating the pens in the play in round

It's the birthday of the best player from this generation, Damon Severson

I have no idea why I started with the Pacific, 7 of these teams are interchangeable

1. Vegas
2. Calgary
3. LA
4. Seattle
5. Edmonton
6. Vancouver
7. SJ
8. Anaheim

I’m gonna bury the sharks in last or second last for the next 10 years lol

And its also the birthday of Canes legend Jonathan Bernier

Is he leading NHL history in own goals yet?

😂😂😂

So full regular season predictions ( based on the asssumptions all RFA’s are signed and no more UFA’s are ( sorry NYI ):

Vegas
Calgary
LA
Seattle ( WC 2 )
Edmonton
Vancouver
San Jose
Anaheim

Colorado
Saint-Louis
Winnipeg
Dallas ( WC 1 )
Minnesota
Nashville
Chicago
Arizona

Carolina
Philadelphia
Washington
NYI ( WC 1 )
Pittsburgh
NYR
New Jersey
Columbus

Florida
Tampa
Toronto
Boston ( WC 2 )
Montreal
Detroit
Ottawa
Buffalo

Wouldn't be shocked if WSH falls off a cliff. Dillon was important and now I really hate their defense

Don't remind me😂

Why are the Blackhawks below a clearly rebuilding team?

Signing Mikael Granlund to a 4 year deal is not something a “clearly rebuilding team” does. The preds are trying to retool while maintaining being competitive for a playoff spot.

But without two really valuable pieces that’s gonna be a challenge

I said they’ll remain competitive for a playoff spot. It’s not likely they get in, but it’s not like this is a full rebuilder like Anaheim, Arizona, Detroit, or Buffalo.

My prediction is that a team in the Eastern Conference breaks the record of the 2018-19 Montréal Canadiens and 2017-18 Florida Panthers for the most points by a non-playoff team. (Currently the record is 96)

Nashville is just better, doesn’t matter the direction of the team

What would playoff matchups be?

If the Montréal Canadiens beat the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 28th, 2019:

- Tampa Bay would be a dynasty winning their 3rd straight Stanley Cup this year.
- Toronto would have made it to the semi-finals this year, and broken their 16 year series win drought.
- Matt Duchene would’ve been a part of 2 of the worst trades in NHL history. (With him being the bad part of the deal both times.)

Let’s see if you guys can connect the dots here.

Well

Vegas-Seattle ( breaks record for most watched playoff series ever )
Calgary-LA

Colorado-Dallas
STL-Winnipeg

Carolina-NYI
Philly-Washington

Florida-Boston
Tampa-Toronto ( because of course Leafs can’t win round 1 )

Well first one is easy, Montreal makes playoffs over Columbus in 2019, no sweep, Tampa wins cup
2nd one Duchene to Montreal ???, probably through trade though Columbus wasn’t going to move Duchene so FA would’ve been more likely
Duchene gets traded for a 2019 1st + ( 2019 MTL 1st was Caufield at 15 ) wouldn’t be at 15 then but could still be a Krebs or something )

Just realized he would’ve been on Ottawa at that time so 1st one stays the same, 2nd one, Duchene to Montreal for a kings ransom
3rd one, no Caufield, probably a loss of other major assets too

It’s not as complicated as that.

The trade deadline was already over at that point. Since Columbus misses the playoffs, the Senators draft Caufield at 15th overall with Columbus’s pick that they got in the Duchene trade.

The habs lose to Toronto this year without Caufield. (They likely would’ve had Thomson/Heinola instead)

I think you kinda misunderstood, Duchene to Montreal was never gonna happen. I think the thread is:
1 - Montreal makes playoffs, gets smacked by Tampa, Tampa steamrolls again for the first of 3 straight cups.
2 - Because Montreal made the playoffs, they don’t get Caufield at 15oa. I’m assuming this is being seen as a difference maker in the Habs vs. Leafs series, however the Leafs are chokers and the Habs would still have Price so the Leafs probably still don’t win, especially if the Perry/Tavares accident still happens.
3 - Duchene would have been traded to Columbus only for Columbus to miss the playoffs, and then he would still walk in free agency to Nashville. This would be a horrendous trade for Columbus in hindsight, trading for a rental and not even making the playoffs, almost as bad as Ottawa/Nashville giving up Girard+Byram+more to get Duchene to Ottawa in the first place.