In my opinion

Florida should be lower, they lost a defencemen and have to say there defence doesn’t look that great anymore. Sure they have a few soild guys and one very good d man aka ekblad.


New Jersey above caps I don’t think so. Caps above devils. I also think jackets will have a better season so I’d put them above devils as well.

I think Vegas should be a above Seattle.

I think Detroit should be above Ottawa.

Who you got as the wildcard teams?

I fully expected you to be a Devils fan having them 4th in the Metro. Not sure how they got better this year other than a healthy Dougie and Hughes for the full season, maybe... Haula for Zacha isn't much of an improvement considering Haula could only put up 44 points last year with Pastrnak on his line most of the year.

Pens had a fantastic season last year, but same squad but another year older gives me pause to how good they'll be through a full 82 games. Only team in the Metro that actually improved significantly is CBJ and they have a lot of young guys making steps forward this year i.e. Merzlikins, Texier, Sillinger plus Laine contract and Johnny Hockey. Could see them sneaking in the 4 spot over Caps and NJD.

Caps added goaltending in Kuemper, but same as Pens. Another year older for Oshie, Ovi and Backstrom.

If Islanders land Kadri like current rumors imply, they will bounce back after a weird weird season last year. Think CBJ and NYI can battle for the fourth spot in the Metro

I have Metro as:

Canes/Rangers 1A and 1B
Pens
CBJ
NYI
Caps
NJD
PHI

I just cant see Florida finishing first as man that Dcore is terrible. No joke go look at the projections. Other than Forsling-Ekblad the final 2 pairings are a huge step down

Tampa or Toronto probs taking 1st as they really didnt change significantly and have better blue lines

I agree that the devils r probably a little high here but to say they didn’t improve this off-season is just plain wrong. Added Marino Palat Nemec Vanecek, Haula. Arguably one of the most improved teams in the metro

Pacific is not accurate
Edmonton
Calgary
LA
Vancouver
Vegas
Anaheim
Seattle
San Jose

this is more accurate list barring injuries at this time.

From the East I have Devils and Sens, from the West I have Flames and Blues.

Not accurate? This is a prediction, not a math test... Accuracy implies there's a right answer, which isn't the case. You're welcome to disagree with me, but just because you don't agree with a prediction doesn't mean it's inherently wrong

Unless the Isles sign Barzal, I doubt they'll be much better. Philly is def at the bottom, Caps will drop. I probably overrated the Devils a bit, but I don't think the Blue Jackets will be as good as people think. We might very well see 3 Metro teams and 5 Atlantic, with Caps, Jackets, and Devils as 4th 5th and 6th

Terrible is a bit of an over-exaggeration IMO, but I see your point. I can't see Toronto taking the 1st spot, that goalie situation is just way too perilous. So I guess we'll see Tampa - Toronto/Florida

I think the Devils get better just by virtue of their young guys improving. Holtz should also help the team improve, and they definitely improved their d-core with Marino and Brendan Smith. That center depth is honestly really good, especially if Hughes can do what he did in 49 games last season in 82 this year. I feel like a lot of their struggles last year were down to their goalie situation, so Vanacek being good, or a bounceback from Blackwood could make them worlds better.

I will 100% agree with you that predictions cannot be wrong. I just disagree with your assumption is all.
I should have said I disagree with your prediction. most of your predictions I feel are spot on but the pacific looked off to me and I just assumed your an east coast guy who didn't take much time on the pacific prediction.

I would not be shocked to see NJD anywhere from the 4th to 6th seed when this is all said and done to be honest. but if they dont get 1 of the goalies to step up and a few players regress they could end up 9-12 but the 4-6 is very well within the probability with the young talent they have.

Ottawa is better than Detroit. Both aren’t making the playoffs, but Ottawa at least got two star players. Detroit just gave out a bunch of money to 2nd liners and didn’t fix their horrible defense.

Chiarot isn't great, but he does improve the defense. Edvinsson coming in should also make it better. Copp slots in as their 2c, which is something they desperately needed, and Perron, Kubalik, etc gives them a lot of depth to work with. Also Husso as their starter is not something to frown at. Overall, their offseason went fine, the Chiarot deal might age badly, but the other contracts were great. Plus, another year of experience for Raymond and Seider, and the apparent breakout of Larkin means they could easily be an underrated playoff team. Remember, they were a +0.500 team for the first few months last year before getting dragged down by injuries. Who knows what they can do if they're healthy.

Thank you for not overrating Columbus, though I would say that NYI will be better then 7th and could quite possibly be battling for top in the division with the addition for kadri and a bounce back season from Barzal, Lee, and a majority of their forwards. Plus a better offensive coach will help with that.

I don’t see it with them. I feel like they are at best an mid 80
Point team, I feel like Ottawa Detroit and Columbus made all these moves to just be a 500 team.

Totally forgot about Palat, so I'll concede that is definitely an upgrade. Marino is not the major upgrade you need on the backend. Vanecek is garbage, I just don't see his performance and health being a viable piece for the Devils this year. And Haula for Zacha is a wash. Haula has been on what 5 teams in 6 years now? There's a reason teams don't keep him around.

Adding new players does not equate to actually improving and you added zero players to your first PP unit on a team that ranked 28th in PP % last year. Hughes improves and Dougie healthy will help but I just don't see it all as a major upgrade to the team as a whole.

The Isles firing Trotz could be a poor indicator for them this year, but they were slammed with COVID last year. Could barely field a team and got so far behind in the standings early in the year that it was tough for them to get up. That team is not that much different from the team that made the ECF in 20-21 season. Did you mean sign Kadri? Barzal is under contract through this season I thought.