I am going:

1. Toronto
2. Tampa
3. Ottawa
4. Boston
5. Florida
6. Buffalo
7. Detroit
8. Montreal

1. Carolina
2. New York Rangers
3. New Jersey
4. Pittsburgh
5. Washington
6. New York Islanders
7. Columbus
8. Philadelphia

Maybe I am too high on Ottawa and New Jersey but I like both teams. Especially if Ottawa can get one more Top 4 right D man.

Something spicy always happens and you look good if predict it right!

I still remembering predicting St Louis winning the cup a few years back before the season. By January they were in last place and they were talking about blowing it up and I was like "nah minor changes". New goalie, New Coach and they won the cup that year. I am still riding the high of making that call before the season :P

Why so low on Carolina yet so high on a team with FAR more uncertainty in the Rangers?

Because stuff happens. I don't trust Kotkaniemi or Staal (to an extent) as 2C as well as not trusting Freddy for a repeat performance. I am also betting on Lafreniere and Kakko to finally prove themselves. Doesn't mean I don't like the Canes and I can absolutely see them coming first. Also betting on a healthy Pens team is pretty suicidal in a prediction so Canes probably finish a lot higher. But again, nothing is ever as vanilla as it seems on paper so stuff happens and I felt like the Canes dropping to 5th in the conference is possible.

I cannot see it. Even if Freddie falls off a cliff, Raanta is capable of taking the load and he showed that last year. Kochetkov is still there too. I don't get that. New York's right-wing right now consists of Blais, Kravtsov, Kakko, and Hunt. Not even that because Kravtsov is hurt. I just find it really weird that you're not going to trust a 22-year-old- center to break into the 2C role, but a 20 & 21-year-old winger that has not shown as much development as Kotkaniemi are going to break through? I just think this is cherry-picking. I'd swap NYR and Carolina. Kreider isn't going to hit 50 again, and that's not a strong Rangers offense. Their defense is somewhat okay, but not great (defensively, it's great for scoring, but that doesn't matter). Shesterkin was great last year, but he had major issues the year before that. You have doubts about Freddie, who has a career .918, but believe Shesterkin is going to have another career year? It just seems so weird to me.

Dude, on average Carolina is likely better. But in this particular "universe" or "simulation" the Rangers finish ahead. It's not that deep. Weirder stuff happens EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

For example, the Islanders 2 AND 3 seasons ago, made the semi-finals and were Tampa's toughest challenge 2 seasons in a row. Last year, they fell off a cliff because stuff happened and now no one is projecting them anywhere close to the top with a similar roster to what they've had.

My argument is that the Rangers finishing 2nd last year was the weird thing happening. They're not as good as CAR, PIT. Strome to Trocheck is a lateral move. They lost Copp, Vatrano, Braun, Georgiev, Lundkvist. I just think they are ripe for regression.

See, I think the major issue with the Isles is that they don't have Trotz. I'd be projecting them to make it if they hadn't canned him.

Copp, Vatrano and Braun were rentals and overall, not that important to the Rangers' regular season success (14-7-1 in last 22 games compared to 38-17-5 first 60 games). Georgiev has regressed every single year in New York and Shesterkin has been nothing but elite overall whereas Freddy bounced back after a horrendous year in Toronto. Lundkvist did almost nothing for New York, they have 3 better RD than him currently on the roster.

As for regression, they absolutely could. They weren't a great 5v5 team. I am choosing to bet on their progression, or at least maintaining about 110 pts to win the division. Ever heard of betting on an underdog?