We’re only days away from the Oilers and the Devils meeting up in Sweden for game one of the 2018/19 NHL season. A season that I predict will vault Connor McDavid into an atmosphere that hasn’t been seen since Mario and Wayne were toying with the NHL record books.
It’s time for my 2018/19 NHL predictions!
I’ll be guessing the final standings, the Stanley Cup winner, and who’ll be winning the major awards in Vegas at the end of the year. Also, I’m going to toss in a few random wildcard categories like who’ll be vying for Jack Hughes services or which big name Oiler is the most likely to be traded this year.
More or less I’ll be paying homage to the Sportsnet predictions found here.
Stanley Cup: Pittsburgh Penguins
East Champion: Pittsburgh Penguins
West Champion: Edmonton Oilers
Most likely to exceed expectations: Florida Panthers
Most likely to disappoint: Calgary Flames
Canadian team with highest point total: Toronto Maple Leafs
# of Canadian teams in the playoffs: TOR, WPG, EDM… Three
Hart: Connor McDavid (EDM)
Art Ross: Connor McDavid (EDM)
Calder: Andrei Svechnikov (CAR)
Rocket Richard: Connor McDavid (EDM)
Selke: Alexander Barkov (FLA)
Lady-Byng: Sebastian Aho (CAR)
Norris: Victor Hedman (TB)
Vezina: Matt Murray (PIT)
Jack Adams: Bob Boughner (FLA)
Conn Smythe: Cam Talbot (EDM)
Breakout player of the year: Jack Eichel (BUF)
Most likely to fail to live up to expectations: Ilya Kovalchuk (LA)
Comeback player of the year: Carey Price (MTL)
Team “Players on the rise”:
LW – Anthony Mantha (DET)
C – Pierre-Luc Dubois (CAR)
RW – Jesse Puljujarvi (EDM)
D – Thomas Chabot (OTT)
D – Noah Hanifin (CGY)
G – Antti Raanta (ARI)
Three Coaches on the hot seat: Bruce Boudreau (MIN)/Todd McLellan (EDM)/ Joel Quenneville (CHI)
Three GMs on the hot seat: Marc Bergevin (MTL)/Stan Bowman (CHI)/Peter Chiarelli (EDM)
Three teams to be vying for the Jack Hughes pick: Vancouver, New Jersey, Colorado via Ottawa
Biggest trade of the year: Bobrovsky and Panarin to the Islanders for a package that includes Jordan Eberle, Thomas Greiss, Brock Nelson plus picks and prospects.
Biggest name Oiler that might get traded: Milan Lucic
Top point getter on the Oilers: Connor McDavid – 123pts
Top goal scorer on the Oilers: Connor McDavid – 51 goals
Top defensive scorer on the Oilers: Oscar Klefbom – 42pts
Top rookie Scorer on the Oilers: Kailer Yamamoto – 48pts
Predicted Pacific division standings:
Ultimately, I think that the Oilers will make the playoffs but I’m not sure how far they’ll make it. Yes, I have them going to the Stanley Cup final but I do that every year. I’m a homer like that and have the utmost confidence in this newly envigorated and determined squad.
The whole group has a chip on its shoulder and they’re going into this season with the eye of the tiger! I wouldn’t put it past them to make the Western Conference final and bow out there but depending on health and goaltending, there’s a very real chance they could make it to the Cup final! Any team with Connor McDavid on it has a chance.
What do you think about my picks? Let me know in the comments below!
