NHL Predictions: Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division Stands to Be Much Stronger and Could Provide Upwards of 4-5 Playoff Participants. Almost Every Team Has Their Eyes Set on a Postseason Berth, Aside From Toronto – Although EA Sports Season Simulation Would Tell You the Maple Leafs Will Squeeze out a Wild-Card Finish.
Following a Puck Prose tradition, it’s about time for five bold NHL predictions. We typically release these in anticipation of important dates such as the trade deadline, All-Star break, start of playoffs, free agency, etc. Now, with a new season set to begin on Wednesday, it’s time to settle in for another long, exciting nine months or so of hockey.
At the beginning of 2015-16, we released a league-wide edition for our five bold NHL predictions. It’s tricky to make accurate projections this early in the year, but we managed to hit on the Dallas Stars being a powerhouse team in the West emerging as a Stanley Cup contender. We also got lucky with our prediction that Connor McDavid would match/or exceed a point-per-game pace in his rookie season – luckily we made sure to protect ourselves to an injury opposed to making an actual point estimate.
We’re shifting gears a bit for 2016-17. Instead of five league-wide predictions, we’ve decided to split it up into a divisional series. To begin, we turn to the Eastern Conference starting with the Atlantic Division.
Florida won the division in 2015-16, while Tampa Bay and Detroit also managed to secure playoff spots. Boston and Ottawa seemingly fell apart down the final stretch, while Montreal experienced an epic collapse that began much earlier after losing starter Carey Price. Buffalo showed a ton of improvement and should be ready to challenge for a playoff spot, while the Maple Leafs bottomed out and were rewarded with the 1st overall pick in the 2016 Draft.