NHL Predictions Roundtable: Discussions on the regular season

40 Goal Scorers

Over/under: 4.5 players score at least 40 goals

Dave: Over – Alex Ovechkin, Patrik Laine, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Brock Boeser, Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon

Jeremy: Over

Rohan: Over – Ovechkin, Laine, Matthews, Evgeni Malkin, McDavid

Shephard: Over – Ovechkin, Laine, Matthews, Malkin, McDavid

Jasmine: Over – McDavid, Matthews, John Tavares, Ovechkin, Laine, MacKinnon, Taylor Hall

Carson: Over

Scott: Over

Michael: Over – Ovechkin, Kucherov, Matthews, Laine, McDavid, Malkin, Logan Couture

Danny: Over

Tyler: Over – Kucherov, McDavid, Matthews, Ovechkin, Malkin, and Anze Kopitar

Consensus pick: Over. 

The NHL is transitioning to an era of offense. May the revival of the dead puck era rest in peace. Pretty much everyone agrees on who will definitely score 40 goals. Assuming they’re healthy, Ovechkin, Matthews, Laine, and McDavid should each reach the milestone.

There are also guys like Kucherov, Tavares, Malkin, MacKinnon, Hall, Couture, and Boeser who have a great chance of reaching it as well. It’s conceivable each of those guys could score 40 goals as well.

The goal scoring throne still belongs to Ovechkin. It’s going to take one heck of an effort to dethrone him. History isn’t on Ovechkin’s side, but he’s proven to be the exception to everything fans have heard about old players declining.

Personally, give me Ovi over the field. I’m not a betting man, but I would never bet against Ovechkin scoring a ton of goals. That said, Matthews and Laine should give him one heck of a challenge. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of those two beat him out.

Who Will Lead The Toronto Maple Leafs In Points?

Dave: Mitch Marner

Jeremy: Matthews

Rohan: Matthews

Shephard: Matthews

Jasmine: Marner

Carson: Marner

Scott: Matthews

Michael: Matthews

Danny: Matthews

Tyler: Patrick Marleau

Consensus pick: Matthews

The Toronto Maple Leafs have the best problem in the world. They’ve got a ton of cooks in their kitchen and only so many dishes to be made. It wouldn’t be surprising if any number of players led the Leafs in scoring.

I went with Marner for several reasons. First of all, I’m not sure Matthews is going to get the power play time he warrants. Also, with William Nylander unsigned, he’ll have to be the shooter on his line. Nylander at least gave him a goal scoring threat. There’s also the issue of Matthews’ health. Even if he suffers some injuries, he should be at least in the top three on the Leafs in points.

Next, Marner is going to be playing with Tavares. That’s a juicy spot to be and it should help him rack up assists. On top of all of this, Marner’s going to be an important cog in the Leafs’ lethal power play.

Surprisingly, nobody said John Tavares. He’s another guy who I could see leading the Maple Leafs in points. Plus, Tavares is the most experienced sous-chef in that kitchen.

Who Will Win The Hart Trophy?

Dave: Aleksander Barkov

Jeremy: MacKinnon

Rohan: McDavid

Shephard: McDavid

Jasmine: McDavid

Carson: Kucherov

Scott: McDavid

Michael: Kucherov

Danny: McDavid

Tyler: MacKinnon

Consensus pick: McDavid

Let me explain my pick of Barkov. If I was confident the Oilers will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, McDavid would be my Hart Trophy pick without a second thought. But as last season showed, voters frown upon non-playoff teams. It doesn’t matter if you lead the league in scoring and improve on your previous season. Even if you got the Hart Trophy in your last season. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best player on the planet. But that’s why there’s the Ted Lindsay Award.

Barkov is a guy who checks all the boxes voters tend to look for when considering Hart candidates. First of all, he’s an extremely good player. Secondly, if the Florida Panthers make the playoffs (and I believe they will), Barkov’s going to be a huge reason for that.

Kucherov should be a strong candidate. But unfortunately, he’ll probably suffer from the “you’re on a good team” argument (which is baffling), just like he did last season. MacKinnon was a finalist last season and the Avalanche will continue to rely heavily on him.

Stanley Cup Picks

Dave: Penguins over Predators

Jeremy: Jets over Bruins

Rohan: Penguins over Sharks

Shephard: Penguins over Sharks

Jasmine: Sharks over Lightning

Carson: Maple Leafs over Jets

Scott: Predators over Lightning

Michael: Sharks over Lightning

Danny: Lightning over Sharks

Tyler: Predators over Bruins

Consensus pick: Penguins

The most popular pick is the Penguins over the Sharks and the Sharks over the Lightning (twice). Other than that, everyone has a different ending to this season. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Penguins are rested and are obviously capable of winning the Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, the Sharks are a trendy pick after a busy offseason and the Lightning are about the safest pick possible. Five of our writers have them in the Final.

Nashville is another trendy pick, as two of our writers picked them to win. Additionally, I have them losing to the Penguins. They’re coming off a President’s Trophy, so that’s not surprising. If the Predators can stay healthy, they’ll be a very hard team to beat. Once Ryan Ellis got healthy, Nashville became virtually unbeatable.

The Winnipeg Jets got a bit of love as well after making it to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history. Surprisingly, only one writer is picking the Maple Leafs to make the Stanley Cup Final. They’ve certainly got the offense necessary to win. Now the Leafs just need things to go their way (which, if you’re a Toronto sports fan, should frighten you).