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It’s prediction time.
Despite being a die-hard Cowboys fan, I predicted a Bills-49ers Super Bowl before the NFL season started, and I’m sticking with it, hoping the Cowboys prove me wrong. This is actually the third year in a row that I’ve picked the San Fran-Buffalo Super Bowl. I was definitely right in the end.
Oh wait, I cover hockey for a living. All kidding aside, here are some 2023-24 NHL predictions, most of which you readers will be able to throw in my face in a few months.
Stanley Cup pick
Give me a Toronto-Edmonton Stanley Cup Final with the Oilers winning Game 7 on the road. This is actually the same Cup final prediction I had last April before the playoffs.
I like the Stars and Hurricanes to complete the Final Four picture, and either of those teams could easily end up in the Final.
This is not click-bait on the Leafs. I just think that with Tampa Bay and Florida battling key injuries early in the season and Boston losing the heart and soul of its captain, it opens the way for the Leafs to run away with the Atlantic Division. I also like the additions of Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. A second-round loss to Florida exposed the Leafs’ need to add some sandpaper — but sandpaper in the form of skill, too.
I remember when a lot of people stopped picking the Capitals altogether after they lost to the Penguins again in the second round of the 2016-17 playoffs. It looks like their Cup-contending years are over. Then they finally broke through in 2017-18.
Read more: NHL award predictions 2023-24: McDavid’s top Hart Trophy challenger? Plus the big Hellebuyck trade question
I could be sold on that kind of journey for the Leafs this season.
My Hockey Hall of Fame colleague Eric Duhatschek has more guts than me, actually picking the Leafs to actually win it all.
I’m picking Connor McDavid’s Oilers to top them, however, bringing Canada its first Cup win since 1993. The Oilers are ready after losing to the eventual Cup winners each of the past two seasons, Vegas in 2023 and Colorado in 2022. And this preseason, the Oilers’ top players sound to me like the Avalanche players did before they finally won two years ago.
Is this the year Connor McDavid wins his first Stanley Cup championship? (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
It’s a tall order at 18, to be sure, but I’m down for 80 points for Connor Bedard in his rookie NHL season. No 18-year-old has been more ready for this stage since McDavid.
He has answered the bell in every challenge in his young career. I think he’s more than ready for it.
“I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but he seems like he was born for it,” Blackhawks linemate Taylor Hall said on our Got Yer Back podcast recently. “He’s like a guy who doesn’t shy away from the spotlight. He likes it. And he wants to be the best player on the ice.”
Bedard training with McDavid this past summer and spending time with Sidney Crosby at the Biosteel camp was no accident.
“He wanted to be one of these guys,” Hall said. “He wants to be mentioned in that category. And I think watching him in the first few days of camp, he needs to do it.”
Miro Heiskanen has never even been nominated for a Norris Trophy and won one.
And I understand there’s reason to believe that streak continues. For my money, Cale Makar is the best defenseman in the world, and let’s be real: He’s the best bet to win the Norris this season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s one of the three finalists for the Hart Trophy.
Erik Karlsson had a ridiculous offensive season in 2022-23 and has better teammates to work with now, former winner Adam Fox is always in the conversation, and Roman Josi isn’t done yet.
But I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Heiskanen will deliver the kind of all-around season on a Cup-contending team that gives Makar a run for his money in a close vote. Heiskanen will become the first Stars player to win the Norris.
Kraken misses the playoffs
Not only did the Kraken surprise in the playoffs last season, but they also knocked off the defending Stanley Cup champions for good measure. So why am I being an idiot and saying they will miss this season?
For one, it’s about looking around them in the West, and I can see a team like the Flames, for example, coming back. I also think a lot of things went right for Seattle last season, including getting such a deep, scoring committee throughout the lineup. I’m not convinced it’s there again. I like where the Kraken is headed long-term – intelligently built for long-term sustainability – but I see this season as a small step back and missing a point or two.
Senators do this
And let’s get the Battle of Ontario in the first round! How fun is that?
But yes, the time has come for the Senators to punch their ticket to the postseason for the first time since reaching the conference final in 2017. It will be a long rebuild, but Brady Tkachuk will lead the Senators to the promised land. I’m not 100 percent sold on Joonas Korpisalo, but he doesn’t need to steal that many games. Just give the Senators average goaltending, and that’s fine.
Can Brady Tkachuk lead the Senators to their first playoff appearance since 2017? (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Quinn Hughes led defensemen in scoring
It starts with Karlsson’s return to earth after a ridiculous 101-point 2022-23 season in San Jose. Because the games are more important to Pittsburgh this season some offense may be sacrificed.
But I also think Hughes, who tied for second in D scoring last season with 76 points, will push his own totals higher this season. For one, I can see the Canucks’ 11th-ranked PP from last season finishing in the top five this year, so that alone should boost Hughes’ numbers.
The word of caution, however, teammate Thomas Drance, who covers the Canucks for The Athleticrecently wrote about Vancouver’s power with a new approach, and there’s always risk in betting on a new system or look.
But I’m staying here.
Peter DeBoer won over Jack Adams
Not only has veteran coach Peter DeBoer never won at Jack Adams, but he hasn’t been a finalist since entering the league in 2008-09 — surprising all the contenders he’s coached, especially San Jose and Vegas.
And maybe it’s a bad choice because people expect the Stars to be very good, and often voters lean toward coaches whose teams surprise or exceed expectations.
But I think the Stars will have the kind of wire-to-wire, first-place season that DeBoer will finally be recognized for. I’m picking him over Jack Adams.
Kane signs with … Florida?
Going to his hometown Sabers makes a lot of sense, but my guess is Patrick Kane ends up with the Panthers.
One would think that Florida would be more concerned about its blue line, my feeling is that the Panthers feel they can hang around until Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour return. Panthers general manager Bill Zito took Kane to a world hockey championship, where Zito made him captain.
Can you imagine Kane playing on a line with Aleksander Barkov? I sure can.
The key for Florida is not to lose too much ground early in the season. The plan for Kane and agent Pat Brisson is to take a look at the landscape a month into the season and start making a shortlist. The Panthers should be here to make that list.
(Top photo of Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews: Kevin Sousa / NHLI via Getty Images)
