You can’t blame hockey fans for belting out the chorus to Andy Williams’ hit Christmas tune It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year because the 2019-20 NHL season is almost here.
The season officially begins Wednesday night in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs host the Ottawa Senators. Elsewhere on opening night, the St. Louis Blues raise the franchise’s first Stanley Cup banner before they entertain Washington, Edmonton welcomes Vancouver and San Jose visits Vegas.
Over the next three days, I’ll bring you a glimpse of how I think the Eastern and Western conferences will shake down and which team will raise the Stanley Cup seven months from now.
We start out west, where the bull’s eye will be on the defending champion Blues all season long.
Central Division
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
- Winnipeg Jets
- Colorado Avalanche (wild card)
- Dallas Stars
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Minnesota Wild
The top three teams in the Central are competitively close to each other but the Preds are still the class of the division. St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington will prove that last season was no fluke. The Jets will put a tumultuous pre-season behind them and outperform the Avalanche for third place. Colorado will edge Dallas for the wild card, while the Hawks and Wild duke it out for last place.
Pacific Division
- San Jose Sharks
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers (wild card)
- Arizona Coyotes
- Vancouver Canucks
- Anaheim Ducks
- Los Angeles Kings
It is going to be fun to watch the Sharks and Golden Knights battle for the Pacific crown. The Flames will take a step back after their incredible 50-win campaign in 2018-19. The Oilers will finally get back to the post-season by edging the Coyotes for the wild card, while Vancouver will be around the .500 mark again. Sorry, Ducks and Kings fans, your Stanley Cup-winning days are now a distant memory.
As for the Eastern Conference, find out Tuesday which team that made a deep playoff run last year I’m picking to miss the playoffs this season.
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