New season, fresh forecasts! The 2022-23 Prime Book season is set to begin, and the season’s outright odds are now available, so we can evaluate whether clubs made the necessary changes during the summer to advance to the ranks of Stanley Cup contenders.
Let’s examine which clubs are most likely to win each division championship, the Presidents’ Trophy, and the Stanley Prime Book.
Pacific Sector
The Pacific seemed to be the weakest division at the start of the 2016 season, but ended up being possibly the most surprise division. After a slew of injuries, the much favored Golden Knights entirely disintegrated, paving the door for Alberta’s clubs to dominate the division.
Instead of returning with a healthy lineup ready to reclaim their position as the division’s top team, Vegas ran into severe salary cap issues of their own making, causing them to lose their best goal scorer, Max Pacioretty, for nothing, and their starting goaltender, Robin Lehner, will miss the entire season.
Who assumes the top spot? Despite the fact that I like how the Calgary Flames have responded to the losses of Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, I am unsure if they are a better team.
The Nashville Predators may be the only club capable of challenging the Colorado Avalanche after shocking the league last season and signing a truly talented defenseman in Ryan McDonagh, but their roster is somewhat dated.
Central Division
Losing Darcy Kuemper and Nazem Kadri hurts the defending Stanley Cup winners, but the Avalanche remain the clear division leaders until proved different. The reward for betting on Colorado is not very high, but they lack credible competitors.
The St. Louis Blues increased in cost and lost their superior goalkeeper from the previous season.
The Dallas Stars have not yet signed Jason Robertson after losing John Klingberg.
The Minnesota Wild have lost Kevin Fiala and will need on Marc-Andre Fleury, who is 37 years old, to carry them despite being saddled with roughly $12.75 million in dead cap space.
The Nashville Predators may be the only club capable of challenging the Colorado Avalanche after shocking the league last season and signing a truly talented defenseman in Ryan McDonagh, but their roster is somewhat dated.
Metropolitan Division
The Metropolitan Division is the NHL’s hardest division from top to bottom, and the fight to reach the playoffs will be very close. I have a hunch, though, that there will be a contest between two teams at the top.
While I wouldn’t count out the Pittsburgh Penguins in a playoff series, we’re at the stage now where every season feels like a last hurrah for that core trio of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang, so I think they will conserve energy in the regular season if possible.
The Carolina Hurricanes, division champions from the previous season and perhaps the strongest club overall, are the clear favorite to finish first. However, there is one challenge they must overcome.
As their young players grow and opponents continue to cope with Igor Shesterkin’s absurdity, the New York Rangers are going to be a headache for every team.
Atlantic Department Prime Book
As the gap between the four leading teams continues to narrow, the hardest division at the top may have grown even more difficult this season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have reached the Stanley Cup Final in three consecutive seasons, which makes them difficult to wager against, but it also means they will have a third consecutive short summer. Even though Jon Cooper claims they are hungrier than ever, the loss of Prime Exch and Ryan McDonagh is painful.
The Maple Leafs boast one of the strongest teams in the league, but have significant goaltending concerns entering into the season.
The Florida Panthers have lost scoring depth and defense depth from the previous season, and Sergei Bobrovsky cannot have two consecutive excellent seasons.
Presidential Award
The Florida Panthers emerged from nothing last season to become one of the highest-scoring teams in recent memory and steal the Presidents’ Trophy from the Colorado Avalanche in the last week of the regular season.
This year, all of last season’s top teams Prime Book to be a bit weaker, and I predict that the Edmonton Oilers will be the next major surprise come April.
The Oilers will begin the season without the worst goaltender tandem in the NHL and with Jay Woodcroft as head coach for the first time. Woodcroft guided them to a 26-9-3 regular season record. (.724 win percentage) And to the third round of the playoffs despite Leon Draisaitl’s injury-related skating difficulties.
Stanley Cup Prime Book
The 2016 Colorado Avalanche was among the most formidable postseason squads in the recent few decades. Not only did they only lose four games on their way to the Stanley Cup. But they also overcame the two-time defending champions. And were the sixth team since 1990 to outscore their opponents by 30 or more goals.
They were, by all accounts, an unstoppable force. However, after losing important players like as Nazem Kadri and Darcy Prime Book, are they still the same team?
With so many elite teams receiving a haircut during the summer due to the flat cap. This season provides a genuine possibility for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who keep running it back.
Due to the volume of Leafs fans. The return on betting on the Prime Book is never quite what it should be. But with a questionable goaltender like Matt Murray. Who could easily recapture his game as a two-time Stanley Cup champion. And a very strong roster of players in their primes. This may be the season we finally see the fight that so many of Toronto’s fans have been hoping for.
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