"Too Early" Divisional Winner Predictions Revisited Too Early

It’s always fun to revisit old predictions and see how wrong you were. I do have to give myself some credit because I feel like a few of these predictions are still holding up even with some time left to go in the NHL season. It may be too early to check myself here, but I think its still something worth talking about. My predictions on January 6th can be found here.

North Division – Toronto Maple Leafs

I’ll start off with my best and probably easiest prediction. The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a solid season. They are currently in 1st place in the North division with 53 points. The next closest team is the Edmonton Oilers with 47. The Leafs should have an easy path to the conference finals this season if the Oilers are their toughest competition. But for now, they are on a direct path to a division title.

West Division – Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas is currently 2nd place in the division, only trailing a stacked Colorado Avalanche team. The Knights are still my pick to win the West in the regular season. They have 20 games left and are only trailing by 4 points. They’ll catch Colorado and possibly meet them in the 2nd round of the playoffs, which I’m sure we’re all hoping will happen. What a series that will be. Until then, look for Vegas to take that #1 spot in the West.

Central Division – Tampa Bay Lightning

Another seemingly easy pick, but the Lightning are currently 2nd. They are trailing the Florida Panthers (yes, the Beach Cats are good) by 2 points, but with 1 less game played than them. However, I don’t think they are the biggest threat to the Lightning within this division. The Carolina Hurricanes are trailing the Bolts by 1 point with 1 less game than Tampa. The Hurricanes are a good team, but I still think the Lightning will take the division title. They have 18 games to go and 2 of those are against Carolina, and 3 are against the Panthers. The Lighting will be preparing for the playoffs and I think they’ll be able to hold off their competitors until then.

East Division – Philadelphia Flyers

Yikes. This one was a bit off the mark. Although they certainly aren’t a bad team, the Flyers are not going to win the division this year. Their playoff hopes are still intact, but I don’t really see them catching Boston who has 4 more points and two less games played. It isn’t crazy to think they could catch them, but the Flyers have not been good. My prediction that they would win the division wasn’t terrible (it’s not like I picked the Sabres…) but I picked the Flyers based on their goaltending. Their goaltending has been horrendous this year. They recently lost to the Rangers 9-0 and 8-3. That’s 17 goals against in two games. Carter Hart has also been healthy scratched a few times in recent games as well. If they want a shot at the playoffs, and maybe even a shot at the cup, Hart has to figure it out. Quickly because they are running out of time.

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Written by Andrew Silvers