NHL Standings Predictions Halfway Through

It’s the beginning of January 2015, the Winter Classic has come and gone with a tremendous ending, and marked the turn of the calender year and we are very close to halfway through the NHL season. Back before the season started many fans and analysts around the NHL had predictions of how they thought the 2014-2015 NHL season would play out. So here we will look at how I have done, where I was correct, and where I was dead wrong.

Bolded are my predictions back on August 16:

Atlantic:
1). Tampa Bay■
2). Boston◆
3). Toronto◆
4). Montreal◇
5). Detroit
6). Florida
7). Ottawa
8). Buffalo

1). Tampa Bay■ – 52

2). Montreal◆ – 50

3). Detroit◆ – 49

4). Toronto◇ – 45

5). Boston – 42

6). Florida – 41

7). Ottawa – 37

8). Buffalo – 31

I had thought that Tampa would be a powerhouse and they have proven that they are capable of being just that. I did not think Boston would be this “average”, but I would watch for them in the second half. I thought Toronto would play over their heads this year, and they started out hot, but with their recent struggles, defensive coaching deficiencies and the difficulty of their upcoming schedule, they may fall behind soon.

Montreal is getting good depth play and outstanding goaltending from Carey Price and looks like they’ll be staying near the top of the division. Detroit is finally healthy and playing like it. With a great mix of their veterans and home-grown youngsters, this team doesn’t look like it will be giving up it’s reign of 23 consecutive playoff years. The Florida Panthers have surprised many, but those who truly paid attention knew they would be a competitive team. That they are as seemingly every game they play is decided by one goal and they lead the NHL with 15 games that have gone past regulation.

More from The Rat Trick

Like the Wings, they have a good mix of young players and veterans, including number one overall pick Aaron Ekblad, who has been more than advertised, and Coach Gerard Gallant rolls all four lines every game. According to HockeyAnalysis.com, they are top ten in many possession stats and are a smart defensive team. If they can score some goals and continue to get excellent goaltending from Roberto Luongo, they just may be able to sneak into a wild card spot. The Sens look to be in the beginning stages of a rebuild, after mainstays and captains Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza have left in the last couple years, they will be looking towards a youth movement for the next couple seasons. The Sabres have played better than some expected, and their youth movement looks to be promising for the near future.

Metropolitan:

1). Pittsburgh□
2). NY Islanders◆
3). NY Rangers◆
4). Columbus◇
5). Philadelphia
6). Washington
7). New Jersey
8). Carolina

1). Pittsburgh□ – 51

2).NY Islanders◆ – 51

3). Washington◆ – 45

4). NY Rangers◇ – 44

5). Columbus – 35

6). Philadelphia – 35

7). New Jersey – 33

8). Carolina – 24

The Penguins came off another disappointing playoff run by changing management. They lost two D-men to Free Agency and now have had to deal with numerous injuries and Mumps cases that has them near the top of the league in man games lost. However, they have persevered through, and the two best hockey players on the planet are playing as such.

I saw the Islanders as a team who would take major strides this season, and they have done just that. The hoard of prospects they have been developing is starting to come to fruition and players like Anders Lee, Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson and Calvin DeHann are meshing well with leaders like John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. Not to mention GM Garth Snow’s early season acquisitions of D-men Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk have paid off in spades so far.

More from Editorials

The Rangers lost some guys after their Stanley Cup Final run in June but were still projected to be a playoff team and have the looks of one, especially with the domination by Rick Nash.

Columbus has had some kind of roller coaster, first, star Ryan Johansen was holding out as an RFA during a contract dispute, then as the season began, injuries hit the Jackets, and hit them HARD. Then, once goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky got healthy and regained form, the team went on a long winning streak and has played good hockey. They dug a very deep hole early in the season but another big winning streak will put them right back in the playoff conversation.

Philadelphia seems to be an interesting tale. Jakub Voracek leads the Art Ross Trophy race, Claude Giroux is playing great, and Wayne Simmonds is playing outstanding. However beyond that, the Flyers seem to be lacking in all aspects of the game. However, the Flyers are too talented a team to count out at this point, but they need to turn it around soon if they want a playoff spot.

The Capitals made two big signings in D-men Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, but I thought the players were not going to mesh well with new head coach Barry Trotz’s defensive systems. I can admit here that I was wrong, everyone is buying in to what Trotz has been preaching and another playoff birth looks to be on the horizon for the Caps.

I had New Jersey and Carolina at seven and eight, I felt New Jersey was too old and slow up front, with only one forward (Adam Henrique) under the age of 29. That, mixed with the youth and inexperience of their blueline made me lack confidence in the team that was Eastern Conference champs just 3 seasons ago. Carolina has some good players up front, but they aren’t deep and are weak defensively. However, McDavid or Eichel should help them moving forward.

Central:
1). Chicago■
2). St. Louis◆
3). Minnesota◆
4). Dallas◇
5). Colorado◇
6). Nashville
7). Winnipeg

1). Chicago□ – 52

2). Nashville◆ – 51

3). St. Louis◆ – 47

4). Winnipeg◇ – 45

5). Dallas – 39

6). Minnesota – 38

7). Colorado – 36

The Central is an exciting division, and I didn’t see much weakness in this division. However, I didn’t see how things would shape up. Everyone knows Chicago is still the cream of the crop in the NHL, but Nashville is getting Vezina-worthy goaltending from Pekka Rinne. They have their premier offensive forward in James Neal, Shea Weber is Shea Weber, Mike Ribeiro is bouncing back, and Filip Foresberg is having a monster rookie season.

St. Louis is loaded, up front and on defense too. They have had an interesting goaltending situation with Brian Elliot recently coming off of an injury, youngster Jake Allen had been splitting time with NHL legend and recently signed Martin Brodeur, what happens next? Paul Stasny was supposed to be the top line center that the Blues lacked for a deep playoff run but he hasn’t put up the offensive numbers of one yet, though he’s battled through injury, Winnipeg is the surprise to me. Getting good effort from backstops Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson, and solid offense from everyone in their lineup. They don’t have that explosive offensive force up front, but they still have Dustin Byfuglien on the back end and are a very deep team. I still have trouble seeing them there at the end but stranger things have happened.

Live Feed class=inline-text id=inline-text-45

The Florida Panthers will have a better regular season in 2023-24 /

Puck Prose

NHL 24: Predicting the highest rated players at every positionApp Trigger

NHL 24: Five stars who would make the perfect cover athleteApp Trigger

NHL 24 rookies: Every Round 1 pick in the 2023 NHL DraftApp Trigger

NHL Draft winners and losers 2023: Blackhawks hit jackpot, Maple Leafs flopFanSided

The winners and losers from day one of the 2023 NHL DraftPuck Prose

Dallas, Minnesota, and Colorado have all surprised me greatly. I had all three in the playoffs, and I even had Dallas making the Western Conference Final. None of those teams are out yet, one hot streak puts any of them right back in it.

Pacific:
1). Anaheim□
2). Los Angeles◆
3). San Jose◆
4). Vancouver
5). Edmonton
6). Arizona
7). Calgary

1). Anaheim■ – 54

2). Vancouver◆ – 45

3). San Jose◆ – 45

4). Calgary◇ – 45

5). Los Angeles – 44

6). Arizona – 32

7). Edmonton – 24

We learned last season that Anaheim is a very good team, especially in the regular season, and they are following up their performance last year by leading the President’s Trophy race at the new year point. With the addition of Ryan Kesler they look to be posed for a deep playoff run.

Vancouver has cooled of a little after a hot start, but Ryan Miller is still leading the team. The Sedins appear to be back, and free agent signing Radim Vrbata has slid in seemlessly with them. Nick Bonino has been an acceptable replacement for Kesler and the Nucks are another one of those deep western teams.

After the promise of changes from GM Doug Wilson, the Sharks were quiet this offseason and are in a similar position, in a playoff spot in their division. Brent Burns was put back on defense and is playing very well, and Logan Couture is up there with Jumbo Joe Thornton and Little Joe Pavelski in scoring. After starting out on fire, the Flames have cooled off and now find themselves barely hanging on to a playoff spot. Jiri Hudler is quietly playing at a point-per-game pace, Johnny Gaudreau is in the Calder Trophy race, and Mark Girodano is having a Norris Caliber season and is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the best D-men in the game. They need to stop this slide or they will once again be on the outside looking in.

Los Angeles is one point behind Calgary, though they have had their struggles they will most likely be there when it matters, however, if they can keep up their playoff dominance is debatable. However, we all know what L.A. is capable of. Arizona has had a tough year so far. They have used 28 skaters and only four of them have a positive +/- with one at even. Trade rumors will be abound this season, especially with top players Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle.

There is no way to describe this season for the Edminton Oilers, I thought they were going to be improved this year but they look worse than ever. They are so bad that fans are taking out billboards and even paying for ad-space in the newspapers addressing management about certain individuals who they feel need to be removed from the organization. GM Craig MacTavish will be very busy over the next few months with some of the young stars who he may have to move out. Jordan Eberle, Mark Marincin and Taylor Hall are all good young players who may be on their way out. The Oilers need to clean house and it starts from the top, and if there is a Taylor Hall trade, depending on the return, it would either save MacTavish’s job or end it. However MacTavish is not the only executive on the Oilers who needs to go but that is off topic.

Those were my predictions back in August and overall I think I’ve done decent, aside from the Central, but I’d love to hear how you all think things will shape up in the second half.

◆ means playoffs by division
◇ means playoffs by wild card
□ means division winner
■ means conference champions

Home / Editorials

NHL Standings Predictions vs Where We Stand New Year’s Day

More from The Rat Trick

Schedule