I feel like the title of this article says it all folks, this is going to be plain and simple. These are my bold predictions for what I think is going to unfold during the 2020 NHL season. I am going to start off with some what I would call more than likely to happen predictions just so later when we revisit this and I am completely wrong about everything you all can chirp me on Twitter.
The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lighting Continue to dominate the Atlantic Division
I don’t think there are many hockey fans right now who think either Boston or Tampa Bay are about to give up their reign for fighting for the top of the Atlantic. It’s sort of a no brainer seeing as now the Lighting finally won their cup we all thought they were going to win in 2019, but without losing many pieces to free agency I don’t see why back to back Stanley cup wins isn’t possible for that team. Now Boston is in a trickery situation. They lost Torey Krug to St. Louis and Zdeno Chara is still unsigned as of when I am writing this article. Even if Chara and the Bruins come to reach a deal he is 43 years old. I think we can all agree he has started to show his age in the last 2-3 seasons. I still think the Bruins can be great with the forward core that they have, but it would all depend on what happens to the strong d-core they have.
The Detroit Red Wings go .500
I know this is a bold statement, but if you stay with me I can explain the thinking behind this. We all need to remember that Ken Holland is no longer running the ship in Detroit it’s Steve Yzerman. Yzerman was the one responsible for putting together the Lightning team that just won the Stanley Cup. Already in year 2 with Detroit he has made significant improvements to the roster. Yzerman got active in free agency and signed players like Bobby Ryan, Vladislav Namestnikov, Jon Merrill and Thomas Greiss. He also bought out Justin Abdelkader who had one of the worst contracts in hockey when you are talking value per point. I feel like the addition of veteran players who have played some meaningful hockey over the last couple of seasons is exactly what the young core in Detroit needs to finally understand what it takes to win games in the NHL.
The Minnesota Wild finally start a true rebuild
Stay with me Wild fans, I promise there is a reason behind this. For the first time it seems like GM Bill Guerin made some moves that weren’t the patented Minnesota hockey “Try to win now.” The Wild have needed to go through a rebuild for a couple of years now, they have always found a way to be just good enough to make first round playoff exits in 5 of the last 6 seasons including not making the playoffs at all in 2018-19. Guerin may have finally realized that you can’t throw money at players and they will just magically win you a Stanley Cup. I think this could be the season where the Wild finally begin the long awaited rebuild. Don’t worry fans, I promise it won’t be as bad as Detroit and Ottawa make it look.
The Vancouver Canucks win the Pacific Division
For my last bold prediction I think the youthful Canucks win the Pacific and by a good margin too. Anyone who watched the Playoffs this season could see this team is loaded with talent and they go even better in free agency bringing in Braden Holtby. Holtby is a goalie with a recent Stanley cup win under his belt and a definite #1 goalie, but let’s not forget who is backing him up, Thatcher Demko who played great hockey in the playoffs. I think with signing Holtby this team could be a dark horse Stanley Cup Champion contender.
Well there you have it the way too early predictions for what I am sure will be a crazy year for the entire league. With a late start to the season and Covid still being a concern, I’m sure nothing I just said will come true, but hopefully you had some fun reading it. Tweet at me if you would like to call me a clown or you agree with anything I said @Dchockey97.
