Hockey Handicapping Articles
2017-18 Chicago Blackhawks Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
Things did not go according to plan last year for the Chicago Blackhawks. They won the Western Conference regular-season crown and went into the playoffs as the top seed. And then they fell without a fight, losing in four straight to the eventual Western Conference champs from Nashville. It was ugly. Really ugly. Some teams would have made excuses and stuck to what got them there. Chicago hasn't won three Stanley Cups since 2010 by making excuses. Instead, they went nuclear. Ten significant contributors were traded or allowed to leave in free agency. Another is out for the year with a long-term injury. So, the best team in the West last year is coming into this season with half of their roster different than last year. Change is something this team is very comfortable with, but this is extreme even by their measure.
2017-18 Dallas Stars Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
There is no team in the NHL that has frustrated me more lately than the Dallas Stars. Each of the last three years I have liked a lot about them and have been bullish on them. In 2015-16 they rewarded my faith, compiling the best record in the Western Conference and making the second round of the playoffs. The year before and the year after that run, though, they underachieved massively. They finished sixth in the division both seasons and were no real threat to make the playoffs.
2017-18 Los Angeles Kings Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
I live in a town where Darryl Sutter was both GM and head coach, so I am very familiar with the pattern that played out in L.A.. Sutter has a very specific manner and style, and initially players buy into it. When they do the results can be very impressive - the Kings won two Cups. Eventually, though, his gruffness, rigidness and lack of personality grow old, and players tune him out. For a while he keeps the revolution in check by jettisoning guys who don't buy in. The results wane but don't totally tank. Eventually, though, he can't stay on top of things, and it's time for him to go. The guy can coach, but he has the people skills of an angry wasp.
2017-18 Anaheim Ducks Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
The Anaheim Ducks have won the Pacific Division for the last five years. That's impressive in a pretty tough division. The problem, though, is that they have only made it as far as the Western Conference final twice, and they lost it both times. They haven't played in the Cup since they won it in 2007. There is no way that the team can avoid the accusations of having underachieved given their talent and consistent dominance. Their talent is still strong, and they did little to change what they had, but the window is getting smaller as their key forwards get older. They are still capable of doing lots of damage this year, but they need to do it before it's too late.
2017-18 St. Louis Blues Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
The season last year for the St. Louis Blues was, well, okay. Solid, even. They finished third in the Central Division, pulled off a first-round playoff upset over Minnesota in just five games and then lost a tough series to the Predators. When a third-place team makes the second round then they have exceeded expectations.
2017-18 Minnesota Wild Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
The Minnesota Wild set records for wins and points last season, and yet they surely look back on the season with disgust. They went into a manageable first-round playoff series against St. Louis, and they were sent off to the golf course after just five games. Their goaltending was sound in the playoffs, but they only scored 10 goals in five games, they lost three home games, and they frankly weren't good enough.
2017-18 San Jose Sharks Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
Last year Brent Burns was spectacular, the rest of the offense was only okay, the defense was strong, and the San Jose Sharks won 46 games. Solid enough. But when they wound up losing in the first round of the playoffs no one could really pretend to be that surprised. They made a run to the Stanley Cup final in 2016, but that was the only time in the last six seasons that they hadn't underwhelmed in the playoffs - if they even got there.
2017-18 Montreal Canadiens Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
It was a rocky year last year for the Canadiens. They won their division, which is obviously a good thing. But they faced a surprising February coaching change, bringing Claude Julien back to town for another coaching stint. And when things really mattered in the postseason they forgot how to score and gave up without much more than a whimper. Then P.K. Subban, who fans still miss in a serious way after his shocking season last summer, went all the way to the Cup final with his new Nashville squad to add insult to injury. The team really needs to find a way to get better results when it matters and avoid all the drama. And they got pretty aggressive this offseason in an attempt to reshape and improve themselves.
2017-18 Vancouver Canucks Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
In 2015 the Vancouver Canucks had a very solid 101-point season to finish second in the tough Pacific Division. Last year they had 69 points, a hideous -61 goal differential, and were a horrible mess of a team. The team made the predictable move, blaming coach Willie Desjardins and firing him. As his replacement they hired Travis Green, the coach of their farm team in Utica and one of the hotter coaching prospects out there.
2017-18 Colorado Avalanche Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017
The Colorado Avalanche were almost impossibly bad last year. Just 22 wins and four ties in 82 games. A goal differential of -112, which was 49 more than any other team. League worst in both goals scored and goals allowed. A total lack of effort or heart for much of the year. Horrid injury luck. There was not a single positive to draw from the season. And karma got the last say - despite having by far the worst record in the league, the team wound up with just the fourth pick in the draft.
2017-18 Nashville Predators Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
After a magical run to the Stanley Cup finals last year, Nashville has the unenviable task of proving it was no fluke - and they'll have a huge target on their backs as they try to do so. They claimed the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and had fewer points than all eight Eastern Conference playoff teams as well. Yet all you need is a ticket to the dance, and they made the most of theirs.
2017-18 Pittsburgh Penguins Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup last year. And the year before. And they are solidly favored to win it again this year. They have made changes each year, and they are far from a perfect team. They have, however, the best and hungriest player on the planet. And another top five talent in the NHL for good measure. Guys like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can erase a lot of other concerns for a team. This offseason they got a little younger, they may have gotten a little better, and they are ready for another fight. But do they have enough to give?
2017-18 Boston Bruins Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
The Boston Bruins made the postseason last year after a two-year absence. That's a little deceptive, though - they actually had one more point in 2015 when they finished fifth in the Atlantic Division than they had last year when they finished third. These three somewhat mediocre years came right after they won the President's Trophy for having the most regular-season points, but salary cap woes forced them to rebuild on the fly.
2017-18 Edmonton Oilers Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
The Oilers ultimately didn't do too much this offseason. They traded one core player, committed $168 million to two superstars, and shuffled a bunch of depth guys. Largely, though, this is the same team that they had last year. Yet it is favored to win the Western Conference and the second choice to win the Stanley Cup. What changed? Well, they experienced winning when they knocked the Sharks out in Round 1 of the playoffs.
2017-18 Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
You don't see this very often - the Tampa Bay Lightning failed to make the playoffs last year, yet only Pittsburgh, Edmonton, Chicago and Dallas have lower odds to win the Stanley Cup than the Lightning do. Injuries hit the team very hard last year, though, and when healthy this team has the potential to be truly potent. I have been high on this team for several years now, and at the risk of providing an early spoiler for the end of this preview I am feeling quite optimistic about them again this year. This is a team to watch.
2017-18 Carolina Hurricanes Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
It has been a rough stretch for the Carolina Hurricanes - they haven't made the playoffs since 2009. Struggling for that long gives you opportunities to add young players, though, and this is now a team that has a very nice young core. Combine that with what has been a very strong offseason, and it's easy to believe that this team is moving in the right direction. They still have a lot of work to do, and there will still be bumps, but this is a better team now than they were last year, and they will only improve with time.
2017-18 Columbus Blue Jackets Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
Last year the Columbus Blue Jackets proved just how flawed the current NHL playoff format is. They had the fourth-best record in the entire NHL. Their problem, though, was that they had only the third-best record in the ridiculously stacked Metropolitan Division. That means they earned a first-round date with the defending champion Penguins, and Pittsburgh had home-ice advantage. That they lost is not shameful by any means, but it is frustrating. Under the old system that didn't value division matchups so much they would have faced Ottawa and had home-ice advantage. That's still tough, but at least it's not Pittsburgh.
2017-18 New York Rangers Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
I love hockey - I'm Canadian, so it's required. I watch a lot of it. The New York Rangers are good at hockey and more or less have been for years now. Yet, in one of those strange quirks of sports fandom that you can only understand if you are a fan yourself, I just don't care about the Rangers. Never have. I don't hate them. I don't like them. I guess I respect them. Mostly, though, they exist in a strange purgatory for me - I know they exist, but I don't pay any real attention to their existence.
2017-18 Washington Capitals Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
The Washington Capitals are the boys who cry wolf. Every year they dominate the regular season - they have won three President's Trophies as regular season champs three times since 2010, including the last two years. And every year they fizzle out in the playoffs - but not before talking about how this year is going to be different and how they have solved the problems that plagued them previously. It's frankly getting tired.
2017-18 Vegas Golden Knights Predictions and Futures Odds Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/11/2017
I've been writing NHL team previews like this for a lot of years now, so I have seen most everything. This is something new for me, though. The Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets were the last expansion teams back in 2000, and that was before my time. For the first time, then, I am looking at a team that didn't play the year before. The NHL won the race to place a team in Las Vegas - though not by nearly as much as they hoped to, I'm sure. Now we get to see if it can work. If Vegas can find the right combination of local support and out-of-town visitors in to watch their favorite team to make this whole thing work. It feels possible, but it also doesn't feel certain.
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