2024-25 NHL Season Points Totals Predictions with Odds and Expert Picks

by Ryan Cobbett - 9/11/2024

NHL season point total predictions Jeremy Swayman Boston Bruins

We are one month away from the start of the 2024/25 NHL season. Teams have finalized their rosters and are looking ahead to what this season holds for them. The Florida Panthers will begin their defense of the Stanley Cup, though are not likely to repeat after losing a lot of key pieces. As we enter the home stretch of the offseason, the Edmonton Oilers (+700) are the favorites to be crowned champions at the end of the year, followed by the Colorado Avalanche (+800) and the Dallas Stars (+900). With the season on the horizon, let’s take a look around the league to see each team’s projected point total and which side is the right side is to be on.

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Eastern Conference

Atlantic:

Boston Bruins – Under 96.5

No more goalie hugs as Linus Ullmark is now in Ottawa. However, the Bruins should be every bit as successful with Jeremy Swayman between the pipes. The Bruins did bring in Elias Lindholms and Nikita Zadorov to add an offensive boost. David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Lindholm will form quite the top line this season. Boston has some depth questions. And with the Atlantic getting better as a whole, I think Boston is going to be a wild card team at best this season.

Buffalo Sabres – Under 88.5

The Sabres have their goalie of the future in Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen, who absolutely dominated last season while posting a .910 SV% and allowing just 2.57 GA/G. The problem is the offense in front of him. Buffalo averaged just 2.98 GF/G, which ranked 23rd in the NHL. They brought in Beck Malenstyn, Jason Zucker, and Ryan McLeod for depth up front in hopes of improving the offensive attack. However, their moves don’t move the needle for me, and this is largely the same team as last year.

Detroit Red Wings – Over 90.5

The Red Wings are nearing a breakthrough. Lucas Raymond is getting another year of experience under his belt, along with (hopefully) having a full year of Patrick Kane, as well as bringing in Vladimir Tarasenko to join Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin. Detroit needs to get more out of netminder Alex Lyon, but this team will be a fringe playoff team like last season.

Florida Panthers – Over 103.5

The defending champions are ready to run it back again this season. They lost a lot of depth pieces like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Montour, Nick Cousins, Vladimir Tarasenko, Kevin Stenlund, and backup goalie Anthony Stolarz. Like Boston, this team regressed but they are likely still a playoff team.

Montreal Canadiens – Over 75.5

The Canadiens look the exact same as last season with the exception of the addition of forward Patrick Laine, who they acquired from Columbus. If Laine can stay healthy this season and return to form, he will boost the Canadiens offensive attack that struggled last season, ranking 26th in the league in scoring.

Ottawa Senators – Under 91.5

Last season the Senators were one of the more disappointing teams in the league thanks to their poor play in the net. However, they addressed that weakness in one of the best ways possible by acquiring Linus Ullmark from Boston. But I do not think this is a 90-point team quite yet, especially after shipping Jakob Chychrun out of town. Not enough offense, but they will take a step forward this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Over 98.5

Tanner Jeannot and Mikhail Sergachev are gone, but Tampa Bay brought in Jake Guentzel and Ryan McDonagh as well as depth pieces J.J Moser, Cam Atkinson, and Zemgus Girgensons. Guentzel joins Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point to form one of the best top lines in the game, and it helps when you have Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Over 101.5

Losing Tyler Bertuzzi stings, but the Maple Leafs did a good job retaining Max Domi as well as trading for and extending Chris Tanev and signing Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a long-term deal. We have one more guaranteed year of the Core Four. Are these complimentary moves enough? I think this is the year Toronto puts it all together.

Metro:

Carolina Hurricanes – Under 100.5

The Hurricanes met their match against the Rangers in the second round of last year’s playoffs, losing the series 4-2. Now they look to march their way back as one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference, despite losing Jake Guentzel (25 points), Teuvo Teravainen (53 points), Brady Skjei (47 points), Brett Pesce (13 points), and Tony DeAngelo (11 points).

Columbus Blue Jackets – Under 68.5

Columbus traded away Alexandre Texier and Patrick Laine. And while they did a good job plugging those holes with Sean Monahan (59 points last season), there is an even bigger hole with the tragic passing of Johnny Gaudreau. The Blue Jackets may be the worst team in the NHL this season.

New Jersey Devils – Over 102.5

New Jersey got the offseason started with one of the biggest moves over the summer when they traded for goalie Jacob Markstrom, who will slot in as the immediate starter in the crease and be a huge upgrade for a Devils team that allowed 3.43 GA/G. Look for the Devils to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference this season.

New York Islanders – Over 91.5

The Islanders had the worst offensive unit out of all the playoff team’s last season. They didn’t do much in the offseason to improve, besides grabbing Anthony Duclair off the market. Duclair had 42 points last season with 24 goals. He should boost the top line with Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat.

New York Rangers – Over 100.5

The aging Rangers need to take advantage of their Stanley Cup window sooner than later. The roster largely remains intact, with two boosts in forwards Reilly Smith (40 points) and Sam Carrick (16 points). Reilly should join the second line with Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider, giving the Rangers a tough top two lines for opponents to deal with.

Philadelphia Flyers – Under 85.5

The Flyers roster did not change much, which is odd for a team who was in the playoff conversation over the last few weeks of the regular season. However, it is noticeable that a lot of their success was because of the emergence of backup goalie Samuel Ersson, who dominated in his 51 appearances after taking over for Carter Hart. Ersson is still unproven, and we will see if there is a sophomore slump as the goalie takes on his second season as the starter.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Under 90.5

Pittsburgh is without Jake Guentzel and Reilly Smith heading into the new campaign, but they softened the blow of those two departures by bringing in veteran Kevin Hayes along with fellow veterans in Matt Grzelcyk, Anthony Beauvillier, and Blake Lizotte. However, I do not see them improving on their 88-point season from a year ago.

Washington Capitals – Over 86.5

Washington had a busy offseason as they try and put together a roster that is capable of making a deep run in the playoffs, especially before Alex Ovechkin retires. By way of trade, the Caps brought in Pierre-Luc Dubois (40 points) and Andrew Mangiapane (40 points) to boost the second line, while also bringing in blueliner Jakob Chychrun (41 points) as well as signing Matt Roy to a big six-year deal. Washington also traded for Logan Thompson, who should boost the goaltending for the Caps.

Western Conference

Central:

Chicago Blackhawks – Under 74.5

In year two of the Connor Bedard era, I expect the Blackhawks to take a couple of steps forward, especially with the additions of Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen, who both signed multi-year deals to build around the budding star. They also added depth pieces in Ilya Mikheyev, Pat Maroon, Craigh Smith as well as new goaltender Logan Brossoit. However, I do not think these additions show a 23-point improvement from last season.

Colorado Avalanche – Over 104.5

The good news for Avs fans is that their team is ready to run it back again this season. Colorado and Dallas will once again give us an exciting race for not only the Central Division, but the Western Conference. MacKinnon and company are ready to hoist Stanley again.

Dallas Stars – Over 103.5

The Stars traded away the rights to Chris Tanev, as well as fan favorite Radek Faksa, in an effort to create some more room financially. They did just fine replacing those two with the addition of Ilya Lyubushkin, Matt Dumba, Brendan Smith, Chris Blackwell, along with netminder Casey DeSmith. The addition of DeSmith gives the Stars one of the best goalie tandems in the NHL. And Matt Duchene is back again, ready to bring Stanley to Dallas for the first time in a long time.

Minnesota Wild – Over 94.5

Minnesota’s young and improving roster got a boost this offseason when the front office brought in center Yakov Trenin on a four-year deal. Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Brock Faber are all upcoming stars in this league and should continue to improve their numbers this season. The Wild’s season was derailed by poor goaltending early on in the season. Look for Filip Gustavsson to find his stride this season and lead this team back to the playoffs.

Nashville Predators – Over 98.5

Barry Trotz was busy this offseason transforming this Predators roster into a highly competitive group that can give the Stars and Avs a run for their money in the Western Conference. Trotz brought in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei as well as retaining Alexander Carrier to boost a roster that already features Filip Forsberg, Juuse Saros, Roman Josi, and Ryan O’Reilly. Nashville will join the 100 points club this season.

St. Louis Blues – Over 86.5

The Blues brought in a bunch of depth pieces this offseason in an effort to pace the top dogs in the Central Division. They brought in Alexandre Texier, Radek Faksa, Ryan Suter, Mathieu Joseph, and his brother Pierre-Olivier Joseph. I like the Blues to hit the over on the point total, but this roster does not appear to be one ready for the playoffs.

Utah Hockey Club – Under 86.5

The Arizona Coyotes have now made the move north and are rebranded as the Utah Hockey Club. Though they didn’t get creative with their team’s name, their front office will need to get creative in order to get this team back into being a playoff caliber squad. They are still too far off for that to be a reality this season. They did bring in Mikhail Sergachev, who provides a big boost at the blue line.

Winnipeg Jets – Over 94.5

The Jets brought in Kaapo Kahkonen and Eric Comrie to back up Connor Hellebuyck after losing Laurent Brossoit in free agency, however this team will look pretty identical to the one that reach the 110-point mark last season. However, Hellebuyck played out of his mind all season to get them there. I think they take a few steps back, but this is still one good team.

Pacific:

Anaheim Ducks – Under 72.5

They changed up their logo, but will that change up their performance on the ice? In short, no. This Ducks team failed to reach the 60-point mark last season, and they had a relatively quiet offseason. They were one of the worst offensive teams last season, averaging just 2.48 GF/G, while John Gibson (who wants out) and Lukas Dostal combined to allow 3.57 GA/G. Not a great mix.

Calgary Flames – Under 81.5

The Flames are in full rebuild now after shipping Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey and Andrew Mangiapane to Washington. They did nothing in the offseason to replace those two, either, leaving Calgary with rookie netminder Dustin Wolf in the crease.

Edmonton Oilers – Over 105.5

After a thrilling postseason run that saw the Oilers nearly come back from a 3-0 deficit in the Stanely Cup Championship, Connor McDavid and company ultimately fell short of glory. They had to move on from Cody Ceci (25 points) and Ryan McLeod (30 points) to free up some cap space, but they brought in Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner to once again give the Oilers a ridiculous offense to work with. Oh, and Leon Draisaitl is going nowhere any time soon. Great offseason for the Oilers.

Los Angeles Kings – Under 96.5

They lost longtime fan favorite Viktor Arvidsson, who is joining the enemy Oilers, and they also shipped Pierre-Luc Dubois to Washington in a surprise move that left fans wondering why they even got him in the first place. I think the Kings are in for a rude awakening this season.

San Jose Sharks – Under 64.5

The Sharks were busy this offseason bringing in big time goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov as well as acquiring Cody Ceci, and depth pieces Carl Grundstrom, Jake Walman, Egor Afanasyev, and Ty Dellandrea. The highlight of their offseason was bringing veteran forward Tyler Toffoli, who had 55 points last season. It’s time for Toffoli and rookie Macklin Celebrini to get fans excited about San Jose Sharks hockey.

Seattle Kraken – Under 87.5

Matty Beniers signed a big time, seven-year extension that gives the Kraken a star to build around for the long run. They complimented this move by bringing in veteran skaters in Brandon Montour (seven-year deal) and Chandler Stephenson (seven-year deal). However, this team is still a few pieces away from being a serious playoff contender.

Vancouver Canucks – Under 96.5

There is no doubt that the Canucks were the best story from last season as they came out of nowhere to be one of the best teams in the league. However, Thatcher Demko has an injury that is said to forever bother the young netminder. They did bring in Jake DeBrusk, who should boost the already insane offensive attack for the Canucks ranked near the top if the league. However, their success hangs on Demko’s ability to perform going forward.

Vegas Golden Knights – Under 99.5

Vegas lost their leader in points when Jonathan Marchessault left for Nashville, while the Knights also lost Chandler Stephenson, Anthony Mantha, and Michael Amadio. In addition to those departures, they traded away backup netminder Logan Thompson, along with center Paul Cotter. Vegas is going to regress this season.

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Start:	September 19, 2024 @ 7:00 PM
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2024-25 NHL Season Points Totals Predictions with Odds and Expert Picks

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