NHL Far-Fetched Predictions for 2019-20
A puck will be dropped on the new NHL season in just a week. There are still major headlines heading into the season like the Winnipeg Jets, who are awaiting a decision from Dustin Byfuglien on whether he will retire or keep playing. The Jets also do not have two key players under contract for the season yet in Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor, as they are both restricted free agents. However, the preseason is coming to a close and teams are starting to finalize their rosters for the upcoming season.
The NHL regular season is a long one, as it spans over seven months. A lot of things can and will happen, but for now here are three far-fetched predictions for the 2019-20 NHL regular season.
1) Philadelphia Flyers are in the Eastern Conference Finals
I am starting off my predictions with a bang, and most people will likely disagree with this one. The team improved on the back end immensely and brought in some veterans, who can help the younger players develop. The Flyers will also have a balanced blue line with three right-handed shooters and three left-handed shooters, who could be paired together. They brought in Kevin Hayes, who plays a 200-foot game and this will balance out the lines. Hayes will also bring a stability at the second line center that the Flyers haven’t had in a few seasons.
In the offseason, the Flyers brought in Alain Vigneault to be the bench boss. Vigneault has a good track record of getting teams deep into the playoffs in his first few seasons with the team. In each of his first seasons with the three previous teams he has coached, Vigneault has taken the team to the second round or deeper in the postseason. The Flyers will have a balanced lineup, an improved defense and a young goalie who will just keep getting better as the season goes on.
2) Patrik Laine Sits Out the Season
The Winnipeg Jets and restricted free agent Laine have yet to reach a contract agreement for the season. Laine has already made plans to start training with a team overseas and that can never be a good sign in a contract situation. The forward is a key piece of the team even though he went into a really bad scoring slump last season, but was much better in the playoffs. Laine’s worst season came last year when he scored 30 goals, had 20 assists and totaled 50 points in 82 games played. In 237 NHL games, he has 110 goals, 74 assists and 184 points.
The Jets and Laine seem like they are currently at a stalemate, and that will continue so Laine won’t be playing in a Jets uniform or any other NHL uniform this season. The two sides will likely try to get a deal done, but my gut is telling me that one doesn’t happen before the deadline, and he is forced to sit out the rest of the season.
3) No 50-Goal Scorer in NHL
Yes, there is a ton of talent around the NHL and that will be the biggest reason why there will be no 50-goal scorer this season. During the 2018-19 season, there were only two players who scored 50 or more goals: Alexander Ovechkin (51) of the Washington Capitals and Leon Draisaitl (50) of the Edmonton Oilers. There were 11 NHL players who scored between 40-47 goals. The rosters are much more balanced and in order to be successful in the NHL, a team needs to have a balanced attack from all four lines.
Sure, teams rely more on certain players than others in the lineup, but the opposition does its homework. In today’s NHL, it’s usually one team’s best offensive line against the opposition’s best defensive line so they can try to shut down the other team. The days of relying on just one or two players in a lineup are over, so that is why I think there won’t be any 50 goal scorers this season in the NHL. Plus, these predictions are supposed to be far-fetched, so I figured that I would go all out with this one.
