Early NHL Season Predictions: Which Hot Starts Are Real and Which Teams Will Fade?

We are just over one week into the NHL season, which means most of what has transpired must be taken with a grain of salt. Hot or cold starts do not mean a shockingly good or surprisingly awful season, be it for teams or players.

Not everything that has happened should be dismissed, but there are trends which will.

Here are predictions on both sides of that sheet.

The Florida Panthers will not be a dominant team all season, and maybe even struggle to make the playoffs. The two-time Stanley Cup champions were in tough before the season started with both Matthew Tkachuk and Sasha Barkov both to miss a significant amount of time due to injury. It is getting worse with defenseman Dmitry Kulikov also to be sidelined five months. Sometimes teams are simply snakebitten.

One team that will continue to surprise is the Detroit Red Wings, who soundly beat the Panthers on Wednesday. While many teams are off to hot starts thanks to creampuff schedules, the Red Wings built off a home-and-home sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs and appear ready to springboard from there.

On the other side, don’t buy the early season success of the Boston Bruins. Nor the Nashville Predators. Nor the Seattle Kraken. All three do not have what it takes to be playoff teams, but they can relish a few early victories.

Speaking of teams that will likely be on the outside of the playoff tournament, expect the Los Angeles Kings to struggle overcoming a rough opening week. Add an injury to number-one goaltender Darcy Kuemper and this team’s defense will be its undoing while the Anaheim Ducks surpass them as the best club in California.

Back to a trend that will not continue. We can guarantee the New York Rangers will score a goal at home, having been blanked in all three clashes at Madison Square Garden. That said, their tumble last season is a huge sign of the trouble with the Broadway Blueshirts, who would be foolish to re-sign pending unrestricted free-agent star Artemi Panarin to a lucrative long-term contract as his game shows signs of falling off.

Speaking of teams that will struggle to score, the Calgary Flames will spend the season among the league’s least prolific clubs. Add the New York Islanders to that ledger also, and as a result both teams will be in the lottery to claim the number-one pick in the draft and select Gavin McKenna.

One team which will turn around its early offensive woes is the Edmonton Oilers, especially when Connor McDavid starts to hit his stride. McDavid has failed to light the lamp through the first three games of the season. It was not until Game 5 last season he scored his first goal and had only three markers in 11 outings. Do not fret, barring injury, he is almost a slam dunk to net 35, 40 or more by the end of the season.

One last positive trend that will continue. It would be worth laying down some money that the Carolina Hurricanes will win the Presidents’ Trophy as regular-season champions. As for winning the Stanley Cup, well that is likely a different story.