Early Predictions for next season....

[Konnan511 1,736]

1.Datsyuk will once again hit the 90+ point level

2.Franzen and Zetterberg will both reach the 40 goal mark

3.Howard will bring more to the table than we saw this year and be nominated for the Vezina

4.Kindl will play far better than everyone thinks he is capable of and will form a deadly tandom with Ericsson

5.Hudler will reach the 30 goal mark

6.Filppula will reach the high 70s playing with Hudler

7.Kronwall will raise his game to a level never seen from him and be paired with Lidstrom by the end of the season as the top D pairing

and a cup...

I love the optimism! But I don't see any of these happening, except maybe the first one and the last one.

[Konnan511 1,736]

Doesn't sound like people are expecting much from the Hawks and Flyers.

I said Hawks would win the division, which would make them top 3 in the West.

Aside from the Pens, check out Stanley Cup finals runner-ups and how they fare the next season.... The majority of the time the Runner up don't even make the finals and they rarely, if ever, make it out of the first round. Like I said, aside from the Penguins of a season ago, the runner up does terrible the following season. Under this principle, i do not expect a whole lot out of the Flyers.

[Finnish Wing 110]

Doesn't sound like people are expecting much from the Hawks and Flyers.

I'm definitely expecting a lot from Flyers if they manage to get a real goalie. They went through all these goalie problems and injuries and got to the Finals.

Guys like Giroux, JVR, Leino and Hartnell can provide more in the next regular season as well. They also don't have really any guys that are becoming too old.

I think Flyers are contenders next season if they get a goalie.

[Bannedforlife 403]

I'm definitely expecting a lot from Flyers if they manage to get a real goalie. They went through all these goalie problems and injuries and got to the Finals.

Guys like Giroux, JVR, Leino and Hartnell can provide more in the next regular season as well. They also don't have really any guys that are becoming too old.

I think Flyers are contenders next season if they get a goalie.

We should trade them Howard for Leino

[Lidstrom for life 20]

The Kings make a huge splash in free agency (Patrick Marleau?) and are the best team in the West for most of the season but fade a little at the end of the year.

[titanium2 867]

Heyyy, new avatar!

Yep. The ones that got away.

[eva unit zero 271]

Top four contenders in each conference:

Detroit

Chicago

Vancouver

San Jose

Washington

Buffalo

Pittsburgh

Boston

These teams have a combination of a decent amount of cap space and strong rosters among players already signed. They should be the top teams next season in their respective conferences.

[xtrememachine1 795]

1. Wings win the division. Chicago has a serious SC hangover, they'll lose some key players due to the cap and the Wings won't have half their team injured this year (hopefully).

2. Lightning start off slow, but finish the season strong and barely miss the playoffs. Everyone will be saying "Look out for the Lightning in 11-12."

3. Boston gets somebody that can actually score goals and gets back as an elite Eastern Conference team.

4. People will be wondering how the heck Philly made it to the Finals last year.

5. Anaheim will be a top 5 team in the West.

6. Marc-Andre Fleury will get dealt because Pittsburgh needs the cap space and they can do just as well with a $1 mil goalie.

7. San Jose won't miss a beat with Nabokov gone.

8. Jimmy Howard will be in the All Star game.

9. Anze Kopitar will be in the top 3 in scoring.

10. The Caps and Pens will both wear their old jerseys from the 80's for the Winter Classic.

[Guest mjtm77]

duncan keith will win the norris next year

edit- it will be two in a row

Edited June 12, 2010 by mjtm77

[wingsownnhl43 14]

I'll just focus on Detroit, Chicago, Vancouver, San Jose, Pittsburgh, and Washington with the salary cap at its current number.

Detroit- Will obviously be better. I dont think they will have the same luck with injuries as they did this past season. They add Hudler which will give them more scoring and a little more depth. Also, I expect Kronwall, Ericcson, Filppula, Helm, and Eaves to improve. I just see the same product as I have over the last 4-5 years. In my opinion, they need a little fresh blood. Hopefully after signing Bertuzzi, Helm, Eaves, Abdlekader, theyll have soom room and save it for the deadline to make a tweak before the playoffs.

Chicago- If they arent able to unload Campbell or Huet's contracts they will take a giant step backwards. 13 players signed and 700k over the cap = Cap Hell. It should be interesting, as multiple players will be due for raises as.

San Jose - 12 players signed, 20.5 in cap room. Id imagine Marleau, Pavelski, and Sentiguchi will take up 10.5 of that, so I'll consider it to be 15 players signed with 10 million to spend. I dont know what they are going to do with Nabakov. Blake, Wallin are UFA's. They could choose to re-sign those players or replace them. Either way I see that remaining 10mil distributed to improve the D. If they do spend 3-5 million on Nabakov, that D could be in trouble. With the cap number increasing, they should be able to get a little better.

Vancouver- Probably in the best position of all. 17 players signed 9.4 million. Mason Raymond, Kyle Wellwood, and Willie MItchell are key free agents, but they do have some room for improvement. The key question with these guys is Roberto Luongo.

Pittsburgh- 16 players signed 10.9 in cap room. Gonchar, Eaton, Leopold, and Mckee are UFA's with 9.6 coming off the books. If they dont put that money back into their defense, it will be in serious trouble. If they do put that money back into the defense, they will lose depth. Ponikarovsky, Guerin, and Fedotenko are free agents as well. Fleury is also a huge question mark.

Washington- 14 players signed 13.3 in cap room. We all know they can score, but can they play two way hockey? Ovechkin, Backstrom, Semin, Laich, Chimera are all under contract making up two very potent lines. I'd imagine they get Fleishman back for a discount. The Caps should really be able to beef up that defense. Their GM should definitely try to find some stay at home defenseman. Washington could be scary next season.

San Jose and Vancouer are bound to improve. I like Vancouver a little better. My early picks are Vancouver out of the west and Washington out of the east. Alot can change though.

Edited June 12, 2010 by wingsownnhl43

[irishtemper14+25 11]

wings will get 120 pts next year and win the presidents trophy

the division winners for the west will be: LA, Detroit, Vancouver

I also agree with the other poster that TO will make the playoffs

[Behind Enemy Lines in CO 11]

Avs over-achieved in 2009-2010.

They will not make the playoffs next year.

[edicius 3,269]

Brian Burke takes Jonathan Cheechoo off the Sens' hands, thinking he still has something left in the tank.

Burke is wrong.

[titanium2 867]

Brian Burke takes Jonathan Cheechoo off the Sens' hands, thinking he still has something left in the tank.

Burke is wrong.

What's Cheechoo's problem?

[Finnish Wing 110]

What's Cheechoo's problem?

Weird name.

[wings1110 184]

the wings and Nashville will both finish ahead of the hawks in the central standings. Therefore by the end of the season we will see the hawks bandwagon end and they will only sell 1000 tickets a game.

There is no way around it the hawks are in deep s*** they are against the cap and they only have around 14 rostered players signed. Expect to see injuries to Kane Teows and Hossa due to the high amount of minutes they will be playing, due to the extreme lack of depth they will have. idk what they will do, most of there unsigned free agents are due a raise.....simply put they they are f***ed

oops looks like some of the bandwagoners are trolling. your team just won the cup and ur still worried about other teams, you must agree that your f***ed and your looking for hope on LGW?

Edited June 13, 2010 by wings1110

[wings1110 184]

Weird name.

and those extremely annoying whistles, thats reason enough not to like him.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

edit

Edited June 12, 2010 by Lidstromboli

[Konnan511 1,736]

What's Cheechoo's problem?

Syphilis