How Many Points This Season?

[Blue Goose]

I do think Vegas will be better than most think, but I don't think they have the personnel to finish ahead of the yotes this season, mostly their D. I also think they'll be in sell mode around the TDL, and the yotes likely won't be (for the first time in a looooong time haha). It could be fairly close until the TDL, but I think Vegas sink pretty hard after their sell off.

Yeah, I think most fans don't want to admit it but we'll be sellers no matter what - that would be keeping in line with McPhee & Foley's plan for longterm success. I doubt they pass up a chance to add valuable picks in an effort to make a fleeting playoff run this season. (I'm always reminded of the 2013 Sharks team that traded away pending UFA's Ryane Clowe and Douglas Murray, even though they made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs that year - it was good asset management).

Barring some major injuries, the Pacific Division top 3 should be Edmonton, Calgary and Anaheim. The Coyotes will be much improved, so they'll battle with the Sharks and Kings for 4th place. All six of these teams have much better rosters than we do, so I'm not going to pretend like we'll finish any higher than 7th. And quite frankly, we really shouldn't want to - but please, let us finish higher than Vancouver, because that would be HILARIOUS.

 

[KenSinBin]

Westgate has it at 68.5 right now.

 

[Mike Jones]

Westgate has it at 68.5 right now.

Who's Westgate? 68.5 sounds a little low. Not by much but it still sounds a little low.

 

[BattleBorn]

Westgate is the old Hilton.

I'll take it as low as it goes.

 

[Mike Jones]

Westgate is the old Hilton.

I'll take it as low as it goes.

Old Hilton - I've been there. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[willy702]

63 points, 30th or 31st in the league. Sad but true, no real stars on the team means there will be quite a few bad streaks along the way. As bad as the Avs or Coyotes are, they at least have a few stars mixed in with a lot of junk.

 

[StatisticsAddict99]

This might seem pessimistic but I hope they are the worst in the league, If they land Dahlin, Svechnikov or even Merkley/Veleno it's definitely worth it. In 3 Seasons they will be the Edmonton/Toronto of Today if they pull one of the top two.

 

[VegasVic67]

fwiw

Westgate opened the season point total prop first. They hung a 70.5 with ten cent juice either way. It’s been bet down to 68.5, (still a dime juice either way).

Bill/Hill has it at 69 -120 to the under. Even money on the over.

Stations still has 70.5 but you have to lay -140 on the under. +110 on the over.

 

[Blue Goose]

This might seem pessimistic but I hope they are the worst in the league, If they land Dahlin, Svechnikov or even Merkley/Veleno it's definitely worth it. In 3 Seasons they will be the Edmonton/Toronto of Today if they pull one of the top two.

EXACTLY.

I mean, for morale purposes, I hope we aren't dead last - just 27th or 28th, and then we sneak up into the lottery if the ping-pong balls bounce our way.

But the Toronto analogy is a perfect one, and McPhee has their blueprint laid out in front of him. In a perfect world, this year's Knights team will be the Leafs team from 2014-15.

 

[JackFr]

Good news guys, I just played through a full season in NHL 17 for Vegas and I now know exactly what's going to happen.

1. Shea Theodore will emerge as a #1 defenceman, with Garrison solidly anchoring that top pairing.

2. Vadim Shipachyov will score 40 goals and out of nowhere Mikhail Grabovski will go 30+15 in 65 games.

3. Fleury will have a miserable start to the season and get replaced by Calvin Pickard.

4. The Knights will make a late run and sneak into the playoffs before being beaten by the Ducks in 6 games.

 

[BattleBorn]

Good news guys, I just played through a full season in NHL 17 for Vegas and I now know exactly what's going to happen.

1. Shea Theodore will emerge as a #1 defenceman, with Garrison solidly anchoring that top pairing.

2. Vadim Shipachyov will score 40 goals and out of nowhere Mikhail Grabovski will go 30+15 in 65 games.

3. Fleury will have a miserable start to the season and get replaced by Calvin Pickard.

4. The Knights will make a late run and sneak into the playoffs before being beaten by the Ducks in 6 games.

Did you make any moves, or did you just go all season with the same roster?

 

[PunkRockLocke]

Going to be a very interesting team to watch, especially in the first season. We'll be competitive, but not great, while we shed off the expendable players from the expansion draft (Neal, Perron, Garrison) and give playing time to some guys getting their first extended looks at the NHL level (Leipsic, Carrier, Nosek).

I'll predict 32-40-10, 74 pts.
Hopefully we get a Top 5 pick out of it, but I see us bottom 5 in the NHL with Vancouver, New Jersey, Colorado and Detroit. I know Arizona has improved, so for me, the best part of this season will be to see if we can finish in 7th in the Pacific above Vancouver (fingers crossed!).

As a Canucks fan, I fully expect this to happen.

 

[yzerman]

My guess is 66p

 

[Dog]

50's range with roster have now.

 

[Sleestak Nation]

59 ... cuz reasons.

 

[nobody important]

This guy's got it all figured out.

 

[VanIslander]

This guy's got it all figured out.

The Canes a playoff team? (Plus Winnipeg with 100 points and Hawks out of the playoffs.)

Side note:I have already bet 82 for Vegas on this thread and that is what this guy thinks Arizona will do.

 

[TheBusDriver]

Ill guess 55. That defense will crush every area of their game.

 

[BattleBorn]

I'm trending down on my point prediction. Lots of smart people saying they're going to have a pretty rough time.

 

[VegasVic67]

This guy's got it all figured out.

This guy takes NHL parity to a all new level. The point margin between the best team and worst for last four seasons averages 61.25. He has it at 34.

2016-17....70
’15-'16.......51
’14-'15.......59
’13-'14.......65

Even in the shortened season of 2012-13, (48 games), the margin between the best and worst was 41.

 

[VegasKnightlife]

I will guess 64 pts this season. Offense will struggle and the pacific division is tough. Would not be bad to get a top draft pick, and have 3 2nd rounders to stockpile talent.

 

[willy702]

This guy takes NHL parity to a all new level. The point margin between the best team and worst for last four seasons averages 61.25. He has it at 34.

2016-17....70
’15-'16.......51
’14-'15.......59
’13-'14.......65

Even in the shortened season of 2012-13, (48 games), the margin between the best and worst was 41.

That's the way statistical prediction works. It doesn't account for teams that just fall apart or for teams to have everything click and have monster years. If you look at betting over/unders for any sport you will see this same situation most of the time because the worst team and the best team are often not the ones that were expected before the start of the season. So to account for this the distribution curve of good to bad has to be fairly tight even though its pretty certain some teams will fall outside of the distribution curve once its all done.

 

[mondo3]

I'm guessing it will be in the 44-55 point range, likely worst or 2nd worst in the NHL. This isn't a bad thing, as it will allow Vegas to build through the draft. I think those fans expecting 80 points are going to be very disappointed!

 

[FerrisRox]

70 points is best case IMO. This is a bad team with one 20 goal scorer.

James Neal scored 23 goals last year and Jonathan Marchessault had 30 goals.

 

[BattleBorn]

James Neal scored 23 goals last year and Jonathan Marchessault had 30 goals.

Ship's likely to throw some in the net as well.

We'll see how it goes. Hopefully the goaltenders can keep them close and they can pick up a few. Still not hoping for much.

I used to think 70 was a given, not so much anymore.