I think the Isles will be a bubble team. I could see anywhere from around 5th or 6th in the conference to 10th or 11th. I'll vote WC2 just for the sake of pinning down one specific answer.
Out of the playoffs, it will be the defense that kills us, we don't have a solid stay at home guy, asking too many minutes out of Boychuk, asking Pelech to mature quicker, asking Mayfield to be in the 6 and fight...
Only assumptions you can make are that Pitt and Washington get in
I think Carolina will be this year's CBJ and CBJ will be a bottom feeder
NJ and Detroit will be worse than us.
Toronto may take a big step forward, Tampa may regain their form.
Ottawa is a scary team as well.
We finish 12th in conference
To be honest, I think there's just as much chance Ottawa misses the playoffs entirely as there is they repeat last season's Cinderella run. They have depth up front, but lack a true elite star. And on defense, I think Karlsson props up an otherwise average defense.
I also think people are too easily sleeping on Columbus as some sort of fluke last year. Yes, that 16-game winning streak likely doesn't happen again, but I think they're good enough to finish in the 100 point range even without having to repeat it.
The capitals fall off isn't getting nearly enough attention from anyone other than their own fans. That roster had about a 30% turnover. It's hard to believe they could be anywhere near as good as they were the last two seasons
The thing with the Caps is they don't have to be as good as they were the past two seasons in order to be a lock for the playoffs. They were President's trophy winners both seasons, finishing with close to 120 points both years. So they could see a 15 to 20 point drop due to personnel turnover and still easily make the playoffs.
I think the Caps still have one of the better top six forward groups in hockey, and they've still got three really good defensemen. Plus they've got an elite goalie in Holtby. I think the difference is they don't have the depth of past seasons, which will result in more around 100 to 105 points rather than 118-120.