TSN: Standings projection: Leafs ranked 4th in Atlantic

[Penalty Kill Icing*]

TSN was projecting this year's playoff teams earlier today. Here are their projections.

Summary: TSN had four Canadian teams missing playoffs. Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal. Here are the projection for west:
Central:
1. Chicago
2. St.Louis
3. Minnesota
4. Dallas -w
5. Nashville
6. Winnipeg
7. Colorado

Pacific:
1. Los Angeles
2. San Jose
3. Anaheim
4. Vancouver -w
5. Edmonton
6. Phoenix
7. Calgary

Click to read more...

 

[Grant]

2-6 in atlantic I think are all going to be very close. Should make for an exciting season.

 

[Duffman955]

Psht, we will be in competition for first. Nobody is head and shoulders above us

 

[Pyrophorus]

I'll stick with 1-5 being "unslottable", really a lot of parity.

I picked Philly to be last in the met

 

[Green Snow Storm]

Lots of parity in the Atlantic Division. I think we could finish anywhere from 1st to 5th. I don't expect Tampa, Florida, or Buffalo to be all that competitive this season.

 

[Autism]

I think these predictions are pretty accurate but 2-5 will be a toss up for the atlantic

 

[TootooTrain]

It's Boston and Detroit on their own. Then Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa in the next pack. Will be a dog fight all year.

 

[Penalty Kill Icing*]

For cup favorites, it was individual members on TSN panel.

Bob McKenzie: Chicago over Detroit (one reason: can avoid hangover, no cap issues like last time)
Ray Ferraro: St. Louis over Pittsburgh (one reason: league's best defence)
Aaron Ward: Boston over Anaheim (at least he admitted he was homer in predicting those 2 teams)
Mike Johnson: St. Louis over Boston (praises defence).

 

[HOCKEYGOON]

Only teams in our division that scare me is Boston and maybe Detroit (but I believe they have question marks).

I think Ottawa will be a strong dark horse this year too.

 

[Cor]

Biased: Toronto over St Louis in 6

Realistic: Detroit over Los Angeles in 7.

Just too much talk of Detroit being too soft for the east. I'm thinking they show how could they are playing in their own time zones.

For LA, the start to last season was horrendous, they won't be doing that again.

 

[charliolemieux]

Its going to be a battle to make the playoffs this season.

 

[Blufreezy]

I feel ottawa is being overrated. I know they're healthy now, but I dunno. I just can't see it. Maybe it's the bias kicking in but I try not to

 

[Ari91]

I think 3-5 is a toss up and you never know if a dark horse emerges in 6-8.

Gonna be a tough year.

 

[Cor]

I'm sorta curious as to why Tampa sent down Drouin .

He, with Stamkos and MSL would've been an unreal line for them.

With time running out with St Louis, and Stamkos hitting FA in 3 years, they REALLY need to do something. This whole stuck in less then mediocrity level is a bit worrisome.

Buffalo, who need to deal Vanek and Miller sooner rather then later could be set up nicely for the future, however it all depends on the deals they get for their players.

Flordia... Who knows. Barkov, Gudbranson, Huberdeau, Markstrom, Kulikov etc they have good pieces, they need to start to come together.

 

[ponder]

I see us finishing somewhere from 2nd-5th. Should be a good season! I expect us to make the playoffs, but there's 5 fairly strong teams in our division, it's not a lock.

 

[Raym11]

looks plausible. I think its either us or MTL in that 4th spot. 3 teams infront of us are better, maybe even with Ottawa. who knows.

 

[Ratboy]

Now we have the media on board!

This can only mean one thing. We, are, getting... (kinda) good?

 

[BayStreetBullies*]

So if we get the wildcard despite only having one player in their top 50, I wonder where we'd finish with two players in their top 50?

 

[Znith]

New Jersey is being underrated everywhere. Some of the best goaltending in the league and a good defensive system

 

[ConnorTO]

New Jersey is being underrated everywhere. Some of the best goaltending in the league and a good defensive system

yes they will beat the Leafs


not

 

[The_Chosen_One]

I think anywhere from 1-8 is possible. Our issue that we need to limit our GA average, and that can only be done by driving effective possession. We need to rely a lot more on skill than "toughness" cliches. Once we see that, we'll likely be a lot more consistent.

 

[613Leafer]

Tier 1: Boston

Tier 2: Detroit/Ottawa

Tier 3: Toronto/Montreal/TB

Tier 4: Buffalo/Florida


I think we're pretty interchangeable with Montreal/TB, but there are also so many wildcards. We might get top 10 goaltending this year, or we might get average to slightly below average. Will Gardiner break out? Will Kadri repeat? Will Lupul stay healthy? Etc.

Theres potential for our season to go in either direction. We're a bubble team, but it should be exciting.

 

[snizzbone*]

yes they will beat the Leafs


not

They aren't in the same division..

 

[tooncesmeow]

Psht, we will be in competition for first. Nobody is head and shoulders above us

Boston and Ottawa are. Ottawa upgraded their scoring, re-signed all their important players, didn't lose anything that would cost them, and will have Karlsson and Spezza for the full season. Boston lost a step but still have better goaltending and a better forward corp then Toronto does.

Detroit is arguably better then Toronto and Montreal is a close contender. 4th is going to be a tight race. You can blame Bozak, goons, and a lack of a 1st pairing defender or an all star goalie for that.

 

[Damisoph]

TSN predictions are notoriously awful. For the most part they take the teams that made the playoffs last season and tweak it slightly.