Which place does Chicago finish (divisional) in the 2021/22 season

[Taluss]

A few adds to their roster with Fleury confirmed to be playing this season. Where do you see them finishing in their division?

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[Section88]

I think we'll surprise people. Went optimistic and said 2nd.

 

[DickSmehlik]

Neck and neck with the Blues and Jets.

I picked 3rd but wouldn't be surprised to see them 2nd or 5th or worse.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Fifth or sixth. Their best players are getting a bit long in the tooth and Toews missed a whole year.
I’ll say sixth.

 

[jetsforever]

5th

 

[tucker3434]

Went 6th. They're better than last year, but I can't shake the thought of how bad they were.

The whole middle 6 is a toss up in the Central. None of them seem really locked into a spot, so I wouldn't be surprised to be wrong.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

For a few years now the Hawks have sort of had tale of two seasons. One half is decent to good, one half is pretty bad to terrible.

On one hand it makes me optimistic that with a better roster they can take those positive times and be good right away, on the other there's some new faces and a lineup that will probably see a ton of shuffling. They're probably one of the hardest teams to figure out lines that stick. So that feeling out process and finding their identity with this new group, how long it takes for Toews to get into the lineup and back up to game speed. Sometimes when a team that hasn't had a ton of success adds some shiny new toys guys think it's going to be easier than it is as well. So all of that could feed into that inconsistency of the season overall.

For me Dallas is going to be one of the best teams in the West. Colorado obviously as well, and the Jets right there with them. Blues are a bit of a wild card in terms of what last year meant in the long run, but they should be at a striking distance if not in that group as well.

I see Chicago sort of similar to the Rangers from the last couple years after they added Panarin, Trouba, Shesterkin and some of the young guys. There will be times this season when they're shredding teams with their skill, they're probably going to be one of the hottest teams when they figure everything out, but overall the playoff race will be so tight that any lapses in the season could be costly.

Im going to put them in the 4th-5th range. Personally i think Nashville got no shot and they're going to end up being the biggest seller with Forsberg and Ekholm, and Minny is going to face reality after a season where they overachieved and benefit from a division that fit them, and ended up treading water in the off-season.

 

[The Tourist]

Went 5th but could also see 6th depending on Minny. I have them behind Avs, Stars, Jets, and Blues.

 

[COHawk]

Voted 4th, I think Hawks will be a bubble team this year and most likely a low seed making the playoffs. But they do have the potential to surprise people in either direction.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

There's 6 teams I predict to be competitive between Colorado/Minnesota/Winnipeg/Dallas/St. Louis/Chicago in no order.

Nashville could be a surprising competitive team as well if a lot of things go right for them (Saros, their abundance of youth all clicking, more scoring from Johansen, Duchene, Forsberg, etc) but I think they're more unlikely to make it than the above options.

Arizona will be complete shit.

 

[majormajor]

They'll be better than Arizona and Nashville but worse than Colorado, Winnipeg, and Dallas. It should be interesting between St. Louis, Chicago, and Minnesota. Those teams will be the ones fighting for the Western Conference wildcards.