2016-17 BBKL Standings Predictions

[Matthew]

A place for everyone to make their 2016-2017 bbkl predictions.
I'll start.

Atlantic
1.Toronto - I think this is close with Buffalo, as both teams are deep, but Toronto's high end pieces are ultimately a bit higher end than Buffalo's.
2. Buffalo - both Buffalo and Toronto have around 2 weaker slots in their lineups. To make up for Toronto's high end I think Buffalo would need to fill in those depth spots better.
3. Boston - there's a next big group here who could all compete. Boston has a few dead roster spots at this point, and has weakened due to the cap crunch, but ultimately still sports too many high end pieces that hit all categories.
4. Florida - Florida seems to becoming out of its rebuild. He has nice pieces up and down the lineup, and I put them 4th because unlike Ottawa and Montreal, Florida doesn't have many holes. A question mark may be in net seeing if a 35 year old Anderson can still bring it.
5. Montreal - solid except for 2 roster positions. Produces points and periphs. 2 possible starting goalies.
6. Tampa Bay - high end offense in the forward corpse, but a fairly weak defense and question mark in net depending on how good a team the NHL leafs will be.
7. Ottawa - A veteran team missing a few slots and lacking periphs, but if they do manage to slip into the playoffs could pull off a few offensive upsets.
8. Detroit - The weakest team in the division has put together a solid periph defense and added a few centers to the mix. Will work to build on its foundation.

Metro
1. Washington - A pretty solid team top to bottom with elite goaltending and centers, and pretty solid wingers. A good defence, but may want to upgrade here. I don't see the Islanders putting up much of a fight but I could be wrong.
2. New York (isles) - I'd also lock them up at #2 with not much pressure from below as the isles have both scoring and periphs, as long as the older players like Joe can keep up the high calibre play.
3. Philadelphia - after the top 2 teams I had to really take a few looks at the rest. This division is weaker than I thought as the rest of the teams all seem to have fairly large holes, which could be a good thing as it means any team with a little tweaking could gear for the final playoff spots. I chose philli here due to the most complete forward scoring and having price in net. The hole on this team seems to be a defence with very little peripherals, and just okay scoring on d to make up for that.
4. New York (Rags) - The rangers are okay up and down the lineup. They have decent scoring and periphs. If Drouin can break out and Jenner move to center they may be able to pressure philli. A piece or two added to this team could make them a bit more dangerous for the wildcard spot.
5. Columbus - A few high end pieces and added Steen, an overall okay lineup and okay goaltender.
6. Pittsburgh - I slotted Pittsburgh ahead of New Jersey due to goaltending, but I doubt they have any real push for a playoff spot. A risky defense at this point. Strength at the Wing position and in net.
7. New Jersey - A decent lineup and managed to add a pretty good c in bjugstad, and has puljujarvi entering the lineup this year. Could jump a few spots if they land a goalie, but probably not enough to get to the playoffs.
8. Carolina - The canes have a decent defence and if ribeiro and zetterberg still have some steam pretty good centers, and the king in net. Needs to work on those wingers.

Pacific
1. Los Angeles - The perennial division champagne likely repeat again this year with a young high offense team with very little in terms of question marks.
2. Vancouver - with hedman, doughty, trouba, and edler the top end of the defense is quite strong. Also sports strong all around centers. A few weaker spots on the wings and possible goaltending question marks mean this team could fall to possibly 3rd.
3. Calgary - good centers, good wingers, good goaltending, and some periph dmen likely grab gm Josh 3rd in the division and with a few tweaks could surpass Vancouver.
4. Edmonton - upon viewing, actually a far better team than I thought and should get a wildcard spot this year as a few youngsters push through. Could possibly even finish 3rd in the Pacific. Some really nice scoring and sporting 5 centers with decent goaltending. Probably should add a high end dman or two.
5. San Jose - solid from top to bottom. May also battle for a wildcard spot, but likely Needs some higher end pieces inserted into the lineup inorder to make more of an impact.
6. Arizona - A few decent scoring pieces and some solid youngsters pushing themselves into the lineup, with decent goaltending tandem. Needs more consistent NHLers. Unfortunately, Arizona is currently part of the Pacific's terrible 2 along with Anaheim
7. Anaheim - a couple high end pieces and decent periph defense with pretty good goaltending. Needs more consistency throughout the lineup and high end pieces. Terrible wingers. Could possibly finish 6th in the Pacific, but certainty no higher.

Central
1. Minnesota - A team that hits all categories. Has high end center, winger, and goaltending. The defense isn't Elite yet, but certainly has the potential to be. Probably the team most likely to challenge Los Angeles for the conference title (in season).
2. Nashville - The preds sport the best defence in the league with four defencemen producing 50+ points last season (on solid cap hits too). Due to high end scoring at all positions (C,W,D) could possibly challenge Minny for division title. Expect goaltending upgrade pre-playoff.
3. Chicago - great periph up and down the lineup should find Chicago sitting pretty at 3rd. Decent scoring. Probably biggest question mark is how rinne does this year in net.
4. St Louis - Tough choice between jets and blues here but went with blues due to Crawford in net and fewer holes in the lineup. Great wingers and goaltending. Could use a boost at center and defence.
5. Winnipeg - Has added some good pieces to the team, and has some really good centers and defence. Probably needs to add some quality role players at wing and defence as well as improve goaltending, but still could make a run at the wildcard playoff spots regardless.
6. Colorado - The avalanche has some decent scoring forwards, but probably needs to add a couple higher end pieces and a defenceman, as well as a good goalie to make the playoffs.
7. Dallas - This team likely gets last in the Central due to lack of defensive depth: only Crosby, teravainen and some roomies to make a dent. They have schneider in net and probably one of the better defense corps in the league moving forward. Not ready yet but starting next year should begin to shoot up the standings with the great prospect depth beginning to enter the lineup.

[Fraser]

Pacific:

1.Vancouver
2. Steve
3-6 Whatever
7. Matthew

[Matthew]

Pacific:

1.Vancouver
2. Steve
3-6 Whatever
7. Matthew

That's my goal.

[The BBKL Insider]

I give you shit for your gawd awful offers, but i appreciate the time you invest in everything else.

Good write up.

However, i don't think I'll win my division. Fraser and josh should be better!

[Shoalzie]

It's really hard to make headway in the Atlantic with how deep that division is. The smart money is on the Atlantic having 5 playoff teams (again). I think to just finish 7th in division a lot would have to go right for me.

Our league is a lot like the Premier League in soccer. There's usually a handful of contenders at most...probably a couple teams stand out from the rest. There's a solid middle to the league...good playoff teams but aren't good enough to knock off the contenders. Then there's "relegation zone"...the rebuilder group that is going to finish last for a while. We can't exactly have a Leicester City scenario in this league.

[Matthew]

It's really hard to make headway in the Atlantic with how deep that division is. The smart money is on the Atlantic having 5 playoff teams (again). I think to just finish 7th in division a lot would have to go right for me.

Yeah, I'd say it goes:
Atlantic
Central
Pacific
Metro

[KapG]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up Matthew!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading it all !

[Handsome&FairMike]

Actually don't disagree with much if any of those Matt. Still gonna push for a playoff spot for me but who knows!!

[Robin Hood]

CHI will outperform its ranking here

[kyuss]

CHI will outperform its ranking here

gonna finish ahead of Minny you think?

[Robin Hood]

CHI will outperform its ranking here

gonna finish ahead of Minny you think?

Definitely ahead of Nashville...maybe ahead of Minny but Hong's got a good team over there.

[Arian The Insider]

The top 5 overall in the West is definitely going to be hard to predict

[Nick]

Out of the playoffs

Our magnitude of win rank system be damned!


I think Mik's Predators are a little better than Hong's Wild.

[Matthew]

Actually don't disagree with much if any of those Matt. Still gonna push for a playoff spot for me but who knows!!

It was just for fun. I was hoping others would throw up some quick ranking predictions too.

[Handsome&FairMike]

Actually don't disagree with much if any of those Matt. Still gonna push for a playoff spot for me but who knows!!

It was just for fun. I was hoping others would throw up some quick ranking predictions too.

Was gonna, but legit dont have much to change!

[Matthew]

Oh, thought that said don't agree with anything. I must be going blind.

[dave1959]

It's really hard to make headway in the Atlantic with how deep that division is. The smart money is on the Atlantic having 5 playoff teams (again). I think to just finish 7th in division a lot would have to go right for me.

Our league is a lot like the Premier League in soccer. There's usually a handful of contenders at most...probably a couple teams stand out from the rest. There's a solid middle to the league...good playoff teams but aren't good enough to knock off the contenders. Then there's "relegation zone"...the rebuilder group that is going to finish last for a while. We can't exactly have a Leicester City scenario in this league.

Not like real playoffs where things other than stats can affect the outcome of a playoff series.

[Tony]

A fun read. Thanks for taking the time/effort Matthew!

[Loki]

Great read, very handy to get a sense of where the other teams I'm not familiar with are at

[Fraser]

Atlantic
1. Buffalo
2. Toronto
3. Boston
4. Florida
5. Tampa Bay
6. Montreal
7. Ottawa
8. Detroit

Metro
1. New York (isles)
2. Washington
3. Philadelphia
4. Pittsburgh
5. Columbus
6. New York (Rags)
7. New Jersey
8. Carolina

Pacific
1. Vancouver
2. Los Angeles
3. Calgary
4. Edmonton
5. San Jose
6. Arizona
7. Anaheim

Central
1. Nashville
2. Chicago
3. Minnesota
4. Colorado
5. Dallas
6. St Louis
7. Winnipeg

Top 5 Overall:

1. Buffalo
2. Toronto
3. Nashville
4. Chicago
5. Vancouver

Bottom 5 Overall:

26. Winnipeg
27. New Jersey
28. Arizona
29. Carolina
30. Anaheim