WWYDW: Bold Predictions
By Cam Lewis
5 years agoThe wait is over. Well, almost, for us. The NHL season starts tonight, though we’ll have to wait until Saturday morning for the Oilers to kick off their 2018-19 campaign. So, while we wait for the puck to drop in Gothenburg, let’s take some time to make some bold predictions about the upcoming season.
Predictions are one of the most fun things about sports because it’s always hilarious to look back and see how wrong we all were. But there are also those times when you’re right about something and there’s no better feeling. Like, nobody thought Vegas was going to be good last season, but if you did, and you weren’t afraid to put a little bit of money on it, you did really, really well for yourself.
Rather than doing a regular What Would You Do Wednesday, I’m going to pose a few 2018-19 season questions for everybody to answer so we can come back and look at what we said at the end of the season.
1. Do the Oilers make the playoffs?
- I say yes. Edmonton finishes third in the Pacific.
2. Does Connor McDavid win the Hart Trophy?
- Yes. Edmonton’s return to the playoffs plus a 110-point season from McDavid gets him the Hart.
3. Does Cam Talbot regain 2016-17 form?
- Close, but not quite. Talbot is an above-average goalie, posting a .910 save percentage over 55 games.
4. Does Mikko Koskinen last the entire season with the Oilers?
- Yes. Koskinen struggles early on but finds himself a few months into the season to be an adequate NHL backup.
5. Does Milan Lucic hit the 20-goal plateau?
- No. Lucic struggles offensively, scoring 13 goals, but finds a role in the bottom six.
6. How many goals do Rattie, Yamamoto, and Puljujarvi score, respectively?
- 22, 14, and 18.
7. How many games does Evan Bouchard play with the team?
- 70. Bouchard impresses over his nine games and sticks with the team for the year.
8. Who finishes with the best and worst records in the league?
- Tampa Bay has the best record, Ottawa has the worst.
9. Which 2017-18 playoff teams miss the playoffs?
- Colorado, Anaheim, Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.
10. Who wins the Stanley Cup?
- San Jose finally gets it done.
Finally, make one bold prediction about something that’s going to happen this season, about either the Oilers or the league in general. Mine is that the Colorado Avalanche are going to end up with the first and second overall picks at the draft.
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