Hockey Is Back...Again!!

The NHL is coming back. I for one am super excited -- but for some fans, you're happy that hockey is coming back but you probably don't expect anything from your team. Due to corona and the fact that Canada closed its borders, there are four new divisions. They have been set up mostly so there is less travel between teams. Here are my thoughts on the divisions and teams, and my overall predictions on records and standings. This is subject to change because the NHL likes to wait till the last minute with releasing details.

The All-Canadian Division or The Quarantined Division

First of all, its not like the NHL had a choice whether all of these teams would be in this division. The border with the United States is closed. But really, if you are a Senators, Jets, Canucks or even a Oilers fan, you might not be liking the odds of winning your division. This division is probaly the best in hockey. You have the up and coming Canucks and Oilers, the dark horses in Jets and Canadiens, the true contenders in the Leafs and Flames. Oh, and also you have the Senators who let's face it have no chance to win or make the playoffs. This division will be up for grabs with a lot of teams fighting for first, second, and third. For this division here are my standing predictions and explanation of why.

1: Flames: The Flames have superstars in Johnny "Hockey" Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and old stars who are still good in Mark Giordano and Millan Lucic and finally a up and coming goalie in Jacob Markstrom. Flames fans, don't worry. Your team will for sure win the division

2: Maple Leafs: Leafs fans don't worry, you will still make the playoffs simply because of your talent. You still have Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares as well as Freddy Anderson in net. We all know how this ends -- the Maple Leafs will make the playoffs and lose in a Game 7 again. If there is any year to prove anyone wrong it's this year.

3: Oilers: I was thinking about putting the Canucks or Canadiens here. The Oilers will get third in this division in a tightly contested race. They will be carried by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and that's about it. They will just barely win the third place race and beat the Leafs in the first round and then go on to play the Flames in the much anticipated Battle of Alberta.

4: Canucks: They will make a wild card spot but probaly have to play the Flames. They are in my opinion the best up and coming team. You have Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser on the ice, and Braden Holtby in goal. You also have the Triple crown man in Jay Beagle. They could honestly make a deep playoff run and could even make the third round. Canuck fans your future looks bright, as long as you don't trade pieces of the core.

5: Canadiens: Canadiens fans, I'm sorry to say that it's probaly going to be a long time until you make the finals or even the playoffs. Your team is aging and Carey Price can't take you to the playoffs by himself. Shea Weber will still have a great season but that won't be enough.

6: Jets: Jets fans, you probaly won't do well. You have the worst salary cap problem in all of hockey. Connor Hellebuyck will still be great in goal, but Patrick Laine will be traded mid season because of contract disputes. But hey at least you have Blake Wheeler...until you trade him because he demands a trade because Laine was traded.

7: Senators: Brady Tkachuk will still develop and is becoming a star. But besides him no one else on your team is that good. You are heading for another lottery and your team will be horrible.

Division 2: The Watch Out For Traffic On I95

The other divisions don't have names so I'll just say the teams and my predictions

The second division teams are the Bruins, Sabres, Devils, Islanders, Rangers, Flyers, Penguins, and Capitals. This division, other than a few teams, will be a hard division. Here are my predictions.

1:Flyers: The Flyers continue to improve, led by Carter Hart and Claude Giroux. Your team will win this division but don't be shocked when they lose in the first or second round. Your team is young and inexperienced and you need one more piece to win the cup.

2: Capitals: You probaly are thinking that the Penguins, Bruins, or Islanders should be ahead of the Capitals. But here's why that won't happen. The Capitals are going to make one final all in push because they don't know how long Ovi will be in the league. I also see Ilya Samsonov emerging as a top goalie with the mentorship of Henrik Lundqvist, at in spirit.Get well soon, King! Alex Ovechkin will lead the league in goals. I also see the Capitals making a blockbuster trade somewhere in the future. Off topic I hope Lundqvist recovers soon.

3: Bruins: I know what you're thinking "How and why do you think the Bruins will get 3rd and barley make the playoffs." Simple, they lost Torey Krug. Without him they only have Zdeno Chara and a bunch of young dudes. Also Tuukka Rask may not and might not want to come back and play, and having a goalie is kind of important. However, you would most likely have to play the Capitals in the playoffs and if were basing this on past matchups I don't like your chances.

4th: Penguins: Your time on the top is over. I see their stars doing well but I can't see Tristan Jarry carry this team in the net. I think he will be the reason that they would barely make the playoffs and they either get swept or have a deep Cup run there is no in between. Like the Capitals this is their last chance, even if they keep trading their first round picks for players that aren't good.

5th : Islanders: The shot blockers will get 5th in this division. They have Andres Lee and good goalies but with no Matt Barzal under contract I don't see them going far. Barzal is a restricted free agent, and until he signs the Isles have nobody who can find the net even with Waze. They could surprise me but I just don't see it with no Barzal. But don't coun't them out. Barry Trotz teams don't go down easy.

6th: Rangers: Their young core continues to develop and Alexis Lafreniere will win the Calder. But with a young goalie I just can't see this team going far. They will have a bright future but it's not their time to go far yet. Artemi Panarin will still play up to his contract and if Kappo Kakko takes that next step the Rangers will be a team to fear in the future.

7th: Sabres: Well at least you don't come in last place in your division. You signed Taylor Hall, and he and Jack Eichel will form a duo that will dominate hockey. But besides them your team is garbage. You will probaly trade Taylor Hall before the trade deadline because unless you make a deep playoff run, he won't resign.

8: Devils : You will have fun playing and your team has a great future but your team will not do well this year. Jack Hughes will do well but besides that and a few young guys your team will be bad.

Division 3: The Champs and a Bunch of Randoms

Third division teams: Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Panthers, Wild, Predators and Lightning.

This division is hard and I can see many potential outcomes with the standings, in part because not many of these teams are any good. But here is my more realistic one.

1:Tampa Bay Lightning: The party continues as the defending Stanley Cup champions win this division with ease. Nikita Kucherov will have a Hart season and they will have a deep playoff run.

2:Hurricanes: The storm surge returns as the "jerks" get second in a division that no one wanted to make the playoffs. Sebastian Aho will lead the team in points and Brady Skjei will also do well. But this is a dark horse final contender this year.

3: Predators: Fillip Forsberg will be the reason that they make the playoffs. Good thing the Caps traded that guy. You should be writing thank you notes to George McPhee every day for that one. Matt Duchene will help but besides that no one else is that good. Forsberg will also be a Hart nominee and will score a lot of nice goals.

4: Blue Jackets: Seth Jones and Pierre-Luc Dubois will be the reason they make the playoffs and Joonas Korpisalo is a dark horse to win the Vezina. But besides that I don't see anything else from the Jackets. Dubois will take that next step and lead the team in points, but it's hard to see this team going very far in the playoffs.

5th: Panthers: You wont make the playoffs because of one man "Officer" Bobrovsky. While Aaron Ekblad, Mike Hoffman, and Aleksander Barkov continue to develop, Sergei Bobrovsky continues to struggle in net and makes his contract look like one of the worst in hockey.

6th: Blackhawks: This will be one of those rebuilding years. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews will still put up great numbers, but they are missing a goalie and winger. You really wonder where this team could have been if they have kept Artemi Panarin and either of their two goalies. But now you are rebuilding and at least you have Cups.

7th: Wild: The wheels completely fall off. Ryan Sutter and Zach Parise still play decent but not good enough to even come close to their contracts. Matt Dumba will play well again, at least until he gets traded, but this team needs a Captain and is officially rebuilding.

8th: Red Wings: Last Place in the NHL. Your team is garbage and you will have the best lottery odds. Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha will develop but they will be expecting major contracts. Detroit may not have the money to re-sign them plus why bother because you will stink anyway.

Division 4:Corona Hot Spot Zone

The 4th and final division teams are the Ducks, Coyotes, Avalanche, Stars, Kings, Sharks, Blues and Golden Knights.

This division will be a tight race and almost all of these teams have a chance at the playoffs. For this divisions standings I can see many outcomes with the playoffs seeds.

Standings predictions:

1: Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon will do amazing and Phillip Grubauer will put up Vezina numbers. This team is finals worthy. That's pretty much all I can say about them. .

2:Golden Knights: This is one of the last years they have a chance to win the Cup. Their core is aging and Marc-Andry Fluery and Robin Lehner aren't getting any younger, plus they will have a controversy over which of those two will start in goal. They finally got a top defenseman in Alex Pietrangelo and this team is fast. I expect a solid season from the Knights.

3:Blues: The return of the human brick wall in net in Jordan Binnington aka the most boring person to interview. Torey Krug will fill in nicely to the role of Pietrangelo and the Blues will bring back Gloria and could win the Cup.

4:Stars:The problem with the Stars is one of the most important parts of hockey, THEY CAN'T SCORE. This team could win the Cup if they could score goals. Jamie Benn is the only one that can score and Ben Bishop needs to unleash god mode for their to be a chance that they can get to the finals let alone make the playoffs.

5: Coyotes: The Yotes will have a good season but they wont make the playoffs because they need a Taylor Hall type player or just one more piece to make it over the top. Didn't they just have Hall? Hard to believe he didn't sign with them as a free agent. Darcy Kuemper is a great goalie and the still have Phil "Hotdog Man" Kessel but that's about it. This team could do something within the next couple of years, or at least they could if they had any draft picks. Cheating has consequences. Just ask the Astros.

6: Kings: You're entering rebuilding mode now. Jonathan Quick isn't getting younger and your core is old. This team wont make the playoffs for a while but they will get a lot of great draft picks. You have two cups at least to join you while your on the bottom.

7: Ducks: Did you honestly expect anything this season? John Gibson is aging as well as Ryan Getzlaf but you will still have a bad season. You'll start off OK and give your fans hope but then fall off and get 7th in your division. At least you don't suffer the fate that your neighbors will.

8th: Sharks: You are probaly thinking " How in the world do the Sharks get last again?" Its simple this team has the DUMBEST PEOPLE in charge. You gave everyone 8 year contracts and lost "Jumbo" Joe Thornton to TORONTO!!! You got Patrick Marleau back...again. Martin Jones and Devin Dubnyk become the most inconsistent goalie tandem of all time. Logan Couture is still blossoming as a captain but that's one of the only bright spots of your season. The final piece to go over is Erik Karlsson. His contract is awful. He is a great player in my opinion... When he's healthy. You are the 76ers of the NHL, at least if the 76ers were older and crappier. When everyone is healthy you do good. But lets face it, the Red Wings have a better chance to win the cup than you because they can stay healthy. The one good thing you get is a high draft pick because this time your management team kept your pick. So unless Martin Jones and Devin Dubnyk activate god mode then your team is screwed. Even if that happens the odds will still stacked against you and it would take a miracle to even make the playoffs.

Anyway those are my standings predictions for the NHL season. I'll be back with updates as the season goes on. Come back later for more from Bermanator's Sports Blog.