The interminable offseason comes to an end at last!
Top 10 Vegas odds for the Stanley Cup:
Pittsburgh Penguins 6-1
Edmonton Oilers 9-1
Tampa Bay Lightning 12-1
Washington Capitals 12-1
Chicago Blackhawks 12-1
Minnesota Wild 12-1
Toronto Maple Leafs 14-1
Nashville Predators 14-1
Dallas Stars 14-1
Anaheim Ducks 14-1
In honor of the league's youth movement, let's see the league's stars when they were REALLY young.
The contenders:
Penguins
Led by Timbit allstar Sidney Crosby, the two time defending champs lose their co-#1 goalie to Vegas, but get their actual #1 defenseman Kris Letang back. Does it make sense to bet against them?
Edmonton Oilers
Will this be the year this smiling Canadian boy brings the Cup back to it's home at last? Questions on defence remain, and can Talbot play every night again? And why is an actual smurf making the team out of camp?
Tampa Bay Lightning
After spending most of last year on the shelf, Stamkos returns to a team that missed the playoffs by the narrowest of margins last year. The real star of the team is not really Stamkos - it's either 23yr old 85 point scorer Nikita Kucherov or stud D-man Victor Hedman, but come on - look at that smile and that blonde hair!
Washington Capitals
Notorious goal scorer/playoff choker/Olympic wannabe Alex Ovechkin leads another stacked team forward. His window in Washington is closing fast, can this be the year?
Chicago Blackhawks
You get swept ONE time in the playoffs and suddenly the experts have you going from a league powerhouse to being projected to have to fight for the playoffs. Despite monstrous cap issues, they still have Kane, Toews, Keith, and Crawford, and you don't need that much more than that.
Minnesota Wild
I always thought every kid who plays hockey was probably a big jock - Devan Dubnyk must be the exception to prove the rule. The Wild will continue fight against their perception of the Capitals of the West - regular season powerhouse, playoff milquetoast.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Well if I had to play in Toronto, my hairline would start receding at age 6 too. Auston Matthews joins a bunch of other kids, their cap annihilating grandpa Marleau, and the fake injured Lupul as the second Canadian team making a push for the Cup.
Nashville Predators
Stanley Cup runners up, analytics darlings, party town - what could go wrong for PK and the Preds? Well, let's keep in mind they did just barely make the playoffs, and Pekka Rinne seems to alternate good years with bad. Last year was good.
Dallas Stars
Shown here practicing his Tinder poses, Tyler Seguin seems ready to take the run and gun Stars back to the top. In reality, it will come down to whether or not Ben Bishop and Marc Methot can make a serious difference in the goals against, where only Colorado gave up more last year.
Anaheim Ducks
The cheating and immoral Ducks, led by their cheating and immoral captain Ryan Getzlaf, cheated and immoralled their way past the Oilers in the playoffs before their cheating and immoral run ended in the next round. They are cheaters and immoral.
And finally, he has no shot at the Cup, but you can never get enough Jaromir Jagr - obviously, his kid picture has to be black & white.
Assorted Hot Takes
Connor McDavid will win the Hart Trophy.
Jack Eichel will win the Art Ross Trophy.
Victor Hedman will win the Norris Trophy.
Charlie McAvoy will win the Calder Trophy.
Minnesota Wild will win the President's Trophy.
West Playoff teams: Blackhawks, Stars, Wild, Blues, Oilers, Flames, Ducks, Jets.
East Playoff teams: Bruins, Canadiens, Lightning, Maple Leafs, Islanders, Rangers, Penguins, Capitals.
Last edited by Punker; 10-02-2017 at 09:01 PM.