After what felt like an endless summer without hockey, the new NHL season is finally here! To honor the occasion, the staff here at The Cannon have submitted our predicted standings and certain award winners for the 2018-19 season.
Note: Wild cards are marked with an asterisk.
Which bold predictions do you like? Which will laugh at us for next spring? Do you think the Blue Jackets will earn over or under 97.5 points?
Share your own standings and award predictions in the comments!
2018-19 Cannon Staff Predictions
| Division | PD | Swift | Ryan | William | Fletcher | Elaine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metro 1 | Columbus | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Philadelphia |
| Metro 2 | Pittsburgh | Columbus | Columbus | Washington | Washington | New Jersey |
| Metro 3 | Washington | Philadelphia | Washington | Columbus | Philadelphia | Pittsburgh |
| Metro 4 | Philadelphia* | Washington* | Philadelphia* | New Jersey* | Columbus* | Columbus |
| Metro 5 | Carolina | New Jersey | New Jersey | Philadelphia | New Jersey | Washington |
| Metro 6 | New Jersey | Carolina | Carolina | NY Rangers | Carolina | NY Rangers |
| Metro 7 | NY Rangers | NY Rangers | NY Rangers | NY Islanders | NY Rangers | Carolina |
| Metro 8 | NY Islanders | NY Islanders | NY Islanders | Carolina | NY Islanders | NY Islanders |
| Atlantic 1 | Toronto | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bae |
| Atlantic 2 | Tampa Bay | Toronto | Toronto | Toronto | Toronto | Toronto |
| Atlantic 3 | Boston | Florida | Boston | Boston | Florida | Detroit |
| Atlantic 4 | Florida* | Boston* | Florida* | Florida* | Boston* | Florida |
| Atlantic 5 | Detroit | Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo |
| Atlantic 6 | Buffalo | Detroit | Montreal | Detroit | Montreal | Boston |
| Atlantic 7 | Montreal | Montreal | Detroilet | Montreal | Detroit | Montreal |
| Atlantic 8 | Ottawa | Ottawa | Ottawa | Ottawa | Ottawa | Ottawa |
| Central 1 | Nashville | Winnipeg | Nashville | Winnipeg | Nashville | Winnipeg |
| Central 2 | Winnipeg | Nashville | Winnipeg | Nashville | Don’t make me say it | Chicago |
| Central 3 | Dallas | Dallas | St. Louis | Colorado | Dallas | Dallas |
| Central 4 | Colorado* | St. Louis* | Dallas* | Dallas* | St. Louis* | St. Louis |
| Central 5 | Chicago* | Minnesota | Minnesota* | St. Louis* | Minnesota* | Minnesota |
| Central 6 | St. Louis | Colorado | Colorado | Chicago | Colorado | Colorado |
| Central 7 | Minnesota | Chicago | Chicago | Minnesota | Chicago | Nashville |
| Pacific 1 | San Jose | San Jose | San Jose | San Jose | San Jose | Vegas |
| Pacific 2 | Vegas | Vegas | Anaheim | Anaheim | Anaheim | Anaheim |
| Pacific 3 | Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Vegas | Vegas | Vegas | San Jose |
| Pacific 4 | Edmonton | Arizona* | Calgary | Calgary | Arizona | Arizona |
| Pacific 5 | Arizona | Calgary | Los Angeles | Los Angeles | LA | Los Angeles |
| Pacific 6 | Calgary | Edmonton | Edmonton | Edmonton | Calgary | Edmonton |
| Pacific 7 | Anaheim | Anaheim | Arizona | Vancouver | Arizona | Calgary |
| Pacific 8 | Vancouver | Vancouver | Vancouver | Arizona | Vancouver | Vancouver |
| ECF | TBL over CBJ | TBL over PIT | TOR over PIT | TBL over PIT | TBL over ??? | PHI over TML |
| WCF | WPG over SJS | WPG over VGK | SJS over NSH | WPG over SJS | SJS over NSH | SJS over WPG |
| Cup Final | TBL over WPG | TBL over WPG | SJS over TOR | WPG over TBL | SJS over TBL | SJS over PHI |
| Hart | Connor McDavid | Blake Wheeler | Connor McDavid | Connor McDavid | Auston Matthews | Artemi Panarin and/or Gritty. |
| Norris | Zach Werenski | Victor Hedman | Erik Karlsson | Seth Jones | Erik Karlsson | Erik Karlsson |
| Vezina | Connor Hellebuyck | Martin Jones | Sergei Bobrovsky | Connor Hellebuyck | Andrei Vasilevskiy | Joonas Korpisalo |
| CBJ O/U 97.5 | Over | Over | Over | Under | Under | over or under. I’m unsure |