With the upcoming NHL season now only a little over a month away, it’s that time of year where I put out my yearly projections. While I will always remain extremely biased as a Minnesota Wild die-hard, I aimed at making this year’s list more diverse. As a result, I’ve never been more confident.
Below you’ll find my top-five projections with a quick explanation as to why I believe this will be the case. As mentioned previously, it’s very rare that I get a majority of these right, however, I have a feeling this is the year I go 5/5.1. The Minnesota Wild will win a playoff series
Remember, I’m biased. While losing Fiala and Talbot was a blow as well as the haunting cap situation, this team has chemistry that’s unmatched, and I think that’ll be the key to us winning a playoff series. Plus, after the scare for Kirill Kaprizov in Russia, he’s now back safe and sound in the State of Hockey.
2. A Florida team will NOT make the Stanley Cup finals
With the average age of the Lightning being 75 and the Panthers players drinking too heavily on the Miami strip, there’s no chance either makes it. Instead, they’ll be hanging with Mickey and Minnie.
3. Colorado will repeat as NHL champs
They’re really good. Like, really good. That is all.
4. The Arizona Coyotes will not sell out a majority of their home games
It’s hard for me to think positive about this team, but come on!!! They’re moving to an arena that competes with Hermantown and the Coyotes faithful have long disappeared. The fan base down there is dwindling by the day. Unless they make an outrageous deal with ASU, don’t expect them to sell just 5,000 tickets for their home games. Plus, they’ll have to increase their ticket sales considerably to cover costs…
5. Marco Rossi will get 45+ points
While the hype may not be as crazy as when #97 came to Minnesota, there’s still plenty of excitement for Marco Rossi joining the roster. With an incredible, record breaking year with Iowa in the books, where he scored nearly a point a game, he’s ready. The NHL is quite a lot different than the AHL, but with his skill set and vision of the ice, it’ll be fun to see points tally up!
What do you think? Is this the year I go 5/5?
Hermantown boy living in the desert.