NHL Season Recap

Now that the season is over I want to go back over my season and mid-season picks and see how I performed compared to the actual results.  I will preface this by saying that the NHL season is very long and it is really difficult to make predictions for the season.  I didn't do as well as I wanted to but pretty good considering it was my first time doing them.

Initial Pre-Season Picks

Western Conference	Eastern Conference
Central Division	Atlantic Division
1.)    Nashville Predators	1.)    Tampa Bay Lightning
2.)    St. Louis Blues	2.)    Florida Panthers
3.)    Dallas Stars	3.)    Montreal Canadiens
Pacific Division	Metro Division
1.)    LA Kings	1.)    Washington Capitals
2.)    San Jose Sharks	2.)    Pittsburgh Penguins
3.)    Anaheim Ducks	3.)    New York Islanders
Wild Card	Wild Card
1.)    Chicago Blackhawks	1.)    Philadelphia Flyers
2.)    Calgary Flames	2.)    Boston Bruins
3.)    Minnesota Wild	3.)    New York Rangers
4.)    Edmonton Oilers	4.)    New Jersey Devils
5.)    Colorado Avalanche	5.)    Buffalo Sabres
6.)    Winnipeg Jets	6.)    Detroit Redwings
7.)    Arizona Coyotes	7.)    Carolina Hurricanes
8.)    Vancouver Canucks	8.)    Toronto Maple Leafs
	9.)    Ottawa Senators
	10.) Columbus Blue Jackets

• Looking at my initial pre-season picks I got ten out of the sixteen playoff picks correct.  I didn't get any of the division winners correct, however, and missed badly on Ottawa and Columbus, but I think most people did as well.  

Mid-Season Picks

Metropolitan Division

• Pittsburgh Penguins
• Washington Capitals
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• New York Rangers
• Philadelphia Flyers
• New Jersey Devils
• Carolina Hurricanes
• New York Islanders

Atlantic Division

• Montreal Canadiens
• Boston Bruins
• Tampa Bay Lightning
• Florida Panthers
• Toronto Maple Leafs
• Ottawa Senators
• Buffalo Sabres
• Detroit Red Wings

Central Division

• Minnesota Wild
• Chicago Blackhawks
• St. Louis Blues
• Nashville Predators
• Dallas Stars
• Winnipeg Jets
• Colorado Avalanche

Pacific Division

• San Jose Sharks
• Anaheim Ducks
• Edmonton Oilers
• Los Angeles Kings
• Calgary Flames
• Vancouver Canucks
• Arizona Coyotes

These picks were much easier to make since the standings had already started to shake themselves out.  I was able to correctly predict all four of the playoff teams out of the Metro Division, two of four out of the Atlantic, all four from the Central, and three out of four out of the Pacific.  I still didn't believe in Ottawa at that point and I didn't think Toronto had enough to make the playoffs.  The Central Division was easy to pick because the four playoff teams had built enough of a lead on Dallas and Winnipeg to feel confident.  Finally, in the Pacific, I just continued to buy into the Kings and what they have done in previous seasons and was wrong.

Pre-Season Playoff Picks

• I projected Tampa Bay to beat Nashville in the Stanley Cup Finals this season which obviously won't happen since the Lightning failed to make the playoffs.  Nashville could still make the Cup Finals but they have struggled this season so I don't think that will happen.

Pre-Season Award Picks

Hart Trophy

• Initial Pick: Sidney Crosby
• Crosby could still win the award and will probably be a finalist for it but Connor McDavid basically locked it up as soon the Oilers made the playoffs.  He deserves the award since Edmonton could possibly be a lottery team again if he weren't on their roster.  He also won the scoring race and often times the winner of the Art Ross Trophy wins the Hart.
• New Pick: Connor McDavid

Vezina Trophy

• Initial Pick: Carey Price
• Price may be the best goaltender in the game still but he won't be a finalist for the award this season.  I feel fairly confident that Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky is going to run away with the award after Devan Dubnyk's play has slipped down the stretch.
• New Pick:  Sergei Bobrosvky

Calder Memorial Trophy

• Initial Pick: Auston Matthews
• I am not going to change my pick with this despite it being a close race for most of the season between Matthews and Patrik Laine.  Laine led the two in goals and points for most of the season but his play slipped late in the season.  Matthews finished with 40 goals and is a big reason for the Leafs making the playoffs.
• New Pick: Auston Matthews

Norris Trophy

• Initial Pick: Victor Hedman
• I think that Hedman was a great choice for this award pick and he had an excellent season and if the Lightning had made the playoffs, he would probably stand a great chance at winning the award.  His play developed more this season than it ever had before and he became one of the team's leaders.  I am going to change my pick, however, and am torn between Ottawa's Erik Karlsson and San Jose's Brent Burns.  Burns was the surefire pick for most of the season but he wasn't the same player at the end of the season that he was at the start and I think that could hurt him.  Karlsson, however, was the Senators' best player and was a big reason for them getting back to the playoffs.  He also became a more well-rounded defenseman and finally shut up some of the criticism over his defensive game.  I'd like to see the hockey writers get it correct and give the award to Karlsson since he is the game's best defenseman.
• New Pick: Erik Karlsson

Jack Adams Trophy

• Initial Pick: Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay
• I made this pick thinking that if the Lightning went to the Cup Finals he would be the coach most deserving of this award.  That isn't going to happen now.  There are a lot of really good candidates for this award though and I would not want to vote on it.  Mike Babcock and Todd McLellan led the Maple Leafs and Oilers, respectively, to the playoffs for the first time in a long time and should garner attention.  I don't think McLellan is overly deserving since he has Connor McDavid but Babcock is definitely deserving.  Then there are Guy Boucher and John Tortorella with Ottawa and Columbus who both took teams to the playoffs but weren't expected to.  And finally there is Bruce Boudreau who led Minnesota to a second place finish in the Central Division in his first year with the team.  I think that Babcock finally wins his first Jack Adams this season, a staggering idea since he has been one of the best coaches in the game for years now.
• New Pick: Mike Babcock

Selke Trophy

• Initial Pick: Patrice Bergeron
• I picked Bergeron for this because he is the easiest player to pick considering his track record as the game's best two-way forward.  Bergeron has not had as good of a season as he normally does so I don't think he has much of a chance at winning the award.  Picking the Selke Trophy winner is difficult because it is based on a player's offensive and defensive skillsets, some of which don't show up on the scoresheet.  Ryan Kesler has had an amazing season this year and he is almost guaranteed to be a finalist.  I also think that Calgary's Mikael Backlund has a really good shot at winning the award this season considering he plays on one of, if not, the best puck possession lines in hockey.  Finally, I think that an outside candidate is Connor McDavid, who has already developed into one of the game's best two-way centers and is very skilled on the penalty kill.  
• New Pick: Mikael Backlund

Conclusion

• Now that the season is over and I have written a general season recap, I am also going to do a team-by-team season recap and overview of what they should do over the offseason.  I will also be doing an Expansion Draft preview and who I would protect for each team and the roster the Vegas will end up with.  Hope everyone enjoys!