We’re just over a month away from the 2018-19 NHL season, and players are hitting the ice with teammates to start forming chemistry. All over the league there are individual workouts underway, and rookie tournament rosters being announced. The excitement for the upcoming season is starting to bubble up to the surface, and even the smallest NHL news has fans in a frenzy.
Today, Bovada released their over/under numbers for each team’s point totals and there are some interesting results. Though these aren’t to be taken exactly as predictions for the upcoming season—since betting odds also take into account popularity trends and other factors—fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning should still be extremely satisfied to see their club at the very top with an over/under of 107.5 points. The Lightning are expected to be Stanley Cup contenders once again in 2018-19, and have brought back nearly their entire roster.
The odds though tell a story of competition for the Lightning, as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins also find themselves with 100+ point expectations. All three clubs reside in the Atlantic Division and will have to battle each other for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. Not to be forgotten in the Atlantic are the Florida Panthers, who are expected to contend for the playoffs and the Buffalo Sabres who should be much improved.
Who do you think will come out on top of the Atlantic Division in the regular season? Can Toronto take that next step and topple their rivals in Boston? Will Aleksander Barkov and the Panthers take a big leap and contend for the Stanley Cup? Can Rasmus Dahlin turn around a Buffalo blue line? Cast your vote below and explain how you think the season will play out in the comments!
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I think the lightning win the division, with the leafs and bruins in second and third.
Think it will be very close between Toronto and Tampa with Boston at least 10-20 points behind them. Think it comes down to which team stays healthiest
Boston 20 points behind Toronto? Please. Boston defense is significantly better than Toronto’s and that will keep them right around Toronto if not ahead of them. As long as Toronto is giving up 40+ shots a game & continues to give up odd-man rushes & make poor decisions in their own zone, they aren’t going to win. You can’t outscore everybody. The Leafs scored 4 goals in game 7 against the Bruins last season. They led 4-3 going into the 3rd. Why did they lose? Because they gave up a ton of chances and turned the puck over a lot. Tavares strengthens their depth down the middle & is a great player. He isn’t going to stop the defensemen from making mistakes. If the defense continues to play like it has, Tavares isn’t going to make a difference and if Anderson doesn’t play well, the Leafs will be one of the biggest disappointments in the NHL
Prediction Eric, your psycho goalie blows up this year, breaking a record number of sticks, Gerry Cheevers starts stretching exercises,Chara declares he can’t play 40 min a game,,,,your window is now closing,,real quick, adios,,,,,ba bye!!!
Window is now closing? Dude that has to be the dumbest statement I’ve seen on these threads ever. Chara retires and they have McAvoy to replace. Then they have Urho Vaakanainen, Zorbril, Lauzon…. coming up. They’re minors team is widely regarded as one of the best in the Game. You need your mommy and daddy to take away your keyboard. You just embarrass yourself
Probably a but hurt Habs fan
Snake i would say I called you out but I have a feeling you already know you’re a dummy
Lol the Bruins window is just getting started. You must be trolling or dont realize the amount of young talent they have
What did Boston do over the summer to get better? Cause they had 1 win over Toronto last year just lost a lot more in ot than Toronto did. Leafs went out and got a #1 centre to pair with their other #1. Leafs are going to have the puck so much this year that it’s not going to matter how bad the d is. Taking bozak and JVR off this team will be a massive defensive upgrade as neither player even know what d is, bozak thought it was winning face offs. So ya good luck with a aging team that has a couple good young players to pair with over the hill guys
Over the hill? The average player age of the Bruins is 26.9 and Toronto is 27.6. That also includes a 41 year old. Nice try junior. Enjoy more years of choking….. 51 years and counting…..
Call out yourself,,,,,bitter sob,, lmao
Toronto fans are honestly embarrassing
14 percent for Detroit?
It is the what be funny and vote for the Red Wings.
Hard to pick TOR over TB with the Lightning having a far better defense.
I love reading these comments and how some just reek of stupidity. Yea, I’m a Leafs fan and no, I’m not Canadian. But as a hockey fan, the Bruins and Lightning didn’t change hardly at all over the offseason. While the Leafs added Tavaras (who will be paired with Marner and Marleau on the 2nd line). Getting rid of puck hogs like Bozak and JVR who don’t know how to defend will make the D better by proxy. Tavaras is also a veteran and will be just a great an asset for these youngsters as Marleau is. Andersen in net will continue to be spectacular and he’ll now be getting that needed help on D with a better core in place and a much needed boost from guys who’ll be brought up from the Marlies.
Overall, the Leafs are the only team who’s made progress in the offseason. If you didn’t win the cup the year before and don’t make any changes to overcome that, it’s unlikely you’ll get there next year. Look for Leafs to contend with TB for the Division Title and one of those two teams to win the Presidents Trophy.
As a realistic leaf fan we might have improved minimally on offense but we did nothing to improve the d and we are very bad on defense bottom 5 in most categories
I think it’s going to be a pretty close race between Tampa and Toronto, but I’ll go with Toronto to win the East, Tampa second, and the Bruins third but a fair bit back of the Leafs and Lightning. The Bruins have a solid team, but they’re a lot more one-line centric than either Tampa or Toronto.