WHL 2016 2017 Predictions

WHL 2016-2017 Predictions

The Western Hockey League starts its season in a little over a month.  In May the WHL completed their annual Bantam draft with Peyton Krebs being selected by the Kootenay Ice.  This year, players born in 2001 from eligible provinces and American states were able to be selected as WHL Clubs looked to add key pieces to their future.  Full draft results can be found here.  The WHL had 34 players selected in the NHL draft in June, and there are a lot of current NHLers who served time in the western league.

This should be another exciting year for the Western Hockey League as there are some great teams as well as some up and coming players to keep an eye on.  Can the Brandon Wheat Kings reign supreme again?WHL LogoIn case you forgot here is how the teams performed last season.  Here are our WHL predictions from last season.

2015-2016 Final WHL Standings

Eastern Conference
# Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA Streak P10 PIM
1 Brandon Wheat Kings 72 48 18 4 2 102 0.708 319 197 11-0-2-0 9-0-1-0 861
2 Lethbridge Hurricanes 72 46 24 1 1 94 0.653 304 218 0-1-0-0 6-4-0-0 1028
3 Red Deer Rebels 72 45 24 1 2 93 0.646 260 205 2-0-0-0 8-2-0-0 892
4 Calgary Hitmen 72 42 26 2 2 88 0.611 246 219 3-0-0-0 7-3-0-0 1075
5 Prince Albert Raiders 72 38 26 7 1 84 0.583 222 223 0-1-0-0 4-6-0-0 866
6 Moose Jaw Warriors 72 36 27 7 2 81 0.563 249 239 1-0-0-0 4-5-0-1 786
7 Regina Pats 72 36 28 3 5 80 0.556 243 253 0-1-0-0 6-3-0-1 1018
8 Medicine Hat Tigers 72 30 37 3 2 65 0.451 223 287 1-0-0-0 7-3-0-0 866
9 Edmonton Oil Kings 72 29 36 6 1 65 0.451 197 238 0-3-0-0 2-8-0-0 941
10 Swift Current Broncos 72 24 38 7 3 58 0.403 189 249 0-2-2-0 3-5-2-0 794
11 Saskatoon Blades 72 26 42 4 0 56 0.389 219 318 1-0-0-0 2-8-0-0 992
12 Kootenay ICE 72 12 53 6 1 31 0.215 155 320 0-1-0-1 2-7-0-1 813

 

Western Conference
# Team GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT GF GA Streak P10 PIM
1 Victoria Royals 72 50 16 3 3 106 0.736 281 166 13-0-1-0 10-0-0-0 832
2 Kelowna Rockets 72 48 20 4 0 100 0.694 269 218 2-0-0-0 5-4-1-0 999
3 Seattle Thunderbirds 72 45 23 4 0 94 0.653 228 186 13-0-1-0 9-0-1-0 979
4 Kamloops Blazers 72 38 25 5 4 85 0.59 237 218 9-0-0-0 9-1-0-0 771
5 Everett Silvertips 72 38 26 5 3 84 0.583 182 172 0-2-1-0 3-5-1-1 604
6 Portland Winterhawks 72 34 31 6 1 75 0.521 228 227 0-2-2-1 3-4-2-1 897
7 Prince George Cougars 72 36 31 3 2 77 0.535 240 225 0-4-0-1 3-6-0-1 1292
8 Spokane Chiefs 72 33 30 5 4 75 0.521 223 245 0-1-0-0 4-6-0-0 843
9 Tri-City Americans 72 35 34 2 1 73 0.507 236 253 4-0-0-0 5-5-0-0 975
10 Vancouver Giants 72 23 40 5 4 55 0.382 199 273 0-9-0-2 0-8-0-2 850

So let’s take a look at our predictions for the 2016-2017 WHL season.

2016-2017 WHL Predictions

We actually think that we are going to see similar rankings in terms of the top performing teams and league cellar dwellers this season.  Here is a look at our picks for the regular season standings for the Western Hockey League.

Eastern Conference

# Team
1 Brandon Wheat Kings
2 Red Deer Rebels
3 Prince Albert Raiders
4 Lethbridge Hurricanes
5 Regina Pats
6 Moose Jaw Warriors
7 Calgary Hitmen
8 Swift Current Broncos
9 Medicine Hat Tigers
10 Saskatoon Blades
11 Kootenay Ice
12 Edmonton Oil Kings

Western Conference

# Team
1 Victoria Royals
2 Kelowna Rockets
3 Seattle Thunderbirds
4 Everett Silvertips
5 Portland Winterhawks
6 Kamloops Blazers
7 Prince George Cougars
8 Vancouver Giants
9 Spokane Chiefs
10 Tri-City Americans