NHL Division Predictions for the 2022/23 NHL Season

Ah hockey feels, autumn is here and NHL exhibition is in full force. The 2022–23 NHL season is quickly approaching and will be the 106th season of operation of the National Hockey League. The regular season is scheduled to begin on October 7, 2022, when the San Jose Sharks and the Nashville Predators play the first of two games in Prague, Czech Republic. The majority of the league commences on October 12th, 2022.

Hockey pundits all over the place are making their predictions, and poolsters are looking to see which players might be a solid dark-horse pick. There is great excitement in markets such as Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Ottawa and in Edmonton. There is some uncertainty in other markets such as Toronto, Buffalo and Philadelphia. The Seattle Kraken are set to start their second NHL season hoping to grow from their first. The Colorado Avalanche begin the long journey of defending their Stanley Cup championship.

Here at the Hockey Fanatic, we also like to share our thoughts on the upcoming season and some predictions for how the season might unfold. There are always a lot of questions as the season begins:

  • How many goals will Ovie score this year to come closer to the great Wayne Gretzky’s total?
  • Will Connor McDavid reach 130 points and reclaim the Hart trophy
  • How long does John Tortorella last in Philly?
  • Will the Canadiens or Blackhawks tank to try and secure the first overall draft pick and a chance to select Connor Bedard?
  • Will Patrick Kane and Johnathan Toews be traded out of Chicago?
  • Is this the year that the Toronto Maple Leafs win a playoff series?
  • Who will become the started in the net for the Vegas Golden Knights?
  • Is this the year that Buffalo becomes closer to making the playoffs?
  • Is Carolina as good as everyone thinks they are?
  • Will the Flames dominate the Pacific or does Edmonton challenge for top spot? (BTW I’d say the A.I. that hashed out the NHL schedule this season failed as the Flames and Oilers only play three times… like c’mon)

Ah we digress. So lets take a look at how the divisions will stack up in the NHL this season.

NHL Predictions: Regular Season Division Standings

The Pacific Division is no longer the weakest division in the NHL, the Alberta teams will be strong, Vegas looks to rebound and the Kings and Canucks should see marked improvements this season.

Central Division

TeamGPWinsLossesOTLPoints
Colorado Avalanche LogoColorado8258186122
St. Louis Blues logoSt. Louis82472510104
Minnesota Wild logoMinnesota8246279101
Nashville Predators logoNashville824432694
Dallas Stars logoDallas8242301094
Winnipeg Jets logo Winnipeg8238331187
Chicago Blackhawks logo Chicago8225461161
Arizona Coyotes logoArizona822648860

Pacific Division

This season the Flames and Oilers should battle it out for which team will win the Pacific.

TeamGPWinsLossesOTLPoints
Calgary Flames logoCalgary8252228112
Edmonton Oilers logoEdmonton8250257107
Vegas Golden Knights logoVegas824528999
Los Angeles Kings logoLos Angeles8242291195
Vancouver Canucks logoVancouver8241311092
Anaheim Ducks logoAnaheim8234351381
San Jose Sharks logoSan Jose8232401074
Seattle Kraken logoSeattle823045767

Atlantic Division

In the Atlantic, you have to look to Florida, Toronto and Tampa Bay as being the three teams that will challenge for the division title.

TeamGPWinsLossesOTLPoints
Florida Panthers logoFlorida8256197119
Toronto Maple Leafs logoToronto8251229111
Tampa Bay Lightning logoTampa Bay8250266106
Boston Bruins logoBoston8247287101
Ottawa Senators logoOttawa8239331088
Detroit Red Wings logoDetroit823538979
Buffalo Sabres logoBuffalo823439977
Montreal Canadiens logoMontreal822548959

Metropolitan Division

Finally in the Metro division, the Carolina Hurricanes should put up some impressive numbers this season.

TeamGPWinsLossesOTLPoints
Carolina Hurricanes logoCarolina82551710120
New York Islanders logoNY Islanders82482311107
New York Rangers logoNY Rangers8248259105
Washington Capitals logoWashington82452710100
Pittsburgh Penguins logoPittsburgh824429997
Columbus Blue Jackets logoColumbus823935886
New Jersey Devils logoNew Jersey8231411072
Philadelphia Flyers logoPhiladelphia8228441066