The NHL season is just about here.
We’ve assembled a panel of Sportsnet NHL Insiders to take a shot at predicting the unpredictable.
From the Stanley Cup winner to how many Canadian teams will be playing for the Stanley Cup in April, how many points Connor McDavid will get and who will lead the Maple Leafs in scoring, the following are our Insiders’ predictions for the 2018-19 NHL season.
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TEAM QUESTIONS
Stanley Cup Winner
John Shannon: San Jose
Elliotte Friedman: Winnipeg
Jeff Marek: Winnipeg
Chris Johnston: Winnipeg
Mark Spector: Winnipeg
Iain MacIntyre: San Jose
Gord Stellick: San Jose
Eric Francis: Tampa Bay
Caroline Cameron: Winnipeg
Kristina Rutherford: Winnipeg
Luke Fox: Tampa Bay
Eric Engels: Tampa Bay
Rory Boylen: Winnipeg
Nick Kypreos: St. Louis
David Amber: Winnipeg
Damien Cox: Winnipeg
East Champion
John Shannon: Tampa Bay
Elliotte Friedman: Toronto
Jeff Marek: Tampa Bay
Chris Johnston: Tampa
Mark Spector: Tampa
Iain MacIntyre: Tampa Bay
Gord Stellick: Columbus
Eric Francis: Tampa Bay
Caroline Cameron: Tampa Bay
Kristina Rutherford: Tampa Bay
Luke Fox: Tampa Bay
Eric Engels: Tampa Bay
Rory Boylen: Pittsburgh
Nick Kypreos: Tampa Bay
David Amber: Tampa
Damien Cox: Toronto
West Champion
John Shannon: San Jose
Elliotte Friedman: Winnipeg
Jeff Marek: Winnipeg
Chris Johnston: Winnipeg
Mark Spector: Winnipeg
Iain MacIntyre: San Jose
Gord Stellick: San Jose
Eric Francis: San Jose
Caroline Cameron: Winnipeg
Kristina Rutherford: Winnipeg
Luke Fox: Winnipeg
Eric Engels: Nashville
Rory Boylen: Winnipeg
Nick Kypreos: St. Louis
David Amber: Winnipeg
Damien Cox: Winnipeg
Most likely to exceed expectations
John Shannon: St. Louis
Elliotte Friedman: Florida
Jeff Marek: Arizona
Chris Johnston: Edmonton
Mark Spector: Buffalo
Iain MacIntyre: Edmonton
Gord Stellick: Carolina
Eric Francis: Anaheim
Caroline Cameron: Arizona
Kristina Rutherford: Philadelphia
Luke Fox: Florida
Eric Engels: Montreal
Rory Boylen: Dallas
Nick Kypreos: Florida
David Amber: Dallas
Damien Cox: Colorado
Most likely to disappoint
John Shannon: Minnesota
Elliotte Friedman: Chicago
Jeff Marek: Los Angeles
Chris Johnston: Anaheim
Mark Spector: Toronto
Iain MacIntyre: Anaheim
Gord Stellick: Anaheim
Eric Francis: Edmonton
Caroline Cameron: Ottawa
Kristina Rutherford: Washington
Luke Fox: Anaheim
Eric Engels: Boston
Rory Boylen: St. Louis
Nick Kypreos: Vegas
David Amber: Minnesota
Damien Cox: San Jose
Canadian team with highest point total
John Shannon: Winnipeg
Elliotte Friedman: Winnipeg
Jeff Marek: Winnipeg
Chris Johnston: Toronto
Mark Spector: Winnipeg
Iain MacIntyre: Winnipeg
Gord Stellick: Toronto
Eric Francis: Winnipeg
Caroline Cameron: Winnipeg
Kristina Rutherford: Toronto
Luke Fox: Winnipeg
Eric Engels: Winnipeg
Rory Boylen: Winnipeg
Nick Kypreos: Toronto
David Amber: Winnipeg
Damien Cox: Toronto
No. of Canadian teams in playoffs
John Shannon: 5
Elliotte Friedman: 3
Jeff Marek: 4
Chris Johnston: 4
Mark Spector: 3
Iain MacIntyre: 3
Gord Stellick: 3
Eric Francis: 3
Caroline Cameron: 3
Kristina Rutherford: 3
Luke Fox: 3
Eric Engels: 4
Rory Boylen: 4
Nick Kypreos: 4
David Amber: 4
Damien Cox: 4
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AWARD QUESTIONS
Hart Trophy
John Shannon: Connor McDavid
Elliotte Friedman: Connor McDavid/Mark Scheifele
Jeff Marek: Connor McDavid
Chris Johnston: Connor McDavid
Mark Spector: Connor McDavid
Iain MacIntyre: Connor McDavid
Gord Stellick: Connor McDavid
Eric Francis: Connor McDavid
Caroline Cameron: Connor McDavid
Kristina Rutherford: Blake Wheeler
Luke Fox: Sidney Crosby
Eric Engels: Connor McDavid
Rory Boylen: Connor McDavid
Nick Kypreos: Connor McDavid
David Amber: Connor McDavid
Damien Cox: John Tavares
Art Ross
John Shannon: Connor McDavid
Elliotte Friedman: Connor McDavid
Jeff Marek: Connor McDavid
Chris Johnston: Connor McDavid
Mark Spector: Connor McDavid
Iain MacIntyre: Connor McDavid
Gord Stellick: Connor McDavid
Eric Francis: Connor McDavid
Caroline Cameron: Connor McDavid
Kristina Rutherford: Connor McDavid
Luke Fox: Connor McDavid
Eric Engels: Connor McDavid
Rory Boylen: Connor McDavid
Nick Kypreos: Connor McDavid
David Amber: Connor McDavid
Damien Cox: Nathan MacKinnon
Calder Trophy
John Shannon: Elias Pettersson
Elliotte Friedman: Gritty
Jeff Marek: Rasmus Dahlin
Chris Johnston: Andrei Svechnikov
Mark Spector: Elias Pettersson
Iain MacIntyre: Elias Pettersson
Gord Stellick: Andrei Svechnikov
Eric Francis: Brady Tkachuk
Caroline Cameron: Elias Pettersson
Kristina Rutherford: Elias Pettersson
Luke Fox: Elias Pettersson
Eric Engels: Rasmus Dahlin
Rory Boylen: Elias Pettersson
Nick Kypreos: Elias Pettersson
David Amber: Brady Tkachuk
Damien Cox: Elias Pettersson
Norris Trophy
John Shannon: Drew Doughty
Elliotte Friedman: Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jeff Marek: P.K. Subban
Chris Johnston: Erik Karlsson
Mark Spector: Erik Karlsson
Iain MacIntyre: Victor Hedman
Gord Stellick: Erik Karlsson
Eric Francis: Victor Hedman
Caroline Cameron: Erik Karlsson
Kristina Rutherford: Drew Doughty
Luke Fox: Erik Karlsson
Eric Engels: Victor Hedman
Rory Boylen: Seth Jones
Nick Kypreos: Alex Pietrangelo
David Amber: Victor Hedman
Damien Cox: Shayne Gostisbehere
Vezina Trophy
John Shannon: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Elliotte Friedman: Connor Hellebuyck
Jeff Marek: John Gibson
Chris Johnston: Connor Hellebuyck
Mark Spector: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Iain MacIntyre: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Gord Stellick: Sergei Bobrovsky
Eric Francis: Connor Hellebuyck
Caroline Cameron: Connor Hellebuyck
Kristina Rutherford: Connor Hellebuyck
Luke Fox: Braden Holtby
Eric Engels: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Rory Boylen: John Gibson
Nick Kypreos: Andrei Vasilevskiy
David Amber: Martin Jones
Damien Cox: Mike Smith
Jack Adams Award
John Shannon: Peter DeBoer
Elliotte Friedman: Peter DeBoer
Jeff Marek: Mike Babcock
Chris Johnston: Jim Montgomery
Mark Spector: Peter DeBoer
Iain MacIntyre: Mike Babcock
Gord Stellick: Rod Brind’Amour
Eric Francis: Bill Peters
Caroline Cameron: Bill Peters
Kristina Rutherford: Dave Hakstol
Luke Fox: Bill Peters
Eric Engels: Jon Cooper
Rory Boylen: Jim Montgomery
Nick Kypreos: Jon Cooper
David Amber: Paul Maurice
Damien Cox: Jared Bednar
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MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS
Coach on hottest seat
John Shannon: Guy Boucher
Elliotte Friedman: Randy Carlyle
Jeff Marek: Todd McLellan
Mark Spector: Guy Boucher
Iain MacIntyre: Bruce Boudreau
Gord Stellick: Bruce Boudreau
Eric Francis: Todd McLellan
Caroline Cameron: Todd McLellan
Kristina Rutherford: Todd McLellan
Luke Fox: Randy Carlyle
Eric Engels: Todd McLellan
Rory Boylen: Todd McLellan
Nick Kypreos: Joel Quenneville
Damien Cox: Peter DeBoer
GM on hottest seat
John Shannon: Marc Bergevin
Elliotte Friedman: Peter Chiarelli
Jeff Marek: Stan Bowman
Mark Spector: Peter Chiarelli
Iain MacIntyre: Pierre Dorion
Gord Stellick: Marc Bergevin
Eric Francis: Peter Chiarelli
Caroline Cameron: Marc Bergevin
Kristina Rutherford: Marc Bergevin
Luke Fox: Peter Chiarelli
Eric Engels: Peter Chiarelli
Rory Boylen: Peter Chiarelli
Nick Kypreos: Peter Chiarelli
Damien Cox: Marc Bergevin
Vegas Golden Knights will get to…
John Shannon: Round 2
Elliotte Friedman: They’re better than you think
Chris Johnston: Round 2
Jeff Marek: Round 2
Mark Spector: Round 2
Gord Stellick: Round 1
Eric Francis: Conference final
Caroline Cameron: Round 2
Kristina Rutherford: Round 1
Luke Fox: Round 1
Eric Engels: Conference final
Rory Boylen: Conference final
Nick Kypreos: Miss playoffs
David Amber: Round 1
Damien Cox: Round 2
After the deadline Artemi Panarin/Sergei Bobrovsky will be playing for…
John Shannon: Columbus
Elliotte Friedman: Columbus. Go for it Jarmo!
Jeff Marek: Columbus
Chris Johnston: Columbus
Mark Spector: Boston/Philadelphia
Iain MacIntyre: Islanders/Philadelphia
Gord Stellick: Tampa Bay/Columbus
Eric Francis: Columbus
Caroline Cameron: Columbus
Kristina Rutherford: San Jose/Calgary
Luke Fox: Columbus
Eric Engels: Chicago
Rory Boylen: Anaheim/Columbus
Nick Kypreos: Columbus
David Amber: Colorado/Columbus
Damien Cox: Chicago and Florida
Connor McDavid will finish with __ points (assuming 75 games):
John Shannon: 125
Elliotte Friedman: 125
Jeff Marek: 120
Chris Johnston: 121
Mark Spector: 125
Iain MacIntyre: 113
Gord Stellick: 110
Eric Francis: 110
Caroline Cameron: 115
Kristina Rutherford: 111
Luke Fox: 112
Eric Engels: 110
Rory Boylen: 128
Nick Kypreos: 125
David Amber: 125
Damien Cox: 104
The Maple Leafs’ top point-getter will be…
John Shannon: Mitch Marner
Elliotte Friedman: John Tavares
Jeff Marek: Auston Matthews
Chris Johnston: Mitch Marner
Mark Spector: Mitch Marner
Iain MacIntyre: Auston Matthews
Eric Francis: Mitch Marner
Caroline Cameron: Mitch Marner
Kristina Rutherford: Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner
Luke Fox: John Tavares
Eric Engels: Auston Matthews
Rory Boylen: Auston Matthews
Nick Kypreos: Mitch Marner
David Amber: Mitch Marner
Damien Cox: John Tavares
Best guess for Seattle’s GM/head coach
John Shannon: Won’t be hired this season
Elliotte Friedman: Kelly McCrimmon/Jim Playfair
Jeff Marek: Ken Holland/Joel Quenneville
Chris Johnston: Ken Holland/Dave Tippett
Mark Spector: Ron Francis/Randy Carlyle
Iain MacIntyre: Kelly McCrimmon/Alain Vigneault
Eric Francis: Steve Yzerman/Todd McLellan
Caroline Cameron: Steve Yzerman/Dave Tippett
Kristina Rutherford: Mike Futa/Dave Tippett
Luke Fox: Ken Holland/Dave Tippett
Eric Engels: Dean Lombardi/Dave Tippett
Rory Boylen: Ron Francis/Dave Tippett
Nick Kypreos: Ken Holland/Dave Tippett
David Amber: Dave Tippett/Kevin Dineen
Damien Cox: Sean Burke/Dave Tippett
*This article will self destruct after Oct. 3.
