Another NHL season is done and dusted, but the wheel never stops turning in the world of professional sports. Thoughts are already on the 2023/24 season, with a titanic off-season about to begin. As always, there are plenty of questions surrounding every team in the ice hockey world. Will Vegas be able to repeat as champions? Will the new regimes in Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Calgary bring success to those famous franchises? Is Connor Bedard as good as the hype?

The 2023/24 NHL season doesn’t begin until October, so making predictions at this point is a little ambitious. Will that stop us? Of course, it won’t. We dusted off the crystal ball and looked deep into its mysteries to see what will happen when all is said and done in the summer of 2024.

Toronto and Boston Miss The Playoffs

The Atlantic Division has been divided between the haves and the have-nots for a few years, but 23/24 will signify a changing of the guard. Last year truly felt like a last hurrah for the Boston Bruins, and the loss of Patrice Bergeron (and David Krejci) will be too much. The Maple Leafs made progress in 2022/23, but an off-season of serious upheaval suggests all could be better. Boston and Toronto will miss the Playoffs for the first time in years.

Buffalo’s Rebuild Is Over

It has been a miserable decade-plus for Buffalo fans, but good times are right around the corner. The club’s collection of young talent is astounding, and the winds of change blowing over the Atlantic will lead the Sabres to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Ottawa will join them, although Detroit will have to wait a little longer for the Yzerplan to start bearing fruit.

Pittsburgh Rebounds

What a disaster Ron Hextall’s tenure was as Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager. A series of baffling trades and contract decisions created a top-heavy team that was too reliant on its stars, and the club missed the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. The appointment of Kyle Dubas brings hope to Pittsburgh, and a critical off-season awaits. The Penguins should bounce back and return to the playoffs, but the days of Sid and Co being contenders are all but over.

Philadelphia Will Finish Last Overall

The Philadelphia Flyers have accepted the inevitable rebuild. Ivan Provorov has been shipped to Columbus, and Carter Hart is also on the way out. The next few years will be difficult for Philly, but hockey fans know that pain must come before gain. Expect the Flyers to finish bottom of the league next year, trading away anything resembling an NHL player in the process as the tanks come out. The only thing stopping this will be John Tortorella’s ability to compile points by any means necessary, but this might be a job too big even for Torts.

Bedard Is Great, but Not Calder Great

Connor Bedard is the most hyped prospect since Connor McDavid, but will the consensus first-overall pick live up to the expectations? Bedard has the skills to be a major player in the league from the off, but the Chicago Blackhawks are a miserable club right now. Expect Bedard to have a fantastic first season, but the awful Blackhawks will drag him down and keep the Calder Trophy (awarded to the best rookie) out of reach.

Seattle Falls Back to Earth

Many expected the Seattle Kraken to make the playoffs in the club’s first year, but the newest franchise performed poorly and finished 30th overall. Nobody expected Seattle to make the playoffs this season, let alone knock off the defending champions in the first round. Will 2023/24 be a season of magical highs or frustrating lows for the Seattle Kraken? Neither, really, as the club will battle inconsistency all year and finish in the middle of the pile.

No Repeat for Vegas, but Eichel Gets 100 Points

Winning the Stanley Cup two years in a row is incredibly difficult. Lord Stanley is the hardest trophy in sports to win, after all, as a grueling 82-game regular season is followed by an intense post-season that is much about attrition as skill. Vegas won’t repeat as champions next year, but the Golden Knights will have more than enough to make the playoffs, with Jack Eichel hitting the 100-point mark for the first time in his career.

Arizona Coyotes Finally Relocate

The shadow over the Arizona Coyotes will become too much, and the 2023/24 season will be the team’s last in Arizona before relocating in 2024. Where? That is undecided, but Salt Lake City seems to be the frontrunner. Years of poor management have seen the Grand Canyon State all but give up on this version of the team, and the recent development in Tempe is the final straw. Even Gary Bettman seems to have given up.

Another Year of McDavid Dominance

When all is said and done, where will Connor McDavid rank among the all-time greats of ice hockey? His dominance over the league right now is almost a given. McDavid has won three Art Ross trophies in a row, and only a fool would bet against the center winning a fourth in 2024.

Connor Hellebuyck Wins Vezina in New Jersey

Connor Hellebuyck has been one of the NHL’s elite goaltenders for years. The Michigan-born goalie has kept Winnipeg relevant while the rest of the core twiddled its thumbs, and enough seems to be enough. 2023/24 will be Hellebuyck’s best season yet and will end with a second Vezina Trophy, but he won’t win it in Jets colors. The New Jersey Devils are about to get the stability between the pipes the team has desperately been searching for.

New Names and Old Friends in The Final Four

The NHL is highly competitive right now. The East is generally considered the stronger of the two conferences, but the West isn’t the weak link it was a few years back. Predicting anything is asking for failure, but it is fun nonetheless. By the time the conference finals roll around in 2024, fans will be looking at New Jersey vs Tampa Bay in the East and Dallas vs Los Angeles in the West.

The Devils Win The Stanley Cup

What a year it was for the New Jersey Devils. After years of rebuilding with no end in sight, the club took a giant leap under Lindy Ruff, making it to the second round of the playoffs before the efficiency of the Carolina Hurricanes proved too much. New Jersey’s young core is primed to dominate, and they will make it to the top of the mountain in 2024. For the first time since 2003, the New Jersey Devils will win the Stanley Cup. You heard it here first.