THW NHL Predictions Panel

It’s (finally) that time of year again, where hope abounds and everyone gazes into their crystal pucks in order to make their predictions about the immediate future of NHL hockey.

In the best of years, this task is borderline folly, for who can really know what to expect when paper rosters and schedules play out at the rink? And in a 48 game, compressed schedule, it gets even trickier when you consider how little teams have been given to prepare, especially those who made major adjustments over the summer.

There’s the risk of injury (groin pulls for $100, Alex), past & potential free agent signings & trades, new coaches & systems, division-heavy / rivalry-fueled schedules, and, of course, the reality that the Stanley Cup is the most difficult trophy in sport to win, period.

Which team will have their picture taken with the Cup this June? (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE)

Here at The Hockey Writers, we’ve assembled a squad of 17 contributors who have offered up their best guesses as to who will win this year’s NHL Awards, as well as the Conference & Stanley Cup Champion teams.

Please feel free to add your own predictions in the comments section below.

One thing we can all agree on? It’s good to be talking about actually NHL hockey again.

Individual Awards

THW Contributor	Hart	Art Ross	Richard	Norris	Vezina	Jack Adams	Calder
Chris Wassel	Quick	Malkin	Malkin	Weber	Quick	Julien	Granlund
Fred Poulin	Quick	Malkin	R. Nash	Chara	Quick	Hitchcock	Granlund
Dan Rice	Toews	Datsyuk	Kovalchuk	Chara	Miller	Trotz	Granlund
Margann Laurissa	Giroux	Malkin	Stamkos	Weber	Rinne	Laviolette	Granlund
Mike Miccoli	Giroux	Stamkos	Stamkos	Chara	Quick	Hitchcock	J. Schultz
Mark Ritter	Crosby	Crosby	Malkin	Weber	Lundqvist	Yeo	J. Schultz
Ryan Pike	Malkin	Malkin	Stamkos	Karlsson	Lundqvist	D. Sutter	Baertschi
Matthew Dimmick	Giroux	Malkin	Stamkos	Doughty	Quick	Hitchcock	Huberdeau
Anton James	Malkin	Crosby	Stamkos	Pietrangelo	Lundqvist	Hitchcock	Huberdeau
Jameson Cooper	Stamkos	Giroux	Stamkos	Chara	Rask	Boucher	Huberdeau
Adam Stafki	Malkin	Malkin	Stamkos	Weber	Quick	Yeo	Granlund
Santino Fasulo	Crosby	Crosby	Stamkos	Weber	Lundqvist	Krueger	Galchenyuk
Marcy Di Michele	Crosby	Crosby	Ovechkin	Pietrangelo	Quick	Tortorella	Huberdeau
Stephen Stoneman	Lundqvist	R. Nash	Kessel	M. Staal	Lundqvist	Tortorella	Strome
Michael Farkas	Crosby	Crosby	Gaborik	Doughty	Price	Therrien	J. Schultz
Josh Smith	Stamkos	Malkin	Stamkos	Weber	Lundqvist	Therrien	Granlund
Ian McLaren	Malkin	Malkin	Stamkos	Chara	Lundqvist	Muller	Yakupov

Conference Champions / Stanley Cup Winner

THW Contributor	East	West	Stanley Cup
Chris Wassel	Bruins	Canucks	Canucks
Fred Poulin	Penguins	Blues	Blues
Dan Rice	Capitals	Blackhawks	Blackhawks
Margann Laurissa	Flyers	Blues	Flyers
Mike Miccoli	Rangers	Kings	Rangers
Mark Ritter	Penguins	Kings	Penguins
Ryan Pike	Rangers	Kings	Rangers
Matthew Dimmick	Rangers	Blues	Rangers
Anton James	Penguins	Blues	Penguins
Jameson Cooper	Lightning	Kings	Lightning
Adam Stafki	Rangers	Blues	Rangers
Santino Fasulo	Penguins	Blues	Penguins
Marcy Di Michele	Rangers	Canucks	Rangers
Stephen Stoneman	Rangers	Blues	Rangers
Michael Farkas	Penguins	Kings	Penguins
Josh Smith	Rangers	Canucks	Rangers
Ian McLaren	Hurricanes	Blues	Hurricanes

There you have it. Puck drops on Saturday at 3 pm EST!

Author information

Ian C McLarenCurrently covering the Ottawa Senators for The Hockey Writers, and the OHL & Guelph Storm for THW Combine.TwitterFacebookGoogle+LinkedIn

This article was originally published at: The Hockey Writers.