Contenders and Pretenders: 2022-23 NHL Season Preview, Odds and Prediction

The 2022-23 NHL season kicks off Friday, Oct. 7 with the Nashville Predators and San Jose Sharks meeting for the first of two games in Prague, Czech Republic.

Sports Interaction is breaking down the season with previews of all four divisions and our pick for the 2023 Stanley Cup.  Make sure to check out odds for individual games, props and futures betting.

Atlantic Division

The Atlantic Division is arguably the toughest division in hockey, boasting last year’s Presidents Trophy winner, Florida, and Stanley Cup runner-up Tampa Bay.  Four of the top six teams in the Eastern Conference during the regular season came out of the Atlantic, with the Panthers, Lightning, Maple Leafs and Bruins all finishing with at least 107 points.  There is also expected to be significant improvement in Detroit and Ottawa after both teams upgraded their rosters in the off-season.  Bank on Toronto, Tampa Bay and Florida once again finishing as the top three teams in the Atlantic during the regular season, although the 1-2-3 order is up for debate.

Predicted Atlantic Division winner: Toronto Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division

The Metropolitan Division is top-heavy, but contains legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in the Hurricanes, Rangers and potentially Penguins.  This division is one of the more tricky ones to predict as the Penguins and Capitals are two veteran former Stanley Cup winning teams that could make another run or drop off significantly.  Carolina has the potential to finish as the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the Rangers will have a chance to win every night behind the strength of Vezina Trophy winning goalie, Igor Shesterkin.  The Islanders could be due for a bounce back year after last season’s failure, but Columbus, New Jersey and Philadelphia still aren’t major threats.  It just seems like things will come down to the Hurricanes or Rangers.

Predicted Metropolitan Division winner: Carolina Hurricanes

Central Division

Last year the Central Division provided the best in the league in the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche and it also provided one of the worst teams in the league in the perennial bottom-feeding Arizona Coyotes.  That could largely repeat itself this season.  Chicago and Arizona will continue to tank for the draft lottery and Minnesota is expected to take a step back because of their salary cap crunch.  St. Louis is returning essentially the same lineup and should remain a playoff team, while Dallas and Nashville have question marks surrounding some of their key players.  Can Tyler Seguin bounce back for the Stars?  Will Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen repeat last year’s successful season in Nashville?  This looks like Colorado’s division to lose.

Predicted Central Division winner: Colorado Avalanche

Pacific Division

Nazem Kadri in the Battle of Alberta?  I’m all in.  It was a crazy off-season in the Pacific as Calgary lost two major pieces in Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk and replaced them with Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau.  The Oilers finally broke through last year, making a run to the Western Conference Final and they should be well equipped to do it again this season.  L.A. is another team that looks like it’s ready to take the next step and you can’t sleep on Vegas just because they missed the playoffs for the first time ever last year.  Jack Eichel has something to prove on the Strip and the Golden Knights’ owner has already proven he’s all-in on winning a Stanley Cup.  Still, this division likely belongs to Alberta.

Predicted Pacific Division winner: Calgary Flames

Stanley Cup Winner Prediction

Nathan MacKinnon is hungry for a repeat, take the Colorado Avalanche to copy Tampa Bay and go back-to-back.