Looking Ahead to 2022 with New Year’s NHL Predictions: NHL Props, Futures
If there’s one thing the 2020’s has taught us, it’s that sports have become even more unpredictable in the era of COVID. But hey, we’re stubborn and we’re not going to let a little thing like common sense keep us from our New Year’s NHL predictions.
And in the spirit of 2022, let’s take a much needed break from COVID news and pretend it doesn’t exist for the next few minutes.
We’re making a case for three major NHL predictions based off Sports Interaction’s NHL props and NHL futures. Feel free to save these predictions to ridicule us if (and most likely when) they crash and burn because you can be assured we’ll brag with an undeserved sense of confidence if they are right.
Toronto Wins a Round…and then some
The Toronto Maple Leafs will finally get through the first round of the playoffs and parlay that success into a Stanley Cup Final appearance:
There’s one team in every pro sports league that everyone outside of that city just loves to watch lose. For baseball, it’s the Yankees, for football, it’s the Patriots and for hockey, it’s overwhelmingly the Toronto Maple Leafs. The tough-luck team’s struggles have been well documented. Toronto hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967. They haven’t even made it out of the first-round of the playoffs since 2004.
This team is just too talented not to eventually break through. Toronto has more players in the top 20 of NHL scoring (Auston Matthews, John Tavares and William Nylander) than any other team and Mitch Marner isn’t far behind. They’re in a position to lock up home ice advantage in the playoffs and if Jack Campbell can stay healthy between the pipes, this team is a threat to anyone in the NHL.
But, do you want to know why this is the Leafs’ year? The sports world is only so cruel. The Boston Red Sox won after suffering the curse of the Bambino for 86 years. The Philadelphia Eagles finally captured the Vince Lombardi Trophy after 57 years. Even the Milwaukee Bucks managed a title after half a century. It’s simply Toronto’s time.
Bye-bye Hart Trophy
Someone not named Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl will win the Hart Trophy:
On the surface this seems like a fairly safe bet, but when you consider what McDavid and Draisaitl have done over the last few years it’s tough to not have them as front-runners. Still, there’s cases for several other players this year and we’re taking the field.
What Alex Ovechkin is doing in his 17th NHL season is astonishing. He’s third in league scoring with 48 points and second in goals with 22. That puts Ovechkin on pace for 58 goals and a career-high 124 points. The Great Eight has 16 goals and 36 points at even-strength, which is an NHL-best for both categories.
Auston Matthews is also in the race. He’s third in the NHL in total goals and fourth in even-strength goals. Matthews put up 13 goals in 10 games before the COVID shutout and he’s a major reason why the Leafs are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now. If Matthews continues to score and Toronto can keep pace in the Atlantic Division, Justin Bieber’s buddy should get a Hart nomination.
Nathan MacKinnon has been in the Hart conversation for the last few years, finishing third in voting last year. The Nova Scotia native has missed 10 games due to injuries and COVID, so he’ll need to claw his way back to the top of the scoring race, but there’s plenty of time and MacKinnon shouldn’t be overlooked.
Say Hello to Houston
The Arizona Coyotes desert drama ends as the team announces a planned relocation to Houston:
The soap opera in Arizona continues to surprise us with bizarre update after bizarre update. The latest drama involves the city of Glendale threatening to kick the Coyotes out of their arena unless millions of dollars in unpaid taxes were settled.
At what point does Bettman pull the plug on the desert experiment and cut his losses? It’s not easy or quick to relocate a pro sports franchise, so the scenario that seems the best solution for all parties involved is striking an agreement to play next season at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix, where the Phoenix Suns play, before relocating to Houston for the 2023-24 season.
If Bettman wants to stay in the southern U.S., Houston is the obvious choice. At a population of over 2 million people, Houston is the largest city in North America without an NHL franchise. The Toyota Center, home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets, is already equipped to host a pro hockey team. The AHL’s Houston Aeros played at the arena from 2003-13 before moving to Iowa.
There’s also already established interest from an ownership group. As far back as 2017, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has expressed interest in adding an NHL franchise to the Toyota Center. At the time, Fertitta reportedly met with Bettman about his interest in filling the arena’s empty dates with an NHL team. It’s hard to see that interest completely evaporating in only four years.