2015-16 Season Preview: 5 Bold Predictions.

Excitement is certainly in the air with the season just days away (3 to be exact) most teams are now cutting down their rosters getting ready for opening night. Once the Wings make their final cuts, I will make a full post about that as well. Until then, how about some predictions? Here are 5 predictions for the NHL season.

1. The Tampa Bay Lightning will finish first in the Eastern Conference AND win the Presidents Trophy. 

With the offense they have (1st in the NHL last year) and the stellar play of goaltender Ben Bishop, who can actually match up with them and be expected to win? Certainly not very many. 

2. The Chicago Blackhawks will NOT make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. 

The salary cap situation really impacted the Hawks this season (just like in 2010) in a big way. They were forced to trade away some very big pieces of their core. Forwards Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad were both traded away, forward Brad Richards signed with the Red Wings and defenseman Johnny Oduya signed with the Dallas Stars. As a whole, the Blackhawks look very different.

3. Phil Kessel will score 45 goals. 

Phil Kessel was traded by the Toronto  Maple Leafs over the summer in a blockbuster deal. Kessel during his six seasons in Toronto was their leading scorer all six years. His lowest goal total (besides the lockout shortened season when he scored 20) was 25. On a horrifically bad team, he still managed to put up 25 goals and 36 assists for 61 points. The biggest argument was Kessel never had a true number one center the entire time he was in Toronto. Now he gets to play with Crosby, or Malkin. That's a bit better than Bozak right?

4. The Detroit Red Wings extend their playoff streak to 25. 

The Detroit Red Wings have made the playoffs for 24 consecutive seasons. The longest active streak in all 4 of the major pro sports. With the additions of Mike Green and Brad Richards, and the play of the rookies in the preseason, the Wings showed they have massive depth. New coach Jeff Blashill has been successful every where he's been and the team as a whole is better than last year. Why wouldn't it continue? 

5. The Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Dallas Stars make the playoffs. 

Three teams that were not in the playoffs last season, will be this year. Columbus ran into serious injury problems last season, and have now added Brandon Saad will almost certainly make a run for the postseason. The Dallas Stars were also another case of bad injury problems with the likes of Tyler Seguin going down. Seguin who has been phenomenal since being acquired by the Dallas Stars was arguably one of the best scorers in the entire league until he went out with an injury. While the Florida Panthers rode goaltender Roberto Luongo all the way a few points shy of making the playoffs, the young guns will be another year older and another year better. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad at only 19 years of age was absolutely wonderful and won the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year because of it.