NHL Predictions

[Triumph36]

The supposed 'offensive' changes will not be as huge as thought. Taking the red line out will actually help defenses - offenses will be less likely to take chances with defensemen, and will jam the neutral zone even more to prevent long passes. The penalty calls and goaltending changes will increase goals, but I do not think goals in 05-06 will be equal to that of say, 95-96.

The Rangers will be terrible. Their defense is Darius Kasparaitis, Marek Malik, Tom Poti, Fedor Tyutin, and who knows what else (Bryce Lampman? Maxim Kondratiev? Jarko Immonen? Thomas Pock?). Poti is terrible defensively, Malik is prone to awful turnovers, and Kasparaitis consistently takes himself out of position. To add to that, Kevin Weekes is an average goaltender, and I don't see them throwing Lundqvist into the NHL right away. While the Rangers have a very good/great first line (Rucinsky, Straka, Jagr) and Nylander for the second, they have no one on the lower lines but rookies, and the Rangers really don't have many good ones - Jozef Balej comes to mind, but I'm not convinced about Lundmark and Dominic Moore, and Murray and Ortmeyer look like role players.

They will not finish in last place (that dishonor belongs to the Capitals), but they will not be near the playoffs.