My 2022-23 NHL Regular Season Standings Predictions

 

The NHL regular season is just around the corner, and to prepare for the upcoming season, it's time to give my standings predictions. Like in the past two years, I will predict how each NHL team finishes at the end of the regular season in their respective divisions. However, I won't consider how many total points each team will end up with come the end of the regular season. As usual, the top three teams in each division make the playoffs, and two additional teams from each conference get in via the wild card. 

In addition, I don't expect every prediction of mine to be correct due to the NHL's wildly unpredictable nature. Due to how the past three seasons went for the Sharks and the moves they made this past offseason, I don't expect San Jose to be a playoff team, but I hope they prove me wrong and surprise many in the hockey world. Without further ado, presenting my 2022-23 regular season standings predictions: 

Atlantic

1) Tampa Bay Lightning

2) Florida Panthers

3) Toronto Maple Leafs

4) Boston Bruins

5) Ottawa Senators

6) Detroit Red Wings

7) Buffalo Sabres

8) Montreal Canadiens

Metropolitan

1) Carolina Hurricanes

2) New York Rangers

3) Pittsburgh Penguins

4) Washington Capitals

5) New York Islanders

6) Columbus Blue Jackets

7) New Jersey Devils

8) Philadelphia Flyers

Central

1) Colorado Avalanche

2) St. Louis Blues

3) Nashville Predators

4) Minnesota Wild

5) Winnipeg Jets

6) Dallas Stars

7) Arizona Coyotes

8) Chicago Blackhawks

Pacific 

1) Calgary Flames

2) Edmonton Oilers

3) Los Angeles Kings

4) Vegas Golden Knights

5) Vancouver Canucks

6) Anaheim Ducks

7) San Jose Sharks

8) Seattle Kraken 

Although my expectations for the Sharks are lower than before, I can't wait for another exciting and eventful NHL season!

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Sharks News & Notes (10/1/22)

 Nearly all of the Sharks' preseason games have wrapped up, in addition to a few updates worth discussing with the season less than a week away. Let's begin: 

Here's how the past four Sharks preseason games went down: 

• Sharks 5, Ducks 4 (9/27/22) 
• Sharks 3, Kings 1 (9/28/22) 
• Sharks 7, Golden Knights 3 (9/30/22) (Capped off by a Danil Guschin hat trick)
  
• Ducks 4, Sharks 1 (9/30/22) 

Team Teal's last exhibition game is Tuesday against Eisbaren Berlin in Berlin, Germany before they begin their regular season Friday in Prague. 

Update 1: Despite the Czech Foreign Ministry initially stating that Russian NHL players wouldn't be welcome in Prague during the Global Series games next week due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it will now allow Russian NHL players to participate in the Global Series games after all, which is the right decision. 

Update 2: After being added to the Sharks on a professional tryout and performing well during training camp, defenseman Scott Harrington was signed and added to the roster on a one-year, two-way deal worth $750k at the NHL level and $350k at the AHL level. 

In addition, the Sharks announced five new members of their hockey operations staff. They are as follows: 

• Domink Zrim, Director of Salary Cap Management/CBA Compliance (also co-founder of popular hockey business/transaction site CapFriendly) 
• A.J Bernstein, Hockey Analytics Coordinator 
• Martin Uhnak, European Scout (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland) 
• Cody Ward, Assistant Video Coach 
• Brian Ganz, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach 
• Stephen DiLustro promoted to Director of Strength and Conditioning 

 Stay tuned to CPF Hockey for more Sharks news and updates. 

Multiple sources contributed to this post. 

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Sharks News & Notes (9/26/22)

 The NHL preseason is officially underway, and the Sharks have played their first preseason game last night. In addition, there is a rather interesting development ahead of the Sharks' season-opening series against the Predators in Prague in a few weeks that's worth discussing. Let's begin: 

The Sharks defeated the Kings 3-2 in OT in their first preseason game of the 2022-23 campaign. Luke Kunin and Timo Meier scored in regulation, while Logan Couture netted the game-winner in overtime. Quick reminder: I don't plan to write full recaps on preseason games because these games have little to no meaning. 

Reports are suggesting that the Czech Foreign Ministry doesn't want Russian players participating in the Sharks vs. Predators Global Series games in a few weeks due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. If the Czech government went ahead with a ban on Russian players, this would mean that Alexander Barabanov, Evgeny Svechnikov, and Nikolai Knyzhov wouldn't be able to travel to and play in the Sharks' first two games of the season (Knyzhov is out for the first few months of the season due to injury, so this wouldn't really affect him). In response to this report, Sharks GM Mike Grier said that "we will all be going or no one will be going." I like Mike Grier's stance on the this year's Global Series games. It doesn't make much sense to ban Russian NHL players from playing in NHL Global Series games because those players aren't directly representing Russia and they had nothing to do with the Russian government's decision to invade Ukraine. In addition, the Sharks' offense would suffer without Barabanov on one of the top two forward lines. 

Lastly, the Sharks made some roster cuts, sending some players to the Barracuda in the AHL and others to their respective junior clubs. Most notably, they assigned Ozzy Wiesblatt, Dillon Hamaliuk, Brandon Coe, and Mitchell Russell to the Barracuda. 

Stay tuned to CPF Hockey for more Sharks news and updates. 

Sources: NHL App, Bay Area News Group 

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Sharks Reach Settlement in Evander Kane Grievance Case

 The Sharks have confirmed that they have settled the Evander Kane grievance case. 

As a result of the Evander Kane grievance settlement, Evander Kane will receive a one-time payment from the Sharks, and the cap penalty for the Sharks will apply to last season's salary cap. 

The best part about this settlement is that this won't impact the Sharks this season or in future seasons competitively or financially. Sharks Territory no longer has to worry about the Evander Kane saga directly affecting them and their ability to perform their best this season and going forward. Like many Sharks fans, I still don't like and can't root for Evander Kane, but the worst of that drama is behind us. 

In other news, the Sharks have played the first two games in their rookie showcase in the past two nights, winning both games over the Ducks and the Avalanche. In the first game against the Ducks two nights ago, William Eklund scored an impressive spin-o-rama goal in OT to win it for the Sharks that you have to see to believe. This is a huge sign that the Sharks need to have him on the roster for the entire season and give him a more significant role. I've been saying this for a while now, but I already see William Eklund as a favorite to win the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie this season.

Source: NBC Sports Bay Area/California 

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Sharks Officially Reveal New Uniforms for the 2022-23 Season

 The Sharks' new uniforms for this coming season have officially been revealed, and they are basically what we had anticipated all along from the previously leaked images. 

Both the Sharks' new home and away uniforms made their debut last night, with Logan Couture showcasing the teal home uniform and James Reimer showcasing the white away uniform. Take a closer look here: https://sanjosehockeynow.com/san-jose-sharks-new-jerseys-official/ 

These are referred to as the 'Evolve' jerseys by the Sharks. This will also be the first time in franchise history that black pants won't be used as part of their uniforms. 

As hinted in the previous post, I don't like the new uniforms as much as the previous ones, but I am still a fan of the new uniforms and think they look great. As the coming season progresses, these rebranded uniforms will grow on me further, and I may eventually have to add one to my jersey collection. 

In addition, the Sharks will have a third jersey this coming season in the form of the NHL's Reverse Retro 2.0 series, which will officially make its debut in about a month. Reports have suggested that the Sharks' Reverse Retro 2.0 jersey will draw inspiration from the previous Bay Area NHL franchise, the California/Oakland Golden Seals. 

Sources: San Jose Hockey Now, SJSharks.com 

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My Thoughts on the Sharks' Proposed New Jerseys

 The Sharks are reportedly planning to introduce new uniforms as soon as this coming season, and images of the new uniforms and jerseys have leaked multiple times online. The team hasn't officially unveiled their new uniforms yet, but the most recent leaked images were from a hockey store in San Jose, suggesting that these new jerseys are now available in stores. 

Latest Leaked Sharks New Jersey/Uniform Images: https://sanjosehockeynow.com/san-jose-sharks-new-teal-jerseys/

The biggest changes to the new jerseys compared to the outgoing ones involve the stripes, shoulder patches, and collar. 

Overall, the new jersey design looks great and has a bit of a retro feel to it, but it isn't as great as their jerseys that they wore last season. The striping on the jerseys from last season look better to me, and I prefer the screaming shark as a shoulder patch over just a fin enclosed in a circle. In addition, I prefer the look of contrasting black pants on the home uniform over the consistent teal pants. I'll provide more thoughts on these new jerseys once the Sharks officially debut their rebranded jerseys and uniforms and I see the players wear them on the ice for the first time. Once those happen, I expect them to grow on me further, and I may eventually consider getting one, especially since I am such a diehard fan.

In other news, the Sharks signed defenseman Scott Harrington to a professional tryout. Harrington spent the past six seasons with the Blue Jackets, along with ten games with the Penguins and 15 games with the Maple Leafs, logging career totals of 210 games, seven goals, 31 assists, and 77 penalty minutes. This past season, Harrington skated in seven games with the Blue Jackets, recording an assist and six penalty minutes, and appeared in 50 games with the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL.

Sources: San Jose Hockey Now, SJSharks.com

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Sharks Sign Evgeny Svechnikov to 1-Year Deal

 The Sharks will reportedly make a late offseason addition and sign F Evgeny Svechnikov, the lesser-known Svechnikov in the NHL, to a one-year contract worth $750k. This was first reported by Svechnikov's agent, Dan Milstein of Gold Star Sports. 

Evgeny Svechnikov played four seasons with the Detroit Red Wings from 2016 to 2021 before signing a two-way contract with the Winnipeg Jets in 2021 as a free agent. He recorded seven goals and 12 assists for 19 points in 72 games during that 2021 season with the Jets. In total, Svechnikov has 31 points in 113 career NHL games. 

Overall, this is a low-risk, prove-it deal. If Evgeny Svechnikov fits in well with the Sharks and exceeds expectations, this will be a steal of a contract. If things don't work out between the two parties, it won't be a big deal or look too bad. Hope this helps the other Svechnikov rebound and get his playing career back on track.

Source: TSN 

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