Welcome to Puck Drop Preview 2020-21, where Last Word On Hockey gives you a detailed look at each team from around the NHL leading to the start of this hockey season and offers our insight and analysis. Make sure to stick around until the end of the series, where we’ll offer our full predictions for the standings in each division, and eventually our 2021-22 Stanley Cup pick. You can check out all our articles on our Puck Drop Page. Today the series wraps up with the 2022 Stanley Cup Final Predictions.
2022 Stanley Cup Final Predictions
Welcome back to our yearly tradition of predicting the Stanley Cup Finals at the start of the year. 24 writers have given their winners and runner-ups for the 2022 Stanley Cup Final matchup. In this article, we will go through the trends.
Let’s start off with the obvious, in that the Colorado Avalanche are overwhelming favourites. 13 writers picked them to win it all and 15 had them in the finals. This wasn’t too different from last year and the Avs will be looking for a different fate. Not too many people are confident in the magical three-peat from the defending champs, however. Just two people have the Tampa Bay Lightning winning it all again, and four others have them losing in the finals.
After Colorado in the West, it is the Vegas Golden Knights getting most of the love. Four selections for them to win and another three for them to lose in the finals. This means between Vegas and Colorado, 22/24 writers have one or the other making the finals. The only two others are the Minnesota Wild and Edmonton Oilers with one vote each.
In the East, the New York Islanders are finally getting some love. They had no votes last year but made their second conference finals trip in a row. Now, three writers have them winning it all and five have them making it to the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals but losing. The East is much more open with seven different teams being selected. The Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs both saw their votes fall this season too.
Who do you think will be in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final? Let us know in the comments.
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