Six bold predictions for the 2021-22 NHL season - Sportsnet.ca

It's not a bold prediction to say Nikita Kucherov will win the Art Ross this season, because he's done it before.

And it's also not a bold prediction to say, I dunno, Pius Suter wins the scoring race because there's no reality where that happens (sorry, Pius).

Then again, I tasked myself with bold predictions for the Canadian Division last season, took a similar approach and, I must say, the results were...

Vegas no longer has the luxury of two elite goalies should one have to miss time, and their power play got more and more atrocious as the year went along -- one important factor to regular season success?

That's the area that needs to improve the most, since they were one of the worst teams at defending against the highest-quality shots last season.

Heck, he might be the subject of someone else's bold prediction.

Demko got better as last season went along, and that followed an outstanding 2020 playoff performance in which he took on an otherworldly form now referred to simply as 'Bubble Demko.' If you want to get really bold and say he could be in the Vezina conversation then that would be reason enough to elevate the Canucks.

Demko carried a .923 save percentage in the last 22 of his 35 games played, and if he can sustain that in 2021-22 he'll be among the better players at his position and would keep the Canucks in plenty of games when the defence isn't up to snuff.

1 over an 82-game calendar and the 22 appearances he made last season were the second-most of his career -- the most he's played in one season was 31 games in 2018-19 for the Kings.

In 2018-19 the Canes were among the better defensive teams and Mrazek was up and down with some putrid months along the way, then he finished the regular season strong.

The Canes reached the Eastern Conference final, Mrazek allowed 10 goals in the first two games (against Boston, eek Toronto fans) and didn't play the last two games?

In 2019-20 Mrazek wasn't nearly as good in the regular season, split playoff time with James Reimer, and again was unravelled by the Bruins, allowing eight goals in three games en route to three losses.

Mrazek was good when he played last season, but injuries limited him to just 12 games.

The Leafs just committed three years to Mrazek and are cap tight, so this bold prediction won't be easy to come to fruition -- hence why it's bold -- but if there's any sign of this situation being unstable by the trade deadline, how do you not address it.

This bold prediction is not mine, but rather Sportsnet.ca managing editor Gary Melo's (a mad Leafs fan): What if UFA Tuukka Rask, currently injured and not likely back until at least the new year some time, is open to signing back with the team that drafted him.

Carolina had more points than any of these teams last season, while the Flyers are a popular bounce back pick and certainly look better on paper than the inconsistency they've played with in recent years?

But are we sure they're better than the teams in this division that are clearly on an upwards trajectory.

Hughes has point totals of 21 (in 61 games) and 31 (56 games) in his first two seasons, so it's not bold enough to simply say he'll have his best offensive season yet.

Hughes gets to at least 62 points, if not more.

In his 19-year-old sophomore season, Hughes was one of the top Devils forwards, with a positive on-ice shot and goal differential for a team that was minus in both categories.

Hughes' playmaking ability is well-established, but he also took a step up as a shooter last season, taking more shots on net overall and seeing his conversion rate rise by two percentage points.

Just seven of Hughes' 31 points last season came on the man advantage, and New Jersey's PP unit ranked 28th in the NHL.

In his rookie season, Hughes averaged .34 points per game.

If he has the same year-over-year improvement in Year 3 and averages .75 points per game in 2021-22, that's a 62-point season.

And while Colton showed well as a rookie last season, Joseph's numbers have been screaming "underrated asset" for a few years now.

The Panthers were one of the NHL's top regular season teams last season, and challenged the Lightning to an exciting six-game series that, perhaps, would have played out a bit differently without a Sam Bennett suspension in Game 1, or if Aaron Ekblad had of been healthy enough to play in the series.

Sam Bennett was fire after Florida traded for him at the deadline, and whether or not he regresses back to the usual "regular season Sam" we got used to seeing in Calgary doesn't matter much, because you can count on him upping his game come playoff time.

It's true that Bobrovsky hasn't been great in two years with Florida (he was slightly better last season though!) but Spencer Knight could carve out more of a workload for himself.

The 13th overall pick from 2019, Knight has been elite at every level he's played, and then posted a .943 save percentage in four regular season games at the end of last season, when he joined the Panthers after his NCAA career ended?

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