Lucky Numbers 13

Without further ado, here are the teams I predict finishing thirteenth:

Columbus Blue Jackets


This is where it gets hard to in the Western Conference. Really hard. I can see the Columbus Blue Jackets making the playoffs, and I can say the same for every other team I have left to make a prediction for in the West. Steve Mason could easily have a bounce-back season, while Nikita Filatov could win the Calder and maybe even score 30 providing Columbus with two lines that are a true offensive threat. Jakub Voracek, Derick Brassard, and Kris Russell could all have breakout seasons and Jan Hejda and Mike Commodore could once again be a great shut-down pairing.

However, while I think at least a few of those things will happen, chances are they won't all happen. And without them all happening, Columbus will be in tough to make the playoffs. It also doesn't help that they're in a division where every team expects to make the playoffs and to make some noise in the playoffs. I still think that Columbus will be better than people think this coming year, but after much debate I just don't see them being consistently better than other teams in the Western Conference (apart from Dallas and Edmonton), and thus I have them finishing 13th.

Carolina Hurricanes


Predicting the Eastern Conference still seems easy, at least compared to the Western Conference. Carolina is another team embracing a full rebuild around stars Eric Staal and Cam Ward. They will have a lot of youth in their lineup this year trying to make a name for themselves (Jamie McBain, Zach Boychuk, Drayson Bowman,  Brett Carson, etc.) while will be relying on third year Brandon Sutter to anchor the second line.

Carolina also has a lot of contracts that are expiring next summer in Joni Pitkanen, Erik Cole, Sergei Samsonov, Jussi Jokinen, Chad LaRose, and Anton Babchuk and make take advantage of what looks to be a strong free agent crop next summer. So, getting a lottery pick would seem to be in Carolina's advantage this year.

However, one cannot discount Eric Staal and Cam Ward, especially in the second half of the season. Staal particularly becomes close to unstoppable in the winter months and it wouldn't be surprising to see Carolina make another second-half charge up the standings this year the way they have the previous two years. Still, I don't think it will be enough to make the playoffs.