It's less than 48 hours to the opening faceoff as the 201-19 season is about to begin. There is plenty of excitement in the air as 31 teams think they have a shot at the Stanley Cup (Okay maybe Ottawa fans don't think so but they will stay away from the arena in groves).
With that in mind, the Rotoworld Hockey staff have thought long and hard and have come up with their following selections for your amusement.
| Michael | Ryan | Corey | Brian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley Cup | Winnipeg | San Jose | San Jose | Tampa Bay |
| Metropolitan | Pittsburgh | Washington | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh |
| Atlantic | Tampa Bay | Toronto | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay |
| Central | Winnipeg | Nashville | Nashville | Winnipeg |
| Pacific | San Jose | San Jose | San Jose | San Jose |
| Surprise team | Edmonton | Buffalo | St. Louis | Buffalo |
| Top Fantasy Goalie | Braden Holtby | Andrei Vasilevskiy | Connor Hellebuyck | Connor Hellebuyck |
| Top Fantasy Defenseman | Erik Karlsson | Erik Karlsson | Victor Hedman | Victor Hedman |
| Top Fantasy Forward | Connor McDavid | Connor McDavid | Connor McDavid | Brad Marchand |
| Top Rookie | Elias Pettersson | Ryan Donato | Andrei Svechnikov | Elias Pettersson |
| Penalty Leader | Antoine Roussel | Tom Wilson | Matt Martin | Micheal Haley |
| Biggest Disappointment | Marc-Andre Fleury | William Karlsson | William Karlsson | Mathew Barzal |
| Gus | Joey | Daniel | Domenico | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley Cup | Winnipeg | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | San Jose |
| Metropolitan | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Washington |
| Atlantic | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay |
| Central | Nashville | Nashville | Nashville | St. Louis |
| Pacific | San Jose | San Jose | San Jose | Vegas |
| Surprise team | Florida | Arizona | Calgary | NY Rangers |
| Top Fantasy Goalie | Martin Jones | Andrei Vasilevskiy | Andrei Vasilevskiy | Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| Top Fantasy Defenseman | Erik Karlsson | Erik Karlsson | Erik Karlsson | Victor Hedman |
| Top Fantasy Forward | Connor McDavid | Connor McDavid | Brad Marchand | Brad Marchand |
| Top Rookie | Elias Pettersson | Jesperi Kotkaniemi | Andrei Svechnikov | Kailer Yamamoto |
| Penalty Leader | Cody McLeod | Tom Wilson | Tom Wilson | Tom Wilson |
| Biggest Disappointment | Milan Lucic | Phil Kessel | Mathew Barzal | Claude Giroux |
As you can see, the Cup favorites are San Jose and Tampa Bay who each received three votes while two thought that Winnipeg will win and bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time in 26 years.
The consensus divisional winners are Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Nashville and San Jose with Washington and Winnipeg getting two votes, Toronto, St. Louis and Vegas each picking up one.
We were all over the place in the surprise team with Buffalo being the only team getting two votes.
The top fantasy players will be Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal, Erik Karlsson on the blueline and Connor McDavid at forward.
The leader in penalty minutes is slated to be Tom Wilson (even with his upcoming suspension) while the biggest disappointment is also all over the place with Mathew Barzal and William Karlsson garnering a couple of votes apiece.
Enjoy!