Nine of the 16 NHL.com staffers who made their predictions for the 2021-22 NHL season believe the Avalanche win their first championship since the 2000-01 season, and eight of them say center Nathan MacKinnon will be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy voted as most valuable player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The other Colorado Conn Smythe pick went to forward Gabriel Landeskog.
The Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Avalanche in the second round of the playoffs last season, were picked by three staff members to win the Cup, and the New York Islanders, who have been defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the semifinal round for two straight seasons, were picked by two staffers.
The Lightning, who are trying to win the Cup for the third straight season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, who haven't won the Cup since 1967, each were picked by one staff member to win the Cup.
Vegas forward Mark Stone received three votes for the Conn Smythe. Others receiving votes were goalie Ilya Sorokin and forward Mathew Barzal of the Islanders, forward Nikita Kucherov of the Lightning and forward Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs.
The 2021-22 NHL season will feature 32 teams, with the Seattle Kraken playing their inaugural season. The NHL, which realigned last season because of travel complications brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, will go back to its previous four-division, two-conference format -- Metropolitan, Atlantic in the Eastern Conference, Central and Pacific in the Western Conference. The Kraken will play in the Pacific, and the Arizona Coyotes will move from the Pacific to the Central.
The top three teams in each division and two wild cards in each conference will qualify for the playoffs.
With the season set to begin Tuesday, here are the picks of the NHL.com writers and editors:
