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March 30, 2025
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NHL 2024-25 bold predictions: Which preseason picks we got right and wrong

We can admit it. We were wrong.

Well, mostly wrong. When The Athletic first asked its NHL staff for their bold predictions, it was a different time. One week into the season, we heard about everything from breakout players to trades to offer sheets to 40-goal scorers.

Two months later when we revisited our preseason prognostications, some writers were ready to take a victory lap, while others needed a mulligan.

Now, with less than three weeks of the regular season remaining, some are holding up well, while others look to have been a bit too bold.

This week, our staff revisited their 2024-25 NHL season bold predictions for a final time. Which ones get a pass, fail or incomplete?

Here’s what they said.

Anaheim Ducks

Preseason bold prediction: Trevor Zegras will not be traded this season

Pass, fail or incomplete? Pass

Yep, they’re still together. Barring a one-for-one swap or his inclusion in a mega-deal, the conditions for Anaheim trading him never seemed right. Knee surgery midway through the season further lowered his value after an injury-plagued 2023-24 season and there was no sense for the Ducks to trade the talented 24-year-old at a loss when he’s still under contract for another season. They’re a better team with him in the lineup, but there does remain the question of whether he truly fits into GM Pat Verbeek’s vision of the Ducks when they are in a position to contend. Or just how good Zegras can be with them. — Eric Stephens

Boston Bruins

Preseason bold prediction: Jeremy Swayman will struggle early

Pass, fail or incomplete? Pass

Swayman missed all of camp because of his contract negotiations and had to adjust to being the go-to goalie after Linus Ullmark was moved, so early struggles were predictable. That said, I thought Swayman’s issues would be temporary and he would regress to being a high-end goalie. An .892 save percentage over 51 appearances signals he’s been below average all season. — Fluto Shinzawa

Buffalo Sabres

Preseason bold prediction: Owen Power will double his previous high goal total

Pass, fail or incomplete? Incomplete

Power has seven goals, so he needs five more for this prediction to hit. That’s unlikely, but Power does already have a career-high in goals and points this season. While he’s still a work-in-progress in the defensive zone, Power is showing the ability to be a difference-maker in the offensive zone. — Matthew Fairburn

Calgary Flames

Preseason bold prediction: Jonathan Huberdeau will crack the 80-point plateau

Pass, fail or incomplete? Incomplete

Unless Huberdeau goes on a monster points streak, he won’t reach 80 points. But he’s very close to the 30-goal mark and could establish a career-high in goals by season’s end. This year could still go down as a successful one for the winger, especially if he helps Calgary make the playoffs. — Julian McKenzie

Carolina Hurricanes

Preseason bold prediction: Seth Jarvis will get a shot at center

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour had plenty of opportunities to give Jarvis a shot at center this season, but the coach has seemingly settled into letting the team’s emerging star settle in as Sebastian Aho’s running mate on the top line. It could be because of a lingering shoulder injury, but Jarvis has even taken about half as many faceoffs as he did a year ago. Jarvis has still emerged as one of the league’s top defensive forwards, even if he never makes a move to the middle. — Cory Lavalette

Chicago Blackhawks

Preseason bold prediction: The Blackhawks will finish 25 points better than last season

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

The Blackhawks will finish with more points than they had last season, but it won’t be by nearly as much as expected. The Blackhawks had 52 points last season and are at 51 points with 9 games to go this year. At best, maybe they will finish 10 points better. Still, this season has been more underwhelming than predicted. — Scott Powers

Colorado Avalanche

Preseason bold prediction: Cale Makar will have 100 points

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

This prediction still has a chance to be true, but it would take a monstrous final nine games from Makar. He currently has 84 points in 73 games, on pace for 94 on the season. That would break his previous career high of 90, but fall just short of the century mark. If Makar doesn’t hit 100 points, the biggest reason will be Colorado’s power play. It hasn’t been terrible — ranking seventh in the league at 25.7 percent entering Friday — but it hasn’t been as elite as I expected. Makar’s assists with the man advantage dropped from 32 a year ago to only 23 this season. — Jesse Granger

Columbus Blue Jackets

Preseason bold prediction: Yegor Chinakhov will bloom as a goal scorer

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Swing and a miss, mostly due to a nagging lower-back injury that has plagued Chinakhov for two straight seasons. Two months into the season, Chinakhov was tied for second on the Blue Jackets with seven goals in 21 games, putting him on pace for 27 goals. But the back injury knocked him out of the lineup from Nov. 28 until early March. Since his return, he has only one point (an assist) in eight games. Every other young player on the roster has bloomed for the Blue Jackets this season, but it’s been a frustrating campaign for Chinakhov. — Aaron Portzline

Dallas Stars

Preseason bold prediction: The Stars will win the Stanley Cup

Pass, fail or incomplete? Incomplete

This one needs more time to come to fruition, but the Stars are still on a good track. Adding Mikko Rantanen to a stacked forward group, without having to subtract Thomas Harley or Wyatt Johnston, solidified this team from a true contender to a legitimate favorite to win it all. There are still hurdles in their way — from the Miro Heiskanen injury to a likely first-round series against a deep Avalanche team — but this team looks ready for a deep run. — Shayna Goldman

Detroit Red Wings

Preseason bold prediction: Dylan Larkin will score 40 goals

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

There was a time when this had a fighting chance, but it looks like Larkin will most likely finish in the low 30s. Detroit’s top line has been quiet to finish the season, with Larkin and Lucas Raymond both being held in check since the 4 Nations. A big part of that could be the lack of a consistent third linemate, as Detroit has cycled through options all year. The most effective was Marco Kasper, but Kasper has been needed to center the second line lately, leaving Larkin and Raymond without a consistent partner. Larkin has been among the league’s leading scorers on the power play, but without dominant five-on-five scoring, 40 looks out of reach. — Max Bultman

Edmonton Oilers

Preseason bold prediction: Stuart Skinner will finish top five in Vezina voting

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Skinner has had some excellent starts and some solid stretches this season. A save percentage below .900 and allowing more goals than expected in all situations, per Natural Stat Trick, is no one’s idea of a Vezina Trophy candidate, though. With the playoffs nearing, the pressure is about to increase on the 26-year-old. He’s 15 months away from being eligible for unrestricted free agency. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman

Florida Panthers

Preseason bold prediction: Adam Boqvist will break out

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Boqvist was a very frequent healthy scratch for most of the first half of the season and never gained coach Paul Maurice’s trust, as evidenced by his 12:51 in ice time per game. Placed on waivers at the end of January, he’s found a more regular role in the Islanders’ lineup as a depth defender and chipped in with seven points in 13 games so far. Not exactly a breakout considering how little he has played. — James Mirtle

Los Angeles Kings

Preseason bold prediction: Quinton Byfield will become the Kings’ best player

Pass, fail or incomplete? Pass

This might be debatable at this stage — top goal scorer and point producer Adrian Kempe could make a legitimate case as the guy for the Kings through the entire season — but there is mounting evidence that Byfield is at the top right now. His 19 goals and 44 points through 71 games might seem modest, but 10 of those goals and 23 of those points have come over the last 26 contests. With a six-game goal-scoring streak thrown in, Byfield has scored eight times over his last 12 games. The 22-year-old has never been more confident as a player, and his leap during the last two months could be what turns the tide for Los Angeles in a playoff series. — Eric Stephens

Minnesota Wild

Preseason bold prediction: Matt Boldy will score 40 goals and 40 assists

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Well, if he scores 16 goals in his last nine games, we nailed it. That doesn’t seem likely, though, with the way Boldy’s production has waned as the season has gone, in large part due to injuries to Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek. Opposing teams have checked him hard as one of the last dangerous Wild forwards remaining. Our prediction looked like a lock 20 games into the season when he was on pace for 45 goals and 45 assists. But he has gone through a couple of long goal-scoring droughts since and is now on pace for 27 goals and 43 assists. — Michael Russo

Montreal Canadiens

Preseason bold prediction: Juraj Slafkovský will hit 70 points

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

For a second year in a row, Slafkovský got off to a slow start. He did not pick up where he left off last season and took a lot of time to get going; he had only four goals and 21 points in 34 games on New Year’s Day. Slafkovský has 14 points in 16 games since the return from the 4 Nations break and has helped the Canadiens play themselves into the playoff race, but he is way too far from 70 points to have any hope of reaching it in the final three weeks of the season. — Arpon Basu

Nashville Predators

Preseason bold prediction: Juuse Saros will win the Vezina Trophy

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Any optimistic prediction about the Preds has been stymied by the most disappointing season in franchise history, and Saros is no exception. The guy with the .915 career save percentage is likely to finish sub-.900, by far the worst showing of his career, and the underlying numbers speak to a big drop as well — just in time for his 8-year, $61.92 million deal to kick in next season. This organization must hope that Saros, who turns 30 in April, was the product of a terrible team and is ready to return to form for many years to come. — Joe Rexrode

New Jersey Devils

Preseason bold prediction: The Devils will finish with the East’s best record

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

If it were Dec. 31, I’d feel good about myself. The Devils were 24-13-3 at that point, good for second in the East, albeit with a few games in hand. Since then, New Jersey’s season has gone off the rails. Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler all went down with season-ending injuries, and Jacob Markström has struggled since coming back from an injury of his own. The Devils have now dropped to sixth in the conference. They still look like a good bet to make the playoffs, but it’s already mathematically impossible for them to get the No. 1 seed. — Peter Baugh

New York Islanders

Preseason bold prediction: Noah Dobson will score 70 points again — and get a big extension

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Well, the 70-point thing is long gone — Dobson has 34 points in 60 games, respectable enough but nowhere near another standout season. The massive extension isn’t completely off the table, though. With the cap rising and the Islanders still in need of getting younger, locking up a 25-year-old right-handed defenseman who plays 23-plus minutes a night still seems like a good play. — Arthur Staple

New York Rangers

Preseason bold prediction: Igor Shesterkin will win the Vezina Trophy

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

This is a fail because the award is almost certainly going to go to Connor Hellebuyck, not because Shesterkin hasn’t had an excellent season. He has a .908 save percentage, which is impressive because of the Rangers’ porous defensive play. Only Hellebuyck entered Wednesday with a better goals saved above expected mark, according to Evolving-Hockey. He is deserving of being a Vezina finalist, even though his surface stats don’t suggest it. This prediction will end up wrong, but I stand by the logic. — Peter Baugh

Ottawa Senators

Preseason bold prediction: Travis Green will win the Jack Adams Award

Pass, fail or incomplete? Incomplete

I have a hard time seeing Green win this award when Spencer Carbery and the Capitals exist. Winnipeg’s Scott Arniel and Los Angeles’ Jim Hiller are also worthy of consideration. But that doesn’t mean Green should be completely left off ballots if he guides the Senators to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. — Julian McKenzie

Philadelphia Flyers

Preseason bold prediction: The Flyers will have a top-15 power play

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

I didn’t even think this was that bold! With players such as Matvei Michkov and a healthy Jamie Drysdale, I figured the power play would be better. Frankly, it should be better. Nope. It still stinks for the third straight season. It was mildly surprising that when the Flyers announced the firing of John Tortorella on Thursday, they didn’t also relieve associate coach/power-play overseer Rocky Thompson, too, as they desperately need a different vision here. Their third-period power-play goal on Thursday against Montreal ended a 0-for-34 streak in the month of March. — Kevin Kurz

Pittsburgh Penguins

Preseason bold prediction: Marcus Pettersson will become a trade-deadline commodity

Pass, fail or incomplete? Pass

The Penguins managed to receive wonderful value for Pettersson as part of their rebuilding process, thanks to a first-round pick from Vancouver. They never entertained contract negotiations with Pettersson, knowing full well they would trade him. — Josh Yohe

San Jose Sharks

Preseason bold prediction: William Eklund will lead the team in scoring

Pass, fail or incomplete? Incomplete

There is a good battle going on to see who’ll finish as the Sharks’ leading scorer. Sure, it might have been easy to go with Macklin Celebrini as a choice here, and the 18-year-old has delivered on his promise as he’s in the thick of the Calder Trophy race. But this prediction was a bet on Eklund taking another step toward becoming a core player for San Jose. He’s done that, with 54 points, one more than Celebrini with 12 games left. More importantly for the Sharks, Eklund has set a career-high in goals and points. — Eric Stephens

Seattle Kraken

Preseason bold prediction: Matty Beniers will score 30 goals

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

It wasn’t the offensive re-breakout that I expected from Beniers. This prediction failed early as Beniers endured a nightmare start to the year, scoring just four goals in the opening 32 games. On the positive side of the ledger, Beniers has found his game in the second half. In Seattle’s most recent 40 games, Beniers has scored 13 goals — tied for the team lead — and found some real chemistry with recently acquired winger Kaapo Kakko. Beniers didn’t flirt with the 30-goal milestone this season, but he seemed to find his game and swagger down the stretch. — Thomas Drance

St. Louis Blues

Preseason bold prediction: Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway’s success will lead to more offer sheets

Pass, fail or incomplete? Pass

Well, I can’t force NHL general managers and restricted free agents to put pen to paper and execute the offer sheets. But with the seasons Broberg and Holloway are having, there should be plenty of teams exploring that option. Broberg recently had his first-career four-point game and leads the team in plus-minus (plus-21). Holloway is second on the club in goals (26) and has a nine-game point streak. Many considered the salaries paid by the Blues — $4.58 million annually for Broberg, $2.29 million annually for Holloway — overpayments. Now they’re saying it’s time to give them large raises on long-term contracts. — Jeremy Rutherford

Tampa Bay Lightning

Preseason bold prediction: Andrei Vasilevskiy will be a Vezina Trophy finalist

Pass, fail or incomplete? Incomplete

Last time we checked in with these bold predictions, Vasilevskiy’s level was only slightly above average. He has seriously picked it up since and looks like his usual elite self. In 57 games, he has saved 23.04 goals above expected. Is it enough to land on the ballot? Connor Hellebuyck is going to win, and Logan Thompson likely lands on the ballot behind him. That third slot could go to Dustin Wolf, Sam Montembeault or even Igor Shesterkin. But the Lightning’s playoff standing and his more traditional stats work in his favor. And it wouldn’t be surprising if he amps things up down the stretch, either. — Shayna Goldman

Toronto Maple Leafs

Preseason bold prediction: Mitch Marner will score 40 goals

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Big swing and a miss. Marner is going to end up right around 30 goals in all likelihood, but well short of 40. I might be ready to finally ditch this belief — that Marner will one day score 40. Why? I’m not sure he’ll ever shoot the puck enough to do so. This season, Marner is averaging the fewest shots of his career, just over two per game. Not enough volume for 40. The one season Marner really shot the puck — in 2021-22, when he averaged over three shots per game — he scored 35 in only 72 games. That’s what fueled my belief. Perhaps only in a world in which he leaves the Leafs (and Auston Matthews) might Marner actually threaten 40. — Jonas Siegel

Utah Hockey Club

Preseason bold prediction: Utah will finish as one of the NHL’s highest-scoring teams

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

The Coyotes were tied for 16th in scoring a year ago and made some decent additions after the move to Utah, so this felt possible, especially with their promising young talent up front. But the Utahns surprisingly have fallen back to 23rd with only 2.81 goals per game, largely due to steps back from their depth players. Alexander Kerfoot, Lawson Crouse, Matias Maccelli and Nick Bjugstad are all on pace for between 22 and 35 fewer points than last season, leaving the Hockey Clubbers with only a handful of forwards producing much offense. Expect that to be their top target in the offseason. — James Mirtle

Vancouver Canucks

Preseason bold prediction: Elias Pettersson will bounce back and lead the team in scoring

Pass, fail or incomplete? Fail

Elias Pettersson did not bounce back, as Canucks fans know, and he will not lead the Canucks in scoring. Realistically, going forward, we should probably expect Quinn Hughes to lead the Canucks in scoring every year. He’s just so involved and assertive offensively. As for Pettersson, between the off-ice drama and his on-ice struggles, it’s been a very difficult campaign. Just as he seemed to be turning a corner, trusting his shot and beginning to produce, he sustained an injury and has been sent home from the club’s current road trip. — Thomas Drance

Vegas Golden Knights

Preseason bold prediction: Pavel Dorofeyev will finish second on the team in goals

Pass, fail or incomplete? Pass

We still have 10 games to go, but for now, I’ve nailed this one. Entering Friday, Pavel Dorofeyev was second on the Golden Knights in goals — one behind Tomas Hertl and four ahead of Jack Eichel. After scoring Friday, he tied Hertl with 31 and is five ahead of Eichel. The 24-year-old winger crushed his previous career high of 13 goals, reaching the 30-goal mark with a hat trick against Boston last Thursday. He’s been particularly dangerous on the power play, where he’s scored 13 times. — Jesse Granger

Washington Capitals

Preseason bold prediction: The Pierre-Luc Dubois deal will pay off

Pass, fail or incomplete? Pass

The Dubois for Darcy Kuemper deal took a lot of heat at the time, but this trade has seriously paid off for both sides. Kuemper has been stellar in Los Angeles, and Dubois is the 2C the Capitals were missing. A change in scenery completely revitalized his game; Dubois is scoring at a career-high rate this season in all situations and is driving play on both ends of the ice at five-on-five. That second line has been a major strength for the Caps this season, and Dubois’ play is a key reason why. — Shayna Goldman

Winnipeg Jets

Preseason bold prediction: Nikolaj Ehlers will play out the season and then walk as a UFA

Pass, fail or incomplete? Incomplete

Winnipeg kept Ehlers through the trade deadline, helping my preseason prediction clear its lowest available hurdle. The Jets added a defenseman without moving Ehlers, so I’ve cleared the second-lowest hurdle, too. What now? Will the pending UFA walk this summer? He’s finally on the Jets’ top power play and on pace for a career year as a result. His playoffs will also impact his price point and the Jets’ willingness to pay it. Will they? And will he want to stay? Anything could happen, but I continue to believe his next steps will come elsewhere. — Murat Ates

(Top photos of Juraj Slafkovský and Elias Pettersson: David Kirouac and Bob Frid / Imagn Images) 



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