With its regular season beginning this past Thursday, football holds all the focus in the sports world at the moment. NFL owners and GM’s around the league have spent their summers adjusting their rosters with whatever personnel they see fit, each eventually making their way to the 53 players on roster for week one. But with the first regular season NHL game still nearly a month away, there is still much up in the air in the hockey world. With training camps and pre-season just around the corner, the 31 NHL clubs currently are full swing in the process of finalizing their rosters. 

With only 16 playoff spots to play for, all 31 teams have dedicated much of their effort and salary money to secure one of them. NHL experts have put forth predictions for which of the three teams from each division will earn a spot in the playoffs, plus an additional two wild card spots in each of the two conferences. Basically laying out who is expected to be at the top of each division, by estimating the number of points the team will earn over the season. The ESPN hockey editorial staff submits polls ranking the teams and predicting their record each year going into the season.