Revisiting FanSided NHL’s 2019-20 season predictions at the 1st quarter pole

The 2019-20 NHL season is at its first quarter mark on the cusp of Thanksgiving. Here’s how our preseason predictions have stood up after the first two months of the season.

American Thanksgiving is right around the corner, ushering in the first major milestone of the NHL season. By now, all of the 31 NHL teams have hit at least 20 games played on the season, putting the first quarter of the 2019-20 season in the books.

With the first two months of the current NHL season written in stone, it’s only fair we take a look back at our original preseason predictions for how this season would end up. Thanksgiving is often self-reflection time for many, and given how hard the NHL is to predict year in and year out, it’s more than likely our preseason predictions will be incredibly inaccurate to the league’s current standings.

There’s still time, of course, for teams to course correct over the next few months. The 2019-20 NHL season has only just begun, really, and many teams are still in the hunt as the second month of hockey comes to a close.

With that in mind, here’s how our preseason predictions at FanSided NHL have panned out over the first two months of the season.

Atlantic Division

* Indicates playoff position

The bottom of the Atlantic Division have so far played out like we thought they would. The Sabres started hot unexpectedly, but have gone 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and have fallen out of the top three in the division quite rapidly. Ottawa has been better than anticipated, as their nearly .500 record of 11-11-1 shows, but it’s the Red Wings that have been the NHL’s worst team this year with only seven wins in 25 games.

The Atlantic Division’s biggest surprise this season have been the absence of top-ranked heavy weights, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto, fresh off of firing head coach Mike Babcock, have fallen out of playoff contention due to poor play and injuries to star players such as John Tavares and Mitch Marner, but the team has so far underperformed expectations this season.

Tampa Bay, on the other hand, hasn’t looked nearly as dominant as they did last season, but at 20 games on the season, the Lightning are still within striking distance. A historic season this is not, but a little bit of humility may do Tampa Bay good after being swept out of the playoffs last season.

The Bruins’ are the Atlantic Division’s top dogs this year, and look to be safe in first place. The Panthers and Canadiens taking second and third in the division at the quarter mark are definite surprises, but we did have Florida as a potential dark horse candidate for a playoff position. Montreal we weren’t so high on, but Toronto and Tampa Bay’s loss has surely been their gain.