Over/Under Point Predictions for Every NHL Team
Don't be concerned. That sound you hear emanating from your hockey-fan friends isn't cause for alarm, it's merely their combined excitement for the start of another NHL season.
You know it's getting close when the good people at DraftKings issue their odds on each team's prospective point totals and the B/R team jumps in on the action to decide if the numbers are too big, too small or just right.
We broke it down by division this time around and made a call as to whether each team will hit the assigned number based on its 2023-24 performance and any changes made—positive or negative—as the 2024-25 schedule approaches.
Scroll through to see what we came up with, and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments.
Atlantic Division
Boston Bruins
DK Point Total: 99.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Bruins won't be as good as their ridiculous 135-point total of 2022-23, but they don't figure to slide too far beneath the 107 and 109 numbers they hit either side of that 65-win run, either. Maybe 100 or 102, but not 99.
Buffalo Sabres
DK Point Total: 88.5
B/R Pick: Under
There's a reason the guys in Vegas tend not to go bankrupt. They know where to set these lines and figuring Buffalo and its 75-91-84 point runs across the last three seasons is especially tough. The hunch is a tick less based on others getting better in the East.
Detroit Red Wings
DK Point Total: 90.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Red Wings have climbed steadily over the last three seasons from 74 points in 2021-22 to 80 in 2022-23 and then to 91 last year. It may or may not mean a playoff spot and validation at last for the Yzerplan, but they should at least match 2023-24's number.
Florida Panthers
DK Point Total: 102.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Panthers didn't win when they led the league with 122 points in 2021-22 but have reached the Cup Final after registering 92 and 110 across the last two seasons. Like Boston, they might not hit 110 again, but dropping more than seven seems too much.
Montreal Canadiens
DK Point Total: 76.5
B/R Pick: Over
Another team that's made steady progress from 2021-22 through last season but probably isn't ready for a jump into the playoff field. The Canadiens are young and talented, though, and should be better than the 76 points that came in 2023-24.
Ottawa Senators
DK Point Total: 90.5
B/R Pick: Over
Need to give yourself a migraine? Try to figure out exactly how things are going to go for the Senators from season to season. We're confident in Brady Tkachuk and Co., though, and are all-in for a big jump from their 78 points in 2023-24.
Tampa Bay Lightning
DK Point Total: 98.5
B/R Pick: Under
They got 98 points in 2022-23 and hit the exact same number—with one fewer win and two more OT losses—in 2023-24. They're a popular dark horse to return to the elite thanks to Jake Guentzel's arrival, but we're actually guessing there's a slight regression.
Toronto Maple Leafs
DK Point Total: 102.5
B/R Pick: Over
We tend to overbelieve in the promise of the Maple Leafs and their prolific core four every season, and we then act surprised when they disappoint at playoff time. Nevertheless, we can't quit on them. They've dipped from 115 to 111 to 102 in the last three seasons, but not this time.
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes
DK Point Total: 100.5
B/R Pick: Over
There hasn't been a more consistent team over the last three seasons than the Hurricanes, who have won 118 games while posting 116, 113 and 111 points. It would take an 11-point drop to go below the forecast number this time, and we're not expecting that big a plunge.
Columbus Blue Jackets
DK Point Total: 67.5
B/R Pick: Under
It's not about hockey at this point in middle Ohio, and nor should it be. The tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau may ultimately be a galvanizing point for the Blue Jackets, but they won't have to apologize to anyone if they spend a season simply trying to heal.
New Jersey Devils
DK Point Total: 100.5
B/R Pick: Over
It's been a chaotic ride from 63 points to 112 to 81 over the last three seasons for the Devils, but it's easy to be bullish on them for 2024-25 given the improvements they've made. We're all-in on them until given reason not to be.
New York Islanders
DK Point Total: 91.5
B/R Pick: Under
The Islanders will be somewhere between respectable and elite given their recent pedigree, but it's difficult to see them finishing in the top half of the Metropolitan given improvements in other cities and questions about their offense and surgically repaired goaltender.
New York Rangers
DK Point Total: 100.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Rangers were the best team in the NHL and thus earned a Presidents Trophy last season with 114 points. And like teams in other cities, while it's difficult to predict another 55-win season, it's equally hard to see them plunging 14 points from 2023-24's perch.
Philadelphia Flyers
DK Point Total: 85.5
B/R Pick: Under
In Philadelphia, coach John Tortorella has continued a career-long propensity for making quick turnarounds in his new cities. But while we're confident the Flyers will be respectably competitive, we're less convinced they're going to go up at all from last season.
Pittsburgh Penguins
DK Point Total: 90.5
B/R Pick: Under
The Penguins have won 46, 40 and 38 games across the last three seasons. It would actually take a three-point improvement for them to hit the over number this time around and we're not prepared to take that leap, no matter how good Sidney Crosby remains in his late 30s.
Washington Capitals
DK Point Total: 89.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Capitals surged to the finish to sneak into the playoffs last season and then had an eventful summer when they brought in Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jakob Chychrun, among others, so it feels like they'll be capable of reaching 90 points.
Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks
DK Point Total: 73.5
B/R Pick: Under
The Blackhawks have gradually added to phenom Connor Bedard's toolbox, and there's little reason to believe Chicago won't be markedly better this season. But to go from 52 points in 2023-24 to 74 or more in 2024-25 seems improbable at best.
Colorado Avalanche
DK Point Total: 102.5
B/R Pick: Over
They've won 56, 51 and 50 games across the last three seasons, and it would essentially take a dip into the 40s for the Avalanche to drop to 102 points or below. That's hard to imagine, even if Colorado isn't quite the juggernaut it was while winning a Cup in 2022.
Dallas Stars
DK Point Total: 103.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Stars were the top seed heading into the Western Conference playoffs last season and were arguably on or beyond the level of the Edmonton Oilers despite a six-game series loss. They may not win the Cup in the spring, but they're not likely to amass fewer points.
Minnesota Wild
DK Point Total: 93.5
B/R Pick: Under
The Wild are a victim of the "not everyone can get better" curse in the West. They're surrounded by teams that have already proved to be elite and others that figure to improve a little if not a lot. That means someone goes in the other direction, too.
Nashville Predators
DK Point Total: 98.5
B/R Pick: Over
If you look at the many lists suggesting various teams "won" the offseason, it's not hard to find the Predators at or near the top. Betting on the likes of Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault is a risk given their ages, but it feels like a safe enough one for now.
St. Louis Blues
DK Point Total: 86.5
B/R Pick: Under
Similar to the Wild a few spots earlier, the Blues haven't gotten dramatically better while it seems a lot of others have. Snatching Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from Edmonton moved the buzz needle plenty but probably not the competitive one.
Utah Hockey Club
DK Point Total: 87.5
B/R Pick: Over
There's nearly nowhere to go but up for the artists formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes. A young, skilled core already had some buzz around it, and the move to new surroundings with new ownership and new uniforms does nothing to quiet it.
Winnipeg Jets
DK Point Total: 95.5
B/R Pick: Under
The Jets spiked from 95 points in 2022-23 to 110 last season before flaming out in the playoffs against a Colorado team they had owned in the regular season. How much damage did it do? How much will Rick Bowness be missed? We think a lot.
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks
DK Point Total: 70.5
B/R Pick: Under
The Ducks are routinely among the teams listed as having the league's best young pool of nearly-ready talent, but it's not translated to anything beyond 58 and 59 points the last two seasons. It doesn't seem likely to this year, either.
Calgary Flames
DK Point Total: 81.5
B/R Pick: Under
It's only been a couple years, but it's getting hard to recall that the Flames were atop the Pacific with 111 points, led by guys named Tkachuk, Gaudreau and Markstrom. But Calgary is below the playoff cut line these days and figures to remain there.
Edmonton Oilers
DK Point Total: 108.5
B/R Pick: Over
The window will probably stay wedged open for awhile now that Leon Draisaitl is locked up for eight seasons and Connor McDavid is likely to stay, too, but it feels like an important year for the Oilers to make a division-claiming statement. Says here that they do.
Los Angeles Kings
DK Point Total: N/A
It's an unfortunate stay in limbo for L.A. thanks to a Wednesday preseason game in which veteran Drew Doughty fell into the boards and sustained what appeared to be a fractured left ankle. His long-term prognosis will determine where the Kings' number ought to be.
San Jose Sharks
DK Point Total: 64.5
B/R Pick: Under
As good as Bedard was last season in Chicago, the Blackhawks still dipped seven points from the season before his arrival. Setting the Sharks' number 17.5 points higher than before Macklin Celebrini's arrival seems ludicrous at best and ridiculous at worst.
Seattle Kraken
DK Point Total: 87.5
B/R Pick: Over
Trying to forecast the Kraken's point totals is perilous. Seattle went from 60 to 100 in its first two seasons before settling back to 81 in 2023-24. And if the Kings drop off significantly, the benefit will be felt.
Vancouver Canucks
DK Point Total: 99.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Canucks have been no picnic when it comes to consistency either, having gone from an 83-point playoff miss in 2022-23 to a Pacific-winning 109 last season. They may fall into the pack come 2024-25, but a 10-point plunge isn't likely unless the goaltending tanks.
Vegas Golden Knights
DK Point Total: 97.5
B/R Pick: Over
The Golden Knights were the Pacific champs in the regular season and the entire league in the playoffs two years ago, before dropping 13 points and nearly missing the tournament last spring. They've lost a lot of bodies since then and may hit the number in the final days.