Popular Preseason Predictions Already Looking Foolish in 2016-17

We like to make NHL predictions here at Bleacher Report—whether it's prognosticating the league's award winners, ranking the teams ahead of the season or coming up with some original and bold possibilities.

Some seemed like no-brainers—such as the addition of goaltender Brian Elliott giving the Calgary Flames the top-end goaltender they needed to make a push for the playoffs again after a miserable 2015-16.

That one isn't looking so great right now, with backup Chad Johnson taking firm control of the starting job in the last couple of weeks and Elliott suffering one of the worst starts of his career.

But there are more of those preseason predictions that look laughable with a quarter of the regular season gone—whether it's an individual expected to dominate or a team that's disappointing or impressing.

Keep reading for a look at popular preseason predictions that are already looking foolish in 2016-17. Weigh in with your own in the comments section.

The Maple Leafs Have No Shot at the Playoffs

Jeffrey T. Barnes/Associated Press

The Toronto Maple Leafs were the worst team in the NHL last year, landing the No. 1 draft pick in the spring lottery as a result. It stands to reason that the squad that finished with an abysmal 69 points in the 2015-16 regular season would be looking at another year in the basement. 

Of course, that was a popular prognostication this preseason. Kevin Allen of USA Today picked the Leafs as the league's last-place team for a second straight year. Toronto landed at 28th in Bleacher Report's own preseason power rankings, which included votes from yours truly. Colleague Jonathan Willis gave them 250-1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup this season when taking an early look last June. 

Most people looked at this year as another big growing season that would come with a lot of pain and suffering for the team and fans alike. 

And while that is somewhat true, counting the Leafs out of the playoff race at the quarter pole is premature. The parity in the league is such that no team is realistically out of the playoff hunt and within a handful of points outside of a wild-card spot. However, the Leafs have been especially less than awful on many a night and are getting a lot out of their young players and core veterans alike. 

The team started slowly, thanks to some poor goaltending from newcomer Frederik Andersen, but the Leafs have a top-five offense that is generating more than 32 shots on goal per game and, with some more consistency, could challenge for a playoff spot early in the rebuild. 

The Colorado Avalanche Will Be Alright

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

A tumultuous summer saw the Colorado Avalanche lose head coach Patrick Roy and bring in newcomer Jared Bednar, who inherited a team that was the worst possession club in the league last year and ranked 29th in the previous two seasons. 

Then came the preseason—and with it, some signs of hope. The Avalanche were a perfect 6-0 in September and early October, sparking talk of the Avalanche making some strides in a new direction. Avs general manager Joe Sakic knew the preseason record was meaningless but liked what the team was doing to earn it, per the Denver Post's Mike Chambers. 

Because of that success in exhibition play, more than 60 percent of people who voted in Sportsnet's poll attached to an Avs season preview believed the team would make the playoffs in 2016-17. 

The preseason passion has turned into regular-season mediocrity for the Avs, who are 9-10-0 and 12th in the Western Conference. Their young stars are underwhelming, and the veterans they've been able to count on in the past have been miserable this season. Jarome Iginla, for example, has just two goals and four points through his first 18 games.

The Avs have improved their possession numbers under Bednar, so there is a glimmer of hope that the team will eventually see better offensive numbers as a result, but so far, they look more like the team most thought they'd be ahead of the preseason performances than the one that emerged with a 6-0 record. 

Sidney Crosby Will Win His 3rd Scoring Title

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Sidney Crosby took some time to play like his normal, All-Star self last season, but he dominated in the second half of the year to climb to third in the NHL scoring race with 85 points in 80 games. Carrying that momentum into the 2016-17 season, he was a popular preseason pick among pundits, including Bleacher Report columnist Allan Mitchell. 

Another concussion, however, prevented Crosby from starting the year with his teammates and has put him behind some incredibly talented youngsters in the Art Ross race. His point-per-game pace is the best in the league, and he could make up ground over time. Playing on a deep offensive club like the Pittsburgh Penguins offers some hope that he will take home that elusive third scoring title after winning in 2007 and 2014. 

Working against him is his injury history. As you compound concussions, it's easier to suffer another one, and the fact that he was hurt in practice in the first week of the new season is frightening. He missed a combined seven games in his previous three seasons but started only 99 in the three before that. 

He's no longer so far ahead of the pack that he can play shortened seasons and win with ease. 

The Predators Will Win the 1st Year of the Subban-Weber Deal

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

The trade that sent Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber was a blockbuster this offseason that nobody saw coming. The one-for-one deal was among the biggest ever made and saw the younger, flashier and more offensively slick Subban head to Nashville in return for one of the most feared, physical blueliners in Weber. 

Eight Sportsnet panelists who offered some predictions ahead of the season said that Subban would receive more Norris Trophy votes at the end of the season than the former Predators captain. Weber got six votes, so it wasn't a landslide, but there was a lot of chatter about how the Predators got the better player in the deal. 

A revote would see a big swing the other way. Not only is the 31-year-old Weber collecting more points than his counterpart back in Music City, but his captain-like presence has also been a big part of the incredible chemistry the Canadiens are enjoying in the locker room. 

Weber leads all NHL defensemen, with eight goals, and is he tied with Habs teammate Andrei Markov with 17 points through 20 games. Subban is only a few behind with five goals and 14 points through 19 contests, but his plus/minus rating of minus-eight is among the worst in the league, while Weber's plus-16 is by far the best among the rearguards. 

There is a lot of hockey to play, and Subban remains one of the most dynamic defensemen in the NHL, but even big-time Subban fans in Montreal are admitting the Canadiens have surprisingly come out of this deal ahead in the early returns. 

Auston Matthews Will Dominate the Calder Race

Jeffrey T. Barnes/Associated Press

As the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews instantly shouldered the pressure of being a Calder Trophy candidate. Never mind the fact he hadn't played a single NHL game at the time or the 10 needed to use up one of his entry-level contract years.

He was the choice of many prognosticators for the freshman title, including Bleacher Report's Allan Mitchell and TSN's Frank Seravalli. 

After a four-goal debut for the Leafs in the regular season, that pick looked pretty darn good. He scored twice more in the next five games and had 10 points in his first six NHL contests. Then came a drought. Five games with no points and 13 without another goal. 

Maybe "foolish" is a bit of a stretch when describing this popular preseason pick because Matthews is an incredible player with a legitimate shot of coming through as the league's top rookie. The competition is fierce, though, and may get even more tight as the season progresses. 

The new face of the Leafs franchise has stiff competition from his own teammates, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. No. 2 overall pick Patrik Laine is a dominant sniper, and Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray is picking up where he left off after winning the Stanley Cup. 

The Blackhawks Will Take a Step Backward

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

The 2010, 2013 and 2015 Stanley Cup champions didn't get a great deal of respect following a first-round exit at the hands of the St. Louis Blues last spring. The Hockey News, for example, was one of many publications to peg the Chicago Blackhawks as a potential wild-card performer outside the top two or three spots in the difficult Central Division. 

While it's true the Blackhawks were forced to give up some great players—yet again—in the offseason to manage salary-cap issues, the team has overcome those same sacrifices nearly every offseason thanks to an expensive group of core players. 

It's that group of spectacular core players—defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, forwards Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa and goalie Corey Crawford—that keeps the Blackhawks competitive year after year. 

A more in-depth preview from the Hockey News suggested the Hawks were a good playoff bet but nothing more, but their start to the season has been impressive. They're looking more like Central Division front-runners and the class of the Western Conference once again. 

The Islanders Will Best the Rangers as the Top Team in the Big Apple

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Perhaps it was the New York Rangers' unflattering playoff exit in the first round at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Maybe the increasingly popular notion that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is nearing the end of his days among the elite.

It could have been the way John Tavares made people take notice of his extreme talent in the playoffs while leading the New York Islanders to the second round for the first time in decades. Or maybe it was the belief that Andrew Ladd, P.A. Parenteau and Jason Chimera would be adequate replacements for departed free agents Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin.

Whatever the reason, there were a whole lot of experts ranking the Isles ahead of the Rangers in the Battle of New York ahead of the 2016-17 campaign, including many of those on NHL.com's preview panel.

The race isn't even close when it comes to the two Metropolitan Division rivals. The Isles are last in the Eastern Conference standings and second-to-last in the league as of Thursday morning. The Rangers, meanwhile, are in the mix as the class of the conference, blowing away all challengers offensively while remaining among the top 11 defensively.

The Isles are in the bottom 10 in both of those areas.

Oops.

Brian Elliott Will Give the Flames Stability in Goal

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

The Calgary Flames had the worst goaltending in the league last season, posting a 3.13 goals-against average. The four netminders who played for the team combined for just three total shutouts, and only Karri Ramo hit double digits in wins, with 17. 

So the team made a total overhaul, parting ways with Ramo, Jonas Hiller, Joni Ortio and Niklas Backstrom in the offseason and bringing in former St. Louis Blues starter Brian Elliott in a big draft-day trade and then adding Chad Johnson as the backup later in the summer.  

Elliott came in with an impressive resume, owning the league's best save percentage of .930 last season, along with a 23-8-6 record and 2.07 goals-against average. The Flames had good reason to believe the 31-year-old would be the answer to their problem. Guys such as TSN's Frank Seravalli suggested Elliott could lead the Flames back to the postseason. 

Things have not gone as planned so far this season. Elliott has won just three of a dozen starts with the Flames, posting a 3.42 GAA and .882 save percentage that is well below his career average of .913. Johnson has supplanted him as the go-to guy between the pipes, starting for the fifth time in six games on Wednesday night in Columbus and earning his second shutout of the season. 

Elliott could rebound, but he has yet to make more than 48 starts in a season and may not be cut out for a legitimate full-time starting role.

Stats via NHL.com unless otherwise noted.