NHL 2017-18 Season Win Totals: Stars Projected To Be Most Improved

According to the oddsmakers, the Dallas Stars will look a lot more like the team that won the Central Division two years ago than the outfit that missed the playoffs last season.

Online sportsbook BetOnline has set the Over/Under on the Stars’ season win total in 2017-18 at 43.5 victories. That suggests Dallas will win approximately 10 more games than it did in 2016-17, when the Stars floundered to a 34-37-11 record and finished 11th in the West.

Granted, oddsmakers set these NHL season win totals for 2017-18 with the goal of creating two-way betting action, not necessarily predicting the future. But the Stars’ season win total for last season (43.5) was 6.5 victories lower than Dallas earned in 2015-16, suggesting regression was in store for the Stars – and that’s exactly what happened.

With Ken Hitchcock back behind the Dallas bench and the Stars acquiring Ben Bishop, Alexander Radulov, Martin Hanzal and Marc Methot, public perception is that the Stars will be much improved. The good news here for Dallas fans is that the oddsmakers agree.

3 Other Teams Expected To Improve

From @travisyost: Why Carolina’s commitment to G Scott Darling makes sense https://t.co/O9qXltSf2G #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/Q2YVUIJHXy

— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) August 3, 2017

The Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs are other teams oddsmakers project to win significantly more games than last year.

The Avs probably couldn’t be much worse than they were in 2016-17, when they went 22-56-4 and finished dead last in both goals for and goals against. BetOnline’s season win total on Colorado this season is 29.5, which would be nearly an eight-win improvement.

After shoring up their goaltending with the acquisition of Scott Darling and signing veteran winger Justin Williams, the Hurricanes are also expected to be much better. Carolina’s season win total for 2017-18 is 5.5 victories higher than the 36 wins it managed last season.

Finally, the Maple Leafs have had their 2017-18 season win total set at 4.5 victories higher than they finished last season. Toronto turned some heads with a strong first-round effort against the Washington Capitals in the playoffs and bookmakers see even more improvement in the Leafs’ future with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in their sophomore years, along with the free-agent signing of Patrick Marleau.

3 Teams Expected To Regress

“Honestly, it’s tough to process right now”: Jonathan Toews on the flurry of Blackhawks roster moves https://t.co/HCYEsP64m4 pic.twitter.com/hyfJrbBQy1

— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) June 24, 2017

It’s hard to stay at the top of the NHL regular season standings, and oddsmakers see the potential for regression from three teams that cracked the 100-point plateau in 2017-18.

The team expected to take the largest step backwards is the Chicago Blackhawks. Part of that may be due to how the Hawks were swept in the first round of last year’s playoffs by the #8 seed Nashville Predators, but Chicago has also seen some major roster turnover this offseason. After losing Artemi Panari, Niklas Hjalmarrson, Marian Hossa and Darling, the Hawks’ season win total of 44.5 implies a 5.5-win drop from last season.

The Washington Capitals are also expected to come back to the pack this year. Washington ran into salary cap issues this summer after back-to-back President’s Trophy victories and couldn’t keep Justin Williams, Kevin Shattenkirk and Marcus Johansson. As a result, their 2017-18 season win total is just 50.5, a significant downgrade from the 55 victories a year ago.

Columbus is the other team oddsmakers see as a prime regression candidate this year, probably because the Blue Jackets overachieved so greatly in 2016-17. No one could have predicted the Jackets winning 50 games last season and, even with the addition of Panarin, a 46.5 season win total for this year shows the bookies are skeptical that John Tortorella can do it again.