2021/22 Bold Predictions

Hello everyone and welcome in for another article. In this one I’m going to make a bunch of bold predictions and if even one of them comes true I’ll be sure to let EVERYONE know about it. Before I do that, I want to take a second to invite you to join the Apples & Ginos community on Discord and the Apples & Ginos Patreon where I would be more than happy to answer any questions you have about my bold predictions, UFO sightings, or anything else that I’m going to pretend never happened for my own peace of mind. Here we go!

ANA: Trevor Zegras runs away with Calder Trophy with an unbelievable 70-point rookie season. Somehow no one else on Anaheim is anything more than a streamer.

ARI: Lawson Crouse is the most consistently rosterable Coyote, scoring over 20 goals while collecting his customary hits.

BOS: Charlie McAvoy drops a 55-point season and ends the season as a top-5 option in banger categories leagues a la Darnell Nurse from last year.

BUF: Tage Thompson leads the team in goal scoring and it’s still less than 20 goals.

CGY: Matthew Tkachuk fails to crack the 60 point barrier and is a major disappointment relative to his average draft position (ADP).

CAR: Teuvo Teravainen leads the team in scoring with a resurgent year.

CHI: Kirby Dach takes all of one week to displace Tyler Johnson from the top line and top PP in Chicago and never relinquishes it for the rest of the season, scoring more than 60 points and establishing himself as a bonafide #1 center in the league.

COL: Cale Makar scores 86 points, the most by any defenseman since Ray Bourque’s 91-point 1993/94 campaign.

CLB: Zach Werenski reminds everyone of his talent, scoring 21 goals and 57 points to lead the Blue Jackets in scoring.

DAL: Denis Gurianov takes advantage of a top-six injury to make good on the promise he showed in his rookie year, scoring 30+ goals to lead the Stars.

DET: Despite the heightened optimism around the squad, the Jeff Blashill experience continues and only Dylan Larkin provides fantasy relevance throughout the season.

EDM: Jesse Puljujarvi outscores newcomer Zach Hyman with a 30-goal, 65-point season.

FLA: Owen Tippett is the story in Florida over “the Sams” (Reinhart and Bennett), scoring 30 goals and establishing himself as a PP1 fixture.

LAK: Quinton Byfield takes no time to become a household name, finishing the last half of the season on a point-per-game tear to become one of the hottest names in 2022/23 fantasy drafts.

MIN: Kaapo Kahkonen becomes the 1A and a valuable fantasy asset because goalies are stupid.

MTL: The Canadiens continue to run two roughly even PP units despite clear evidence that they should not.

NSH: Juuse Saros finishes outside the top 20 fantasy goaltenders on the season because goalies are stupid.

NJD: Yegor Sharangovich leads the Devils in goals with 27.

NYI: Oliver Wahlstrom forces his way onto the top line and top PP and scores 25+ goals.

NYR: Igor Shesterkin is the #1 fantasy netminder on the season. The reason? Goalies are stupid.

OTT: Drake Batherson emerges as a 65-point, 2.5-hit/game banger league dynamo.

PHI: Because goalies are stupid, Carter Hart is suddenly good again.

PIT: Jason Zucker has quiet relevance in bangers leagues with a 22-goal, 50-point season.

SJS: Timo Meier reclaims his former glory as a banger league god with a 60-point season.

SEA: Chris Driedger outplays Philipp Grubauer all year long and ends the season with more starts.

STL: Torey Krug settles into his role with the Blues and puts up a very solid 52-point season.

TBL: Andrei Vasilevskiy is not a top 5 fantasy goaltender (goalies are stupid).

TOR: Rasmus Sandin supplants Morgan Rielly on the top PP by the Olympic break.

VAN: Conor Garland doesn’t crack 55 points.

VGK: Nolan Patrick centers Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone for most of the last half of the season and puts up a 60-point pace while doing so.

WSH: Anthony Mantha declares himself to be back with a very nice 69 point season.

WPG: Eric Comrie is forced into action during the fantasy playoffs due to a Connor Hellebuyck skin condition and provides three weeks of utter fantasy dominance.

goalies.are.stupid.

That’s all for this one folks, I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Make sure you follow Apples & Ginos on Twitter, on TikTok, and join the Apples & Ginos Discord server for more content and to ask any fantasy hockey questions you may have.

Thanks for reading, you are appreciated!

Nate