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Allen: The 2015-16 NHL season through my crystal ball

Kevin Allen
USA TODAY Sports

In 2016, it will be the year of the monkey on the Chinese lunar calendar. It is supposed to be the year of the duck in the NHL.

Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk had 20 goals and 46 points last season. He could take a major step forward this year.

The Anaheim Ducks are the trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup next June. They weren’t far removed from winning it all last season. But there are many obstacles standing in the Ducks’ path. Here's a capsule look at what we will see this season, starting Wednesday:

Who will win if the Ducks don’t? 1. Tampa Bay Lightning; 2. New York Rangers; 3. Nashville Predators; 4. Chicago Blackhawks; 5. Washington Capitals.

Non-rookies who will make vital contributions to new teams: 1. Paul Martin (San Jose Sharks); 2. Brandon Saad (Columbus Blue Jackets); 3. Cam Talbot (Edmonton Oilers); 4. Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins); 5. Ryan O’Reilly (Buffalo Sabres).

Goalies with pressure to be sharper this season: 1. Kari Lehtonen (Dallas Stars); 2. Robin Lehner (Buffalo Sabres); 3. Mike Smith (Arizona Coyotes); 4. Jimmy Howard (Detroit Red Wings); 5. Jonathan Bernier (Toronto Maple Leafs).

10 bold predictions for 2015-16 NHL season

Likely to be in Norris Trophy race: 1. Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings); 2. Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators); 3. Shea Weber (Nashville Predators); 4. Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames); 5. P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens).

Players who could be traded before the season is over: 1. Eric Staal (Carolina Hurricanes); 2. Tyler Bozak (Toronto Maple Leafs); 3. Joffrey Lupul and everyone else on the Toronto Maple Leafs; 4. Kyle Okposo (New York Islanders); 5. Radim Vrbata (Vancouver Canucks)

Players who will have breakthrough seasons: 1. Alex Galchenyuk (Montreal Canadiens); 2. Teuvo Teravainen (Chicago Blackhawks); 3. Jonathan Drouin (Tampa Bay Lightning); 4. Jakob Silfverberg (Anaheim Ducks); 5. Mikael Granlund (Minnesota Wild).

Game changers this season: 1. Three-on-three overtime introduced; 2. Expansion looks likely; 3. Mike Babcock and Lou Lamoriello going to Toronto; 4. New York Islanders moving to Brooklyn; 5. Coaches challenge for offside and goalie interference.

Five NHL teams that are flying under the radar

Things that make sense: 1. Milan Lucic playing in Los Angeles. He was born to play Kings’ style of hockey and for Darryl Sutter to be his coach; 2. Kessel playing in Pittsburgh. This is a franchise with a goal-scoring tradition, and he is one of the better scorers in the game; 3. Jeff Blashill coaching in Detroit. He is a native Detroiter who has paid his dues. His dad was once a Detroit police officer; 4. Ray Shero following Lamoriello in New Jersey. He will maintain the team’s strong defensive tradition, but he will make sure this team is entertaining. 5. Connor McDavid landing in Edmonton and Jack Eichel going to Buffalo. The Canadian city gets the next Canadian star and the hard-working fans of Buffalo get the All-American boy in Eichel.

Candidates to end up with best lottery position: 1. Toronto Maple Leafs; 2. New Jersey Devils; 3. Arizona Coyotes; 4. Carolina Hurricanes; 5. Philadelphia Flyers.

Coaches on the hot seat: 1. Ken Hitchcock (St. Louis); 2. Jack Capuano (New York Islanders); 3. Claude Julien (Boston Bruins); 4. Darryl Sutter (Los Angeles); 5. Everyone else except Mike Babcock because every coach is on the hot seat. Babcock is fire-proof because he has a $50 million contract.

10 NHL story lines molded by advanced stats for 2015-16

Three-on-three groups we would love to see: 1. Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks); 2. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh Penguins); 3. Triplets Line (Tampa Bay Lightning); 4. Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles Kings); 5. Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and John Klingberg (Dallas Stars).

Point increases projected: 1. Crosby (Pittsburgh) will go from 84 to 106; 2. Saad (Columbus) will go from 52 points to 72; 3. Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) will go from 38 to 67; 4. Tyler Ennis (Buffalo Sabres) will go from 46 to 69; 5. Chris Kreider will go 46 to 60.

Don’t miss:  1. Chicago Rookie Artemi Panarin. He’s worth the price of admission. He’s like a water bug on ice. 2. Watching Crosby and Kessel. The over-and-under for Kessel goals if he plays with Crosby has to be at least 35. 3. The Winter Classic in the New England Patriots’ home stadium. The Bruins vs. Canadiens outdoors? That’s hard to top; 4. Read all you can about Auston Matthews, the Arizona native who is playing in Switzerland. He will be the No. 1 in the draft, and he’s ready to play in the NHL today. He has the same potential as Eichel or McDavid; 5. The Islanders’ third jersey. It’s sharp.

Be confident of this: 1. Alex Ovechkin will score 50 goals for the seventh time in 11 seasons; 2. Despite key changes, the Blackhawks will be a playoff factor next spring; 3. Shootouts will become an endangered species. Three-on-three will decide more than 80% of games that are tied after regulation; 4. A good team in the Metropolitan Division will miss the playoffs. No one is safe, not even the Rangers; 5.That loud cannon in Columbus is going to startle many, many people this season because the Blue Jackets will score often.

PHOTOS: Major injuries during 2015-16 season

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