Last-place Devils and competitive Columbus: Remembering the worst takes of 2022-2023
Even the best and brightest hockey minds get it wrong sometimes. Hosts Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna admitted as much of Wednesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, when the duo recapped their preseason predictions for the Eastern Conference. Between McKenna’s forecast for a basement-dwelling Devils and Seravalli’s unfortunate gamble on the Columbus Blue Jackets, there was plenty to unpack.
Frank Seravalli: Let’s talk “old takes exposed.” On Tuesday we did the Western Conference and just took a look back at some predictions that we had from earlier this season that we’re kind of embarrassed about and we can laugh about now. What stands out to you about how you viewed the Eastern Conference to start the year?
Mike McKenna: Well, I took the New Jersey Devils to finish last in the Metro. Swing and a miss! I couldn’t have whiffed any bigger on that one Frank.
There were a lot of things about the Devils that I didn’t think were quite ready. I thought the personnel was still lacking some things, I wasn’t sure what Lindy Ruff could do this year. I think I underestimated how good the trade was for John Marino, who has been fantastic on the blueline for that team. Even in his absence the growth of Kevin Bahl on the backend has mattered.
You’ve got players that have been healthy all year; Hughes and Hischier have been in the lineup almost every night. The rise of Dawson Mercer and adding Andrew Brunette to that coaching. He’s of course coming off of the President’s Trophy last year with the Florida Panthers as their head coach.
I thought at the beginning of the year the devils were a little immature. I don’t have those questions any longer. The only thing I look at for the playoffs is who’s going to be the goalie, but man, last? Frank I picked them last in the Metropolitan Division, and they’re awesome, dude. I totally whiffed on that one.
Frank Seravalli: I can’t even make fun of you because I had them 7th and certainly out of a playoff spot, so that’s really no better. The scary part about the Devils is that as the season has gone on I think they have looked better and better with how consistent they’ve been and now with Timo Meier they’re certainly impressive.
The scary thing for the Metro is that the Devils aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, but for me, my big swing-and-miss was the Columbus Blue Jackets.
I went back and looked at my 32 bold predictions column from before the season started and the actual text of it is amazing. “PointsBet Team Point Total Stone Cold Mortal Lock: Columbus Blue Jackets OVER 79.5 points. They had 81 last year and they’re much improved.” Let me underline that again: stone cold mortal lock over 79.5 points. I even threw in a haughty “you’re welcome.”
The Blue Jackets have spent the bulk of the last month in 32nd place in the NHL, that is exactly where they are as they wake up this morning, in the number one spot in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes in terms of odds. They have a 25.5 percent chance to get perhaps the best player to enter the NHL draft since Auston Matthews. Could you be any more wrong than that? Stone cold mortal lock? Take me out to the woodshed for that pick.
Mike McKenna: You’re being too hard on yourself, Frank, we don’t need that much violence here. But it is a terrible pick.
Frank Seravlli: Yeah, the math is quite ugly for the Blue Jackets to even get to 60 points. I was only 20 off, not a big deal.