NHL 24 Predicts Next Stanley Cup Winner

The NHL season officially begins today, and to celebrate the occasion, EA Sports has released the results of its annual season simulation. This year, NHL 24 is predicting that the New Jersey Devils will win the Stanley Cup in a series against the Edmonton Oilers. The simulation predicted that the Devils will win the Metropolitan Division, the Oilers will win the Pacific, the Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Atlantic, and the Colorado Avalanche will win the Central. The full breakdown, including the simulated winners of each NHL playoff series, can be found in the graphic below:

NHL 24 Simulation Top Point Scorers

In addition to sharing the simulated Stanley Cup winner, EA Sports also shared the predicted Top 10 point scorers this season. The simulated list is actually pretty close to what happened in the 2022-2023 NHL season, with NHL 24 predicting that Connor McDavid will once again be the league's leading point scorer. The game is predicting some notable jumps, however, with Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres moving into the Top 10, having made an appearance in the Top 20 last season. Auston Matthews would see an even bigger jump, moving from the spot 22 on the list all the way to the Top 5. The full list can be found below: 

• Connor McDavid
• Jack Hughes
• Leon Draisaitl 
• Nathan MacKinnon
• Auston Matthews
• David Pastrnak
• Tage Thompson
• Jason Robertson
• Nikita Kucherov
• Elias Pettersson

NHL Fan Reception

Unsurprisingly, hockey fans have had some fun reactions to the simulation. On Twitter, many fans scoffed at the results, while others celebrated the possibilities. The Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs have always had a strong rivalry, so the idea of the two teams facing off in the first round would be pretty exciting; already, fans of both teams have had a lot to say about what that contest might be like. Some fans took offense to the standings, including those rooting for the Ottawa Senators, as their team is conspicuously absent from the bracket altogether. And while Ottawa is completely missing, the presence of the St. Louis Blues also led to some surprise! 

Of course, as with any simulation, readers should keep in mind that this is all just for fun, and there's no way of predicting what might actually happen! As we've seen many times in the past, sports are notoriously hard to predict; teams can be plagued by injuries, or a well-timed trade could completely shift a team's chances of winning it all. With 82 regular season games to play for each of these teams, there's a very long wait ahead until we know who will hoist the Stanley Cup this year. For now, fans will just have to watch what happens and try to bring their favorite team to the top in NHL 24. 

Have you checked out NHL 24 yet? What do you think of these predictions? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!