from Kevin Allen of USA TODAY,

As we count down to the end of the year, here's a list of 10 predictions for 2017:

- New York Islanders center John Tavares will receive the Steven Stamkos treatment when it comes to his 2018 potential unrestricted free agency. The build-up will start next summer. Every team that would have bid on Stamkos will covet Tavares. It will be speculated that he will get $10.5 million per season, just as Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane did in 2014.

- Ralph Krueger will be back in the NHL. The former Edmonton Oilers coach is too smart, too inspirational and too dynamic not to be a coach or a key member of an NHL management team. The only issue: An organization will have to pay him enough to lure him away from soccer. He is the chairman of Southampton in the Premier League.

- New leadership in Colorado. Did Patrick Roy see this coming when he quit as coach last summer? The 11-18-1 Avalanche have the NHL’s worst record. General manager and executive vice president Joe Sakic is an important figure in the team’s history. The classy Sakic may not be swept out, but it seems likely ownership would want someone new calling the shots. Sakic hasn’t been able to get this team pointed in the right direction.

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