Sure we can assume the Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils are completely out of the Stanley Cup talk, but the remaining twenty six teams all have a shot.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks are teams I am unsure of what direction they will take. You have to think Mike Babock is worth 3-5 wins with his coaching techniques while Pete DeBoar might just be the change the San Jose Sharks need.

Meanwhile, I have no idea what direction the Vancouver Canucks are headed and I believe management doesn't either.

Top teams in the race for the Cup surely are the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Anaheim Ducks and the Washington Capitals.

My belief is one of those teams will be the Stanley Cup Champions but teams who could put it all together this upcoming season include the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins. Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers.

That leaves us with teams somewhat caught in the midde. The teams include the Detroit Red Wings, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and a few others.

So before we think of teams with a great chance to win the Cup, we must first wait to see how the season starts and then make a more firm predication around the first of the year.

Until then, anything can happen including injuries to key players, good to great players having a bad season or players coming out of nowhere who will perform at a greater level than expected.

Oh yes, goaltenders fall into this category too. Great goalies can have a bad year and goalies who once are considered average can go on a long run where the puck looks like a beach ball to them.

Making predictions this time of year is a guess but once the season starts and the games begin, we should get a better feel for the teams in the Cup chase and those who are not.

Until then, all teams are 0-0-0 and everyone is in first place or last, depending on how you look at it and all bets are either on or off.