Yes, it’s that time of year again – pre-season prediction time.

In one of our many continuing traditions, The Hockey News has already debated the merits of all 30 NHL teams and decided on the order of team finishes, in both conferences, for the upcoming regular season.

The complete list will be available in THN’s 2009-10 Yearbook edition, available for purchase at the end of August. But this year, as a special bonus for our online audience, we thought we’d do things a little differently and reveal parts of our predictions a day at a time on THN.com.

Starting Thursday, we’ll unveil our predictions for the 15th-ranked teams in each conference, as well as short explanations explaining our rationale for the decision. Each day thereafter, the next two teams will be posted online, until we get to Aug. 19th, when our two picks for conference champions are unveiled.

Discuss and enjoy!