Atlantic Division :
Tampa Bay Lightning (President Trophy)
1st Round Match-up: Against Columbus
Tampa Bay has played the best regular season in the modern day NHL. No team has put up 60 wins in a long time. Tampa Bay has the most goals scored this entire season, and is sporting one of the best defenses in the NHL. The Lighting have the best power play, and one of the best penalty kills in hockey. The Lighting were lead by Nikita Kucherov this season, who put up 125 points. 86 of his points were assists, which is an insane amount of assists to register in a single season. The only knock against Kucherov is that he is third on the team with penalty minutes. Keeping Kucherov out of the box and with the puck will be key to a deep postseason run for the Lightning.
The Lightning boast 3 90+ point players in Kucherov, Stamkos and Point. Injuries have not been a big issue for the Lighting this year, except when Andrei Vasilevskiy fell to an injury in November. Louis Dominguez stepped up big during that time and held the net for the Lighting. The Lightning learned that they really do not need a goalie in the net to win during that time. Tampa can beat teams just by having the puck more than their opponent.
Going into the postseason I hope the Lightning manage to win it all this season. With the salary cap it is uncertain that all of this team will be back in the next few years, this is the best shot Tampa will ever have at winning a cup.
Boston Bruins (Second in Atlantic)
1st Round Match-up : Against Toronto
Boston missed the playoffs for 2 years in 2014-15 and 2015-16 just wanted to point that out for all you Blackhawks fans that things can turn around. Anyway Boston has had an unbelievable season, and has done so hiding behind Tampa Bay. David Pastrnak has been unbelievable this year putting up a team leading 37 goals and has helped carry Boston into the playoffs. The best thing about the Bruins would have to be their defense. Units lead by a young Brandon Carlo, and Zdeno Chara, Charlie McAvoy as well as Torey Krug, the Bruins are loaded. Boston has a power play well above the league average, and has connected 65 times on the PP. Going into the postseason the Bruins will need to keep the Power Play going against a really good Toronto Maple Leafs team.
Tuukka Rask is being Tuukka Rask again this season, with a .915 save percentage in 45 games this season. Rask may have struggled during the season a little, but the postseason is where the Bruins will need Rask the most. Toronto is a high flying offensive team, and if Rask can shut them down this team is poised to at least get to round two.
Toronto Maple Leafs (Third in Atlantic)
1st Round Matchup : In Boston
I really like this team, whether it be bringing in Tavares in the offseason, or bringing in Muzzin before the trade deadline Toronto really has a shot to make some noise this spring. Toronto, a team that has been leaning on defenseman Morgan Rielly a lot this season, was about to acquire Jake Muzzin, who is now 3rd on the team with time on ice. A defensive group of Rielly, Gardiner, and Muzzin is fine with me. Besides when it comes to hockey you can not get scored on when you have the puck most the night.
Toronto’s mantra all season has been score more goals then your opponent. I mean that literally, they have been winning games 6-5 and 5-4 all season. They will simply out score opponents, and in the Stanley Cup playoffs it is going to take a lot of goals get past round 1.
John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander all have something to prove in the playoffs. Nylander, who missed most of the season with no contract, has a lot to prove. Maybe a great Stanley Cup playoff showing can push Toronto into a praise of Nylander, rather then question his contract.
The days of the Phil Kessel Maple Leafs are behind us, and its exciting.
Metropolitan Division :
Washington Capitals (First In Metropolitan)
1st Round Matchup : Against Carolina
Another year, another Metro division topped by the Caps. Washington is coming off there first Stanley Cup championship in history, and there is no reason why they could not repeat. Alex Ovechkin put up 50+ goals again, Backstrom, Kuznetsov, and Carlson are all playing great hockey. The great thing about the Caps is they have pretty good depth scoring 7 players on the team had 20 plus goals and 8 players had at least 40 points.
The Capitals did not dominate this year, they had a below average penalty kill, and an average power play. It is going to take a lot for this team to win another Stanley Cup. The addition of Carl Hagelin I believe will prove a victory. Hagelin was a big role player on Pittsburgh's back to back cups, he could bring experience and gritt when the team gets put against Pittsburgh again in round 2.
Braden Holtby will have to be great again this year, he averaged 2.82 goals against per game, not the best number in the league. Washington will have to win games defensively without Michal Kempny who fell to a lower body injury. A lot of people are putting Washington as an upset likely candidate, we will see if they can prove people wrong again.
New York Islanders (Second in Metropolitan)
1st Round Matchup : Against Pittsburgh
Barry Trotz has to be one of the best coaches in the NHL. The Islanders were poised to be dead last in the NHL. After finishing in 7th in the Metro last year he pushed the Islanders to second in the division this year, without John Tavares anymore. 2 players come to mind for the Islanders being in this position, Mathew Barzal and Robin Lehner. Brazil put up 62 points this season, and Lehner was the backbone of the team in the net.
New York had the least amount of goals against in the entire NHL. It helps when you also give up very few shots against in games Ryan Pulock, and Nick Leddy are leading the defensive group to the NHL playoffs. Hopefully the Islanders can win against the very skilled very driven Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins (Third in Metropolitan)
1st Round Matchup : In New York
What more can be said about the Pittsburgh Penguins, year in and year out this team battles adversity, finds scoring when they need to, and manages to make the playoffs. This team can never be counted out to compete for a Stanley Cup. Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, and Murray all find ways to help push this team to a new level come April.
Expect Mike Sullivan to work his magic and have the Pittsburgh Penguins back into the final.
Carolina Hurricanes (First Wild Card)
1st Round Matchup : In Washington
Those “Bunch Of Jerks” made the playoffs. For the first time since 2009 the Carolina Hurricanes will have playoff hockey, sure they are playing the defending Stanley Cup champions but never count out this team.
Carolina had some question marks this season, whether it be the fall of Scott Darling or the rise of Petr Mrazek Carolina has not been the strongest in net. The good thing is Carolina is young and they are ready to compete for a cup.
The Defensive group consists of Dougie Hamilton, Justin Faulk, Jacob Slavin, and Brett Pesce. These 4 guys are all younger than 27 and want to win now. Sebastian Aho, Teutonic Teravainen and Justin Williams led the Hurricanes to the playoffs with great offense.
Carolina is going to have their hands full in the first round, but maybe there energy, youth, and speed can give them a shot against the Washington Capitals.
Columbus Blue Jackets (Second Wild Card)
1st Round Matchup : In Tampa Bay
Poor Columbus, for the third year in a row the Blue Jackets have made the playoffs, and are searching for a playoff series win. The bad news is they are playing the best team in a long time with 62 regular season wins this season.
Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid, and Matt Duchene all are going to need to be big playoff players for Columbus. Those 3 players plus Sergei Bobrovsky in net and Artemi Panarin on the top line might not be coming back to the team next year. Chances are Columbus is going to be a very different team next season, so the Jackets need to take advantage of their talent while they can.
Shaky goaltending has put the Jackets in this spot, Bobrovsky, though great as of late, struggled throughout part of the year. The Blue Jackets are in for a very tough first round opponent, however maybe their many many scoring weapons can push Tampa to a 6 or 7 game series. It only takes 4 games to end the Titan NHL team that is Tampa Bay.
Pacific Division :
Calgary Flames (Western Conference Champ)
1st Round Matchup : Against Colorado
I have no clue how this team is in the position they are in. They are young, they are hungry, they are talented, and they are on fire. Calgary has some of the most talented players in the league, there top 4 point getters are all under the age of 26. Johnny Gaudreau has put up 99 points, Sean Monaghan put up 82, and Elias Lindholm put up 78. Calgary has a really powerful offense, with players like James Neal to be a leader in the locker room.
Calgary has the second most goals for in the NHL this year, scoring is not going to be an issue for them, trying to establish which goalie to start will. What matters when picking a starting goalie in the playoffs? Is it experience or is it who is hotter? Mike Smith has put up a .898 SV% and a 2.72 goals against average, however David Rittich, the 26 year old rookie goalie put up a .911 SV% and a 2.61 GAA.
It will be hard establishing which goalie to start, but luckily we are not Bill Peters. After missing the playoffs last year, it will be fun to see Stanley Cup playoff hockey back in Calgary.
San Jose Sharks (Second in Pacific)
1st Round Matchup : Against Vegas
San Jose was an early favorite to win the cup. Ever since trading for Erik Karlsson many figured San Jose to be a lock for the cup. This team is running out of time, with an aging core. It is likely this could be Joe Thornton’s last season in the NHL, his last chance to win a Stanley Cup. Thornton has quietly put up 51 points in a season where his ice time was only 15:33 on average.
San Jose coasted to a playoff spot in a weak Pacific division. If San Jose is going to have any chance at beating the Vegas Golden Knights in a best of 7 series it will all depend on goalie Martin Jones. Jones has struggled a lot this year, and will need to turn it around. Same with Erik Karlsson who has been out with an injury throughout most of the second half of the year.
Joe Pavelski put the puck in the back of the net 38 times this season. His leadership as the captain of the team will be key to San Jose having a deep playoff run. If the goal is to get Joe Thornton the cup Pavelski and company better be scoring a lot of goals.
Vegas Golden Knights (Third in Pacific)
1st Round Matchup : In San Jose
Vegas has never missed the playoffs in their two years as a team Vegas has managed to not only qualify but strive in the playoffs and things should be no different for them this year. Adding players like Paul Stastny Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty proved to be unsuccessful in the regular season, however this is the true X factor in the NHL playoffs. 3 players that would be first line players on any other team are together on the Knights second line. Vegas can beat teams solely with that line, they also boost one of the best goalies in Marc-Andre Fleury and a great home crowd.
Vegas will need to beat a very good San Jose team in the first round but I believe they can do it, I also believe they will be the best team in the west again. Vegas has more role players than any other team in the NHL. Need a big hit? Put out Ryan Reaves. Need a big goal put out Stone and Pacioretty and see what they get done. It is only a matter of time before this team wins a Stanley Cup.
Central Division :
Nashville Predators (First in Central Division)
1st Round Matchup : Against Dallas
Perks Rinne is not going to be able to put up a .918 save percentage every year. The 36 year old is running out of time to win a Stanley Cup. Brian Boyle also deserves a Stanley Cup with all he has gone through with cancer, and going to the final with Tampa and New York only to lose. Wayne Simmons might not resign with the team after this year, and has only put up 3 points in 17 games with Nashville this year.
Nashville has one of the best defensive groups in the NHL, with Josi Subban Ekholm and Ellis. Nashville is going to have to find scoring in their defensive group as well as with Ryan Johansson and Filip Forsberg.
Nashville has definitely taken a step back this season after finishing as a President trophy winner last year. But if Nashville learned one thing last year it isn’t about how you do in the season, it is about when you turn it on come playoff time.
Winnipeg Jets (Second in Central Division)
1st Round Matchup : Against St. Louis
Patrick Laine is going to demand a lot of money out of this team, and they are going to pay him. The salary cap is finally catching up to the Winnipeg Jets so they need to take advantage while they can. The Jets are big and fast, something that is great come playoff time. They also have one of the best home ice rinks in the NHL. Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, and Kyle Connor all lead this team to a great spot in the playoffs. Laine put up 30 goals and could really benefit from a great playoff run. The Power Play for the Winnipeg Jets was above average, and will need to be great against the Saint Louis Blues.
Playoffs is honestly all about special teams and momentum. Winnipeg has a great power play and needs to stay out of the box. The Jets also need to protect their goalie, there have been some question marks with Connor Hellebuyck in net, so the team might want to try and block as many shots as possible, do not put Hellebuyck in bad situations.
Dustin Byfuglien is still one of the biggest and baddest defenseman in the NHL, he has not been to the Stanley Cup final since 2010, this could be his year to return.
Saint Louis Blues (Third in Central Division)
1st Round Matchup : In Winnipeg
I said it at the start of the year and I will say it again, this is the Blues year. Saint Louis revamped their team a lot this offseason, adding talented players Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron and Tyler Borza’s to name a few. Saint Louis has never won a Stanley Cup, and since being at the bottom of the standings in January they are the hottest team in the league.
Saint Louis has a lot of depth scoring, with 13 players with at least 10 goals this season. The Blues are also one of the biggest teams in the league. They are going up against the Jets in the playoffs but their styles of play will mesh very well, heavy hitting, grit scoring. Vladimir Tarasenko had another Tarasenko year with 33 goals. If anyone is going to will this team to the conference final and beyond it will be Tarasenko.
The Power Play and Penalty kills for the Blues are both average, so taking advantage of those chances will be key. With Jake Allen playing questionable at best, Jordan Bennington has stepped up in the games he has played in. The 25 year old may be getting his first taste of playoff hockey come Wednesday.
Dallas Stars (First Wild Card)
1st Round Matchup : In Nashville
How did this team get here? After a “dismal” start to the season, Dallas CEO Jim Lites came out and ripped Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. “The team was okay. But Seguin and Benn were terrible.” Lites said to the Athletic back in December. Lites also called the two stars “f—ing horses”. Well those 2 horses have lead Dallas back into the playoffs. Seguin put up 80 points and Benn put up 53, not bad point totals. Dallas did not score many goals this year, boasting the 29th total of goals scored in the season out of 31. However Dallas did only give up 202 goals, second best in the league.
Heiskanen, Lindell, Klingberg, Fedun all played great defensively. The team does have great goaltending too. Ben Bishop split the net primarily with Anton Khudobin this season. Bishop boasts a 1.98 GAA. The 32 year old Stanley Cup final goaltender will be needed to beat the top team in the Central Division in Nashville.
Colorado Avalanche (Second Wild Card)
1st Round Matchup : In Calgary
For the second year in a row Colorado has clinched the final wild card spot in the west. The only thing left to decide is will it be the second year in a row they have a first round exit. Colorado boasts one of the best lines in hockey. Nathan MacKinnon, Mickough Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog all put up 75 plus points.
Colorado as mentioned has one of the best lines in hockey, but after that what else do they have? It seems like MacKinnon has been around for a long time but he is only 23. Colorado has a great goaltender. Semyon Varlamov put up a .909 save percentage. Philipp Grubauer put up a .917 save percentage.
Jade Bednar is going to have a hard time deciding which goalie to start in his first playoff series behind the Avalanche bench. Trying to spread the goals out amongst the forward group will be the main goal to get the Avs to the second round.
Comments