As the NHL Postseason dawns on us we can safely say that almost every team in the playoffs has a shot at Lord Stanley’s Cup. The entire playoffs will be played North of the Border in Canada which I think is very interesting. Let’s meet the 12 teams that will be playing in Toronto in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Boston Bruins: Despite another great regular season the Bruins are dealing with the Presidents Trophy Curse. If they want to become the first team since the 2013 Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup as the Presidents Trophy winner they need most of the core like Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Vezina Trophy Winner Tuukka Rask to dominate in the playoffs as usual. From the way I see it this will be a complete failure if Boston doesn’t win the Cup. I can tell they want redemption from last year’s defeat at the hands of the Blues.
Tampa Bay Lightning: The postseason as of late has meant nothing to the Lightning and once again they had a great regular season but guys like Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and of course goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy need to step up in the playoffs big time. This year’s team is the ultimate boom or bust story in the NHL but they are short handed because I am hearing that Stamkos hurt himself in practice this week. This team is a snakebit franchise besides that Cup in 2004.
Washington Capitals: Another year, another Capitals juggernaut that has Stanley Cup ambitions. Most of the key players from the 2018 Cup team like Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and TJ Oshie are back but the emergence of John Carson and Michal Kempny are very key to their usually dominant power play. My only concern is who will be the goalie come playoff time. It will be a tough choice and whoever is chosen I think will play like a God because that’s how it has worked in the past.
Philadelphia Flyers: This team I think shall be feared in the eyes of many in the Eastern Conference. A core that is not only very talented but also is well coached thanks to the arrival of Alain Vigneault. The two most consistent players on this year’s edition of the Broad Street Bullies are Travis Konecny and Jakob Voracek. Even Kevin Hayes has lived up to the 7-by-7 contract he got last year from the team, and of course there is the old reliable Claude Giroux who is looking to add a Stanley Cup to his Hall of Fame career in every sense of the word. If Ovechkin did it in 2018 so can he! Also Carter Hart is playing the best hockey his career so there is that going for them too.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Does everyone remember when we counted this team out after last year’s first round sweep at the hands of the Islanders? Yes! This year many of the Pens players have once again proved that they are once again a Stanley Cup contender. As usual Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are once again leading the charge but new guys like Brandon Tanev and John Marino have emerged to join fellow mainstays Kris Letang and Brian Rust at the head of the pack. Once again the Pens have high expectations but have to play a play-in series just to get in. They can manage right.
Carolina Hurricanes: I thought this team would be the Class of the Metro Division at the beginning of the season. It turns out that they still have a little longer until they can be a serious threat. Despite losing Dougie Hamilton early in the season due to injury, the Canes have done enough to be a dark-horse contender like last year. Sebastian Aho has had a career year and Teuvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov are not that far back. The only concern surrounding this team is their starting goaltender. Injuries have plagued them but it has been 4 months since they last played. They’ll get their act together just watch.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Once again before the season the hype surrounding LeafLand was insane, and once again they underachieved but did just enough to have a chance at a playoff berth. The good news for them is that they have Home ice for the entire postseason excluding the Cup Finals since half of the 24 teams in the playoffs will be playing in Jurassic Park. Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner will be the keys to a deep run but the real problem will be Freddie Andersen. Does he have to carry this team again if everything goes flat, who knows. PS please don’t play Boston in the first round again!
Columbus Blue Jackets: I must give a great amount of credit to coach John Tortoretta, they lost their 3 best players in the offseason last year and their GM as well to the division rival Rangers as well as most of the team getting injured at different points of the season. What is the result? A team with no true superstar but plays well as a team to have a chance at the playoffs. They don’t have any notable names besides Pierre-Luc Dubois and Gustav Nyquist but I have a feeling that this team will bring more heartbreak to Tampa like last year. It would be just as funny and even more unexpected.
New York Islanders: Barry Trotz aka “the Eggman” has once again like the Jackets put together a playoff contender that has no true superstar. Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey are two players that love to distribute the puck so that others can score just as much as they can. They are a well run team except for their front office who finally agreed to build a new arena in Long Island so that the fans won’t have to go to Brooklyn all the time. Luckily there is no Barclays Center to rob them like last year in the second round, to return to the playoffs they must beat their Manhattan rivals.
New York Rangers: Have you noticed a rebuild so short that you realize it never happened? That is the Rangers fellosify. This began when they plucked Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko as well as Jacob Trouba last summer, and it intensified when Chris Strome, and Mika Zibanejad also came of age in the second half. This team was one of the hottest teams in the two months before COVID19 and should be a force come playoff time regardless if King Henrik is not in net. What a difference a year makes.
Florida Panthers: This team is very lucky that they get a chance to compete for a playoff spot. After the moves they made in the offseason to hire Coach Q and add depth to the 2nd and 3rd lines it has been pretty much the same results like 2016-17 to 2018-19 seasons. I will say though this team is very crafty when it comes to passing the puck. They are one of the league leaders in team assists. The only concern is Sergei Bobrovsky, if he returns to old form like he did in Columbus this team could go deep in the playoffs. If he doesn’t they could bow out to the Brass Bonanza known as the Hurricanes.
Montreal Canadiens: Like the Panthers the Canadiens were in a late season free fall but were saved by Gary Bettman’s playoff format. The reason they could be sneaky good is on the shoulders of 3 players: Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault, and Max Domi. The good news is that with the pandemic it allows Carey Price the ability to recover from a rough season and return to his old playoff self if he is given the chance. I would help him by scoring plenty of one timers from the point if I were you.
I am not doing any predictions until the Western Conference preview but I will say this, The East once again looks like a bloodbath of challengers with no end in sight. You could make a case for almost any team with the style of play that they have. I will say though since we have not had hockey in almost 4 months this postseason will be very hard to predict. At least that is how everyone sees it.
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