This week for the Friday 5 I am looking at the Stanley Cup playoffs that will be starting up on Monday and which 5 of the 16 teams has the best shot at lifting Lord Stanley’s Cup when it is all said and done.
This will be an interesting list especially as we don’t know 2 of the matchups for the West until tonight when the Avalanche take on the Predators. The Wild and Kraken await their opponents.
Here are my picks for the 5 most likely Stanley Cup winners:
5. Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are a top team and are not higher due to Svechnikov’s injury and will not be playing the playoffs. They have a good defense, great offence not to mention a great goaltending duo in Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta and goaltending makes a huge difference in the playoffs. I think they will have a good shot at lifting the cup but will not have an easy ride from the 2nd round onward after drawing the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs.
4. Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas has been primed to do damage in the playoffs since they became a franchise making the finals in their first year. The team is stocked full of talent despite some injuries to key players. They have a solid duo in the pipes but strength comes from the back end with great defense in front of the goalies. Eichel seems more motivated than ever before and poised to take on the world this year after getting out of Buffalo last year and is healthy. If they can solve Hellebuyck early enough in the 1st round they can take advantage of the hit and miss Jets.
3. New York Rangers
Despite finishing 3rd in their division behind the Hurricanes and their 1st round opponents the Devils the Rangers are a roster that can go deep in the playoffs and bring home their first cup since ’94. The offence is strong especially with the addition of Patrick Kane at the deadline to boost it even more. The team has great depth at forward and similar on defense not to mention stellar goaltending with Igor Shesterkin and a dependable back up in Jaroslav Halak if something goes wrong, and we all know Halak can steal series if he has to.
2. Dallas Stars
Coming in silver is the Dallas Stars who have found new life with great young players like Jason Robertson leading the way offensively wit the 23 year old netting 46 goals and 109 points on the year. If Dallas can stay healthy, which has been a problem for some of their star players over the year they can come out of the West and challenge for the Cup. When Tyler Seguin is your 3rd line centre you know their is depth. Defensively they will get a lot of contributions from the depth anchored by the likes of Ryan Suter ont he top defense pairing with Heiskanen. Expect the defense to help that high power offence with talent like Heiskanen, Hakanpaa Lindell back there. The biggest weapon the team has is though is Jake Oettinger between the pipes. Oettinger made a name for himself in the playoffs before and expect him to be the biggest reason the team has success in the playoffs. Golatending wins championships in the NHL and he is a beast between the pipes.
1. Boston Bruins
This should be no surprise but the Presidents Trophy winners in the Boston Bruins are the favourites. Bruins has been dominating the league breaking records along the way. You know the talent they have upfront with Marchand, Bergeron, Pasternak and DeBrusk having a breakout year, but you cannot forget that the defense is stellar and contributing both offensively and defensivly. The team is just stacked with deadline acquistions of Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway firing on all cylinders. We haven’t even talked about the duo of Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman in the pipes, who won the Williams M Jenning, the duo becoming the first duo to win 40 & 20 games each in NHL history. The Bruins have the experience and drive to raise the cup again like they did in 2011.
– Everett
