The most exciting postseason in sports is officially underway! And before it’s too late, I want my predictions for this year’s NHL playoffs on record.
Without further ado, I’ll start with my Bruins…
*Note: seedings listed based on conference standings, per ESPN
Atlantic Bracket: #2 Boston Bruins vs #4 Toronto Maple Leafs
The Bruins missed an opportunity to secure home ice for the first three rounds of the playoffs by losing unceremoniously to the previously eliminated Florida Panthers. Their punishment: a meeting against the NHL’s next great dynasty.
Did you know that the Maple Leafs’ top three scorers this season — Mitch Marner (69 points), Auston Matthews (63 points), and William Nylander (61 points) — are all under the age of 22? And in the case of both Marner and Matthews, the latter of whom scored 34 goals this year despite missing 20 games, the two center iceman are only 20 years old. Toronto will contend for a long time. The question is whether Mike Babcock’s squad is ready to make a run this postseason.
In short, I think the Maple Leafs can certainly advance a couple of rounds this spring. After all, their defense (12th in goals against) has improved dramatically after ranking 22nd in the same category in 2016-17. The ‘Leafs also posted the third best goal differential in the East (+45), a mark that was not too far off from Boston’s (+56).
However, I still give the slight edge in this series to the Bruins thanks largely to their superior defense (4th in goals against). Boston’s recent stretch of play certainly doesn’t inspire much confidence, though, as Patrice Bergeron and company have lost four out of their previous five games. But with an added offensive boost from the likes of Rick Nash, who projects to finally return from a concussion that has sidelined hims since mid-March, the Bruins should have enough firepower to overcome a dangerous Toronto side.
Bruins in Seven
Atlantic Bracket: #1 Tampa Bay Lightning vs #8 New Jersey Devils
Think top-seeded Tampa Bay is a lock to advance to the next round? In the words of college football’s Lee Corso, not so fast my friends…the Devils swept the season series against the Lightning, although each of those games was decided by one goal. Nonetheless, New Jersey should put a scare into a Tampa Bay team that has looked less than stellar in recent weeks (6-6-1 in past thirteen games).
Lightning in Six
Metropolitan Bracket: #3 Washington Capitals vs #7 Columbus Blue Jackets
Sorry Caps fans: you’ll have to wait another year for your team to finally break through. Columbus was one of three teams I touted as a dark horse Stanley Cup contender a few weeks ago. And I’m still standing by that assertion because the Blue Jackets have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL over the past month (13-4-2, +19 goal differential). Combined with a goalie controversy in Washington (backup Phillip Grubauer will start the postseason in place of Braden Holtby), I’ll take Columbus in an upset.
Blue Jackets in Six
Metropolitan Bracket: #5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #6 Philadelphia Flyers
In contrast to the aforementioned Devils, the lower-seeded Flyers were swept by the Penguins this past regular season. That certainly doesn’t bode well for Philly against the defending champs, nor does the fact that Pittsburgh once again finished in the top five in goal scoring.
Penguins in Six
Central Bracket: #1 Nashville Predators vs #8 Colorado Avalanche
Nashville is the favorite to win this year’s Cup. But that’s often a curse more than it is a blessing: only three one seeds have made the Cup Final since 2004! Simply put, think twice before assuming the Predators will win the West — and look out for the Avalanche, who have one of the best special teams units in the NHL.
Predators in Seven
Central Bracket: #2 Winnipeg Jets vs #4 Minnesota Wild
The Jets are never in the national spotlight, but they’re about to be after finishing with the second most points in the NHL this past season. Led by emerging nineteen-year-old superstar Patrik Laine (44 goals, 2nd in NHL), the Jets will have little trouble advancing past a Minnesota team that is not elite in any particular area.
Jets in Five
Pacific Bracket: #3 Vegas Golden Knights vs #7 Los Angeles Kings
The Golden Knights have arguably had the most successful expansion season ever (can you remember the last time a team in any sport ran away with a division title in its inaugural season?) Unfortunately, however, Vegas is set to play a Los Angeles team that features one of the NHL’s most dominant goalies in Jonathan Quick, as well as a defenseman — Drew Doughty — who will make life difficult for the Golden Knights’ top offensive threats, like center William Karlsson (43 goals). This series will go the distance. I’ll take the Kings in another upset.
Kings in Seven
Pacific Bracket: #5 Anaheim Ducks vs #6 San Jose Sharks
These teams are even according to a number of metrics, which isn’t a surprise considering the Ducks and Sharks finished one point apart from each other in the standings. When in doubt, though, I side with the club that has the superior defense. That team is Anaheim (3rd in goals against in 2017-18).
Ducks in Six
As for my Stanley Cup prediction…I’m tempted to take my Bruins. No one could blame me, right? Even Vegas has installed Boston as the favorite to win the Eastern Conference.
With that said, my brain says to take the Tampa Bay Lightning to become the first one seed to make it out of the East since 2004 (coincidentally, the Lightning were also the last team to accomplish that feat). Tampa has the most dynamic offense in the league, as the combination of Nikita Kucherov (100 points, 3rd in NHL) and Steven Stamkos (59 assists) helped the Lightning score the most goals in the league this season. They also have two candidates for the Vezina and Norris trophies — Andrei Vasilevskiy and Victor Hedman, respectively. Translation: they’re solid defensively as well.
After sneaking past my Bruins in the semi’s and dethroning the Penguins in the Conference Final, I expect the Lightning to meet the Winnipeg Jets, a team many people have overlooked due to Nashville’s dominance but is poised to make a deep run thanks to its high rankings in both goals per game (2nd) and goals against (5th).
And from there, I’ll stand by my preseason prediction: the Tampa Bay Lightning, who surprisingly missed the playoffs last year, will beat the Jets in seven games to win their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
