Essentially the most inequitable playoff format in North American professional sports activities creates early-round matchups that inevitably ensures elimination of elite groups whereas guaranteeing that lesser golf equipment advance. The system additionally usually generates extra curiosity early within the event as an alternative of reaching a crescendo with the convention finals and Stanley Cup last.
These usually are not anomalies or hiccups. These usually are not flaws. They're options of the system that went into impact in 2014 and changed the 1-8 convention seedings and second-round reseeding that served everyone properly for the earlier 20 years, besides maybe the advertising and marketing individuals on the league who crave “brackets.”
So this yr, the fourth-overall Maple Leafs will meet the eighth-overall Lightning, the fifth-overall Wild will face the ninth-overall Blues whereas the seventh-overall Rangers will play the Twelfth-overall Penguins and the Eleventh-overall Oilers will confront the 14th-overall Kings.
It's as if the French Open created a seeding system beneath which Rafa Nadal would face Daniil Medvedev on this yr’s opening spherical. Why common managers of perpetually profitable groups stand for this method is past me. But when they don’t care and if house owners who stand to lose vital income due to the absence of integrity within the system don’t care, then why would anybody else?
This was the season that made claims of parity right into a parody, with the East’s eight playoff qualifiers having damaged away from the sector by the Christmas recess. Ten groups accomplished the season with a successful proportion of .650 or higher. There have been three such groups within the league’s earlier full season of 2018-19 and a mean of 4 per season over the primary 13 full seasons of the hard-cap period.
However the discipline for the Cup has not often, if ever, appeared so large open. It's sort of like a Kentucky Derby by which there are 22 entries as a result of no horse really stands out. That's as a result of the groups that completed on the league’s tippy prime, and that might be the Puddy Tats from Florida, the Avalanche of Colorado and the Sweet Canes of Carolina all have incomplete playoff portfolios and all enter the event with goaltending questions. It's inconceivable to recollect a event by which so many groups entered with such instability in nets.
However there isn't a instability and there aren't any questions in terms of reigning Conn Smythe winner Andrei Vasilevskiy of the two-time defending champion Lightning. That's the touchstone within the collection towards the Maple Leafs. It’s not about Toronto’s Cup drought that is occurring 55 years. It’s not even in regards to the franchise’s failure to win a single postseason collection since 2004, although that does are inclined to hang-out the group. If the Maple Leafs are going to win this best-of-seven towards a really particular group, they'll need to negate what appears vital superiority within the Lightning’s web.
Bear in mind, Auston Matthews goes from 60-to-zero, which occurs to equal Mitch Marner’s postseason purpose whole over the past two tournaments. The Lighting have created a particular aura. They've a particular group. And now the Maple Leafs, who acquired finicky playoff goaltending from Frederik Andersen the final 5 years, need to depend on untested 30-year-old Jack Campbell or 25-year-old neophyte Erik Kallgren to cease chilly the drive for a three-peat.
Each groups are worthy Cup contenders. Just one will get out of the primary spherical. I’m not so positive it'll be Toronto.
The Panthers are worthy contenders, so are the Hurricanes, so are the Avalanche. Add the Flames, the Wild and the Blues to the combo. The Bruins might elbow their manner into the dialog within the occasion of a first-round victory over a Carolina group they dispatched with ease in each 2020 (5 video games) and 2019 (a sweep).
After which there are the Rangers, maybe the thriller group of the event. No group has ever received the Stanley Cup instantly following a four-year absence from the playoffs, which is what the Blueshirts are trying to tug off. However they do have Igor Shesterkin.
That offers the group a reputable shot and supplies a seemingly lopsided edge within the first-round matchup with Pittsburgh’s Casey DeSmith. The sting can be vital even when No. 1 Tristan Jarry weren't recovering from a damaged foot. Assume final season towards the Islanders. By the way in which, the Penguins haven't received a postseason collection within the final three years and have received one spherical since finishing their back-to-back titles in 2017.
The Panthers haven't received a playoff collection since 1996, after they obstructed their strategy to the ultimate of their third yr of existence. Certainly, that's the solely yr the Panthers have ever received a playoff spherical. They arrive into this occasion as Presidents’ Trophy winners off a 58(!)-17-6 season keyed by an explosive, multidimensional offense triggered by Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov. Buying each Sam’s They Am —Bennett and Reinhart — represented a coup.
However there are nagging questions on netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, a dependable regular-season mainstay all through his profession who has been dreadful within the playoffs, compiling a minus-23 GSAA (Objectives Saved Above Common) per Hockey-Reference. Florida ought to be capable to run over a Washington group that completed poorly and has not received a spherical since its 2018 Cup victory however the burden of proof is on Bobrovsky. If he meets it, Alexander Ovechkin can go dwelling to Russia in a few weeks.
Carolina is a big-time group that has been constructing big-time aspirations brick by brick. They usually allowed the fewest objectives within the league with Andersen as their No. 1. However the Dane, shaky to start with within the postseason for the Leafs, has been down with a lower-body damage and although Antti Raanta is a fairly succesful backup, he's traditionally damage inclined. Pyotr Kochetkov, anybody?
The Avalanche most likely haven’t performed an necessary sport since October, thought of by acclamation one of the best group within the West because the preseason. Let me ask you this: Are you positive that there are 16 victories in Darcy Kuemper’s rapid future? Let me ask you whether or not there's any cause to consider that Nazem Kadri will make it via the playoffs with out getting suspended?
Who're the Wild, GM Billy Guerin’s compelling creation, going to go along with in nets? Will they go along with Cam Talbot, 12-0-3/.920/2.30 after the commerce deadline acquisition of Marc-Andre Fleury? Or will it's the three-time 37-year-old ring-wearer, who went 9-0-2/.910/2.74 after his commerce from the Blackhawks? Does Minnesota have two No. 1’s or none?
When the Bruins have been drubbing the ’Canes in these latest collection, that they had the distinctive Tuukka Rask in nets. Now, it’s Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman. What in regards to the estimable Blues, who will face a nightly alternative between 2019 Cup winner Jordan Binnington, whose numbers (18-4-4/.901/3.13/minus-6.5 GSAA) have been inferior to Ville Husso’s (25-7-6/.919/2.56/14.9 GSAA)?
The Oilers completed 26-9-3 after Jay Woodcock changed Dave Tippett behind the bench, displaying vital enchancment in consideration to element. Query: Will Connor McDavid draw any penalties? The Kings, Predators and Stars are all in line to obtain the TV model of the present as participation trophies after one other yr by which Nashville GM teased pre-deadline reconstruction however as an alternative nosed into the ultimate spot with the league’s Sixteenth-overall report.
If there's a Grade A menace to the Avalanche within the West it most likely comes from Calgary, a whole group with a mixture of ability and brawn and a two-time Cup successful coach in Darryl Sutter behind the bench. There may be the trio of 40-goal scorers that options Johnny Gaudreau (40-75), Matthew Tkachuk (42-62) and Elias Lindholm (42-20), however the Flames’ biggest asset might lie in Jacob Markstrom’s work in nets. Add this group to the quick listing with stability in nets.
I can see at the least a half dozen groups with the requirements to win all of it so long as their goaltending holds up. However I hold going again to the one group whose goaltending you already know will rise up beneath this check.
And that's Tampa Bay.
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