Stanley Cup Playoffs: Previewing each of the play in round series

Let’s take a quick look at the play-in round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With the NHL and NHLPA finally coming to an agreement on the 24 team Stanley Cup Playoffs proposal, let’s have a deeper look at what the approved proposal is. Let me be the first to say this is a major step for the NHL but it still doesn’t mean it is 100% that hockey will return. There are still a lot of hurdles to jump, including getting the clearance from healthy officials, confirming hub cities, and testing.

This week, the NHL announced that Phase 2 could commence with strict guidelines. Six players on the ice while coaches and staff are still not allowed. There is also strict testing meaning players would be tested two days prior to commencing skating and twice a week after that.

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Although another huge step for hockey, it is not mandatory for players to return to their club cities. Most players since the pause have flown home whether its the USA, Canada, or even Europe. The Canada/US border shutdown was extended another 30 days, but President Donald Trump confirmed after that foreign professional athletes would be able to enter the country. That is probably a huge sigh of relief for the NHL otherwise it could have proven problematic.

Now that we have that figured out let’s dive into this agreed format. 24 teams will be allowed to resume with the other seven teams being place in the draft lottery. The major thing is this format will be made by conference not division. 12 teams in each conference with the top four teams each getting a bye and an automatic qualification for the NHL playoffs.

That leaves 16 teams to battle it out for 8 spots in a play-in round which will be best of 5 series. It was noted that it was not easy to agree to this format and that at times it got heated. After a vote on the proposal majority won 29-2. The two teams who said no were Tampa Bay and Carolina as they didn’t feel it was fair to have 12 teams from each conference make the postseason.

Without further ado let’s look at each play-in series and see who has the edge to make the playoffs.

In the Eastern Conference, Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington, and Philadelphia are seeded 1-4 and will play a round-robin tournament to determine seeding. This round-robin will basically give them warm-up games which can be construed as an advantage, but sometimes being a higher seed team has its perks. Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the top four seeded teams are St Louis, Colorado, Vegas, and Dallas.

The play in series are as follows.

East

(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs (9) Columbus Blue Jackets
(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (12) Montreal Canadiens
(7) New York Islanders vs (10) Florida Panthers
(6) Carolina vs (11) New York Rangers

West

(8) Calgary Flames vs (9) Winnipeg Jets
(5) Edmonton Oilers vs (12) Chicago Blackhawks
(7) Vancouver Canucks vs (10) Minnesota Wild
(6) Nashville Predators vs (11) Arizona Coyotes

Maple Leafs Versus Blue Jackets

The Toronto Maple Leafs were primed to finish third in the Atlantic once again and either face Boston or Tampa in the first round. Now they face a team in Columbus that no one saw making the playoffs this year.

After losing Panarin, Dzingel, and Bobrovsky, a lot of questions were raised where would the offense and goaltending come from. After a rocky start, the tandem of Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzļikins proved to be effective and helped the Jackets into a wild card spot at the time of the pause.

Penguins Versus Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens finally have a legit chance at making the playoffs but it won’t be easy. The Pittsburgh Penguins had a 15 point advantage at the time of the pause and have probably the most depth in the league.

A lot of people are saying this is the most uneven series out of all of them only because the Canadiens were sellers at the deadline and sold major pieces that could have helped them in this scenario. Any Montrealer will tell you Carey Price is a huge reason the Habs have a chance.

Also, historically, Montreal has proven to fair better in situations when they are the underdog and the lower seed. Again, this will be playoff hockey and anything can happen in the playoffs. They will still have to deal with Crosby, Malkin, and not to mention Matt Murray in net.

Islanders Versus Panthers

The New York Islanders have been one of the best teams in the Metro, even with the loss of their superstar John Tavares. With players like Matthew Barzal, Anders Lee, and a solid duo in net with Thomas Greiss and Semyon Varlamov the Islanders will be a tough out for the Panthers.

Florida got off to a great start this season but started to tail off around the midpoint of the season. Sergei Bobrovsky was not having a good year, so we will have to see if he bounces back if play resumes. They also have a potent offense with Alexander Barkov, Mike Hoffman, and Evgeni Dadonov who have proved to be lethal as a line combo.

Hurricanes Versus Rangers

This matchup should be very intriguing, as both teams have solid offense and defense, but this series will probably come down to goaltending. It will be the battle between Artemi Panarin and Sebastien Aho. Carolina was most likely going to book a wild card spot while the Rangers were battling even after they decided to a rebuild.

The only issues lie in net as Carolina lost both their goalies to injury only a couple of weeks earlier while New York had been alternating between Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev. They also signed a young netminder from the KHL named Igor Shestyorkin who will most likely become New York goalie of the future.

Flames Versus Jets

We managed to get an all Canadian match up in this play-in round. The Calgary Flames are a high power offense that will need some solid goaltending from Cam Talbot or David Rittich if they want a chance to advance.

They face a formidable foe in the Winnipeg Jets who have Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler, and probably one of the best goalies in the league Connor Hellebuyck. The Flames are looking to avenge after last year’s loss to the Colorado Avalanche in 5 games.

Oilers Versus Blackhawks

Just like the Montreal Canadiens, the Chicago Blackhawks had a 1% chance to make the playoffs when the league went on pause. Now they have a date with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers in the play in. Both teams boast goal scorers and solid goaltending in a Mike Smith-Corey Crawford head to head matchup. This might come down to a shootout who can score the most goals. The winner could also be decided by which teams play better defensively and are able to shut down the offense.

Canucks Versus Wild

Last year, the Vancouver Canucks were one of the bottomfeeders and what a difference a year makes. The moves they made in the offseason paid off with the acquisition of JT Miller and the stellar goaltending of Jacob Markstrom. They face a Minnesota team that was on the verge of missing the playoffs again but now meet in the play in.

The keys to this matchup once again the battle in the crease between Devan Dubnyk and Jacob Markstrom and who plays better. This will also be the first time Quinn Hughes and Elias Petersson play in a series to make the playoffs.

Both players have proven to be vital to the Canucks. On the Wild side, you have Zach Parise, and Eric Staal to compete with. This could be one of the most intriguing series and could come down to a crucial game 5.

Predators Versus Coyotes

The Nashville Predators find themselves paired with the Arizona Coyotes. The Predators were in the final wild-card spot when the league went on pause while the Coyotes were going on a downward trend. Meanwhile, the Coyotes will need to rely heavily on the offense from Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall.

Hall was acquired to help boost an offense that was clicking at the time but since then issues in net pushed them almost to the brink. Nashville will have to count on Pekka Rinne to help them push through. They can also count on Matt Duchene who signed as a free agent in the summer and Filip Forsberg to get the offense going.

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These are all intriguing matchups and even with the format set there is no guarantee that hockey will return but this is a big push and we hope hockey will return by August at the earliest.

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