Eastern Conference: Round 1!

Here we go!  The playoffs have finally arrived, and it took literally until the very last day of the regular season to find out the different matchups we’re going to get to see here.  It has been an incredible season with so many highs and lows for both teams and individual players.  And now it all comes down to this, the race to Lord Stanley’s Cup.  Now let’s take a closer look at our matchups for round one in the Eastern Conference.

Atlantic Division:

2) Boston Bruins vs 3) Toronto Maple Leafs:

Well now if this isn’t a story, we’ve seen a few times in recent years. I’d certainly say so, but maybe this time, we’ll have a different ending…or maybe not.  Toronto had come into this season as one of the sexy picks to win the Stanley Cup.  After all, they have some of the best young talent in all of hockey.  And they landed the biggest fish in the free agent market over the summer in John Tavares.  He certainly has not disappointed so far, setting all new career highs in just about every statistical category.  But so far, this regular season it hasn’t seemed to be enough against the big bad Bruins.

Boston will have won 3 of the 4 meetings the teams had during the regular season coming into this series.  And while the regular season counts for very little when it comes to the playoffs, you must wonder how deep in minds of the young Leafs the Bruins really are.  They took them out easily in the playoffs last season and that has carried over in the head to head matchups this season as well.  And for all the fire power the Leafs have up front, Boston still has the superior power play, which will make a difference in this series.  And while their PK’s are basically even through the regular season, I think the nod must go to Boston here when you compare the defenseman for each team.  Chara may be 41 years old, but he is still Chara.

Final Answer:  I have no choice but to take Boston here.  Aside from being the far more experienced team, they’ve shown nothing but dominance over the Leafs in recent years.  Not to mention they have a physicality that Toronto sorely lacks. I must take Boston in 6.

Atlantic Division:

1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs WC2) Columbus Blue Jackets:

In our premier Eastern Conference matchup, we have the 2^nd most dominant team in the history of the league in the Tampa Bay Lightning.  They are taking on a team who sold it all and bought the farm for their chance at glory this year, the Columbus Blue Jackets.  This is truly a David vs Goliath fight if there ever was one.

Tampa Bay has shown all year that they’re the best team in the league, hands down.  They won 62 games this year, 12 more than the next best team.  They have the leading scorer in the league in Kucherov with 128 pts, 12 more than the next best in McDavid.  They have three different 40- goal scorers in Kuch, Stamkos, and Point.  They’ve not only outscored their opponents but they’re not allowing a lot either.  They’re tied for 5^th in the league in least goals against as well.  When it comes to special teams, they’re the best there too.  The have the best PP in the league with a 28.2% of success.  And the PK is an even 85%, tied with Arizona for tops in the league.

When you look at all that Tampa has accomplished, how can the Blue Jackets even stand a chance?  Columbus is a team that has never won a single round in the playoffs.  They had the Washington Capitals on the ropes last year and then collapsed in what seemed to be their best chance in franchise history.  But now with the team they have assembled and the battles that they have had to go through just to make it into the playoffs…they have a punchers chance. 

They come into this series playing their best hockey of the year winning 7 of the last 8 games.  In those games they have also had 3 shut outs, leading one to believe that Bobrovsky has finally found his game.  Bob is the ultimate X-factor for this series as well.  He is the only active 2-time Vezina Trophy winner. Since March he has gone 10-5 with a .933 SV% and a 1.86 GAA.  Looking at how the forwards compare against the Lightnings, you don’t think they stand much of a chance.  But they have very solid players up and down their line-up.  

The key for them is that they play a team game and they’ll need to follow the lead of their coach in John Tortorella. They’re skilled and have great depth as well.  They must be physical at every chance and eliminate time and space from Tampa.  If they can do that…they’ll have a chance.

That said…I got Tampa…in Five. 

Metropolitan Division:

2) New York Islanders vs 3) Pittsburgh Penguins:

Boy oh boy, this will be a fun series here.  To start the season who would have thought that the Islanders would have even sniffed the playoffs, let alone lead their division most of the year.  But here we are, they didn’t hold on to the top spot but they’re sitting here with home ice through the 1^st round against the battle tested Penguins.  And if anyone knows how a team should play against Pittsburgh, its Barry Trotz.

The key to this series for the Islanders is to keep playing their team game.  Barry Trotz came over from Washington immediately after winning the Stanley Cup last year and turned the worst defensive team in the league into arguably the best one.  They allowed a league low 191 goals against.  When it comes to special teams though, they’re just … not that good.  They have the 29^th ranked PP and they PK is 17^th, playing a team like the Penguins, they must be better.

The Pens are a team who has had their struggles this year but still find a way to get it done.  Early on they had struggles in net from Matt Murray and they just couldn’t win many games. But since the trade deadline they have been on a roll.  They have a 12-4-4 record since then and they’re PP has been clicking with a 24.5% success rate. But the PK on the other hand has only been at 77.5 in that time. Once again though, Crosby has topped 100pts in a season and Jake Guentzel has even hit the 40-goal mark. 

This really is a “styles make fights” type of series and it should be about as even of a series as we can get.  Can the defensive prowess of the Islanders shut down the battle tested warriors that are led by Crosby and Malkin? Time will tell.  For me, I love a good upset, but I’m going Pittsburgh, in 6.

Metropolitan Division:

1) Washington Capitals vs WC1) Carolina Hurricanes:

And now for our last matchup in the East and it is another David vs Goliath scenario…though not as bad as Columbus’s odds.  We have the up-start Carolina Hurricanes (didn’t I tell you they’d be a better team this year!) facing off against the reigning, defending, Stanley Cup Champions of the Wooooooooorld, The Washington Capitals!

The Hurricanes have been a fun team to watch all season long.  They play a fast, high flying style of hockey which is backed up by a top-5 D-core as well.  The questions that they have always had have been in net.  But it seems they may have found an answer in the combo of Mrazek and McElhinney.  It seems that Mrazek should get the start as well, its not like he hasn’t earned it either. He’s played 40 games this season, and 10 since March.  In those last 10 he has gone 8-2 with a .942 SV% and a 1.8 GAA.  He also has a history of playing well against Ovi and his Capitals.

As a team the Canes don’t score a lot though, but they trend into the right direction.  They outshoot everyone and they’ve done that all year and they typically don’t allow many shots either, being ranked 1^st and 3^rd in those two categories respectively.  And they’re tied with Tampa for 5^th in GA this season as well. On special teams they rank 20^th on the PP and 8^th on the PK.  They will need to take advantage of their PP chances in this series.

As for the Caps, we know what they’re all about.  They have a power house of a team and have for nearly a decade.  Led by their captain, The Great 8, they will have their eyes set on a Championship repeat.  In net they have Holtby, who after a shaky start has found his game again, especially since the trade deadline.  Since then he has gone 11-3-1 with a .921 SV% and a 2.2 GAA. Combine that with the 12^th ranked PP and the 24^th ranked PK…and now you have an intriguing series.

Though I have been riding high on the Bunch of Jerks bandwagon and love seeing Mrazek play well, I don’t think they’ll have enough to get through the Caps this time.  Though it won’t be easy at all, I have to put my money on Washington.  They just have been there over and over, and this is the first time in a decade that Carolina has made the playoffs.  This will be a great learning experience for this young team. The future is bright, but Washington in 6.

And with that we have a nice break down of all the first round of the Eastern Conference series.  And once again, my picks.  Boston in 6, Tampa in 5, Pittsburgh in 6, and Washington in 6.  No crazy upsets this round, things should go as expected, though it won’t be easy for anyone.  Am I right here or am I completely out of my mind with some of these? There is only one way to find out and that’s by watching how all the games play out.  But we’ll all know soon enough.  We’ll reconvene with all these teams in round two, until then keep an eye out for the other half of my break down where I examine the Western Conference.

One Month In - The Metro

So now its time to take a look at the Metro Division standings and see what been happening there.  The Metro is known as one of the toughest divisions in the league and has recently sent 5 teams to the playoffs in recent years as opposed to the Atlantic.  Will that be the case this year?  Time will tell.  But here are the standings as of November 1st.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are leading the way and is that any surprise at all?  Looking at the teams in this division does any team really match up with them?  Not really.  Led by the best player in the league by far, Sidney Crosby, the Pens are just trucking along like always.   But it is never just Crosby, the also have Malkin who is one of the scariest players in the entire league; and he sits tied for 2nd in points with 19 (5 more that Crosby).  Playing with Malkin is Phil "The Thrill" Kessel who has a respectable 15pts in 10 games as well.  As a team, the PK is 7th in the league at 86.2% and the PP is 9th at 25.9, both great places to be.  Only concern is that Murrays numbers at the moment, but I have faith that he'll find his game.

Sitting in 2nd place very surprisingly are the New York Islanders.   After losing their Captain to Toronto this off season, they're playing like he never existed.  The biggest difference in this team as opposed to last season is their Goals, Against (GA), which is the lowest in the division with 30.  Last year they could score 4+ goals per game...but they seemed to always allow 6.  Now they're putting the puck in the net by committee and keeping it out.  Goal tending has been by committee as well so far.  Greiss has slightly better numbers, but Lehner has the Wins.

Breakout team of the year?  The Hurricanes sit in 3rd place.  I had them as an honorable mention in my most improved teams post, and here they are!  Unfortunately I don't think it will last long term.  Goal tending has been an issue.  Mrazek and McElhinney both have under .9 Save Percentages and over 2.5 Goal Against, that's not gonna cut it.  The PP and PK are not good either sitting at 14.3% and 66.7% respectively (that PK is last in the entire league). They're fun to watch though.  Aho has been great and Ferland has been awesome!  But outside of that...not so much.  Look for them to fall back into about 5th place by Thanksgiving if they don't figure out those special teams.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are sitting in 4th, outside of the playoffs and looking in.  This is a team that was expected to compete for The Cup this year and make some real noise in the playoffs...for some reason there is a lot of inconsistent play out of the team.  That isn't very characteristic of a team coached by Torts.  Atkinson and Panarin have been the bright spots offensively for the team, and Duclair has quickly become the never fan favorite as well (just scored his wrap-around goal against SJ as I write this).  But once again special teams and goal tending are holding a team back and drowning them.  The PP is at 13.6% and PK sitting at 71.4%, neither are good enough.  In goal Korpisalo has managed to get some wins, but his numbers are worse than Bobrovsky's (who seems to be getting kicked off the force soon).  If they don't get it together quick and in a hurry expect Bob and Panarin to be sent packing at the trade deadline.

In 5th place we have the reigning, defending, Stanley Cup Champions of the Wooooooorld!  The Washington Capitals.  And so far the repeat doesn't look to promising.  You're getting production from all the guys you'd expect, Ovi, Kuzy, Backstrom (does he even have a nickname?  Backy?), and Oshie all lead the way up front.  And another thing that may not shock you, the PP is 1st in the league at 37.1%, though the PK is at 72.5...it could be better.  But the real trouble comes in goal as Holtby has not looked to great this year with a 3.6 GAA and .887 SV%.  And Copley is only better by .05 in GAA...The Defending Champs are in trouble.

6th place is home to the New Jersey Devils.  A surprise team who made the playoffs last year led by league MVP Taylor Hall, they are expecting to make the playoffs again and actually make some noise.  But after a shaky start to the season their time is running out fast.  They do have a positive goal differential but it is only a plus 2, and they're very strong at home going 5-1-1.  They're led offensively by everyone you'd expect in Palmieri, Hall, Hischier, and Zajac, but only Zajac is a plus player.  In goal Schneider is just coming back from hip surgery so we will see how he fairs as the season goes on, because when he is on he is one of the best in the league.  Kinkaid has proved to be starter material after last season and has been doing what he can to hold the team in the playoff race with a .910 SV%.  But the GAA is at 2.74 which leads one to believe that team is not playing well defensively as a whole. It is a bit perplexing to be honest as they have the 3rd best PP in the division and 2nd best PK, all while not being out shot really in any games.  Time will tell where they finish.

The Flyers, led by Gritty, sit in 7th.  But Gritty being the new face of the organization is not nearly as scary as their goalies performances.  To start on the goalies it is important to know that they're giving up the 2nd least amount of shots against per game in the division at 28.5.  That should be enough to tell you that the team in front of the goalies is doing their jobs pretty well.  So for your number one goalie to have a .893 SV% and a 3.10 GAA is unacceptable.  And this is really all that is needed to show that they're being held back and likely playing without trust and a belief that they can really let loose and take a chance offensively.  Giroux and Voracek lead the way for the forwards but it will help much more if Sean Couturier can get back to the level he was at last year.  But I would expect the Flyers to remain at the bottom of their division for the remainder of the year with that goal tending.

And finally we have the New York Rangers sitting all the way in the basement holding down the 8th spot.   And no matter who you are you cant but help to feel bad for Henrik Lundqvist.  One of the best goalies of his generation and at 36 years old now will likely end up without a championship to his name.  On a rebuilding team he is doing all that he can though and maintaining a .917 SV%.  The problem lies with the players in front of him.  While they're getting some decently balance contributions up and down the line up with 9 players having 5 or more points (up to 10pts at the most), it just isn't enough.  Their PP and PK are both in the middle of the pack but they're being out shot virtually every game which is not a good trend and has led to a goal differential of minus -11.  And this falls heavily on their high priced D-men.  They're all just clearly being beaten game in and game out and I would not expect that to change any time soon.  But with Skjei being only 24 years old, hopefully this will be a good learning experience for him.

And with that this wraps up the Eastern Conference.  As of now we have a lot of tight races for the playoffs in both divisions. And with only 3 weeks from that Thanksgiving date, in which roughly 80% of teams who are in a playoff position maintain it, teams will begin to separate themselves from the pack quickly.  And the nightly shows of speed and talent that we're seeing and the unpredictable-ness of the games every night are what make this the best game in the world.

But next I'm moving on to cover the Western Conference, starting with the toughest division in the league, The Central, before moving on to the Pacific.  So keep an eye out for those as they will be out sooner rather than later.  Until then, Arrivederci.

Power Rankings!!! 31-20

As the start of the season approaches ever so quickly, I feel I should knock out some of everyone's favorite, POWER RANKINGS!  Power rankings are loved by all are they not?  They make for fun debates of which team is better than the other and makes for fun water cooler talk.  In the end they really mean nothing, but they're a fun way of helping to predict standings, even trades and signings, based on a teams success or failures.  So without bothering you any longer, here comes 31-20.

31: Ottawa Senators - Entering into this season they are without a doubt the team deepest into the gutter or so we think.  They have a few pieces in place like Mark Stone, Matt Duschene, and...exactly.  Its gonna be a rough year, and they just put a $3.25million player on waivers today.  The tank is on in Ottawa, good thing they still have that 1st round pick...Oh...Colorado has that you say?  No wonder the fans are ready to riot and burn the building down.  Expect a very empty building this year and most who show up to be supporting the away team.  This dumpster fire is falling outta the sky faster than the whale from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

30: Montreal Canadiens - A few decent players up front.  An aging and slow D-core.  But an Ace in the hole in Net.  They could cause some trouble upsetting teams late in the season, but I wouldn't expect much.  They just traded their captain and they are not even close to having a number 2 center, let alone a number 1!  Trouble is brewing in Quebec.

29: New York Rangers - Pretty much in the same situation as Montreal.  A few nice wingers, but they have at least a center or two.  Shattenkirk and Skjei(pronounced Shay) on the back end will help a weaker D-core as well.  In the net they have an aging, though he doesn't look it at all, beaut in Henrik Lundqvist.  Looks like he will go down as one of the best goalies to play the game and new win a cup at this point.  A lot of money spent for a team that should end up near the bottom of the league.  I wonder if Brendan Smith will play for them this year...

28: Vancover Canucks - With the departure of the Sedin's after this past season a new era is officially underway in Vancover.  Unfortunately its going to a rough transition for them, but the future seems bright.  This a young team for the most part with a lot of talent, they may be the youngest in the league actually, but I'm not doing that math.  Their oldest forward is 33 year old Loui Eriksson and their oldest d-man is Alex Edler who is 32, most everyone else is in their mid to early 20's. Biggest problems here is the inexperience of the roster.  There are a lot of promising players in the lineup, but they're going to be thrown into the fire this year.

27: New York Islanders - Goodbye to Garth Snow and Doug Weight.  Say hello to Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz (fresh off a Stanley Cup I might add).  So management and coaching looks better instantly...but say goodbye to you captain John Tavares as well.  Good thing is they still have plenty of offensive weapons left in the line up with more to come after these last 2 good drafts.  Problem is the defense is weak.  They have a decent top 3 but not much after that unfortunately.  And now they will have a goalie battle between Greiss and Lehner, those 2 will have their work cut out for them this year.

26: Chicago Blackhawks - Its hard to bet against Kane and Toews, but after them, who else is there really?  Alex DeBrincat is going to be a solid player in the league and he showed it last year, but that just isn't enough. Looking at the D-core, after Keith and Seabrook, who are aging rapidly, there isn't much there.  They have a few prospects in the pipeline but that doesn't help them when this season starts.  They're also may still be without Crawford in net at the start of the year, and without him they plummeted last year. He is the backbone of the team right now and they're go as far a he can carry them...if he can at all this season.

25: Detroit Red Wings - A lot of talk is that the Wings are probably the 3rd worst team heading into the league, so maybe ranking them this high (if this is considered high?) is just my personal bias.  But I know this team a bit better.  The offensive talent and explosive capabilities are there, even without the leadership of Zetterberg.  Problems really lie in the overall youth and the D-core as a whole.  With Mike Green looking like he'll miss the start of the season, Kronwall on one leg, the the pylon that wears number 52...that's not a good start.  Goal tending isn't to bad of an issue yet.  Howard has been solid enough and the addition of Bernier looks to be a good one.  We'll monitor the situation closely though and see if the Larkin, Mantha and Athanasiou can take the next step and begin to truly reach their full potential this season.

Disclaimer - This is the part where it begins to get tough.  As I have mentioned before a bit, this league is so close now in the middle of the standings, that there are just going to be some major battles and good teams are gonna miss out on the playoffs.  Call me crazy here but this is where I see teams finishing the season, even if I think a particular team is better than one ranked above it...which trust me is coming right now.

24: Calgary Flames - This one hurts, no doubt about. Top to bottom, I like what this team brings.  They bring a very good top 9 up front and their top 4 D rivals the some of the best in the league. But I really think that Mike Smith in net is suspect.  He is 36 years old now and has a lot of hard miles on the body.  He will must stay healthy and be a top 10 goalie in the league if the Flames are going to go anywhere. Sadly, I don't think he is up to the task.

23: Carolina Hurricanes - They look to be a team who should be making a strong push for the playoffs this season, but it's likely they'll fall short.  They have great pieces in place and the addition of Andrei Svechnikov will make them very dynamic upfront, but they're not as deep.  On defense is where they shine.  Some could argue that they have 9 or 10 quality starting d-men in their organization, and they could have the best top 6 as a whole in the entire league.  Goal tending is still suspect though.  They will need a major bounce back from Scott Darling and they have brought in Petr Mrazek to see if he can recapture that spark he had early on in Detroit.

22: Minnesota Wild - Maybe I'm a hater here...I probably am, but not everyone can make the playoffs right? So with that, Minnesota is out.  There are a few questions surrounding this otherwise very good team on paper.  Can Parise stay healthy? Will Ryan Suters age begin to slow him down? Can Jason Zucker and Staal do it again? A very very solid top 9 and even a very good top 6 D-core.  Can Dubnyk continue to carry the load as he enters into his mid 30's?  Some good youth will be in the line up as well and a few good prospects for the future.  I don't know...something tells me this could be an off year.

21: Arizona Coyotes - This is a team I have in my Most Improved teams list, so how can I not have them leap frogging some decent teams?  Putting them here still keeps them out of the playoffs, but it would be a significant improvement if they can make this jump and finish above a few teams in the west who are expected to make some noise.  I like their youth, some of their signings and trades the last few years have been good as well.  But most importantly is that they fly under the radar.  So lets see if they can shake a few things up after a strong finish to last season.

20: New Jersey Devils - Solid middle of the pack team with a lot of upside.  Between Hall and Hischier leading the way up front and Andy Greenes leadership on the back end these guys could make some noise late into March as the push for another playoff birth.  I think it would be best if they managed to add piece or two, but they'll compete every night no less, and that's the scary thing.  Kinkaid proved himself a solid goalie last year and lets not forget about Schneider.  Lets see if any of their prospects can make the team this year and help make a difference as they seem to be a team on the rise.

Most Improved Teams of the Off-Season.

This off-season has seen plenty of players joining new teams either via trade, free agency, and almost most importantly the draft. With all these players changing places most teams should have a different outlook coming into the season, for better or worse.  So, I'm going do a breakdown of a few teams I think have improved the most and not just on paper.  These teams I think are really going to have a significant improvement in the standings as opposed to last season.

Let’s start with the easy one, the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Are the most improved as a whole, probably not.  Defense was never really addressed here, but offense?  That's another story.  They landed arguably the biggest free agent available in the last 10 years by bringing in the home town kid in John Tavares.  They now have top-3 center depth reminiscent of the 2009 Penguins.

Penguins had Crosby, Malkin, and Jordan Staal at center the year they won the cup, now the Leafs have Matthews, Tavares, and Kadri!  This is scary, not think about Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Patty Marleau on the wings.  That's a lot of high-end talent, each line just needs a gritty and physical guy to go in the corners and really help dig out that puck to get it into space, and these guys don’t need much. As far as D goes, not much happened, but look for Timothy Lilgren to crack the lineup. He was scary good last year when I saw him at USA Arena and thought he was NHL ready then, he definitely should be now.  Look for the Leafs to battle for top spot in the League this season.

On to the Buffalo Sabres.  Another easy choice, but on a deeper level than just picking up Rasmus Dahlin.  They have made some remarkable trades!  In the process they had to give up a bit, and even gave up one of the best centers in the league when he is on his game in Ryan O'Reilly, but they got back so much more the team is pretty fantastic on paper.

They have added Skinner, Thompson, Berglund, Sobotka, and Connor Sheary all via trade this off season,  On top of already having Eichel, Mittelstadt, and Okposo...thats a pretty formidable top-6 no matter how you put it together, and their 3rd line shouldn’t be too shabby either. On D they have Ristolainen, Dahlin, Bogo, and Scandella; which makes for a nice top4 set of D-men.  Now the worry is in goal, which isn’t much of a change from last season.  The question now is can Carter Hutton carry the load of being a number 1 goalie for the 1st time at 32 years old?  If he can look for the Sabre to battle anywhere from wild card to 2nd overall in the Atlantic Division.

In the west, we have the Arizona Coyotes up first. I don’t think that they had the biggest F.A. signings but they definitely locked up a good player in Grabner. He will be a good fit on the 2nd or 3rd line for them, bringing a little bit of size, but a hell of a lot of speed and some goal scoring ability.  He'll also be vital on the PK where he had 2 shorty’s and has had 15 so far in his career.  More importantly than signing Grabner, they were able to resign some key players in Raanta, Dvorak, and Hjalmarsson. When healthy last season Raanta was stellar in goal winning 21 of the teams 29 victories, with only 46 starts. Dvorak is a young player with a high ceiling that he began to show last season earning himself a substantial raise.  And Hjalmarsson is just a solid, hardworking defense man who has "been there and done that" and provides tremendous leadership to a young D-core.

The biggest move they made was trading, straight up, Max Domi for Alex Galchenyuk.  While Domi has a lot of upside, Galchenyuk is a bit bigger and a proven goal scorer who most would expect about 30 goals a season out of. Not to mention he has been great on the power play when he is on his game.  Combine that with a young and promising group of forward I would expect a solid top 9 and at least 3 20-goal scorers this season...could there be more or someone even to get 30 goals?  Only time will tell.  Goaltending is in good shape with Raanta as mentioned before, but how will the D-core perform? A pretty good top-4 led by OEL, but will it stay healthy and the depth players rise up?  We'll see but expect to Yotes to be in it till the end this year battling for a wild card spot.

And to finish things off we have the St. Louis Blues. An already solid team, though the just missed the playoffs, really shook things up this off season in a big way.  Most of all quite a lot was lost in the Ryan O'Reilly trade that was already talked about back up in the Sabres talk, so I'm going to leave that alone.  Other than that, they made some key free agency deals that should help to off-set the loss of a few players. Key signings made were of Bozak and Perron returning from Vegas...I think Perron has been moved from the team and came back now 3-4 times at this point, its nuts.  Bozak will now give the Blues solid top-3 center depth with O'Reilly and Schenn, who had his own breakout year last season.  Down the wings you have one of the best snipers in the game, Tarasenko, along with Steen, Fabri, and big Patty Marron. With a few younger players who'll be looking to make an impact we have another team with a very solid top-9.

The Defense of the Blues is the real key though, they have likely the 3rd, maybe 4th ,best D core in their division, yet it is still likely in the top 3rd of the league. The top-4 is about as solid as it comes being led by Pietrangelo and Parayko.  Though that don’t have much in the way of depth or prospects in the system it will be very important that they stay health and play well.  Back in goal they have Jake Allen so has been able to stand on his head often, and with the number one spot secured, it will be gravely important that he plays to his best especially late into the season.  In a stacked division they will need every victory they can get to make it into the playoffs, the west really looks like it will be the wild, wild, west again and I would expect the Blues to push for the 3rd place spot trying to avoid the wildcard.

I had 2 honorable mentions until today though...now I have 3.  I'm not going to go in depth at all, you can do the work and let your imagination run wild.  Number one, the Carolina Hurricanes, and no its not because of Mrazek (though it totally helps).  Second the Calgary Flames...funny I think these teams did some business this summer.  And Third as of about 2:30 EST this afternoon...the San Jose Sharks...Eric Karlsson, what more needs to be said.