Why Each Team Will/Will Not Win the Stanley Cup: Eastern Conference
Photo by Wilfredo Lee from The Associated Press
It’s Stanley Cup Playoff time.
The most exciting playoffs in sports with the most infuriating TV times.
More importantly, it’s the sport where anyone, and I mean anyone can win it all.
Well, except for the teams who didn’t make the playoffs.
They can’t.
Whatever. You know what I mean.
Washington Capitals
Why They Will
The Caps are getting excellent seasons from guys you never would have expected it from.
Dylan Strome, Tom Wilson, Aliaksei Protas. They’re driving play, as well as a 39 year old Alex Ovechkin continuing to play like he’s smack in his prime.
I kept expecting the Caps to slow down this year, but they never did, as the offense was second in goals for per game.
All credit to future Jack Adams winner Spencer Carbery, because this team is exceptionally well coached.
Why They Won’t
The Caps are really, really struggling down the stretch. In large part because of their goaltending.
Logan Thompson is currently hurt, and Charlie Lindgren hasn’t handled the load well in his replacement.
If Thompson doesn’t come back soon, or is rusty when he does come back, the Caps would be in real trouble, real quick.
Carolina Hurricanes
Why They Will
The analytic darlings of the league.
There’s a reason the Canes have been good under Rod Brind’Amour for so long, despite roster turnover and people wondering if they’d take a step back every year or so.
They play a style of hockey that works in todays NHL.
The Canes lead the league in expected goals for and expected goal differential.
They have a system that everyone buys into, and it continuously works.
Why They Won’t
Look, I love analytics.
I don’t know how you couldn’t. It clearly works.
But expected doesn’t mean actual.
The Canes are 10th in actual goals for, and 12th in actual goal differential.
The system works. The coaching works. The team is successful as a whole.
But they do seem to be missing that strict individual talent to drive home the results come playoff time.
And that’s why all of their success hasn’t yet gotten them a Cup run recently.
New Jersey Devils
Why They Will
Dougie Hamilton is coming back soon. That helps.
And the Devils are a truly talented team.
The pieces are there.
Why They Won’t
They’re not really there, though.
Hamilton may be coming back, but is he truly healthy? Hockey players love to play hurt.
Their best player, Jack Hughes, is out until next year with a shoulder injury.
None of the underlying stats look great.
This was a team that looked great, got the injury bug hard, and fell apart.
It’s not their year.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Why They Will
This team can score. The goaltending is good to keep the puck out of the net. They are healthy. They are very, very good.
The Leafs are, legitimately, a great team.
Why They Won’t
………..
You know.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Why They Will
The gold standard for NHL franchises is back again, and still absolutely fantastic.
Their 1st in the league in goals for and 4th in the league in goals against.
Not to mention they have one of the leagues best forwards (Nikita Kucherov), best defensemen (Victor Hedman), and goaltender (Andrei Vasilevskiy).
This is still the same team that has been to three Cup Finals in five seasons.
Why They Won’t
Their window is still open, but just barely.
Kucherov and Hedman are older now. Vasilevskiy is a work horse in net, which helps the team, but doesn’t help his rest for the postseason.
And frankly, the NHL playoff format means teams play interdivision for the first two rounds, and the Atlantic Division is insanely difficult.
The path is difficult. The team is older.
That window is closing. I’m not sure they can get through it one more time.
Florida Panthers
Why They Will
They’re the defending champs. They’re back to back Eastern Conference Champs. Playoff Sergei Bobrovsky is back. Paul Maurice is an amazing coach.
I could go on and on about Barkov and Reinhart and Forsling as well.
I see no reason why they couldn’t do it again.
Why They Won’t
No Matthew Tkachuk, after he got hurt during the Four Nations tournament.
Playoff Bobrovsky is a thing, but goalies are also fickle. There’s no guarantee he returns.
Aaron Ekblad is just returning from a suspension due to a failed drug test, so that’s a key factor that could be rusty.
And, much like Tampa, the road through the Atlantic division is just really hard.
They have a target on their backs now.
They avoided it last year. Doing it again? I’m not so sure.
Ottawa Senators
Why They Will
The Sens are back! And they’re playing some excellent hockey down the stretch.
The Sens, who were fighting for a wild card spot, went 13-5-2 in their last 20 games to pull away from the race and easily clinch a spot, mostly on the back of Brady Tkachuk and goaltender Linus Ullmark.
You want to be playing your best hockey come playoff time, and Ottawa is.
Why They Won’t
In 2017, Ottawa was one goal away from making the Stanley Cup Final.
That was not the best team in the East, but they almost did it, and it’s because of the play of Erik Karlsson and Craig Anderson.
Now, maybe Brady Tkachuk has a Karlsson type playoff run, and maybe Linus Ullmark as an Anderson type of run.
But Tkachuk is hurt, and frankly, I don’t see anyone on this team having a Karlsson type of postseason.
And if they don’t this is just another team that isn’t good enough yet to compete for a title.
However, many key players are 25 or younger.
So if it isn’t this year, the future is exciting.
Montreal Canadiens
Why They Will
This team is so fun to watch.
Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Patrik Laine are hot shot scoring threats, and Lane Hutson is one of the most exciting defensemen I can remember in a long time.
Plus, they just added rookie Ivan Demidov to the fray, and after only two games he’s become must watch TV.
This is a team that can absolutely hang with anybody.
Why They Won’t
They’re going to have to hang with everybody, because the defense and goaltending is not good enough for a Cup run.
I say this as a Lane Hutson fan, but “exciting” is not always a good thing when you’re a defenseman.
He will score and drive the play.
He just might also put himself horribly out of position to do so.
And if you do, you’ll need a rock back there to save you, and while I really like Sam Montembeault, he is not prime Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes.
The Habs are going to be fun this year.
But they won’t last long.
