CALGARY FLAMES vs. WINNEPEG JETS ODDS
-120
100
21.2% Power Play (12th) 77.6% Penalty Kill (22nd)
82.1% Penalty Kill (8th) 20.5% Power Play (15th)
2.91 G/Gm (20th) 2.83 GA/Gm (10th)
3.06 GA/Gm (16th) 3.0 G/Gm (17th)
Both teams have star-studded top lines with middle of the pack overall scoring. Winnipeg has a great goalie in Hellebuyck (Vezina candidate) which is reflected in their 10th ranked GA/Gm. He could easily steal this series with his .922 save
percentage regular season. With CAL PP going against a not very good ranked Jets PK unit the advantage is Flames. Pair the Flames 8th ranked PK unit, special teams overall has CAL has the advantage. A bit more veteran savvy on the Jets which I like paired with young stud Laine. Question is does Laine show-up?
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS vs. MONTREAL CANADIENS
ODDS -240
200
19.9% Power Play (16th) 78.7% Penalty Kill (19th)
82.1% Penalty Kill (10th) 17.7% Power Play (22nd)
3.20 G/Gm (10th) 3.10 GA/Gm (19th)
2.84 GA/Gm (12th) 2.93 G/Gm (19th)
I'm going to keep this one short. I don't see Canadiens standing a chance. This all falls on Carey Price, a Canadian hero. It will be riding the hot hand in Penguins net but they have a real nice tandem.
CAROLINA HURRICANES vs. NEW YORK RANGERS ODDS
-140
120
22.3% Power Play (8th) 77.4% Penalty Kill (23rd)
84% Penalty Kill (4th) 22.9% Power Play (7th)
3.19 G/Gm (11th) 3.14 GA/Gm (23rd)
2.84 GA/Gm (11th) 3.33 G/Gm (5th)
CAR another young team that scores goals! Their 8th ranked PP unit vs. a 23rd ranked Rangers PK unit is gold. As much as I love Henrik Lundqvist, he is past his prime. This is, however, one of, if not his last chance to hoist the cup. Unfortunately for King Henrik, he will probably be riding the pine with the young Igor Shesterkin being the starter. He took over the crease during the regular season with struggling Lundqvist. As much as CAR can score goals they are pretty good at preventing them as well with their 11th ranked GA/Gm. Paired with a very impressive 4th ranked PK unit. On the Rangers side, since bringing over Panarin, their PP unit is rated 7th going into the Playoff Bracket and was ranked 7th in the regular season. They do also score 5th most G/Gm. So what does this boil down to? In my opinion goaltending. Both teams can score. Regular season advantage on goaltending to CAR who run tandem of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer. Neither goalie has much experience come playoffs and neither does Igor. So this will boil down to a confident goalie taking over. Maybe the Rangers have something going 4-0 during regular season vs the Canes..kind of dig the Rangers the more I think about them as they can match the canes firepower IMO.
EDMONTON OILERS CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
ODDS -170
150
29.5% Power Play (1st) 82.1% Penalty Kill % (9th)
84.4% Penalty Kill (2nd) 15.2% Power Play (28th)
3.14 G/Gm (14th) 3.03 GA/Gm (17th)
Young guns (EDM) vs. Aging squad (CHI). EDM #1 ranked PP unit and 14th ranked G/Gm vs. an aging CHI cast. With the announcement, Corey Crawford will not play and CHI shipping out Robyn Lehner, now CHI has to roll out
Malcolm Subban. Not confident in the slightest with Malcolm who is a career backup now facing arguably the scariest duo in the league with McDavid and Draisaitl. I don't see this series being a long one BUT CHI leadership is a
dynasty and that veteran savvy is always great to have on your side during playoffs. Strategy from CHI side to slow down EDM could prevail but a lot is going to ride on Subban's shoulders.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS ARIZONA COYOTES
ODDS -135
115
17.3% Power Play (25th) 82.7% Penalty Kill (5th)
76.1% Penalty Kill (29th) 19.2% Power Play (18th)
3.07 G/Gm (16th) 2.61 GA/Gm (3rd)
3.10 GA/Gm (20th) 2.71 G/Gm (23rd)
Nashville consistently makes playoffs so not surprised seeing them here but the cast is mediocre. Yes yes, I know maybe a hot take. Their D-men are probably best in the league and they lean on them. Up-front it's spread the wealth offense that a few guys can pop anytime. Forsberg is the most
reliable. I'm a big Roman Josi fan I think he is a straight stud who shoots and blocks shots (DFS stats) who also is on #1 PP. It runs through him. Again Pekka Rinne in net has struggled in playoffs but also has young stud Juuse Saros ready at any time. Predators are very middle of the pack across the board this season. Now we have the up and coming Coyotes. 3rd best GA/Gm and great PK unit (5th) show they are conservative and defensive-minded. Both teams are. Probably low scoring defensive battle. Typical Western Conference battle.
ODDS -105
-115
17.3% Power Play (24th) 78.5% Penalty Kill (20th)
80.7% Penalty Kill (15th) 21.3% Power Play (10th)
2.78 G/Gm (22nd) 3.25 GA/Gm (28th)
2.79 GA/Gm (9th) 3.30 G/Gm (6th)
This is a battle of the coaches IMO. Both fantastic coaches that have turned these franchises around. FLA is on the ups and when I didn't think anything of the Islanders, they lose Tavares (thank you very much - Leafs fan) but gain Mathew Barzal who is a stud. Decent tandem goaltenders on the Islanders vs. BOBROVSKY! Jay and Dan reference (TSN)...I am Canadian don't forget. BOB CAN be an elite goalie but seems to always struggle come playoffs. This year hasn't been great for him overall but FLA going to need him. FLA I'm a bit surprised at their PP %. They have a scary # PP unit IMO. However, they do have ups and downs but with this being tournament style, I kind of like it for FLA. It's going to come down to which BOB shows up.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
ODDS -165
145
23.1% Power Play (6th) 81.7% Penalty Kill (12th)
77.7% Penalty Kill (21st) 16.4% Power Play (27th)
3.39 G/Gm (3rd) 2.61 GA/Gm (4th)
3.17 GA/Gm (26th) 2.57 G/Gm (28th)
OK, here we go! As a Leafs fan, I won't lie, I don't like being matched up against Columbus. They are a great shut-down team with one of the best goaltender duals in the league. Korpisalo was named starter with the departure of the aforementioned BOBROVSKY and was having a great year but then went down due to injury. Elvis Merlinkis steps up and had a real rough start but then caught fire! 8 straight wins with like 3 straight
shut-outs, crazy. Scary goaltender dual going against the high flying leafs. This is going to be Torts trying to slow down the Leafs into playing their game and to be honest, they can do it. TOR gives up a ton of shots that aren't great come playoffs but also are one of the most exciting teams to watch with their top 2 lines rolling. This will be a question if CBJ can slow TOR down and play their game. If so, this will be close. If not, Leafs fire-power I see taking over. I think the odds should be closer.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS MINNESOTA WILD
ODDS -135
115
24.2% Power Play (4th) 77.2% Penalty Kill (25th)
80.5% Penalty Kill (16th) 21.3% Power Play (10th)
3.25 G/Gm (8th) 3.14 GA/Gm (24th)
3.10 GA/Gm (21st) 3.16 G/Gm (12th)
Another young studs team vs aging squad. VAN is looking like a team not to be messed with. Love the Tyler Toffoli pick-up for a playoff push. He won some cups with LA so has that experience to help guide young studs Elias Pettersson / Brock Boeser and Calder contender Quinn Hughes. Oh and don't forget about Captain Bo Harvat the London
Ontario product! (My home town, not a big deallll). Bringing in JT Miller who's had a great experience on Tampa Bay and Rangers previously has fit in well with the Canucks. VAN also has a super underrated IMO Alex Edler who blooooocks shots and I always wanted to draft for season-long leagues. Jacob Markstrom also another nice goalie who had a .918 save percentage and 2.75 GAA. Minnesota is another veteran team making the playoffs. A pretty boring team overall but a decent PP unit. Dubynk had been a solid goalie but lost his job to Alex Stalock so not sure how this will unravel currently. I don't see the Wild putting up much of a fight and think VAN overall roster is just better.
