Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. The sun is setting later and later, there’s a cool breeze in the air and right around that time when that sun starts to set, the games begin. The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off tonight at 7 o’clock eastern time and they’ll begin with the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders. As this is primarily a Rangers fan blog, I’m going to save my lengthier Hudson River Rivalry playoff preview for tomorrow morning but with the playoffs starting today, I’m going to run through my thoughts and predictions on each of the other seven first round series’.
Dallas Stars (2) vs. Minnesota WIld (3)
It’s the battle of the new stars versus the old stars as Dallas takes on Minnesota tonight at 9:30 est to kick things off in the West. This is going to be a very interesting series for a lot of reasons but for me, I’m still a bit unsure of what kind of team Minnesota is. They just recently announced a five year extension to Freddie Gaudreau which is a bit interesting. They don’t have a ton of superstars on this team but seem to be establishing some kind of core. They’re not a deep team and have a lot of question marks but at the same time, when things are working and going good for them, they’re a very solid hockey team. As for Dallas, they’ve been one of the top teams in the West all season long and have some big name stars who are looking to help impact this team with a playoff run this postseason.
Dallas is in the top ten of every main stat category. They have the best faceoff percentage in the league, are third and fifth on penalty kill and power play, third best in goals against and seventh in goals four. Led by Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen, the Stars are looking to get back to where they were a handful of seasons ago when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final against Tampa. On top of those big names, they have their veteran guys in Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Joe Pavelski who are running on borrowed time, growing more and more desperate for a championship. If that isn’t enough, they have younger stars in Wyatt Johnston and their starting goaltender, Jake Oettinger. Otter will absolutely be a difference maker for this Stars team if he is on his game and could very well have the edge against Marc-Andre Fleury or Filip Gustavsson.
As for the Wild, they’re still a solid team but don’t necessarily scream contender. I can’t help but get the just happy to be here vibe from them but at the same time, they have a solid group of defenders that has further been solidified with the addition of hometown hero, Brock Faber. Faber, who is from Minnesota and just left the University of Minnesota to sign with the Minnesota WIld, is certainly living the dream and could very well be a name that pops off early in the postseason. Offensively, the Wild aren’t super deep but do have a dangerous top line in Kaprizov - Hartman - Zuccarello. They also have a young star of their own in Matt Boldy that can certainly make some noise for the Wild and will need to step up if they want to skate with the Stars.
The Stars saw Minnesota thrice this season and came out on top in two of the three showings. It’s fair to assume that the Stars are the favorites in this series but if the stars align for Minnesota… (sorry) It could be a really good series. I’m still taking Dallas in this one but I’m going to give it to them in seven. I can see Minnesota hanging around and putting up a good fight but at the end of the day, I don’t see the second round without the Dallas Stars being there.
Players to watch/Potential X Factors: (DAL) Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston (MIN) Matt Boldy, Freddie Gaudreau, Brock Nelson
Edmonton Oilers (2) vs. Los Angeles Kings (3)
The battle of Wayne Gretzky’s love? This is without question going to be one of the more exciting series’ to come out of the West. A bit similarly to Toronto, the Oilers kind of have to get over that hump of failed playoff success as the prime years of McDavid and Draisaitl continue to pass by. The Oilers won two rounds in last year's postseason but prior to that, only saw the second round once. With how this team has shaped out, especially after the trade with Nashville at the deadline, you have to think they mean business and are looking to have a strong playoff run this time around. As for the Kings, they have an exciting, younger team that is on the verge of forming a new core looking to make some noise as well and for the first time in a long time, will be there without their franchise goaltender, Jonathan Quick.
The Kings saw the Oilers four times in the regular season and while they split the season series 2-2, their two losses came in very recent outings. Edmonton certainly had some struggles this season and for a minute, were battling just to be a wildcard team. Nevertheless, they overcame their obstacles, added at the trade deadline and found a new face to carry them between the pipes in Stuart Skinner. Goaltending will be an interesting battle in this series as between the two teams, there are four rather capable netminders. While the Oilers saw a rise in Stuart Skinner, they still have Jack Campbell who they signed not too long ago to be their number one goalie. He’s taken a bit of a dip but if they need to look to him at all in this series I’d expect him to come up big, especially against one of his former teams. For LA, they have Joonas Korpisalo who they picked up in the Columbus trade with Vlad Gavrikov in exchange for Jonathan Quick and draft capital. While he’s expected to start for the Kings, they also have Phoenix Copley who won LA 24 games throughout the season, only dropping six (and four overtime) losses.
The story of this series however, isn’t expected to be about goaltending as the Oilers have the unanimous top player in the NHL, who is coming off a 153 point season. (64 goals and 89 assists. Between McDavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins, the Oilers had three players with over 100 points this season. With the trade deadline additions of Mathias Ekholm and Nick Bjugstad, the Oilers are looking to make the success’ of their hundred point getters worth it but won’t have an easy time as the Kings have had themselves an honorable season as well. While they are still trying to pick up the pieces of their rebuild following their two cups in three years, Kopitar and Doughty are definitely approaching the end of their careers and will look to lead this younger group to a promising run. Veterans and young stars aside, the Kings have some criminally underrated talent on this team in Alex Iafallo, Philip Danault, Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe who leads their team with 41 goals on the year. Defensively, they have some key names in Mikey Anderson and Matt Roy as they will be tasked with shutting down some of the league's brightest stars.
Expect this to be a wildly exciting series and while the Oilers are assumed to be the favorites, I’m going to go Kings in six for this one. The Oilers have a bit of a history of choking and while there’s reason to believe this year to be different, I just have a feeling that LA is going to come into this series with some spunk and see them finding a way to win games five and six with at least one of the two coming in the form of overtime. Besides, who wouldn’t want to root for the Kings to win so they can hopefully see Vegas in round two to give quick a chance at redemption?
Players to watch/Potential X Factors: (EDM) McDavid (duh), Nick Bjugstad and Mathias Ekholm (LA) Blake Lizotte, Quinton Byfield, Mikey Anderson
Vegas Golden Knights (Z) vs. Winnipeg Jets (WC2)
Out of all the first round matchups, I find this one to be the easiest to call and most likely to be a sweep. The Winnipeg Jets were on the brink of disaster less than 12 months ago as talks of a serious retool continue to linger as well as reports of a toxic team environment. As a result, the organization stripped Blake Wheeler of the captaincy and for a while, it seemed that helped turn things around. The Jets had stretches of good hockey this season but as time went on, they fell off and those concerns fell back into question. It came down to the Flames and them for that last playoff spot and sure enough, Winnipeg found a way to hang on to that thread they seemingly continue to hold onto. Unfortunately for them, fighting for that last playoff spot was the easy part as they will go up against the top team in the west, the Vegas Golden Knights.
What a story Vegas has been, eh? Ever since they came into the league and made it to the Cup Final in 2018 they’ve been on a mission to compete and contend. They won the Jack Eichel sweepstakes we talked extensively about for what felt like forever and seem to have a bit of a revolving door of cast members taking the stage in Sin City. They still have some original pieces in William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith but they’ve retooled with some star names in Eichel, Phil Kessel and now Jonathan Quick. In addition to that, they sprung for Ivan Barbashev at the trade deadline as they hope to ice a complete team to make another run in the 2023 postseason. For them, injuries and staying healthy will be among the Keys to success here as they shouldn’t have any problems knocking Winnipeg out. Logan Thompson, who stepped up to be their number one goalie this season is listed as day-to-day and could be nearing a return so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle goaltending responsibilities with Quick and Laurent Brossoit.
On Winnipeg’s end however, they don’t have much to lose here so why not go for it? No one is really expecting Winnipeg to come out on top of Vegas and a first round exit could very well lead to major changes with the Jets so if you’re literally anyone in that Winnipeg locker room, why not get the team going and play balls to the wall hockey in attempts to get something going? Besides, goaltending plays such a big role come playoff time and the Jets have one of the best in the league with Connor Hellebuyck. Not only do they have that going for them but they got a Norris Trophy calibur season from Josh Morrissey which could help them out big time in shutting down the star studded Golden Knights. They also picked up Nino Neiderreiter and Vlad Namestnikov at the trade deadline who could help them provide some secondary offense but aside from goaltending, Vegas just out matches them in every way.
Vegas saw the Jets three times this season and beat them all three times. While the playoffs are the start of a brand new season, I just don’t believe Winnipeg has it in them. I’m going Knights in 5 which implies Hellebuyck steals at least one game in the series. If he’s not at the top of his game this series will absolutely be the first to finish out quite possibly with a lot of brooms.
Players to watch/Potential X Factors: (VGK) Chandler Stephenson, Jonathan Marchessault, Jack Eichel (WPG) Kyle Connor, Nino Neiderreiter, Josh Morrissey
Colorado Avalanche (1) vs. Seattle Kraken (WC1)
Colorado swooped in at the last second and took first in the Central from the Stars and in doing so, will take on the Seattle Kraken in their first ever playoff appearance. What a story for the Kraken who are in their second season and surprised many with how strong a season they had. They approached the expansion draft with a clear mentality that they were looking to build from the ground up but sure enough, after one full season of being in business, they found themselves in the battle for Lord Stanley’s hardware. As for the Avalanche, they have the weight of being the defending champs on their shoulders and had one of the most difficult seasons around the league when it came to staying healthy. Unfortunately for them, those battles continue as it looks like they’ll be without Cale Makar, one of the top defenders in the league. Will the Avalanche take care of business like many expect them too or will we have a bit of an upset on our hands?
On top of the risk of starting playoffs without Makar, the Avalanche are also down Gabriel Landeskog, Josh Manson, Darren Helm and Andrew Cogliano to start the postseason. Several of which are game time decisions but almost all of those names are incredibly significant pieces to this team. On the bright side for Colorado, they have many of the names that were most recently edged onto that iconic trophy still on the team and have better goaltending then they did last season in Alexandar Georgiev. Georgiev has a dash of playoff experience with the Rangers but will be going into his first postseason as a definitive starter which can absolutely be a difference maker.
For Seattle, it’s fair to say they’re the most “happy to be here” team in the playoffs but as a whole, they’re a pretty underrated team. Led by a young star in Matty Beniers and an underrated gem in Jared McCann, who’s coming off a career year, the Kraken have a lot of pieces that can put something together to catapult them into some playoff success. In between the pipes they have a goaltender more than capable of heating up at the right time in Philip Grubauer and even have some been there before guys in Jaden Schwartz and Yanni Gourde. On top of all that, the Kraken have bested the Avalanche in two of the three regular season meetings while still getting a point in that one shootout loss. They have nothing to lose and certainly have Colorado’s number from the regular season which could definitely mean something.
At the same time, you still have Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen among several other elite players and former champs. It’s quite a hot take to rule the Avalanche out this early but every bracket has its one upset right? This one’s going to be mine as I have the Kraken in six or seven. Colorado’s had a tough year and despite Tampa having done it pretty recently, it’s incredibly hard to repeat. Georgiev will need to stand on his head if he wants to see the second round, shutting down the fifth best team in the league in goals for.
Players to watch/Potential X Factors: (COL) Alex Newhook, JT Compher, Evan Rodriguez (SEA) Matty Beniers, Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev
Chris Feldman
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