5 Stanley Cup playoff teams from 2019 that won’t clinch in 2020
By Kyle McKenna
Find out five NHL teams that won’t advance to the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, after they clinched a berth last postseason.
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and while it’s this hockey enthusiast’s favorite holiday, the holiday is also a measuring tool that portrays which NHL teams will more than likely clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
While FanSided provided a list of five teams that missed the postseason in 2019 but will clinch in 2020, let’s look at five teams that made the playoffs last season but will miss out this April.
5. Columbus Blue Jackets
Okay, this one is obvious but it’s true.
While the Columbus Blue Jackets will surprise NHL fans alike with a fight and push to bid for a spot in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, head coach John Tortorella and company fall short this season.
For starters, the Eastern Conference is more competitive this season and in large part because of the parity in the Atlantic Division. Fans are used to seeing at least four or five teams from the Metropolitan Division represent the East by season’s end, but that’s not going to be the case in 2020.
The Jackets don’t entail the same depth in all areas of the ice compared to last year’s squad; but there is hope for Columbus and in the foreseeable future.
Youngsters such as Pierre-Luc Dubois, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones are built to guide Columbus back to success and are a core the team’s front office can confidently build around. Keep in mind that the Blue Jackets’ don’t have a skater over the age of 32 and both current goaltenders in Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins are 25-years-old.