Taking a look at the early NHL playoff picture and determining who’s a contender and who’s a pretender
I know, we’re barely into the third week of the NHL season – it’s way to early to be taking a look at the playoff picture. Teams that are off to hot starts could be playing for Connor McDavid by the time April and May roll around. There is not a real set date when the sample size becomes large enough to form legitimate opinions about team performances, but often Thanksgiving (the US version) is agreed upon as a safe place to start.
I plan to do another one of these posts around that time to see how things have changed, but in order to gain a starting point, I thought three weeks would be a good place to start. By now nearly every team has at least played five games, had their home openers and has either completed or started a road trip.
If the playoffs started today the Montreal Canadiens would win the Atlantic, with the Tampa Bay Lightning in second and the Ottawa Senators in third. The Washington Capitals would win the Metropolitan, with the New York Islanders in second and the New York Rangers in third. The two Wild Card teams would be the Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins.
Over in the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators would win the Central Division, with the Chicago Blackhawks in second and the Dallas Stars in third. The Anaheim Ducks would win the Pacific, with the Los Angeles Kings in second and the San Jose Sharks in third. The two Wild Card teams out of the West would be the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks.
There are several surprising teams listed there that were not expected to be in any sort of playoff discussion this season. There are also some notable teams on the outside looking in, including the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Philadelphia Flyers.
First let’s take a look at which of the teams that are currently in the playoffs are legitimate contenders, starting with the Eastern Conference.
Eastern Conference Contenders
Next we’ll take a look at the contenders currently in the playoff picture in the Western Conference.
Western Conference Contenders
Next we will take a look at the pretenders in the Eastern and Western Conference
Eastern Conference Pretenders
Western Conference Pretenders
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