1 bold prediction for each 2018 Stanley Cup playoff team

The Stanley Cup playoffs are here, which means it’s time for some predictions. Here’s a bold one for each team in the postseason.

The playoffs start tonight, and that means it’s time for some bold predictions for each team.

Hockey is great in that it’s the one major sport where a No. 8 seed can easily come in and win the whole thing. And when that craziness happens, it has its roots in what happens in the first round.

Let’s take a look at one bold prediction for each Stanley Cup playoff team that may happen in the first round as the action kicks off Wednesday night.

Anaheim Ducks

Someone other than Ryan Getzlaf will lead the team in scoring

Center Ryan Getzlaf has been the Anaheim Ducks’ best player in the playoffs in recent years, and he led all Ducks players with 19 points in last year’s playoff run.

Actually, Getzlaf led the Ducks in postseason scoring each of the last three seasons. But this is the year that it comes to an end and another player leads the Ducks in scoring. It very well could be winger and alternate captain Corey Perry, who had 49 points this season. Or maybe it will be center Ryan Kesler, who only played in 44 games but had 14 points.

Someone who also shouldn’t be slept on is Ondrej Kase, who had 20 goals and 38 points in his first season with the Ducks. While the Ducks will need Getzlaf at his best if they want to win another Stanley Cup for him, it has to be this year when a different player takes over and leads the team in scoring.