This will be a season recap of each team that will be partaking in the playoffs this season. Following that will be round 1 predictions. Enjoy! East (Metropolitan Division) 1st Seed: Pittsburgh Penguins, 60-17-5 (125 points) The Penguins marched through the regular season with ease and no bumps along the way. Led by @SteveB9211's Vezina caliber season between the pipes, Pittsburgh tallied the lowest Goals Against in the league with 151 while also eclipsing the 300 Goals For mark as well. They also were not quiet at the trade deadline, acquiring a top commodity in @Hxndry. Expect the Penguins to be the favorite coming out of the Eastern Conference once again, but will they finally beat their Western Conference opponent for a Stanley Cup? Ratings: FWD (A-) DEF (A+) GOL (A-) 2nd Seed: New Jersey Devils, 56-21-5 (117 points) Head babysitter @Draisaitl 29 did a fantastic job of bringing in some of the best talent moved this season (@NYR95, @Hopkins 28, @Yung Gren) as well as creating a cohesive unit out of a lot of egos. In doing so they have rebounded from being a likely wild card team to a contender role in a rather stacked Eastern Conference. After a rocky first two weeks the Devils did not lose more than 3 games a week for the rest of the season, showing a consistency across all of their lines that will need to be carried on into the playoffs. Ratings: FWD (A) DEF (B+) GOL (A) 3rd Seed: Philadelphia Flyers, 54-20-8 (116 points) The Flyers after 4 weeks were arguably the hottest team in the East, touting impressive numbers both on offense and defense with @Odieeeeee carrying the back end for 3 games a week and the cast of Hendry/Tendy/DejaVecu helping the three forward lines tremendously. After the Yung Gren trade and the moving of Hendry for @P t P 10 Philly has been on a bit of a downturn. Since week 4 they have only had two weeks with less than 3 losses. To top it off they had their worst week all season in the last week, losing to divisional rivals in the Penguins, Devils, and Rangers. The first round test against the Devils will be a challenge for them if they continue with their current struggles. Ratings: FWD (B+) DEF (B) GOL (B) 4th Seed: New York Rangers, 53-23-6 (112 points) Placeholder, to be written by another member. Ratings: East (Atlantic Division) 1st Seed: Florida Panthers, 52-25-5 (109 points) Florida quietly worked on upgrading their squad with the likes of @iAMoee, @BEAUPRE o and @l JLP l while maintaining a consistent enough record to squeak ahead of Ottawa via tiebreaker for the 1st Atlantic seed. Although their depth is still suspect on the backend, they have made efforts throughout the season to try and find the solution to their depth defensive problem to little success. The lack of depth has shown in the results by not tallying a week with less than 2 losses, meaning 3-0 lines for the week are not a common sight in Florida. If @J a IMI e S x22 turns it around expect some different results come the playoffs though. Ratings: FWD (B+) DEF (B) GOL (B) 2nd Seed: Ottawa Senators, 51-24-7 (109 points) Ottawa has been a real surprise playoff team to many including myself as @l Bossy l x 22 did a fantastic job of bringing in quality management. His team has done a solid job in winning some games they shouldn't have and barely giving up any losses to weaker (non-playoff) teams. It is a serious concern though when looking at their schedule, as their record against playoff teams is pretty sub standard (19W-22L). They have a litmus test coming up with a series against the Canadiens, which are full of veteran talent that have playoff experience. Ratings: FWD (B) DEF (C+) GOL (B+) 3rd Seed: Montreal Canadiens, 48-29-5 (101 points) Going into this season Splooooooooooooooooooosh and crew were expected to finish much higher than their current position, but it doesn't really matter as long as you get into the playoffs. Starting with a horrific 2-7 start and not having a sub-3 loss week until week 7, Montreal made it difficult on themselves when it comes to clinching a spot. It came down to Toronto losing in regulation to Boston as well as a final game W against Florida to make it. Along the way they have tallied impressive numbers since the deadline and come into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams. We'll see if they can carry their momentum into next week. Ratings: FWD (B+) DEF (A-) GOL (B) 4th Seed: Toronto Maple Leafs, 47*-28-7 (101 points*) With the CLUTCH week 6 overturn almost over a month after the game occurred, @XxTerryTORxX and his baguette army have stolen the final wild card spot on the final night. Toronto, like Montreal, was another team that started off horribly in week 1. But with some good trades and some improved play, they turned things around dramatically with a 9-0 week 6 right before the deadline. That weekend saw Toronto make two very confusing trades, one of which included @NikLidstrom420, which culminated into the 0-9 week 7. Many teams would be on the ropes at this point, but with a solid final two weeks they also managed to get into the Eastern playoffs. It is a testament to the difficulty of this Conference overall when the 9th place team is at 100 points for the season. Ratings: FWD (B+) DEF (C+) GOL (B) West (Central Division) 1st Seed: Winnipeg Jets, 70-8-4 (144 points) This is arguably the most dominant regular season in post-merger LG history. It is even more impressive when the fact is that NHL17 has a lot of lucky bounces involved. To pull off such consistency from each line throughout 9 weeks is an impressive feat. There isn't much more to say other than they steamrolled the season and that after round 1 the rounds to watch will be their bouts versus Nashville and San Jose. Ratings: FWD (A+) DEF (A-) GOL (A) 2nd Seed: Nashville Predators, 55-19-8 (118 points) @Tb Toxic and Nashville have done the best they could to chase Winnipeg throughout the season as well as make trades that are aimed directly at beating Winnipeg. While they shouldn't look past their fantastic regular season, they really have been overshadowed by the larger fish in their conference. Compared to the East, where it is mostly everyone has a chance, many feel as though it is a two horse race in the West. But don't count out this team in the slightest, as even though they went 0-5 against Winnipeg in their regular conference games they also went 3-0 against San Jose. If Nashville can pull off the victory in round 2, they could be the new argued favorites in the West. Ratings: FWD (A-) DEF (B+) GOL (B+) 3rd Seed: Minnesota Wild, 47-34-1 (95 points) Minnesota had its ups and downs throughout the season, including a rotating door at the starting goalie position until @MNWebby came along. @Zincyyyy has done well both have a good season and bring in pieces for the next season. All around everyone on the team did their part and did an above average job. RIP the @Optimus Virg perfect season. How do you lose to ANAHEIM? Ratings: FWD (B) DEF (B-) GOL (B-) 4th Seed: Chicago Blackhawks, 44-35-3 (91 points) The Nashville Farm Team didn't really have any challengers for their wild card spot this season. @a1xFREAKx13's squad definitely got the experience they needed from this season and will get a chance to shock the world with a series against San Jose. Although I'd say they lost some of their most valuable assets for next season in @Optehic, @D4N USA and @F R i K S x 9 9, they still have a base which to build upon. Ratings: FWD (B-) DEF (C) GOL (B) West (Pacific Division) 1st Seed, San Jose Sharks, 64-13-5 (133 points) The Sharks, led by @Po1andsFinest and @Pandaleupagus, had the benefit of being a great team in a CACA division. San Jose have been a very consistent team on the back end especially for how many changes they have had. @lx JoneZ xl has been fantastic for the games he wasn't banned for as well as @CjC Cobras. Their defense has kept them in every game as the 17 OTW total shows. Their goal support may be their only soft spot which may become an issue if they get behind in games against he likes of Winnipeg. Ratings: FWD (B+) DEF (A-) GOL (A+) 2nd Seed: Edmonton Oilers, 44-33-5 (93 points) Lou and his crew are back in the playoffs again after a moderately successful season. There isn't a whole lot to say here other than that they did an average job with some success against playoff teams while also not really showing signs of being threatening at any point in the season. It should be noted that Edmonton did make some small moves like acquiring @x Lundqvist x, but it isn't enough to really push them over the top to being a contender. Ratings: FWD (C+) DEF (C+) GOL (B-) 3rd Seed: Calgary Flames, 40-34-8 (88 points) @K1eetus and @Woahmack have done a good job in taking the ashes of the Gulash squad and getting into a divisional seed through some slick trades. Although they are the first sub .500 team on this list, there is something to be said about their last three weeks (18-10). We shall see how they play against their divisional rival Edmonton in round 1. Ratings: FWD (B-) DEF (C) GOL (C+) 4th Seed: Arizona Coyotes, 37-36-9 (83 points) Arizona really didn't live up to their expectations this regular season. In a rather easy division they managed to not eclipse a .500 record. The notable names are there in @Nybo x 3 and @gregy99, but sadly no real results. Now they have a first round bout against Winnipeg. This may be a wasted season for them. Ratings: FWD (B) DEF (C) GOL (B-)
Playoff Predictions, round one: East: (1) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (4) Toronto Maple Leafs - in 5 (1) Florida Panthers vs (4) New York Rangers - in 6 (2) New Jersey Devils vs (3) Philadelphia Flyers - in 6 (2) Ottawa Senators vs (3) Montreal Canadiens - in 7 West: (1) Winnipeg Jets vs (4) Arizona Coyotes - in 4 (1) San Jose Sharks vs (4) Chicago Blackhawks - in 5 (2) Nashville Predators vs (3) Minnesota Wild - in 6 (2) Edmonton Oilers vs (3) Calgary Flames - in 6
Well maybe your team shouldn't have lost to the Islanders and the Capitals last week and that wouldnt have been an issue just saying. Love you Marky
