2023 NHL Draft Lottery Discussion - The Playoff Thread, Too

[synistar]

And so the Tankathon has ended. The Ducks with their 0-11-2 run in the final 13 GP cemented them with best odds for Bedard. CHI, CBJ, SJS, and MTL round out the top 5 for the 1OA pick.

All will find out on May 8th who will (likely) lay claim on a generational talent.



Now that half of BG hockey is done spamming about tanking and losing, we still have 16 teams ready to stake their claim for The Cup.

But you know who isn't there? These two guys.

Last time neither of them was in the playoffs was around when this picture was taken.

And yes we still have 2 games to play today. The Central Division still has a champion to crown. COL needs 2 points to host Seattle while a single point or loss will yield the division to DAL. Also the salary cap has been officially removed and teams can load up their playoff rosters. Technically the 4 teams playing today can blow through the cap since the season ended yesterday.

Our playoff match ups

A1 Boston Bruins vs. WC2 Florida Panthers
A2 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. A3 Tampa Bay Lightning
M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC1 New York Islanders
M2 New Jersey Devils vs. M3 New York Rangers

C1 Colorado Avalanche vs. WC1 Seattle Kraken
C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Minnesota Wild
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC2 Winnipeg Jets
P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Los Angeles Kings

Boston coming off the best regular season performance ever. Will that overcome the President's Cup curse? For certain they have the best 1A/1B goalie tandem and are the odds on favorite to steamroll through the East.

Toronto v TB. Something we all knew for months. Curse Breakers vs Cap Breakers. Will the Leafs finally win a series or will the Bolts shut them down again in another tragic game 7?

The Kraken with the surprise wild card berth. Don't think anyone had that in mind. All the usual playoff hopefuls of the West decided to suck (Flames, Blues) or be completely crippled and ice an AHL team (Perds) so good luck to them against the Central division champs.

The Jonathan Quick Redemption Tour goes through Winnipeg. As far as how many games he plays this post season? Who knows. He has had flashes of good but also flashes of his subpar 2022/23 season. But we're talking about playoff Quick here who did his best (and failed) last year.

And going to delve deeper in this series since it's going to be a bloodbath. Oliers v Kings Round 2! So what's different this time? Oilers are performing a whole lot better with the best PP% in EVER since the stat was tracked back in 1977-78. Skinner meanwhile only allowed 1 goal in the previous two meetings against the Kings. So offense is firing on all cylinders. Actually have a good netminder as long as it isn't Jack Campbell. And are one of the hottest teams entering the playoffs.

Opposite to them are the Kings. Heavier one healthy Drew Doughty. But injuries crept up and slowed down their momentum since stabbing Quick through the heart acquiring Korpisalo and Gavrikov. Mikey Anderson's injury questions linger after being boarded by McDavid a few weeks back. In the 2022 playoff bout, Anderson did his best to suppress the McDavid line, noted on the 5v5 shot suppression stat and got rewarded with a franchise friendly long term contract. Their PK and defense faltered and Vilardi's injury didn't help in this department. And Fiala missing 13 of the final 16 games of the season is one big "?" for the Kings as he was the leading scorer up until his absence.

I'll still give the edge to the Oilers. If Fiala is in the lineup, Oilers in 6, otherwise Oilers in 5 (my official Red X choice)

Yea I skipped the other series. Minimal stakes for me in there. I guess go Devils for the East!

Playoffs start Monday. So get your picks in for the Red X extravaganza.

Playoff Bracket Challenge is also ready - https://bracketchallenge.nhl.com/en/league/25455
Password - TANKB4CUP

[Melena]

Just a heads up, while it can only impact lottery, there are still two regular season games today. If CBJ wins, the Shraks slip into the bottom 3.

[Melena]

Also, lets go Devils. Make those Eastern Conference finals to give the Sharks another 1st round pick for next year.

[NynJa]

Just a heads up, while it can only impact lottery, there are still two regular season games today. If CBJ wins, the Shraks slip into the bottom 3.

I'm pretty sure central division champ is up for grabs in one of the two games today lol

[Melena]

Yeah, I realized it after. Only thing that matters to me is New Jersey making the EC Finals and BJ's losing today.

Probably going to pull for Dallas just for Pavelski.

[Melena]

Impressive milestones this year.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Cail]

https://twitter.com/Capitals/status/1646985335295942659

[Cail]

FUCK THE PLAYOFFS WE ONTO THE LOTTERY

[synistar]

I'm on vacation mode so I'm going to forget to do my picks if I don't say them now.

Oilers in 5
Golden Knights in 6
Stars in 5
Avs in 7

Canes in 5
Bruins in 4
Devils in 6
and.... Bolts in 7 because that curse will never be broken.

[Melena]

A1 Boston Bruins vs. WC2 Florida Panthers Boston in 5
A2 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. A3 Tampa Bay Lightning Lightning in 6
M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC1 New York Islanders Carolina in 6
M2 New Jersey Devils vs. M3 New York Rangers NJD in 6

C1 Dallas Stars/Colorado Avalanche vs. WC1 Seattle Kraken Avs in 5
C2 Dallas Stars/Colorado Avalanche vs. C3 Minnesota Wild Dallas in 6
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC2 Winnipeg Jets Vegas in 7
P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Los Angeles Kings Oilers in 7

[Cail]

fuck ya'll, make your picks when the matchups are set

[synistar]

Mine are locked no matter the Central winner. Landeskog being out makes it a longer series but they win regardless if it Kraken or Wild.

And Dallas gonna get the hard carry from Oettinger standing on his head.

[Melena]

fuck ya'll, make your picks when the matchups are set

[Obsidian]

Gonna wait to make my picks but fuck all y'all that don't pick the Leafs to beat Tampa. This time for sure! for real!

Why is everyone laughing?

[Cail]

ya'll are banned from picking

[Koyangi]

Gonna wait to make my picks but fuck all y'all that don't pick the Leafs to beat Tampa. This time for sure! for real!

Why is everyone laughing?

[Salodin]

Me watching everyone take the Bruins 5 or under...

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[synistar]

Avs with 2 points. They host the Kraken. Dallas play the Wild.

[Deader2818]

Bruins in 5
Lightning in 7
Canes in 5
Devils in 7

Avs in 6
Dallas in 6

Knights in 5
Oilers in 5

[bori]

Western Conference
-----------------------------------
Colorado in 6
Dallas in 7
Vegas in 5
Edmonton in 7



Eastern Conference
----------------------------------
Bruins in 6
Carolina in 6
Tampa in 7
Rangers in 7