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Predicting the First Round & Cleveland Monsters Make Postseason! |
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April 19 2025
Philadelphia PA
Today begins the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs for 16 franchises; meanwhile, the other half of the league is beginning holiday and vacation trips. This piece today is being posted in transit while I am in Philadelphia with family for the Easter weekend.
Western Conference clubs are on the schedule first this year, so I will begin there and then the Eastern Conference.
(1C) Winnipeg Jets v (WC2) St. Louis Blues
The President’s Trophy winners and the Glory of the Jobu Monty Blues.
Winnipeg has had an extremely impressive season even after losing their coach to retirement; management held steady and the team responded to the fraud call from last season. And this year, they have the curse of the President’s Trophy.
Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele have been a strong duo all season; whether it is Alex Iafallo or Gabriel Valardi there. The loss of Nikolaj Ehlers may be costly.
St Louis has managed to retool on the fly with adding Dylan Holloway; Phillip Broberg; Alexandre Texier; Mathieu Joseph; and Radesk Faksa over the summer. Dumping Saad to add Jimmy Snuggerud saves the Blues money for next year; and bringing Jim
Montgomery into the fold has had the veteran defense rejuvenated. The loss of Holloway may cost the Blues.
The American goalie Hellybuck on the Canadian team against the Canadian goalie Binnington is the X factor to watch for in this series.
Winnipeg Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson -- Morgan Barron -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Dominic Toninato, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Ville Heinola
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
St. Louis Blues projected lineup
Jake Neighbours -- Robert Thomas -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Snuggerud -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter -- Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Alexandre Texier, Tyler Tucker, Matthew Kessel
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body)
Prediction: Winnipeg in 7
(2C) Dallas Stars v (3C) Colorado Avalanche
The Mikko Ranatanen chronicles continues to unravel as the team that drafted him is now his bitter divisional rival. Ranatanen and Duchene, two former Colorado first round draft selections, are wearing the Dallas sweater.
The Avalanche redid the majority of the roster and replenished the depth of the organization for one or two more runs at the top. From Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood; Ryan Lindgren and Erik Johnson; and Martin Necas, Jack Drury, Brock Nelson, and Charlie Coyle — MacFarland and Sakic did a lot of work.
However, Gabriel Landeskog is back. First playoff game in three years.
Dallas is coming in shaky as they are playing some of their worst hockey and are without Jason Robertson and Miro Heskianen.
The Stars did lose Logan Stankoven but added Mikael Granlund; Cost Ceci; and the Moose. They are looking rough, but is there hope?
Prediction: Dallas in 7
(1P) Vegas Golden Knights v (WC1) Minnesota Wild
The Marc-Andre Fleury retirement tour may conclude with his current team and expansion draft team. Flower is a Hall of Fame goaltender that spent his glory days with the Penguins.
Minnesota was the hottest squad to kick off the season, and fell off after injuries to Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek. Gustav Nyquist returned to Minny at the trade deadline, that could be an ex-factor.
Vegas stood pat with a monster year from Jack Eichel and full seasons from Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin. Original misfit Reilly Smith is back in the fold.
Prediction — Vegas in 7; Minnesota will push Vegas to the limit.
(2P) Los Angeles Kings v (3P) Edmonton Oilers
The Pacific Division one sided battle that Edmonton has rolled over the Kings in. Warren Foegle and Viktor Arvidsson have swapped sides in this affair.
Edmonton is bruised and beat up from McDavid down; and goaltending has been a weakness.
Los Angeles has been strong all year, and Darcy Kuemper has rebounded since the move out of Washington.
Prediction - Los Angeles in 5; sorry Oilers, I just don’t love the end of the season for as much as McDavid deserves a cup.
Eastern Conference
(1M) Washington Capitals v (WC2) Montreal Canadiens
The Beast of the East and the young guns of Montreal meet for the first time since 2011.
Washington has rolled over everyone, and witnessed the Gr8 Chase. The winning experience and success in Hershey and South Carolina is making the organization that much better.
Ivan Demidov has arrived from the KHL and will make an impact with Slafkovsky and Caufield (for Gaudreau too).
Prediction— Washington in 6
(2M) Carolina Hurricanes v (3M) New Jersey Devils
Carolina has looked shaky down the stretch and the Devils are full of injuries. This comes down to goaltending against clutch scoring.
The Rantanen moved pushed the cup window backwards in Carolina; love Logan Stankoven as a deadline grab. Hall and Jankowski have also been great.
Hughes out stings for offensive production and Jonas Sigenthaler hurts the defensive depth. How healthy is Dougie Hamilton and how much do Markstrom and Allen have left?
Prediction — Canes in 5
(1A) Toronto Maple Leafs v (WC1) Ottawa Senators
The Battle of Ontario. Ottawa and Toronto have faced off three times this season; the Senators won all three games combining to a score of 9-3, including a shutout in the first outcome.
Both teams shook up their defense, goaltending, and coaching over the summer while adding offense at the trade deadline.
Ottawa is still dealing with growing pains, but offers a lot of upside. Toronto is in win now mode given the pending free agents and the age of their core.
Ottawa has the grit and toughness to edge the Leafs; and maybe the better goaltender in Linus Ullmark.
Prediction — Ottawa in 7
(2A) Tampa Bay Lightning v (3A) Florida Panthers
The Battle of Florida. Let’s go! This is fun!
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Cam Atkinson against Seth Jones and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Florida fell after the deadline with injuries and suspensions. Marchand needs to get under the skin of every Tampa skater.
Without Stamkos after the move to Nashville; Hedman, Kucherov, and Vaslievsky have taken the reigns of the Bolts hoping the Cup and another finals appearance remains in the state of Florida. If so, it will be six straight years a Florida team has made it to the finals.
Prediction — Florida in 7; maybe the most physical and difficult series to predict.
What are your thoughts and predictions of this year’s matchups? Happy Holiday and Hockey days! Without the buzz…
The Monsters Make It!
Cleveland is in the AHL postseason! As the fifth and final seed in the division, the Monsters are expected to compete against the fourth seed Toronto Marlies in Round 1 in a best of 3 game series.
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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