Colorado vs St. Louis - On the Colorado front, I expect Johnson, Byram and Saad to miss at least the first round. MacKinnon will be back in the lineup wether he likes it or not. On the St. Louis side, it sounds like Dunn, Tarasenko and Parayko will all return. It’s 50/50 from what I’m seeing. Let’s say they all return. For stars, Colorado has Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen. And Rantanen and MacKinnon are all world. Rantanen is one of the best playmakers in the entire NHL and MacKinnon is just completely dominant in every facet. Might be the best star group in the NHL besides Edmonton and all of these guys elevate in the playoffs. Secondary scoring is Burakovsky, Kadri, Donskoi, Nichushkin you could even wrap Jost or Compher in because both can easily play top 9. So with the Saad injury, Colorado is 10 deep with playoff performers. On the fourth line, you’ll likely see some combination of Compher, Bellemare, Jost, O’Connor maybe even Newhook. I’d personally slide Newhook into the top 9. Then run Bellemare, Compher, Jost. This Ives Colorado 12 skilled players in the lineup and a fourth line that is hard to play against, can defend and can score. Overall, it’s a perfect group. 3 ultra stars, endless amounts of top 9 talent, a great 4th line, good defensive ability. On the St. Louis side they have Perron and ROR for stars. A healthy Tarasenko could even be there but he isn’t healthy. Perron is a star like it or not to everyone in the comments. I’d personally give him a 4th line role on 2022 Team Canada. Not to mention a perennial Selke contender in ROR. Its a small star group but they can score, defend and are hard to play against. Secondary scoring consists of Bozak, Schwartz, Kyrou, Schenn, Hoffman and Tarasenko. This makes them 8 deep. Every player in this lineup has proven to be effective in the playoffs as well so no worries there. Not to mention Sundqvist, Barbashev, Sanford, Blais and Thomas all of which can play top 9. 13 effective players on this team. Super filled out. Not quite sure who will be the 4th line and don’t want to say anything inaccurate but I do know that whoever plays there would be top 9 on most teams. Overall they have a very complete, defensively responsible, deep and tough forward group built for playoffs. I’d still give it to Colorado up front, who, even though not as tough still brings toughness and obviously has the more talented group. On D, Colorado has 3 Norris contenders. 3. Some teams don’t even have 3 capable defense men. Girard, Toews, Makar and Graves make up what I think is undebatebly the best top 4 in the league. And Graves is no slouch either. One if the best shutdown d-men in the NHL IMO. On the third pair, Timmins and Nemeth are both capable top 4 guys and Timmins could be a #1 one day. This d-core rivals any in the league and I think is the best. On the STL front, you have a banged up Parayko + Faulk and Krug for high end d-men. I’ve heard Krug has been disappointing in St. Louis and Faulk has been the #1. That means you can have 3 guys playing at a #1 level. That’s great but it doesn’t match 3 Norris guys in Colorado. Dunn is a high end #4 for STL that would play above 4 on most NHL teams. The third pair of Bortuzzo Scandella is hard to pay against and built for playoffs. Overall it results in a well rounded defensive core with good high end talent but simply can’t match Colorados group. In net, Grubauer vs Binnington is an advantage Grubauer but if Binnington gets hot he’s proven he can win a Stanley Cup on his own. That said, Grubauer has been way better this season so I’m taking the actual hot hand as oppposed to the theoretical one. On the special teams front, Colorado ranks 8th and 8th. STL ranks 6th in PP and 25th in PK. Colorado is also the hottest team in the NHL right now. Just based off of the PP vs PK advantage and last 10 record I’d take Colorado not to mention better stars, better secondary scoring, better high end d-men, better top 4 and a better goalie. St. Louis is more equipped for playoffs (better defensively throughout the lineup and harder to play against) but the other advantages favour Colorado. St. Louis is a great team but Colorado is incredible. Colorado in 6
Vegas vs Minnesota - Vegas has been crippled with injuries. From the research I’ve done it looks like everybody will be back but Pacioretty doesn’t seem as promising to return. I just don’t know. If you are aware, let me know. For the purposes of this let’s say he plays at 50%/60% because it seems likely given that every injury league wide recovers just in time for playoffs. Star players in Vegas are Stone and Pacioretty, maybe even Marchessault as a fringe guy. All are playoff performers and I’m Stones case a Selke contender. Their group lacks a third defined star but it’s not a bad group. For secondary scoring they have Karlsson, Stephenson, Tuch, Smith and Nosek. This makes them 8 deep. They lack a 9th player in the top 9 though. All of these guys (excluding Stephenson) have put together respectable playoff performances and they are hard to play against, specifically Tuch. I said that about Stephenson up in the brackets above, but that said I love him as a player. One of my favourite players. He’s hard to play against, can drive play decently and is a great 2C. He has no great playoff performances but he’s never been in a role as big as this one before. I have no reservations about his performances. Of the remaining 4 regulars, Reaves, Kolesar, Carrier and Roy, 3 will be on the fourth line and 1 will be top 9. Not sure who that will be but I wouldn’t use Kolesar or Reaves. They make up a formidable duo on the fourth line that can also play hockey unlike most tough guys. No matter who goes on the 4th line between Roy and Carrier they will have a tough playoff 4th line. Overall they have a good, yet not great star group a very good top 9 that is hard to play against and a mean, tough 4th line. This forward group is built for playoffs. On the Minnesota front, they have Kaprizov for stars. Fiala and Zuccarello are fringe stars but I think you could wrap them in if I wrapped Marchessault in for Vegas. It’s a good group, not great a lot like Vegas. Kaprizov is freakishly good though. Fiala and Zucc have both shown playoff potential and I think Kaprizov will be fine, despite being a rookie. Secondary scoring consists of Greenway, Eriksson Ek, Foligno and Bonino are defined in the group. You could even wrap in Johansson, Rask, Hartman, Parise, Bjugstad and Sturm. This gives them 7 very good top 9 options and 6 good top 9 options. They have 13 capable top 9 NHLers. That’s a crazy amount of depth. It’s not a weak group but they aren’t going to dominate you physically. Overall they have a complete and deep forward group. I think Vegas gets the upper hand up front, yet minorly. Just more high end. This won’t have much barring on the series though. On D, Vegas has 2 Norris quality d-men in Pietrangelo and Theodore. Alec Martinez looked like a top pair defense men as well this season. McNabb, Hague, Whitecloud and Coghlan are 4 more capable NHL d-men Vegas has giving them 7 guys in case of injury. I’d give the 4th top spot to McNabb personally. This gives them an amazing top 4, good third pair, incredible high end talent and good organizational depth. On Minnesota, Spurgeon and Brodin combine for a great two-way first pairing, while Dumba and Suter are great top 4 guys, even in Suters old age. This gives them a filled out top 4 that is great defensively. On the third pair, Carson Soucy and Ian Cole are top 4 guys. This gives Minnesota a top to bottom filled out and complete defensive group. No complaints here. I think I’d take Vegas group, again, just like the forwards minorly but the high end talent prevails for me. In net, Fleury>Talbot but again not by a lot. Talbot will hold his own back there. That said, this is the biggest Vegas advantage this far. On special teams Vegas has the 22nd ranked PP and the best PK while Minnesota has the 24th PP and the 12th PK. Vegas has the special teams advantage but again, not huge. And finally, Vegas is the hotter team right now with 7-3 last 10 as opposed to 5-5. Overall, Vegas is slightly better in every category but dominates in none. Vegas in 7
Colorado vs Vegas - Let’s rule Saad back, injury wise for the second round. Not going over everything again though. Colorado has the better star forwards, better secondary scoring, Vegas is tougher and better defensively. Colorado has better high end d-men, a better top 4 and a better 5-6. Vegas has the better goalie. Colorado has better overall special teams but it won’t matter that much because there PP won’t be able to score on Vegas and Vegas won’t be able to score on Colorados PK rendering special teams useless. Both are white hot right now and came off of gruelling series. It’s 7 games for sure. I’m going with Colorado simply because MacKinnon and Rantanen are both better than Stone and they have a better top 4. Colorado in 7
Vegas has had historical troubles against wild including this year where wild went 5, 1 & 1 against Vegas
Don't see vegas beating wild especially their coach wanting to use dirty player like Ryan Reeves
Apparently mark stone actually think Ryan Reeves is going to do crap vs. Wild because he's been crying for Ryan Reeves,,& needing him to come back
If Ryan Reeves try anything, wild players like Marcus foligno, Ryan Hartman, Jordan greenway will respond, & it won't end well for them
Yes that’s true, Vegas has struggled but don’t think your players will dominate Reaves. Reaves is one of the NHLs toughest players. I don’t think anybody on the Wild can take him. But it doesn’t matter, Reaves won’t win the series. I just think Vegas is a better team. Top to bottom.
Yes that’s true, Vegas has struggled but don’t think your players will dominate Reaves. Reaves is one of the NHLs toughest players. I don’t think anybody on the Wild can take him. But it doesn’t matter, Reaves won’t win the series. I just think Vegas is a better team. Top to bottom.
Wild were 5,1& 1 against them
Top to bottom no, vegas bottom 6 is the worst in the NHL compared to wild . Wild dominate vegas because they run rough shed over Vegas bottom 6
Wild will laugh their you know what if Ryan Reeves plays. You think after what happened in new York, & last Vegas/ wild game, league won't be watching Reeves?
You mean the same Ryan Reeves who goes after wild skills players, because he's afraid to go after Marcus foligno .
Not even wild players like dumba, or Ryan Hartman care for him, or are afraid of him
Top to bottom no, vegas bottom 6 is the worst in the NHL compared to wild . Wild dominate vegas because they run rough shed over Vegas bottom 6
Wild will laugh their you know what if Ryan Reeves plays. You think after what happened in new York, & last Vegas/ wild game, league won't be watching Reeves?
You mean the same Ryan Reeves who goes after wild skills players, because he's afraid to go after Marcus foligno .
Not even wild players like dumba, or Ryan Hartman care for him, or are afraid of him
Yes I know the Wild were 5-2-1 against Vegas. Doesn’t make them better. It means they went 5-3 in regular season games. A couple bounces and Vegas is 5-3. Literally every games was 1 goal besides March 8 and March 3. Vegas won 5-1 on 3 and Minnesota won 2-0 on 8. And the 2nd goal was an empty net goal with 3 seconds left that didn’t even go in, it was a penalty ruled an automatic goal. So Minnesota won 5 1 goal games. Vegas literally could have went 8-0. Minnesota also could have went 7-1. Game of inches. Search up Reaves vs Marcus Foligno fight. Reaves wins. Foligno doesn’t even land a punch. Vegas bottom 6 isn’t bad. Tuch, Nosek, Reaves, Kolesar, Carrier and Roy. Mean and skilled. Wild bottom 6 is good as well and you could argue it’s better. Even if it is, the bottom 6 is the least important component of a hockey team. Vegas is better everywhere else on the ice and not that much worse bottom 6. Not to mention NHL teams run top 9, 4th line not top 6, bottom 6. Vegas has a better top 9 as well.
Yes I know the Wild were 5-2-1 against Vegas. Doesn’t make them better. It means they went 5-3 in regular season games. A couple bounces and Vegas is 5-3. Literally every games was 1 goal besides March 8 and March 3. Vegas won 5-1 on 3 and Minnesota won 2-0 on 8. And the 2nd goal was an empty net goal with 3 seconds left that didn’t even go in, it was a penalty ruled an automatic goal. So Minnesota won 5 1 goal games. Vegas literally could have went 8-0. Minnesota also could have went 7-1. Game of inches. Search up Reaves vs Marcus Foligno fight. Reaves wins. Foligno doesn’t even land a punch. Vegas bottom 6 isn’t bad. Tuch, Nosek, Reaves, Kolesar, Carrier and Roy. Mean and skilled. Wild bottom 6 is good as well and you could argue it’s better. Even if it is, the bottom 6 is the least important component of a hockey team. Vegas is better everywhere else on the ice and not that much worse bottom 6. Not to mention NHL teams run top 9, 4th line not top 6, bottom 6. Vegas has a better top 9 as well.
It's almost comical how you are defending vegas at every turn
You don't beat a team all the years by incident. you can't say regular seasons doesn't matter because it does.
History including this year vegas Goalie's can't beat wild. They struggle
I would love to know how Vegas top 9, much less all together are better than wild, I am waiting.
You just don't want to give wild any credit, & downplaying wild
Reeves has never fought foligno on wild.
Again wild aren't afraid of Ryan Reeves
Vegas bottom 12 is the worst in NHL, they don't have a better top 9
They have a better top 6, bottom 6 is the worst in NHL
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