Team: 2019-20 Custom Team

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 2, 2020

Published: Jun. 2, 2020

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

In part 5 I discussed the Islanders vs the Panthers series, through the poll voting, The Islanders move on in the series.
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Today we will focus on the series between the Canucks and Wild.


Forwards:
Canucks:The canucks have some strong talent upfront. Elias Pettersson turned into one of the best players in the NHL this season. Off season pick up JT Miller was a fantastic pick up, and produced great at both ends for the Canucks. Brock Boeser is a solid young top line winger capable of breaking a game open with his elite shooting talent. They have some good depth up front, especially with players like Bo Horvat, Tyler Toffoli, and Jake Virtanen.
Wild: Offensively this season the Wild were lead by breakout Kevin Fiala. Very talented and skilled with the puck if you give him space. After Fiala, the star power offensively runs a little thing on the Wild. They don't have a clear 1C. However they do have some good defensive forwards like Erikson Ek, Kunin and Greenway. It will be interesting to see what veterans like Koivu, Parise, Staal, and Zucarello are able to do for the Wild.

Advantage: Canucks. The Canucks hold the edge big time when it comes to game breaking talent up front.

Defence:
Canucks: The Canucks were lead by the outstanding play of Quinn Hughes defensively. Solid at both ends of the ice, he will give the wild a tough time. After that, they aren't the best. Tyler Myers was not that good this season and looks like a big overpay. Chris tanev, Edler, and Stetcher can all be decent, but nothing special.
Wild: The Wild are led by unnoticed superstar Jared Spurgeon. Year after year, he is the best defenceman on the team and one of the top in the league, he will be able to show what he has got at both ends of the ice. Jonas Brodin is good defensive defenceman. Followed by Ryan Suter who is still decent and hopefully some bounce back play from Dumba, and this could be a scary defensive core to play against.

Advantage: Wild. They have way more depth on the back end compared to the Canucks.

Goalies:
Canucks: Markstrom had an outstanding season. Worthy enough to be in the top 5 for Vezina this season.

Wild: Dubnyk had a bit of a rough ride this season, and it isn't totally out of the picture that they lean towards Stalock.

Advantage: Canucks. If Markstrom plays like he did all season, then that will be a big problem for the overall low end finishing Wild.

My consensus: Canucks in 5. While I would say the Canucks have the clear advantage at forward, and the Wild at defense, this appears to be a series that comes down to goaltending, and I am confident that Markstrom would get it done.

Players to watch are down below.

I will give everyone two hours to vote through the poll and the winner will move on!