Obviously, anything can happen. The 8th seed LA Kings won the Cup a few years back, and Nashville was the 16 seed and almost won it. But who are the legit contenders as of right now? I've got Tampa, Edmonton, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Washington, Columbus, Anaheim, Nashville and the Rangers.

Edmonton, Nashville, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh

Edmonton, Anaheim, Trashville, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Columbus.

On the Verge: Calgary, Toronto, Dallas,

Anaheim, Edmonton, Dallas, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Montreal, Columbus, and Washington.

Toronto and Calgary could be contenders or they won't.

Montreal??

Tampa Bay, Dallas, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Nashville, Chicago

if the rangers and blue jackets are on their you gotta throw in the Leafs

I almost put the Leafs, but I think that they're right on the verge. Believe me, I'll definitely be rooting for them (after the Caps) but I don't think they're at that level quite yet. Next year, they should be a legit contender. Not so sure about this one.

Tampa, Toronto, NYR, Columbus (maybe), Washington, Pittsburgh (unfortunately), STL (maybe), Preds, Edmonton, Calgary, San Jose, and LA (if they make it).

I think Tampa Nashville Edmonton and Pittsburgh are a really strong 4. I could see a final of any of those two.

even a Tampa-Pittsburgh final or a Nashville-Edmonton final? lol

*facepalm*

Maybe Buffalo and Tampa in a few years lol

yeah, that's what i accidentally predicted, that was so stupid that i predicted that.

With the parity in the NHL these days, it's really a toss up for most teams that make the playoffs.

But if I had to pick teams that really stand out on paper. I'd say Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Nashville, maybe even Tampa Bay.

So Anaheim has a better chance than Washington?

Yes. I've said this before, just because a team plays amazing during the season, doesn't mean they will have success in the playoffs. Washington have proven to be a struggling playoff team. The teams I have listed have proven at some point in time to make lengthy playoff runs, hence, why I consider them to be contenders.

Ummm ... and not Anaheim? This is the year where people aren't expecting as much from the Caps, and if everyone's always thinking you're gonna win, expecting you to win, its always the teams that are expected to win by the fans that seem to struggle in the playoffs. This is the year where people have kind of been saying that they just can't do it, which seems to be when they kind of surprise everyone and win the cup. They're my pick for the Stanley cup.

Anaheim have been to the Western conference Finals twice in the past 3 years.... how many times have the Caps been to the Eastern conference Finals?......... don't worry, I'll wait

and Anaheim has lost early a lot too. Washington always makes in to the 2nd round at least, or almost always, and they were the 2nd best team in the playoffs this year anyway, they just went up against the best team in the 2nd round.

Washington had home ice advantage for the entirety of the playoffs, meaning they were the best regular season team. Washington outplayed Pittsburgh in almost every game this postseason.

Anaheim doesn't struggle to the same degree as Washington does. Washington simply cannot get past the second round

What if they went up against Ottawa or the Rangers in round 2?

Do you have some advanced stat to explain this? Since they can tell you anything about hockey, there should be an explanation for this, right?

Sure... The capitals haven't made it past the second round in 19 years, despite making the playoffs 12 out of those 19 years.

You don't need advanced stats. That's a large enough sample size to call Washington's playoff performances a struggle and a disappointment.

Since they lost the cup to the Red Wings in 97-98, the Caps are a whopping 6-12 in playoff series. In 12 playoff runs, they've made it to the second round in half of them, never made it past that.

In that same span, Anaheim is 15-10 in playoff series, making it past the second round 5 times in a total of 11 playoff appearances.

One team seems to perform significantly better than the other in the playoffs based off of those stats.

I asked for a stat why we can't get past round 2. Believe me, I know what our track record is.