The Florida Panthers are the epitome of two Stanley Cup playoff adages: Top teams don’t always win and if you can get into the playoffs, anything can happen.
Two seasons ago, the Presidents’ Trophy winners (top regular-season team) were knocked out in the second round.
Last year, the Panthers were the last team to clinch a playoff berth. The second wild-card seed then upset the league’s top team, the record-setting Boston Bruins, and then the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.
This season’s NHL playoff picture is becoming clearer. Knowing that the postseason is always unpredictable, here are power rankings based on a team’s chance of winning the Stanley Cup:
1. Colorado Avalanche
Nathan MacKinnon is having an MVP-caliber season, Mikko Rantanen is heading toward another 100-point season and defenseman Cale Makar should be a Norris Trophy finalist again. The Avalanche upgraded at center and boosted their physical play at the trade deadline.
2. Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes reached the conference final last season without injured Andrei Svechnikov. He’s healthy and Carolina added proven playoff scorers Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Their defense corps is solid, as is coach Rod Brind’Amour’s system. They need goalie Frederik Andersen to stay healthy. He has gone 7-0 since returning from treatment for blood clots.
3. New York Rangers
Forward Artemi Panarin is having a career year and there’s plenty of firepower on their top two lines. They plugged gaps at the trade deadline. Goalie Igor Shesterkin’s numbers are down, but he was strong in Thursday’s win vs. Colorado.
4. Florida Panthers
They know what it takes to get back to the Final. You can’t argue with a team that has physical scorer Matthew Tkachuk, two-way center Aleksander Barkov, 50-goal scorer Sam Reinhart and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who can get hot and go on a run.
