8: Anaheim Ducks
While Anaheim has clinched the first seed in the Pacific Division, they still don't look as strong as teams like New York or Columbus. Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler are both having great years, and Patrick Eaves is enjoying success with the team after his trade-deadline deal with the Dallas Stars, but the Ducks' goaltending isn't strong enough and they don't have that Norris-caliber defenseman. They should be able to win their first-round series against Calgary but don't have enough to go much farther.
7: Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets are facing the defending Stanley Cup Champions but the Penguins couldn't be more banged up. Kris Letang will miss the entire playoffs, which puts the Penguins at a disadvantage from the start. Without Letang, it will be tougher to control Cam Atkinson, who is having a great year. Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Saad (making his first return to the playoffs since he won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2015) will be hard to contain. The Jackets have the potential to go far.
6: Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh has been struck by the injury bug. This doesn't mean that the series against Columbus is going to kill them, they still have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin fully participated in practice. It means that it's going to be really hard to beat the Capitals in round two. The Caps don't have any long-term injuries and it means that players like T.J. Oshie are going to be back by the second round. The Caps have a statistical advantage, and it's tough to see the Penguins containing Alexander Ovechkin without their number one defenseman.
5: Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens are a talent-stacked team. Max Pacioretty is in full sniper form and looks unstoppable. Whether or not he can continue that production in the playoffs is the big question, but he's been here before and shouldn't slow down much (or at all). The Canadiens can count on winning low-scoring games because of goalie Carey Price, who is back in Vezina form. Shea Weber and Andrei Markov are two very strong defensemen, but Montreal shouldn't count on making a long run because of their first round matchup with the
4: New York Rangers
Mats Zuccarello, Chris Krieder, Derek Stephan, and J.T. Miller. Those four names look scary-full of offensive talent. On the back end, you've got Ryan McDonagh and Hendrik Lundqvist. If King Hendrik can play great hockey, than the Rangers can go far. The Rangers have a tough matchup with the Canadiens in the first round, but if they can solve Carey Price, they can go far. New York has a lot of potential this year, and an upset over the Capitals is not out of the question.
3: Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers have the league's leader in points, Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl, (whose numbers are the definition of the Connor McDavid effect but he does deserve some credit). McDavid has 100 points, with 30 goals and 70 assists, in just his second season in the NHL (which was shortened by an injury, which lead to Artemi Panarin's Calder Trophy as rookie of the year). What better way for McDavid to continue talk of him being the "Next One" than a Stanley Cup?
2: Washington Capitals
Yes, it's been said a lot of times that "this year is the year" for the Washington Capitals. And yes, there have been a lot of years where the Capitals have looked great in the regular season and then choked. But this year is the easiest road for the Capitals to the Stanley Cup Final. The Rangers are strong but they don't have a defense as strong as Washington. Braden Holtby is better than either Matt Murray or Marc-Andre Fluery. The Blue Jackets have great goal-scorers but none like Oveckin, Niklas Backstrom or Evgeny Kuznetsov. Even in the West, Ovechkin can hold McDavid, and Holtby can outduel Cam Talbot. There looks like there's only one team strong enough to beat Washington right now....
1: Chicago Blackhawks
The Blackhawks lost a lot of talent over the years, names like Saad, Patrick Sharp, and Johnny Oduya (oh, wait...). But they've regained it. Ryan Hartman has 19 goals, and last season's trade of Jeremy Morin for Richard Panik (22 G, 22 A, 44 P) is turning out pretty good. Meanwhile, Patrick Kane is still Patrick Kane. He had an 89-point year, along with 74 points from linemate Artemi Panarin and a rebound year for Jonathan Toews with 58 points and 21 goals. Duncan Keith is emerging as a Norris contender, while the defense improved with the addition of Oduya to play with Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brian Campbell, and Trevor Van Reimsdyk. It looks like the Chicago dynasty will expand this year with a fourth cup win in eight years.