There’s no bubble this time. And no preliminary round.
Even better, there are fans in the stands this time around.
Yes, the Stanley Cup playoffs are almost back to normal. The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Cup championship was legitimate, but let’s face it, it wasn’t quite what everyone envisioned for the 2020 run to the title.
Sixteen teams will start, one will hoist the Cup, and we’ll have all the drama involved with not just the games, but the travel, the off-day banter and, yes, the noise of a real, live crowd.
Outside of the newsworthiness of a second Cup playoffs season during a pandemic, there are plenty of other storylines to follow. Here’s a look at five of them:
1. Ovechkin — present and future
It feels like a foregone conclusion that Alex Ovechkin will sign an extension with the Washington Capitals when his contract expires this offseason.
Owner Ted Leonsis, in comments to the media Friday, including NBC Sports Washington, doesn’t seem too worried about losing the sixth-leading goal scorer in NHL history.
“Alex has been around a long, long time and has a lot of trust and confidence in us and knows the most important thing right now is focus on the playoffs,” Leonsis said. “That’s where we are. I’m not concerned. He’s not concerned. Our concern is the Boston Bruins.”
Ovechkin would make an interesting unrestricted free agent, particularly with an expansion team — the Seattle Kraken — that has a ton of cap space on the prowl. But first Ovechkin has a best-of-7 series with the Bruins to worry about, and how he plays could determine the Caps and other teams’ idea about how much he’s worth at age 35.
A strong series, and lengthy playoff run, could show he’s ready to keep on scoring until he’s in his 40s. Signs of slowing down could sour the idea of keeping him among the league’s top-paid players (his cap hit has been $9.5 million over 13 seasons).
2. Hall seeking a haul
In the same series, another player will be using the playoffs to set his market value.
Taylor Hall, the Bruins’ highest profile acquisition on trade deadline day, will be an unrestricted free agent. He’s never gone deep in the playoffs and he has 12 points in 14 career postseason games. Teams, including Boston, will be looking to see if the 2010 No. 1 overall pick has another level to raise his game.
3. Panthers prowl
The Florida Panthers have been looking to be considered a legitimate NHL franchise for a long time. This season they didn’t just get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, they finished ahead of the Lightning for second place in the Central Division.
They haven’t won a playoff series since their run to the Stanley Cup final in 1996, and if Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau want to add to their superstar credentials, they have to prove this club isn’t the same old Panthers.
4. Leafs goalie dilemma
Frederik Andersen, Toronto’s No. 1 netminder for five seasons, didn’t fare all that well in his first game in nearly two months, when he allowed four goals on 28 shots against Calgary on Wednesday. He had an .895 save percentage in 24 games this season, and has just a .916 save percentage in the playoffs in his career. He hasn’t won a playoff series since 2015.
On the other hand, Jack Campbell had a .921 save percentage in 22 games this season. Campbell, though, has no NHL postseason experience.
This isn’t the type of dilemma a team looking to end a Cup drought that dates back to 1967 really wants entering the postseason as the top seed in the North Division. But it’s what coach Sheldon Keefe and the Maple Leafs are facing, and it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with it to start the playoffs and throughout all the trials and tribulations of a playoff season.
5. Colorado expectations
The Avalanche were favored to play for the Cup in last summer’s bubble, but got upset by the eventual Western Conference champion Dallas Stars. By the end Colorado was down to its third- and fourth-string goaltender because of injuries. This time around Colorado didn’t make a big move in the netminder department — opting to stick with incumbent Philipp Grubauer backed up by enigmatic veteran Devan Dubnyk.
There’s too much talent here for the Avs to not go deep. And they’re going to have to make some difficult roster decisions (starting with captain Gabriel Landeskog being a UFA this offseason) in the years ahead because of the salary cap, so it would behoove them to make their big push now.
They may have started early by surging to the West Division title in the closing weeks of the regular season, but the upcoming playoffs will be a referendum on what the Avs have built and how sustainable their success will be into the middle of this decade.
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May 15, 2021 at 10:27PM
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Five Storylines To Watch During Stanley Cup Chase 2021 - Forbes
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