By STEPHEN WHYNO – AP Hockey Writer
General manager Don Waddell likes the way his Carolina Hurricanes finished the season winning 16 of its last 21 games. He knows it doesn’t mean anything now.
“Your points are erased and you all start with zeros,” Waddell said. “The playoffs are a different time. That’s what’s great about the NHL. Once you get to the playoffs, it’s wide open.
This year, more than many others in the recent past.
Unlike last year, where Boston broke league records for the most wins and points in a season, there is no clear favorite to lift the Stanley Cup. Carolina, Florida, defending champion Vegas, Dallas, Winnipeg, Edmonton and the best New York Rangers in the league are among the many contenders who could be the last team standing in June.
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“I don’t think there’s that separation,” said Ed Olczyk, a former player turned TNT analyst. “I think there are eight, nine, 10 teams that I think could really win the Stanley Cup.”
Carolina, which opens against the New York Islanders, is a 13-2 Cup favorite, according to BetMGM Sports Betting, followed by Florida (7-1), Dallas (15-2), Colorado, Edmonton and Rangers (all 8-1), Boston (11-1), Vegas (12-1 to repeat) and Toronto (14-1). 1). THE Canucks and the Jets are listed at 15-1. and 2020- 21 Cup victories Tampa Bay is 25-1, even with top goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy returning to form.
“He’s at his best when the games are on the line, and we’re looking for that again this year,” said 2020 playoff MVP Victor Hedman. “It’s obviously so much fun to have the best goalie in the world behind you when the playoffs start.”
EAST CONFERENCE
The conversation begins with the Rangers, who won the Presidents’ Trophy, have home advantage throughout the playoffs and open Sunday against Washington, seeded eighth. Igor Shesterkin, like Vasilevskiy, won the Vezina Award for best goaltender in the league and this season as a winger Artemi Panarin was one of the most productive and valuable players on any team.
What could make New York different? Perhaps his depth, which comes in handy in the playoffs when unlikely players become heroes.
“Maybe it’s not the headliners, maybe it’s someone you hang out with, this guy just scored four goals in a series and that was the turning point,” said the former player Ray Ferraro, now an ESPN analyst. “You know who I’m thinking of? It could be Kaapo Kakko. It could be a guy like that, who had a tough year.
Or, Ferraro wondered, it could be someone like Boston’s Jake DeBrusk. The Bruins are a year away be stunned by Florida in the first round after their record-breaking season and begin their redemption tour Saturday against Toronto.
Coach Jim Montgomery hopes his team has learned “how to deal with adversity when it hits you in the face.” … We know there’s a way we should look on the ice and how we should look, especially to ourselves. And when we look like that, we think we can play with anyone in the league.
The East is no picnic. As Lightning coach Jon Cooper pointed out before his team’s first-round series against the Panthers, more than a decade of work has only led to two championships.
“There are many times when we are not able to overcome the challenge,” Cooper said. “It’s hard. It’s really hard to do.
WESTERN CONFERENCE
The West has what Ferraro called the “beast” of the first round. Intriguing matchups include Winnipeg vs. Colorado and Vancouver vs. Nashville. Dallas finished first in the conference, but are the Stars the team to beat?
“I think five of the eight are legitimate Cup contenders who could win,” said former defenseman Jason Demers, now an NHL Network analyst. “It’s really going to come down to which matchup you have in the first round to get the ball rolling and then who stays the most healthy.”
The top-seeded Stars, opening against Vegas, will try to outpace their opponents into the Cup, using their speed and skill and relying on Jake Oettinger and a stacked blue line behind an elite forward group . But they know it won’t be easy.
“It’s going to be tough to get through everything,” winger Mason Marchment said. “It will be exciting, but I think we will be ready for it.”
Reigning and three-time MVP Connor McDavid could put the Oilers on his back and lead them to the playoffs like Nathan Mackinnon did when the Avalanche won the Cup in 2022. A lot will depend on Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner.
During a first-round game against the Kings, Demers said that “Edmonton just needs to exorcise these demons.”
Just like the Jets, who have not reached the Western final since 2018. Winnipeg has the best goaltender of the season in Connor Hellebuyck and a broad and difficult programming full of players who can also score but take pride in locking down their side of the ice.
“Defend first,” assistant coach Scott Arniel said. “We don’t give teams a lot of time and space to do anything, and we’re crushing people and kind of frustrating them by choking them to death.”
AP Sports Writers Pat Graham in Denver and Stephen Hawkins in Frisco, Texas, contributed
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