NHL players and staff arrived in their hub cities yesterday, exhibition games begin tomorrow through Thursday, and then Saturday, it all begins, the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs!
I thought today would be the perfect day to share my predictions for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I’ve been working on these predictions for about a week now, analyzing, watching game highlights, looking at statistics, and I am more than happy with my predictions.
In case you still aren’t familiar with the format for this years playoffs, let me explain it again.
24 teams, 12 in each conference, have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The top 4 in each conference will participate in a round robin to determine seeding for the 1st round. The 8 other teams in each conference will play in a qualifying round, with the 4 winners in each conference advancing to the 1st round. Despite many people claiming that the qualifying round is not apart of the playoffs, the NHL has come out and said it is. Points accumulated during the qualifying round will be counted towards playoff statistics.
The qualifying round will be a best of 5, while the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Stanley Cup Final will remain as a best of 7. Re-seeding will occur after each round, where as in a normal playoff, a bracket format is used.
During the round robin, if a game goes to overtime it will use regular season rules (3 on 3 overtime, followed by a shootout). For the qualifying round, if a game goes to overtime it will use playoff rules (5 on 5, continuous overtime).
Here is a refresher of the teams participating from each conference.
Eastern Conference Round Robin: Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington, Philadelphia.
Western Conference Round Robin: St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas, Dallas.
Eastern Conference Qualifying Round (seed in brackets): (5) Pittsburgh, (6) Carolina, (7) New York I, (8) Toronto, (9) Columbus, (10) Florida, (11) New York R, (12) Montreal.
Western Conference Qualifying Round (seed in brackets): (5) Edmonton, (6) Nashville, (7) Vancouver, (8) Calgary, (9) Winnipeg, (10) Minnesota, (11) Arizona, (12) Chicago.
Before I dive into the predictions, I wanted to address a couple more things. Many people are still saying there should be an asterisk beside this years Stanley Cup champion. I for one don’t understand those people and how they think, but this year’s Stanley Cup is probably the hardest to win in NHL history. If a team from the qualifying round ends up winning it all, it would take them 19 wins, where as in a normal year it would take 16.
The other thing I want to address is, as many people know, I am a die hard Habs fan, and I will support my team until the day I die. These predictions are unbiased, and me being a die-hard Habs fan had no influence on my predictions at all. Now, lets get to the predictions!
Eastern Conference Round Robin
| Place | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS |
| 1st | Boston Bruins | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2nd | Tampa Bay Lightning | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3rd | Washington Capitals | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4th | Philadelphia Flyers | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Boston: Win vs Philadelphia, Win vs Tampa Bay, Win vs Washington.
Tampa Bay: Win vs Washington, Loss vs Boston, Win vs Philadelphia.
Washington: Loss vs Tampa Bay, Win vs Philadelphia, Loss vs Boston.
Philadelphia: Loss vs Boston, Loss vs Washington, Loss vs Tampa Bay.
Western Conference Round Robin
| Place | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | PTS |
| 1st | Colorado Avalanche | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2nd | Vegas Golden Knights | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3rd | St. Louis Blues | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4th | Dallas Stars | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Colorado: Win vs St. Louis, Win vs Dallas, Win vs Vegas.
Vegas: Win vs Dallas, Win vs St. Louis, Loss vs Colorado.
St. Louis: Loss vs Colorado, Loss vs Vegas, Win vs Dallas.
Dallas: Loss vs Vegas, Loss vs Colorado, Loss vs St. Louis.
Now, I’m going to be identifying who will win each series, as well as who has the edge in different categories such as: Forwards, Defence, Goaltending, Powerplay %, and Penalty Kill %.
Eastern Conference Qualifying Round
(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (12) Montreal Canadiens. Forwards: Pittsburgh. Defence: Montreal. Goaltending: Pittsburgh. PP%: Pittsburgh (19.9%). PK%: Pittsburgh (82.11%). Prediction: Penguins in 5.
(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs (11) New York Rangers. Forwards: Carolina. Defence: Carolina. Goaltending: New York. PP%: New York (22.81%). PK%: Carolina (83.95%). Prediction: Hurricanes in 4.
(7) New York Islanders vs (10) Florida Panthers. Forwards: Florida. Defence: Florida. Goaltending: Florida. PP%: Florida (21.13%). PK%: New York (80.46%). Prediction: Panthers in 5.
(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs (9) Columbus Blue Jackets. Forwards: Toronto. Defence: Columbus. Goaltending: Toronto. PP%: Toronto (22.84%). PK%: Columbus (81.66%). Prediction: Maple Leafs in 4.
Western Conference Qualifying Round
(5) Edmonton Oilers vs (12) Chicago Blackhawks. Forwards: Edmonton. Defence: Edmonton. Goaltending: Chicago. PP%: Edmonton (29.35%). PK: Edmonton (84.50%). Prediction: Oilers in 4.
(6) Nashville Predators vs (11) Arizona Coyotes. Forwards: Arizona. Defence: Nashville. Goaltending: Arizona. PP%: Arizona (19.16%). PK%: Arizona (87.74%). Prediction: Coyotes in 5.
(7) Vancouver Canucks vs (10) Minnesota Wild. Forwards: Vancouver. Defence: Vancouver. Goaltending: Vancouver. PP%: Vancouver (23.63%). PK%: Vancouver (80.47%). Prediction: Canucks in 3.
(8) Calgary Flames vs (9) Winnipeg Jets. Forwards: Winnipeg. Defence: Calgary. Goaltending: Winnipeg. PP%: Calgary (21.24%). PK%: Calgary (82.14%). Prediction: Jets in 4.
Eastern Conference Round 1
(1) Boston Bruins vs (10) Florida Panthers. Forwards: Boston. Defence: Florida. Goaltending: Boston. PP%: Boston (25.22%). PK%: Boston (84.26%). Prediction: Bruins in 5.
(2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs (8) Toronto Maple Leafs. Forwards: Toronto. Defence: Tampa Bay. Goaltending: Tampa Bay. PP%: Tampa Bay (23.11%). PK: Tampa Bay (81.47%). Prediction: Maple Leafs in 7.
(3) Washington Capitals vs (6) Carolina Hurricanes. Forwards: Washington. Defence: Washington. Goaltending: Washington. PP%: Carolina (22.22%). PK: Carolina (83.95%). Prediction: Capitals in 6.
(4) Philadelphia Flyers vs (5) Pittsburgh Penguins. Forwards: Pittsburgh. Defence: Philadelphia. Goaltending: Philadelphia. PP%: Philadelphia (20.70%). PK%: Pittsburgh (82.11%). Prediction: Flyers in 7.
Western Conference Round 1
(1) Colorado Avalanche vs (11) Arizona Coyotes. Forwards: Colorado. Defence: Colorado. Goaltending: Arizona. PP%: Arizona (19.16%). PK%: Arizona (82.74%). Prediction: Avalanche in 5.
(2) Vegas Golden Knights vs (9) Winnipeg Jets. Forwards: Winnipeg. Defence: Vegas. Goaltending: Winnipeg. PP%: Vegas (21.99%). PK: Winnipeg (77.59%). Prediction: Jets in 7.
(3) St. Louis Blues vs (7) Vancouver Canucks. Forwards: St. Louis. Defence: St. Louis. Goaltending: St. Louis. PP%: St. Louis (24.26%). PK%: Vancouver (80.47%). Prediction: Blues in 6.
(4) Dallas Stars vs (5) Edmonton Oilers. Forwards: Edmonton. Defence: Dallas. Goaltending: Dallas. PP%: Edmonton (29.53%). PK%: Edmonton (84.50%). Prediction: Oilers in 6.
Eastern Conference Round 2
(1) Boston Bruins vs (8) Toronto Maple Leafs. Forwards: Boston. Defence: Toronto. Goaltending: Boston. PP%: Boston (25.22%). PK%: Boston (84.26%). Prediction: Bruins in 6.
(3) Washington Capitals vs (4) Philadelphia Flyers. Forwards: Washington. Defence: Washington. Goaltending: Washington. PP%: Philadelphia (20.70%). PK%: Washington (82.57%). Prediction: Capitals in 5.
Western Conference Round 2
(1) Colorado Avalanche vs (9) Winnipeg Jets. Forwards: Colorado. Defence: Colorado. Goaltending: Winnipeg. PP%: Winnipeg (20.39%). PK%: Colorado (80.86%). Prediction: Avalanche in 7.
(3) St. Louis Blues vs (5) Edmonton Oilers. Forwards: Edmonton. Defence: St. Louis. Goaltending: St. Louis. PP%: Edmonton (29.35%). PK%: Edmonton (84.50%). Prediction: Oilers in 7.
Eastern Conference Final
(1) Boston Bruins vs (2) Washington Capitals. Forwards: Boston. Defence: Washington. Goaltending: Boston. PP%: Boston (25.22%). PK%: Boston (84.26%). Prediction: Capitals in 7.
Western Conference Final
(1) Colorado Avalanche vs (5) Edmonton Oilers. Forwards: Colorado. Defence: Colorado. Goaltending: Colorado. PP%: Edmonton (29.35%). PK%: Edmonton (84.50%). Prediction: Avalanche in 6.
2020 Stanley Cup Final
(W1) Colorado Avalanche vs (E2) Washington Capitals. Forwards: Colorado. Defence: Colorado. Goaltending: Washington. PP%: Colorado (19.09%). PK%: Washington (82.57%). Prediction: Avalanche in 6.
Conn Smythe Trophy winner: Nathan MacKinnon.
I hope you all enjoy the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs! Thanks as always for reading.
-Cooper.