With the 21-22 regular season coming to a close, the playoff picture is coming into full view.  There were some big surprises to go along with some obvious takeaways from the season.  Stars ended up winning the President's Trophy and the Ducks came in a close second, both teams running away with the top spot in their respective divisons.  The Blues, who were once at the top of the league, came down to take the 3rd stop in the Central, behind the Hawks.  The Flames were vastly underperforming most of the year, but were able to get things together to take the second spot in the Pacific ahead of the, selfproclaimed cup champs, Sharks.

The season had a few disappointing West teams that missed the playoffs.  The defending champs, Bryce's Avs, had brought back most of last years roster and still could not make it.  The Preds are in a tailspin, trying to figure it out.  The Golden Knights had a team too good to tank, just barely missing the playoffs.  The Kings were the Kings, no one knows who was even running them.  And then there are the four obvious tankers, Kraken, Jets, Nucks, and Yotes.  Besides the Avs and Golden Knights, it seems the others are destined to be in the same spot next season as well.

Here are the West first round matchups:

(#1C) Dallas Stars vs (WC2) Minnesota Wild

GF: 3.56 (1st) vs 2.89 (17th)

GA: 2.35 (5th) vs 2.41 (7th)

PP: 26.53% (2nd) vs 13.66% (29th)

PK: 86.87% (2nd) vs 85.82% (3rd)

Even though the Stars won the President's Trophy, this may be a tougher matchup than it seems on paper.  The Stars took care of business throughout the year, but the Wild have one of the top goalies in the sim.  In a series, a goalie like Varley can steal a game or two.  Varley boasted a staggering .929sv% in 37 games, which was second in the league.  Al's defense and PK are very good, but they will be going against a tough offense, that knows how to score on the PP and 5v5.  If the Wild do not come up with some goals or have Varly steal the game, it could be a quick series.  Stars relentless offense, lead by Couturier's 101pts, and Shesterkin's .923sv% will be hard to get past.  I don't see a scenario where the Wild are able to win 4 games before the Stars do, but that's why we sim the games.

Bold Prediction: Stars in 4 (all close games)

(#1P) Anaheim Ducks vs (WC1) Edmonton Oilers

GF: 3.49 (4th) vs 3.23 (9th)

GA: 2.30 (1st) vs 2.46 (8th)

PP: 20.58% (10th) vs 20.08% (12th)

PK: 87.5% (1st) vs 82.73% (14th)

Devon's Ducks have done very well this year.  They went through a dry spell at one point, but were able to rebound.  Even with that, they were never really in any danger to lose the top spot in the Pacific.  The Oilers are going to have to bring everything they have to be able to beat them.  The Ducks have everything a team needs except for a great PP, where they are a pedestrian 11th in the league.  The Oilers have a good team, but they were never really able to bring it together...until the trades.  It's very deceiving to see the ranking of the Oilers.  If you take a deeper dive into the team after trade deadline, you will find that they have beat most of the playoff teams.  Since their game against the Stars near the trade deadline, they have gone 6-3 against other playoff teams, including a win against the Ducks.  If you take the Stars loses out completely, they are 6-1 against other playoff teams.  Odd thing is that they actually lost to a few of the tankers. As the team makeups, the Ducks don't have a single top scorer, but have some great depth and got lots of contribution.  Oettinger had a stellar season with a .928sv% leading the best defensive team in the league, but the Oilers netminder was close behind him with a .924sv%.  Oilers have a stellar offense lead by McDavid and Miller and then add Matthews (1.30points per game since trade), Teravainen (.81ppg), Hornqvist (.81ppg), and Suter (.81ppg) has really vaulted this team. I had to rewrite this one as I didn't realize the Oilers made some great trades.

Bold Prediction: Oilers in 7

(#2C) Chicago Blackhawks vs (#3C) St Louis Blues

GF: 3.05 (16th) vs 3.42 (6th)

GA: 2.35 (5th) vs 2.59 (10th)

PP: 18.22% (17th) vs 16.53% (21st)

PK: 83.26% (11th) vs 85.27% (6th)

Where's Rumpy?  The sim has to be broken right?  A team that can't score, but near the top of the league at stopping the puck from going into the net, should never be near the top of the league!  Chicago and St Louis were destined to play each other, as they separated themselves from the rest of the division very early, but were never able to keep up with the Stars.  This is going to be a fun matchup to watch.  Eric has the top scorer in Couture to go along with Ovechkin.  They are top heavy, so if you can stop that first line, Chicago has a chance.  

Bold Prediction: Blues in 7

(#2P) Calgary Flames vs (#3P) San Jose Sharks

GF: 3.44 (5th) vs 3.54 (2nd)

GA: 2.58 (9th) vs 2.77 (14th)

PP: 19.48% (13th) vs 14.92% (27th)

PK: 85.78% (4th) vs 82.21% (15th)

Ah yes, the team of destiny has finally made it to the playoffs.  The San Jose Sharks have the elite top end talent scorers that all teams love, but the defense is atrocious.  The Sharks have the worst defense out of all the Western Conference playoff teams.  This is going to be an uphill battle for them, as all the teams can score AND stop the puck.  The Flames on the other hand have been well balanced all year, but still seem to have disappointed this writer.  The scoring finally came, but the defense and where they ended up in the standings was well below expectations.  With that said, the Flames should be able to limit the scoring from the Sharks and put a lot of pucks in the net.  The run and gun Sharks are going to find out again (Lost in TSHL) that scoring isn't everything.  I cannot wait to write about this teams offseason after the playoffs!  They are the gift that keeps on giving.  Sorry Kevin, but Sumit losing is a more fun story, than you winning.  I was hoping to be able to play them in the playoffs, but it was not meant to be.

Bold Prediction: Flames in 6