(1) New York Islanders - (4) Carolina Hurricanes

Season Series: 3-0-1 (Islanders)

The Islanders have been the cream of the crop the last 4 seasons or so, but have failed time and time again to win a championship. It's a safe bet to assume the Islanders will make it through rounds 1 and 2 every year, but getting past that has been trouble. Last season they made it to the finals to lose to the Blues (I think?). The team is lead by Alex Barkov, Nikita Kucherov, Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers, Travis Konecny and Matthew Tkachuk. It's a top 6 that rivals the Edmonton Oilers and Detroit Red Wings for being the best in the league. Depth has always been a concern for the Islanders and has been ignored for quite some time. On Defense, the team is much improved with Charlie McAvoy, Ryan Pulock and Mark Giordano. In net, Andrei Vasilevsky has proven on numerous occasions he's one of the best in the game.

Rich and his Hurricanes have been very consistent. The Hurricanes are the longest running team to make the playoffs now that Dave and his Blackhawks are no longer in. While the team has been good, and for awhile, they are never really great. This is going to be a problem for Round 1 as they are in over their heads. The team is led by Evgeni Malkin, Phillip Danualt, Jonathan Marchessault and Mason Marchment up front. On the backend they have Mikhail Sergachev and Shaybe Gostisbehere. Goaltending also isn't particularly strong with Kahkonen and Vanecek. This might be a team who is actually better next season then they are now. This should be a rather short series.

Prediction: New York Islanders in 5



(2) Columbus Blue Jackets - (3) Philadelphia Flyers

Season Series: 2-2-0 (Tied)

This may be the tightest matchup of round 1 in the Eastern Conference. These two teams are similar in top end talent and depth. The Blue Jackets group up front is lead by Adrian Kempe, Brayden Point, Brock Boeser, Zach Hyman and Vladimir Tarasenko. The strength of the Blue Jackets though is in goal and on defense. Their top 6 is one of the best in the league with Nurse, Spurgeon, Graves, Krug, Ekholm and Brodin. They will be starting one of the best goalies in the league this season in Jacob Markstrom.

The Flyers can match the firepower up front with Blake Wheeler, Anthony Duclair, Boone Jenner, Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane and Gabriel Landeskog. On Defense they have two solid two way defensemen in Werenski and Seider, but ultimately it is not as good as what the Bluejackets will be putting out on the ice. In net though, Ilya Sorokin should match every bit as well against Jakob Markstrom. This series is hard to predict, but I will go with experience.

Prediction: Philadelphia Flyers in 7




(1) Detroit Red Wings - (4) Boston Bruins

Season Series: 3-0-0 (Red Wings)

The Red Wings are one of the favorites to win the BRHL cup this year. They dominated the regular season winning the Presidents Trophy. This is a matchup where the Wings had a perfect record against the Bruins and beat them convincingly in each game. The depth up front with Bergeron, Hischier, Zibanejad, Eriksson Ek, Draistal, RNH, Highes, Duchene, Kreider, Thompson... etc. They can put out a 4th line that is better then the first line of some teams in this playoff series. They are also fantastic on defense with 6 very good defensive defensemen. In net, they have Ullmark, who may be a middle of the pack goaltender this year.

The Boston Bruins were playing playoff hockey a week ago already as they snuck into the playoffs on the final day. This is a team who has got a lot of usage out of Jusse Saros. The team is lead by Hertl, Laine, Raymond, Wilson and Pastrnak up front. Ond efense they have a solid group with Theodore, Lindholm, Hronek and Ceci. In net is the only advantage the Bruins have here. Saros has to be huge.

Prediction: Red Wings in 5


(2) Montreal Canadiens - (3) Toronto Maple Leafs

Season Series: 3-1-0 (Canadiens)

The rivalry in the BRHL may not match the NHL, but Steve and Garrett have been long time GMs in the BRHL. Neither of these teams have had much success but Steve does have a couple deeper playoff runs to his resume. The Canadiens are a good, experienced team with Nelson, Schenn, Kopitar, Horvat, Gaudreau and Huberdeau up front. On defense they have some very solid defense defensemen in Petry, Savard, Gavrikov, Jensen and Severson. It's a deep team on paper. They lack goaltending to make any deep run this year.

On the other end Garrett's team isn't quite as deep as Steve's. Up front, Larkin, Bennett, Kerfoot, Kuznetsov and Hall lead a rather average forward group and on defense it's more of the same with Marino, Skjei, Cernak, Girard and McDonagh. John Gibson will need to reach his form from 5 years ago for Garrett to pull off the upset here.

Prediction: Canadiens in 5