#two all-canadian matchups in one playoffs first round... unpatriotic. what happened to winning the cup guys

[sergeifyodorov]

who's in a playoff spot?

entering Feb 1, 2025

Everyone's making trades! Everyone's going crazy! The Rangers traded away JT Miller in 2018 when he was just entering his prime, and they traded for him like yesterday, when he's 32 and exiting it. Masterclass. The average team has played 51 and a half games. If the playoffs started today, these would be the first round matchups:

Eastern conference:

Panthers - Blue Jackets (A1-WC1)

Leafs - Senators (A2-A3)

Capitals - Lightning (M1-WC2)

Hurricanes - Devils (M2-M3) ***

Western conference:

Jets - Flames (C1-WC2) **

Stars - Wild (C2-C3) ***

Oilers - Avalanche (P1-WC1)

Golden Knights - Kings (P2-P3)

A star * is added to matchups that have not changed since last post. An additional star ** is added for each week they remain unchanged.

A lot to get through this week. Let's start in the East: Leafs-Senators seems... fun. The Leafs have gone on a bit of a cold streak of late -- some of their players are out with injury, etc, but the result is that they're 4-6-0 in their last 10 and have slipped narrowly into second in the division, where the red-hot Sens have stepped over both Bruins and Lightning ahead of them. Because of the Capitals' significant lead on the Metro (Carbery for Jack Adams), the Hurricanes-Devils are basically locked in to their matchup.

Meanwhile in the West, I am inordinately happy to announce that the Oilers have taken first place in the Pacific, meaning that Oilers-Kings is, for now, NOT HAPPENING. Thank the hockey gods. Instead, they get the Avs! Yay!