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Playoff Preview 2020
Hockey is almost back, and we have everything you need to be ready with our Playoff Preview! We break down each of the 24 teams with analysis, predictions, projected line combos and fantasy player rankings. Also, we've got features on Tyler Seguin, Carey Price, Jordan Binnington, Shea Theodore and much more.
WINNIPEG JETS
WHAT MORE CAN Connor Hellebuyck give the Winnipeg Jets? That’s the question that will determine the franchise’s post-season fate. Given the off-season exodus on the blueline, which included the departures of Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot and, unexpectedly, Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg very easily could have plummeted in the standings. But Hellebuyck wouldn’t allow it. Though his base numbers – 2.57 GAA, .922 SP – may not shine as brightly as some of the NHL’s top keepers, he has played under more duress than most netminders. Only a handful of teams allowed more shots against per game, which is the result of Winnipeg relying on a ragtag group of defenders prone to potentially catastrophic lapses. Despite that, Hellebuyck pieced together a campaign that is Vezina Trophy-worthy and even made him a fringe…
WHAT TO DO WITH THE BIG ONE?
FISHING IS NOT MY thing, but I get the allure. The serenity, the nature, the adrenaline rushes. Laws protect fish populations via catch-and-release, but I know the creatures are often returned home out of compassion. But what to do when you hook the truly big one? Do you keep it and eat it, mount it as a trophy, or set it free? Occasionally, we’re faced with similar philosophical questions when we receive tips on hockey-related stories. Sometimes the answers are obvious, sometimes our ethics are tested. This summer, on back-to-back days, we had to look inward before moving forward. First, senior writer Ken Campbell learned of a class-action lawsuit filed by Dan Carcillo and Garrett Taylor against the CHL, OHL, QMJHL, WHL and their 60 teams. Ken promptly tried to get the…
ST. LOUIS BLUES: 2020 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS?
THE MOST UNLIKELY Stanley Cup winner since the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, the Blues enter the 2020 playoffs not as the plucky underdog that rose from last place but as a legitimate contender with a bulls-eye on its back. When the NHL paused, the Blues were sitting second overall in the NHL, tops in the Western Conference, and were riding an 8-2-0 run in their previous 10 games. In fact, the Blues might even be better than the team that outlasted the Boston Bruins in the Cup final last spring. Their defense corps is deeper, and goalie Jordan Binnington has proved to be anything but a one-year wonder. And rather than having to play for their lives in the second half of the season, the Blues enter the 2020 playoffs…
STICK TAP TO GRANDMA
BY THE TIME THE Vegas Golden Knights’ game against the San Jose Sharks ended the night of Nov. 21, Shea Theodore must have been exhausted. After all, it was quite the evening, both good and bad. He played 22:44 in the Knights’ 2-1 overtime loss, nothing unusual there, and his 12 shot attempts were the most registered by any player on either team. During said overtime, Theodore entered the Sharks’ zone trailing Cody Glass, who carried the puck over the blueline, and Max Pacioretty. Glass fired a wrist shot from 27 feet that Sharks goalie Aaron Dell kicked out to defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who whipped around and tapped the puck, just agonizingly out of Theodore’s reach and onto the stick of a cheating Logan Couture. Stuck deep in the Sharks’…
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