Who could be in and out of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs | NHL Season Preview - video Dailymotion

Peter Klein

Peter Klein continues his NHL Preview looking at who he thinks is in and out of the NHL Playoff Picture. First, he gives his list of Five teams that he thinks could drop out of the playoffs. Then, he unveils his list of five teams who will replace them.  Apple Pod: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/couch-potato-diary/id1564122189 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3QgazeHcSKSteZbBIubcuM Twitter: twitter.com/primetimeklein IG: instagram.com/primetimeklein Facebook: www.facebook.com/Couchpotatodiary Twitch: twitch.tv/primetimepk Email: couchpotatodiary@yahoo.com We Had No Idea: every Wednesday morning,  instagram.com/wehadnoideapodcast

Transcript

00:00Every year in the NHL, we have some teams that were playoff teams a year ago that find

00:11themselves on the outside looking in, and the opposite, some teams that couldn't quite

00:15get over that hump last year, finally get into the 16-team dance this year.

00:20And so today, we're going to try to predict who they are.

00:23We got five coming out, and five going in.

00:25Let's start with the teams that are coming out, because we need space for these new teams

00:28entering our dance.

00:30And admittedly, when you look at the name power of the out, and then the name power

00:34of the in, I don't know if it's exactly what the NHL would want, but I do think that there

00:39is still some intrigue here.

00:41So let's start first with the out.

00:44And at number five, I don't know, like, they are kind of five because I just needed five.

00:52Quite frankly, because I found five on the in, and, you know, lists are better when they're

00:55top five, right?

00:56So, um, I have Vancouver.

00:58I do think that there is a world where the goaltending situation just doesn't correct

01:02itself, right?

01:03Like, Thatcher Demko is dealing with an injury that they don't, you see the quotes at a camp,

01:08and it doesn't totally feel like they have a grasp on it.

01:10And that feels concerning to me.

01:13You combine that with, um, like, a lot went well for them last year.

01:18Like, I don't, I just can't believe that JT Miller is going to be that good again.

01:22And like, Elias Pettersson was on another level for a while.

01:26And like, they got some very good play from their depth forwards as well.

01:30And it just, it felt like last year was a everything is going right for Vancouver year.

01:34And so I do think that there is a opportunity for them to maybe step back a little bit.

01:40Now, stepping back a little bit, for a team that finished first in their division and

01:44was with, in a stones throw of the President's Trophy again, like, that is a large falling

01:50off.

01:51And so this is why they're at number five.

01:53I do think it would take a bit of catastrophe for them to fall off, or one team to be so

01:57much better than we thought they were going to be, and moving into that spot.

02:00But I do think that they are a team that has the potential to fall out.

02:03At four, it's the Los Angeles Kings.

02:05They once again got just curb stomped by the Edmonton Oilers, and um, they go out and acquire

02:12Pierre Loup.

02:13No they didn't.

02:14They got rid of Pierre Loup Dubois.

02:15So that helps.

02:16Um, they maybe kind of figured out the goaltending situation, so that maybe also helps.

02:22But I still, there still feels like there's something lacking.

02:25And also, it does kind of feel like Drew Doughty is fading a little bit, and they don't really

02:29have the blue line to help make up for that.

02:33And so, I just feel like there is maybe a little bit of a falling off, as, like, what

02:39we kind of thought, there was a lot of these young pieces, and you got excited about it,

02:42and they traded a few of them away for PLD, and I think that set the franchise back a

02:46little bit.

02:47Now they still made the playoffs.

02:48Um, but, now you look at kind of those younger, depth pieces that are supposed to be pushing

02:52up, they're not.

02:54In the way that I think they need to.

02:56Bifield looks like he could have another really good year, after a great year last year.

02:59But I just don't know if there is enough there to make up for some of the other guys who

03:03are starting to fall off a little bit.

03:06And I still have some concerns about the goaltending situation.

03:08At three, the Winnipeg Jets.

03:11Last season, everything kind of clicked for them, until the playoffs.

03:15Like, they were a team that legitimately I thought could win the Stanley Cup.

03:18But that was, again, with Connor Hellebuck playing, like, the best goalie in the world

03:21for some really long stretches, and getting some very strong performances out of a few

03:27of your guys.

03:28Now, this year, you have a controversy around Ehlers, there was the whole thing with the

03:35prospect who didn't want to be there, and I just, again, I think that this is actually

03:39quite a good team, and just kind of needed to pick some ones to fill into this spot,

03:44but when you're looking at the teams out West, who have the chance to maybe fall off

03:47a little bit, there are just, quite frankly, a lot of very good teams.

03:52And I don't think Dallas falls out to the point where they're out of the playoffs.

03:54I don't think Colorado falls out to the point where they're out of the playoffs, and, like,

03:58Nashville got quite a bit better this year, so, where else are you going to fall?

04:03And that could be a little bit of a two, is that there are just some other teams who are

04:06pushing up and making life a little bit more difficult on Winnipeg.

04:09The next two are out East, the New York Islanders.

04:12And I know, I perpetually underrate the New York Islanders.

04:14I still, for the, like, fifth year in a row, just don't think they're good enough to make

04:19the playoffs.

04:20I like a couple of the pieces that they have, but I just don't think that they are about

04:25that life, and are a team that I see really making a push into the playoffs this year.

04:31I think because there are a couple of other improving teams out East, that they kind of

04:38get knocked off here.

04:39I think there's been a couple of times where it's felt they kind of got in a bit by default,

04:44because some of these younger teams just couldn't quite get over that hump.

04:46And at number one, it's Washington.

04:48They were the ones who traded for Pierre-Luc Dubois, I have concerns about that.

04:52They go out and acquire Andrew Mangiapane, if you guys listened to any of my Flame stuff

04:56last year, you know I was not super high on the kid, and I worry that they are going to

05:01expect the 35 goal scorer that was there a couple of years ago, who's not anymore, I

05:06worry about that.

05:07And they had a goalie get hot for the first time in his career, and it got to the playoffs.

05:13I don't know if I have confidence that that happens again.

05:16And so I think Washington is the team that I do think falls out here when we get into

05:21it this season.

05:24And then, the teams now that get into the playoffs.

05:28Sorry, I just got a thing on my OBS that says welcome to the chat.

05:32So hopefully I didn't miss a whole lot here, but it looks like everything is going fine

05:36now.

05:37They are going into the playoffs now.

05:39At 5, it's Utah.

05:40They go out and acquire Sergeyev.

05:43This was a team I thought that could make a run into the playoffs last year, and then

05:46you had the whole where are they going to live situation, and where, like, there was

05:52just so much negativity around the arena, around being in Arizona, about potentially

05:56moving, and all of that, that I think it just kind of became too much of a distraction for

06:00them to overcome.

06:01I think now that they are in a new place, reinvigorated, all of that, I think that this

06:05is a team that makes the bump into the playoffs this year.

06:08At 4, it is the Minnesota Wild.

06:10I think injuries really hindered this team last year.

06:13They are now just about out of the purgatory for, um, toxic, yes I did, yes.

06:22Doing this part today, saying, oh yeah, Utah's going to make it into the playoffs, after

06:26they did the own goal last night in the preseason, that's not great.

06:30It doesn't help me all that much.

06:34And so yeah, that's, you know, it's mildly concerning, it's a problem, but I do think

06:38that there is a team there that can really make a push.

06:43For Minnesota now, this is a team that was hampered by injuries a lot last year, and

06:47now they are coming in and I think, like, Kaprizov is still one of the best players

06:52in the league, man.

06:53And Eriksenek, I think, doesn't get enough credit.

06:56They have this cap situation that's been hanging over them for a while that is coming

07:00towards an end anyway.

07:02And so I think that there is some reason for optimism out in Minnesota.

07:06At 3, it's Seattle.

07:07I didn't love what they did this offseason in terms of long term contracts, but Montour

07:12and Stevenson make this a better hockey team than they were last year.

07:15And so I think with another year of development for some of the young guys, and now adding

07:20a couple of very good playoff proven pieces, that this is a Seattle team that can push

07:24for the playoffs.

07:25At 2, it's Montreal.

07:27This is assuming that there is some growth in Patrick Laine, and he just kind of gets

07:31back into being the guy that he was a few years ago, and the guy we all thought he could

07:36be.

07:37But I think, like, my breakout player of the year this year is Cole Caulfield.

07:42Slefkoski was on that list as well.

07:44Like, that they have all these guys who I think are these young players who can take

07:50this step into being, like, that type of a caliber of player, and that will really help

07:56them going forward.

07:58And I think that this is a team now that takes that step, that is done rebuilding.

08:02They have a couple of pieces on the blue line that you don't mind.

08:05And I have said before, like, there's some advancement that needs to be done tactically

08:10and from quite a few players to get them there, but I do think that they are ready to take

08:14that next step into the postseason.

08:15And at 1, it's cheating a little bit, but it's New Jersey.

08:18I thought they could have been legitimately a Stanley Cup contender last year if they

08:21would have acquired Tanev and Markstrom from the Flames.

08:25They got neither, and missed the playoffs.

08:27But now, they made a big move in the offseason to get a defenseman.

08:30They made a big move in the offseason to get the goalie Markstrom.

08:32This is a team that feels complete, and yeah, huge injury sucks, but this is a team that

08:38feels complete right now, and feels like they can make a real run, not just at a playoff

08:42spot, but a very high seat in the Eastern Conference, and then do some damage starting

08:47in the postseason.

Who could be in and out of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs | NHL Season Preview

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