My Top 5 Contenders from Each Conference

Keep sleeping on the rangers

They’re neck and neck with Boston for me (and with Vegas in the overall rankings). Carolina and Florida are the clear top 2 for me in the East tho

Neck and neck with Boston after season sweeping them and recent wins over panthers and canes

Rangers went to the ECF the year they traded for no big names and they did it again this year

Yes because 1-0 game where the only goal was super fluky and the Hurricanes were still getting 2 top-6 pieces acclimated is a great measuring stick game... The Hurricanes have been the better team since the calendar turned to 2024 ( 53 points in 35 games and a .757 points percentage compared to 47 points in 36 games and a .653 points percentage)

The Toronto Maple Leafs are 13-9-3 against these teams with Boston and Carolina sweeping them (with multiple games being on the second half of a b2b), meaning they are 13-5-0 against the other teams... (I did this so I don't have to look it up later):
Stars: 2-0-0
Avalanche: 1-1-0
Canucks: 1-1-0
Vegas: 1-1-0
Edmonton: 1-1-0
Los Angeles: 1-1-0
Winnipeg Jets: 2-0-0
Carolina: 0-2-1
Florida: 1-1-0
Boston: 0-2-2
NYR: 2-1-0
Tampa: 2-0-0

What's the reasoning behind not having the Leafs on here at all? Especially when they are 29th in PP opportunities and having a large chunk of the season with Martin Jones starting + their 9th defensemen on the second pairing