Équipe: 2020-21 Équipe personnalisée

Date de création initiale: 11 mai 2021

Publié: 12 mai 2021

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

Pittsburgh vs New York - All Penguin injuries with the exception of Brandon Tanev are expected to recover for playoffs. The Islanders are missing Anders Lee for the entirety of playoffs. The Islanders are the more handicapped team at this point. In the actual lineups, the Penguins have Crosby, Malkin and Guentzel for star players. All 3 have typically shown excellent playoff performances so they will be fine in that regard. Their second scoring composes of Teddy Blueger, Bryan Rust, Jeff Carter, Jared McCann, Jason Zucker and Kasperi Kapanen. All of them with the exception of Jason Zucker had exceptional regular seasons and Carter and Rust have shown the ability to perform in the playoffs. McCann, Zucker, Blueger and Kapanen don’t have enough experience to make a judgement but they haven’t done exceptionally in their previous outings. That said, I’m confident they will perform given the culture of this organization and the contagious nature of something like that. The 4th line is defensively competent, not overly tough but aren’t going to tip the scale too much in either direction which is what you want from a 4th line. Overall the Penguins forward group has the star power, is 9 deep, hard to play against and performs well in the playoffs. I’d like to see a tougher 4th line but the team can’t be perfect. The Islanders only star forward is Mathew Barzal. I think you’d like you star player to be better than Barzal as well. The Penguins have a much better star group. Secondary scoring on the Islanders is Eberle, Beauvillier, Nelson, Bailey, Palmieri, Pageau and Wahlstrom. All had succesful regular seasons with the exception of Palmieri who played terrible for the Islanders. All have also shown the ability to perform in the playoffs excluding Palmieri who never gets there and Wahlstrom who is a rookie. I don’t see Wahlstrom playing terrific because rookies typically don’t but I think Palmieri will be fine. Given that I think Wahlstrom won’t be great, they are 7 forwards deep. The 4th line consists of a wheel of Martin, Cizikas, Clutterbuck, Kimarov and Zajac. They are hard to play against and get the job done. I think the Isles 4th line is more effective than Pittsburgh’s. That said, 1 of these guys will have to play top 9 because of the Lee injury so that won’t be great. Especially if it’s Komarov like daily face off suggests. The Isles star power is subpar, they are 7 deep and have a great 4th line. They need more star power and they need a big performance from Wahlstrom to be 8 deep but the Penguins still have a better forward group. On defence, the Penguins have an elite #1 who was IMO top 5 league wide this year in Letang. Marino makes for a solid #2 and Pettersen and Dumo are solid #4s to fill out the top 4. Then the third pair. Ceci-Matheson. Yikes. That pair actively routes for the opposing team whenever on the ice. As ineffective as a third pair can get. Marino doesn’t have enough playoff experience to make a call on his ability to perform but I have no worries. Dumo and Pettersen have historically been just fine and Letang dominates just like in the RS. Ceci and Matheson can’t play in the RS, never mind the playoffs. Overall the Penguins have a great #1 and #2, a rounded out top 4 and an atrocious 3rd pair. The Islanders have a low end #1 in Pulock and a top pair guy in Leddy. Pelech is a #3 and Mayfield is a solid 4. Dobson is well on his way to being a #1 and is already solid top 4. Andy Greene works perfectly fine on the 3rd pair as well. All d-men with the exception of Dobson who has 1 playoff game have shown ability to perform in the playoffs. Dobson may not be great in the playoffs but even if he’s a solid third pair guy the Isles will be fine on D. They overall have a solid, complete defensive corps that will get the job done. I’d like to see a #1 better than Pulock but you can’t complain with having him. Overall, the Isles have a better defensive corps simply due to the third pair. Both have rounded out top 4s, the Pens have better high end but the Isles 3rd pair is tremendously better. In net, the Isles have a massive advantage. Varlamov is my Vezina pick and Tristan Jarry is a very average starter. Varlamov can win this series on his own. Jarry can not. Overall the Penguins have a better forward group and the Isles have a slightly better defensive corps and significantly better goalie. I also think the Isles are harder to play against than the Pens. On special teams the Pens have the 4th best PP in the NHL. The Isles have the 21st by comparison. On PK, the Pens possess the 26th rank while the Isles are 6th. The Isles PK will likely be able to take the Pens PP, but the shockingly bad PK will probably still give up PP goals to the Isles. I also think the Isles have better systems. And I think the one week break will serve to break the Isles downward spiral and freeze the Pens tear. My pick is the Islanders in 6



Washington vs Boston - All of Washington’s injuries are expected to return with the possible exception of TJ Oshie. Coyle, Boston’s only major injury should return. For purposes of this, let’s pretend Oshie is out for the whole round. For stars, the Caps have Backstrom and Ovechkin. 2 elite stars. Both can perform in the playoffs as well. Secondary players consist of Kuznetsov, Wilson, Mantha, Eller, Sheary and Sprong. This makes them 8 deep. Kuznetsov, Wilson, Eller and Sheary can all perform in the playoffs. Mantha and Sprong have no playoff games thus far. I think both will be fine and Mantha may even elevate. The 4th line of Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway brings toughness and penalty killing and is exactly what you want from a 4th line. Hagelin also has had some pretty impressive playoff performances. Overall, they have the star power, they have the depth, they are hard to play against, they have an effective 4th line, it’s a complete forward group. I’d like for them to be 9 deep though but an Oshie return would make that happen. Boston has Bergeron, Marchand, Hall and Pastrnak in the way of star players. They have a lot more star power than Washington, especially with no Oshie. Bergeron, Marchand and Pasta have shown playoff performance but I have some concerns with Hall. I think he’ll be more of a secondary option as opposed to a star forward. Secondary scoring consists of DeBrusk, Coyle, Ritchie, Smith and Krejci. I have no worries about any of these players ability to perform in the playoffs. This makes the Bruins 9 deep. The 4th line is defensively competent and tough. They, like Washington are an effective 4th line. Both Washington and Boston have defensively competent forward groups, Boston more so and both are hard to play against, Washington more so. Overall, Boston has more star power, is slightly deeper and are better defensively whereas Washington is slightly tougher. Both have effective 4th lines. The forward groups are very even, with an advantage to Boston. Washington has an elite #1 d-man in Carlson. Not great defensively but he’s still an elite #1 who can perform in the playoffs. Schultz is a good #2 and Orlov and Dillon round out a solid, yet not elite top 4. On the 3rd pair, TVR and Chara are a more than competent duo. No issues there. Boston also has an elite #1 who can actually play defence. Grezlcyk is a good #2 but worse than Justin Schultz. Carlo is a solid #3 and they have multiple other competent defence men who can fill out a third pair. They don’t have a #4 though. Both defensive groups are very even but I’d opt for Washington’s group. Slightly. In net, Samsonov and Rask are both good NHL starters but Rask is better and has playoff experience. Rask is the better starter. On special teams, Washington has the 3rd ranked PP and Boston has the 9th. Both have good PPs. On the PK, Boston has the 2nd best and Washington has the 5th best. Neither team will get an edge on special teams. Boston has better forwards, a better goalie, elite special teams, and better team defense m. Washington has better defense men and also has elite special teams. I’m going with Boston in 7 because of defensive ability and goaltending as well as the wildcard of Taylor Hall. If Hall plays well, Boston wil no doubt win this series.


Boston vs New York - I’m not going to recap all the players again in this paragraph as it is as already been discussed. Boston has better star forwards, is 9 deep as opposed to 8 and both have good playoff 4th lines. Neither team will have issues with disappointing players with the exception of Hall and Wahlstrom who are both question marks. Boston possesses the better forward group, especially if Hall plays well. On defence, the Islanders are significantly more well rounded while Boston possess a far superior #1. Both groups are defensively good up front and in d. In net, Varlamov is the better goalie but Rask will hold his ground. There is net a large advantage in net for NY. Just depends on who has the hot hand. Both teams have good coaches, good systems and are hard to play against. Both are defensively excellent. The forward group in Boston is better but NYI takes an advantage in net and on D. Boston does possess an advantage in special teams though with an exceptional PP and PK compared to NYI, who only has a functional PK. This series will also go 7 games. I think I’m going to go with Boston though. There only real weakness is a poor #4. NYI lacks a PP, lacks star power, could have a better #1 and needs Lee back to have a filled out top 9. Boston in 7 games.