I think its silly to look at what they've done this year and think otherwise. Vegas odds have Leafs ahead too.
Top 6. Adv Leafs.
Bottom 6. About even.
D. Bolts but it's closer than you think.
Special Team. Leafs by a mile. PK is a legit scoring threat.
Goal Tending. Vasy.
Throw is home ice and it's really the Leafs series to lose.

But the Leafs being favourites is just going to make it that more satisfying when the Bolts win in 7 :-D
Cya Monday.

They played regular season games during the playoffs last year. This is an improvement.

My first round predictions

East

vs - Canes in 5

Vs - Lightning in 6

vs - Rangers in 6

vs - Panthers sweep

West

Vs - Wild in 7 (most excited about this one)

Vs - Oilers in 6 just can’t see LA keeping up with EDM firepower

Vs - Avs in 5

Vs - Flames in 5 Sorry but Dallas doesn’t stand a chance unless J Rob goes superhuman

Capitals aren’t getting swept. They will win in 7

Lol I’m sure Trotz would love Smitty

Code for he is signing with Vancouver

Mathew Barzal on desire for long-term extension with #Isles: "I would love to be here on the Island. This is home. This is where I want to be. This is where I want to win...I think it's such a such a cool thing when a player plays his whole career with one team."

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) April 30, 2022

Friday featured 104 goals, the most-ever in a single day in League history. 🤯#NHLStats: https://t.co/REG94MYk9d pic.twitter.com/XMFvWqRStI

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 30, 2022

Perfectly sums up the season

It wasn’t supposed to be there but there was that blizzard that postponed the game, kinda sucks but who cares

Lol, they’re playing Florida, Florida’s offense and goaltending is clear cut better, defense too

True but people never realize how good we are when we are at the top of our game. That’s what I’m going off of. We competed with them in the reg season. Sammy could be really shut down when he is on point.

Lol

Leafs special teams have fallen off hard over the last couple months of the season while Tampa's PP has been surging, and Vasy is a huge x-factor playing the most influential position in the game. Plus you've got the championship pedigree and proven playoff monsters, vs guys who haven't been able to get it done in high pressure situations. Tampa is without a doubt the favorite here, imo.

Yes lol, literally who cares at all about the Kraken and the Jets, it’s solely for draft positioning and has no impact on the playoffs, it could literally be played a week from now and it would still mean next to nothing as long as it was done before the draft lottery (I wouldn’t even care if it was played literally alongside the cup finals lol, as long as the draft lottery was at some point after the game). Last year regular season games were played during the first round, so this is still better.

Momma Barzal is currently searching for old photos of Mat wearing his Canucks pyjamas.

Pajama boy 2.0

So hes gonna join JT with the Leafs

Then we can have a Pajama party

Do the Leafs really have that big of an advantage in the top 6? Matthews is a monster and the best player on either team, but you could argue that Kucherov, Stamkos, and Point are the next 3 best forwards, and even if you take Marner over 1 of the Lightning guys they still have 3 of the top 5, and then a Selke calibre guy in Cirelli. I would say those 4 edge Toronto’s big 4 slightly, and Killorn and Palat are at least a wash with Bunting and Kerfoot. The advantage the Lightning have is that they’re all proven playoff performers who typically get better in the post-season and the Leafs do not have that pedigree. If they do that thing where they throw like Mikheyev and Blackwell with Tavares and run Nylander on the 3rd line, then the Lightning have the clearly better top 6 imo. The Leafs have the advantage on 3rd line (regardless of if Nylander is there or not imo), and the Lightning have the advantage on 4th line.

The Lightning have the clear advantage on D imo. Muzzin should be their McDonagh, but he’s constantly injured and not great this year. Hedman smokes Rielly. Cernak and Brodie are probably pretty close as reliable top 4 defensive guys. Sergachev vs. Giordano is an interesting conversation, I’d probably lean Sergachev at this point although I do love Gio and he’s been solid for the Leafs so let’s call it a wash. Liljegren and Lyubushkin vs. Foote and Rutta is pretty similar and even if you lean the Leafs there it’s not close to making up the gap between Hedman/McDonagh and Rielly/Muzzin.

Vasi>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>every Leafs goalie since the Sawchuk/Bower/Plante days lol

Special teams edge Leafs, although I’m not sure I’ve seen a PP more threatening than Kucherov and Point threading cross-seam passes through some of the best defenses in the league on the PP, and they always turn it up in the playoffs. Combine that with a resurgent Stamkos and Hedman still being elite (and another playoff performer) and if the PP isn’t considered at least even, I would almost lean Tampa again. PK is probably slight edge Leafs though.

Overall I think Tampa has the pretty clear advantage. Plus they have the experience of actually doing the thing twice so they know what it takes. Tampa historically turns it up, and Toronto historically chokes, which is definitely something to factor in. If it was all based on the regular season, Tampa wouldn’t have won last year when they finished 3rd in the division, and they honestly kinda waltzed to the cup lol, they had a good series against Florida that they won decisively, and NYI pushed them to 7 but they didn’t really look scared of them.

As an outsider I would say Tampa is very clearly the favourite, and will honestly be the favourite against anyone and everyone until somebody manages to beat them, which nobody has done in 3 years.

I’m waiting for this to happen in 8 years with Connor Bedard.

Canucks:

Ah yes, Mat Barzal, the pride of Toronto

Lightning dont have a clear advantage in D other than Hedman

A healthy Muzzin vs. McDonagh is an equal match

Yeah but Muzzin is not healthy. He hasn’t been for over a year (and has missed parts of the playoffs the last two seasons, to the Leafs’s deteiment), and it’s been clear every time he steps on the ice this season that he’s not the player you want him to be. Also please stop making major edits to your posts immediately after posting, just take an extra few seconds to think if there’s something you want to add lol

IDK man, the lightning are also the 2 time defending stanley cup champions... Ive learned not to bet against them.

Well both sides will have someone unhealthy its just how the NHL season has gone

Having Gio will soften the worload as Muzzin wont be forced to play 25 mins a night.

Is there a CF bracket challenge setup already?