Playoffs: who will make it this year that missed last, and who will they knock out?

[Carolinas Identity*]

Thought this might be fun for a discussion. Who do you think will make the playoffs last year, and who do you think they will knock out to do it?

I'm gonna be a homer and say:

A) - Carolina. As up and down as they were last year, they were in the hunt until literally the last week, and they've only gotten better. No big, splashy moves, but they brought in some nice pieces, have some nice prospects ready to make the jump, the youngins and rookies of last year are all another year older, and the team has had another year to get used to Coach Peters. I also feel like they have at least one move left in them before October.

And, B) - Detroit. I think this is finally the year the Wings crash out. They've been on a wee bit of a decline the past few seasons and barely squeaked in last year. I still think that they are a solid, well coached team with good players, but I feel like they will fall a few points short. Nothing lasts forever.

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[King Weber]

In: Canadiens
Why: Price is back and has another Vezina caliber year, additions of Weber, Shaw and Radulov pay off.

Out: Islanders
Why: Lost some key pieces to free agency this off-season and did not really get any better on paper than they were before, while teams around them did. (Carolina, Montreal)

 

[markog]

Thought this might be fun for a discussion. Who do you think will make the playoffs last year, and who do you think they will knock out to do it?

I'm gonna be a homer and say:

A) - Carolina. As up and down as they were last year, they were in the hunt until literally the last week, and they've only gotten better. No big, splashy moves, but they brought in some nice pieces, have some nice prospects ready to make the jump, the youngins and rookies of last year are all another year older, and the team has had another year to get used to Coach Peters. I also feel like they have at least one move left in them before October.

And, B) - Detroit. I think this is finally the year the Wings crash out. They've been on a wee bit of a decline the past few seasons and barely squeaked in last year. I still think that they are a solid, well coached team with good players, but I feel like they will fall a few points short. Nothing lasts forever.

Metro can't have 6 teams in playoffs.
My picks are Montreal and Boston with Philadelphia and Detroit out.
In west: Calgary and Edmonton in while LA, St. Louis out

 

[bobholly39]

Montreal In - Carey Price looks in top shape.

Philly Out.


in the west:

Minnesota out

Edmonton in

And here's one that'll be controversial:

San Jose out
Calgary In

 

[SnoopDogg]

Don't be surprised if Buffalo makes it or barely misses it.

 

[bobholly39]

Don't be surprised if Buffalo makes it or barely misses it.

I'd actually be shocked if they made it. There are maybe 5 teams max who I feel have no chance and they're one of them.

 

[Vide]

Gut feeling says Minnesota will miss in the West, not sure who would replace them though. Arizona, Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado perhaps even Vancouver could do it. Then again Bruce Boudreau is a pretty good regular season coach so who knows.

 

[BHD]

In: Montreal, Buffalo/Ottawa

Out: Detroit, NYI

 

[Hobble]

In: Winnipeg
Out: Minny

 

[Duck Off]

Montreal In - Carey Price looks in top shape.

Philly Out.


in the west:

Minnesota out

Edmonton in

And here's one that'll be controversial:

San Jose out
Calgary In

What? Why? Of all the CA teams, SJ is the least likely to fall out IMO. Anaheim and LA have downgraded their roster, where as SJ improved. Plus, SJ just made it to the cup finals. Interested to hear the logic in that prediction.

 

[bobholly39]

What? Why? Of all the CA teams, SJ is the least likely to fall out IMO. Anaheim and LA have downgraded their roster, where as SJ improved. Plus, SJ just made it to the cup finals. Interested to hear the logic in that prediction.

I like looking at more than 1 year. I usually like looking at an average of 2-3 years. And I think you can make an argument that over the last 2-3 years, SJ is last among the CA teams even with their final run last year.

They were underwhelming in the finals last year. Thornton is getting old and might slow down.

Right or wrong - I still have LA's core as a serious cup contender, even after 2 underwhelming finishes.

Anaheim's ability to come back from a horrendous start and win their division last year I find extremely impressive.

so I guess what I'm saying is - if one of the CA teams misses the playoffs, I think it would be San Jose.

 

[Drake744]

Out: Minnesota
In: Arizona

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

Not surprised we got a St. Louis out on the first page. You'd think David Backes was Crosby.

They just went to the West final with 2 rookies carrying a large load that are only going to get better. Schwartz missed something like 60 games. Both goalies were hurt at different times. They still had 107 points.

And now because they don't have Backes they are falling to below 90?

 

[MXD]

Don't be surprised if Buffalo makes it or barely misses it.

Buffalo could win the Atlantic or miss the playoffs by 20 points, and in both cases, it wouldn't really surprise me.

 

[tony d]

In: Montreal, Ottawa, New Jersey, Calgary, Winnipeg
Out: Detroit, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, St.Louis, Minnesota

 

[MXD]

In : Montreal, Buffalo, Carolina
Out : NYI, Detroit, Philly

In : Calgary, Colorado
Out : Minnesota, Anaheim

Roughly in order of likelihood.

 

[Kamiccolo]

In Toronto Maple Leafs

Out: Bruins

Their defense is terrible, Rask is questionable, and their forwards aren't good enough to carry them all season.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Not surprised we got a St. Louis out on the first page. You'd think David Backes was Crosby.

They just went to the West final with 2 rookies carrying a large load that are only going to get better. Schwartz missed something like 60 games. Both goalies were hurt at different times. They still had 107 points.

And now because they don't have Backes they are falling to below 90?

Is St. Louis likely to replicate their regular season success from last year? No. Will they miss the playoffs? Absolutely not.

 

[M2Beezy]

Edmonton and Calgary to knock out Anahiem and Minny
Boston to knock out New York and Detroit and Ottawa battlin for 8th

 

[Duck Off]

I like looking at more than 1 year. I usually like looking at an average of 2-3 years. And I think you can make an argument that over the last 2-3 years, SJ is last among the CA teams even with their final run last year.

They were underwhelming in the finals last year. Thornton is getting old and might slow down.

Right or wrong - I still have LA's core as a serious cup contender, even after 2 underwhelming finishes.

Anaheim's ability to come back from a horrendous start and win their division last year I find extremely impressive.

so I guess what I'm saying is - if one of the CA teams misses the playoffs, I think it would be San Jose.

Fair enough. I don't see it that way, but I understand what you're saying.

As a Duck fan, I think we're the most likely to miss the playoffs of the 3 CA teams. Team isn't as deep. Although Gibson has tremendous potential, I think he'll struggle. Not a fan of the Carlyle hire, but I think what's worse is the Murray/Carlyle tandem. Too different in their philosophies IMO.

 

[MXD]

In Toronto Maple Leafs

Out: Bruins

Their defense is terrible, Rask is questionable, and their forwards aren't good enough to carry them all season.

The problem with this is obviously that the Bruins are already Out.

So what do they become... Outer?

 

[M2Beezy]

The problem with this is obviously that the Bruins are already Out.

So what do they become... Outer?

No that cant happen. If your out your out. But they wont be anyways this year so theres that

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Gut feeling says Minnesota will miss in the West, not sure who would replace them though. Arizona, Edmonton, Calgary, Colorado perhaps even Vancouver could do it. Then again Bruce Boudreau is a pretty good regular season coach so who knows.

So, you're saying that in the West, only Winnipeg doesn't have a chance?

 

[DJJones]

I like looking at more than 1 year. I usually like looking at an average of 2-3 years. And I think you can make an argument that over the last 2-3 years, SJ is last among the CA teams even with their final run last year.

They were underwhelming in the finals last year. Thornton is getting old and might slow down.

Right or wrong - I still have LA's core as a serious cup contender, even after 2 underwhelming finishes.

Anaheim's ability to come back from a horrendous start and win their division last year I find extremely impressive.

so I guess what I'm saying is - if one of the CA teams misses the playoffs, I think it would be San Jose.

Agree with this.

Beginning of last year no one thought they would make the playoffs(or at least not make any noise). There was some serious alarms going off during there slow start. But then they just got super hot and they matched up well style wise in the playoffs.

Call it a gut feeling but that's who I'd bet on missing from California. Even when Anaheim had their horrendous start I never thought they would miss the playoffs.

 

[NeedleInTheHay]

In: Habs, Oilers, Jets

Out: Flyers, Hawks, and Wild

Basically it will be NBC's worst nightmare.