Will there be a Cinderella team this year? if so, who?

[Snatcher Demko]

Sens and Blues both look good. Sens have some depth and elite talent. For the Blues, Binnington's resurgence is huge and their young pieces have stepped up, not to mention that Thomas has established himself as elite.

 

[Mr Nogatco]

Gtfoh with that lmfaoooo

Florida won the President's Trophy in 2022

Seems hindsight-y. Don’t remember anyone picking them to make a run in 2023, especially drawing a Boston team in round 1 that just set the regular season points record.

 

[The Eyeball Kid]

For the West

Minnesota in the West would be the only Cinderella and they barely qualify now that they are getting healthy.

The Blues have the best record since the "Four Nations", hardly a Cinderella.

LA's home record removes them from Cinderella.

Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, and Winnipeg shouldn't even be considered for Cinderella.

West 1st round

Winnipeg vs Minnesota/St Louis
Las Vegas vs St Louis/Minnesota
Dallas vs Colorado
LA vs Edmonton

Minnesota would be an upset.

St Louis winning shouldn't shock anyone (except Winn/LV)

LA would be an upset depending on how healthy Drai and McDavid are. ( 4th time in 4 years , expect a very physical series) Goalies may make the difference here.

Dallas vs Colorado should be a great series

Kings goals against in the last 15 Darcy Kuemper starts:
120212121200112

vs

Skinner/Pickard

 

[HanSolo]

Montreal are a legit Cup contender now with Demidov in the fold.

Dude who hasn't played a single game in the NHL is going to convert a bubble team to a cup contender. Okay lol.

 

[JAK]

Jets - Sens final would piss off Bettman, so I'm voting for that.

 

[Pablo El Perro]

Sens and/or Blues

 

[yianik]

Can a team that grossly underperforms for almost a decade be a Cinderella team if it performs remotley close to its talent level ? Im looking at the Leafs here.

 

[FlappyGiraffe]

Montreal are a legit Cup contender now with Demidov in the fold.

I will be shocked if they win more than 1 game against the Caps, they are being underrated like crazy.

Best team the Jets have played this year bar none, no real weaknesses on that squad with a great mix of experience and younger guys in their prime years.

 

[Three On Zero]

Minnesota/Blues

 

[BB79]

Montreal are a legit Cup contender now with Demidov in the fold.

He's a bludgeoning star I tells ya!

I don't think there will be a Cinderella team this year. I think a mid-pack team wins the cup though.

 

[CrosbyStaalsAndNash]

For the East, I'd love to see Ottawa make it to the Conference Finals

 

[hangman005]

If we wear pretty dresses can we pretend we're Cinderella?

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I actually expect Montreal to get thoroughly dismantled by whoever they play in a 4 game sweep.


That last wildcard spot in the East is an incredibly weak team, may not even hit 90 points. And moreso then that you watch Montreal games and they routinely get outplayed for the majority of the games. They're opportunistic and it's good experience for them, but I expect the Caps to absolutely run through them in that first round.


In terms of the question in the thread, for sure the Blues are the best bet. especially if they end up facing the Jets.

 

[BelovedIsles]

Ottawa will be a tough out; not sure they are Cinderella esque, but they won’t roll over.

 

[Kingsfan1]

Ottawa , St.Louis , LA one of these 3 i think will surprise . Am i biased ? Nope never have been my track record proves it but i think there’s something different about this years team . With that being said Ottawa keeps amazing me and Blues ironically thanks to Holloway and Broberg .

 

[Roshi]

no. BUT if they get timely goaltending and can limit either the leafs or caps offence, they can put a scare into them. There is relatively recent history of both teams choking against them.
Personally I want the leafs. I and the vast majority of habs fans have 0 expectations vs Toronto. Not a single person on this board predicted the habs would be in the playoffs.
All of the pressure is on Toronto / Washington. all of it. and the Bell centre will be berserk vs whoever they play

Caps will have pressure for claiming east1, but all of it? Not a single person on this board predicted Caps would be in the playoffs either.

All the teams are good. Habs have been on a heater to secure the spot while Caps have been coasting a bit and getting distracted. It will be interesting set up, as its now very likely to go down. Its kind of an cinderella story for Caps too. We were supposed to ”be suck” this year and making it to 2nd round would be a big thing

 

[nabby12]

I think a lot of us can see Ottawa beating Toronto in Round 1. So let's say Ottawa.

 

[wunderpanda]

leafs. idk if anyone expects them to get out of round 1, fewer would expect them to survive round 2.

 

[Mogo]

Gtfoh with that lmfaoooo

Florida won the President's Trophy in 2022

Ah yes, makes a huge difference.

Makes the playoffs on last day of season in 2023. Beats the best regular season team of all-time being down 3-1 and advance to finals

While people say Montreal is a year with covid

 

[Shark Finn]

Flames.

 

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

The last time we had one was Montreal in 2020. Do we see another one this playoffs?

2021.

Habs could do it again. But Demidov needs to be great and key injury on Capitals

 

[Dagistitsyn]

Montreal are a legit Cup contender now with Demidov in the fold.

Not even close.
I'd wager he is not going to make much of a difference at all since he will be stuck playing with the black hole that is Newhook. I'm extremely excited for Demidov's future in Montreal, but I wouldn't be surprised if Demidov struggles to get a single point in his few games he'll get to play because of being on that line. Every line that Newhook has been on since they got him, has been worse while he was on it. Not a coincidence.
They NEED a second line center. Newhook needs to be far away from the top 6, he is straight ass. Also need upgrade at RD. Suzuki and Hutson can only carry this team on their back so far this year.

 

[Hunter368]

Dude who hasn't played a single game in the NHL is going to convert a bubble team to a cup contender. Okay lol.

Some fans are so far out there…..

 

[John Mandalorian]

A lot of people are picking Dallas. So that makes Colorado a Cinderella candidate.

 

[SJinNewJersey]

Nobody is expecting the Devils to win a round, so I will vote for my team to make a little noise.