Wattage wrote: ↑18 Jun 2025 20:37 pm
TheJackBurton wrote: ↑17 Jun 2025 22:21 pm
Can't rule them out of making one more run because of the weak Pacific, but that should just about take them out of Finals talk for a few years.
Until they fix the defense and goaltending they aren't legitimate contenders.
They beat the stars and they sent the panthers to 6 games. Yes they were ultimately still beat and the worse team, but i just dont get thw culture of saying the 2nd place team werent contenders.
They dominated the stars who dominated the jets who beat us.
They shocked the panthers with 2 comebacks and nearly pulled out a 3rd game. This despite being projected to lose in the 1st round. They were a legitjmate team and saying elsewise is just stupid nonsense.
My assessment is they were lucky to get out of RD 1. I'm pretty sure a lot of people can agree with that. The Byfield turnover sparked the momentum they needed to get the ball rolling. Without that they are down 3-1 against the Kings and most likely lose because they looked pretty pedestrian up until that point.
They have to be in the top 3 favorites in the West next year assuming everything stays pat. We will have more info in a month or so to see which direction things are going with the teams. Dallas making a coaching move might be the last ditch effort to get that team right. I have predicted them to be the West champion the last 2 years and obviously been wrong. Last year they ran out of gas after having the toughest schedule in the playoffs by far. This year they had that awesome juggernaut matchup in the 1st, and then didn't look right. They are also on watch moving forward as their cap will eventually start to become an issue.
If I had to make a prediction today which is kind of stupid because we will see some action next week at the draft and July 1 I'd assume because of the cap finally moving, I'd pick the Avs as the favorite next year. A couple years off of not getting results they want and they have a couple of the best players in the world, It's probably the natural timing for them to start coming around again.
The Blues and Mild are the wildcards going into next year. If things start going their directions, they have legitimate chances to start testing people. If it wasn't for them all being in the central, there's a legitimate chance 4 of your 5 best teams next year in the west are all central teams. Which will be unlucky for round 1. I can see it in no particular order being Edmonton, Avs, Dallas, Mild, Blues, and Utah/Kings/Vegas being the next 3.