Boston would be the safest bet since the Eastern conference is terrible. The Pens noshowed against them last year, but even if they had, are they even capable of beating the Bruins in a seven game series?
As for the West take your pick Chicago, Anaheim, and St. Louis are the three legitimate threats. After that San Jose and Los Angeles are better than any Eastern team; even Phoenix I think has a shot if everything falls in their favor. Colorado needs another year or two, and they should be contenders as well.
Out of those teams I probably like St. Louis the most. They will look to add another piece or two at the deadline, and as long as Elliot plays well enough in the playoffs I think they'll have the depth to beat the best teams this year. Then of course there is Hitchcock who knows what it takes to get the team far into the playoffs. All their key players are also in their prime which should help as well.
Backes is 29
Berglund is 25
Oshie is 27
Schwartz is 21
Steen is 29
Stewart is 26
Tarasenko is 22
Bouwmeester is 30
Pieterangelo is 23
Shattenkirk is 24
Elliot is 28
All their veterans play on bottom lines, but they're no slouches either in Roy, Morrow, and Jackman.
Last edited by trackercowe; 01-04-2014 at 09:50 PM.
|