The Hockey PDOcast - The Potential Round 1 Matchups We're Most Excited For This Postseason

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Pete Blackburn to draft the potential Round 1 matchups we're most excited to watch this postseason. If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

dressing to the mean since 2015. It's the Hockey Pideotcast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the Hockey-Pediocast. My name's Demetri Fulipovich and joining me is my good buddy, Pete Blackbird. Pete, what's going on, man? How are you? Thanks for having me back. I'm excited. It's a Friday here and we have to close out the week with some fun. And listen, we're, what, 22 sleeps away now until the playoffs kickoff and it's going to be here before you know it. And so in anticipation of that, I thought you and I today, could do a little bit of a draft where we pick our brown one matchups we're most excited for and kind of go through and back and forth now we're talking about this before we went on the air i know i gave you this homework assignment you of course delivered by making a whole laundry list of potential matchups some are more likely than others i think the only criteria is they have to be mathematically possible still both in terms of seating and also involving teams who actually have a chance to make the playoffs but other than that we can get as crazy as you want or as realistic as you want. So I've got a list of my own. I'm going to give you the floor here. You're the guest.

You can have first pick. And then we'll go back and forth and in draft order. All right. First pick. And it's a little boring because I think it's the one that most people are looking forward to when they look at the standings right now. It's got to be like Central 2 versus 3. And right now that's Stars v. Wild.

And that one to me has not only the top hockey quality appeal, but it also has the additional layer of. of like, hey, is Jason Robertson going to try to kill Bill Garon in this series? And like that to me adds a little bit of juice. But it's just two of the best teams in the NHL. And knowing that there are, there's a three-headed monster in the central division. And whoever wins that series is probably likely going to play the avalanche or whoever wins that division.

Like that is going to be the one series. that if I had to recommend one series to like a neutral fan or somebody entering in for the playoffs, and I said, I got to watch that series. I think that's objectively the correct first pick, especially with the criteria of quality of hockey. It's the third versus the six team in terms of points percentage. You could look at it from the perspective of chaos, especially for around one, because every night there's going to be, what, four or five games on. And generally there's going to be a lot of overlap.

And so I think we're looking for, you know, stuff. that's going to differentiate itself from the rest, and that might not necessarily be a highly competitive 2-1 game. I think one of the perks of round one is you get some of these crazy lopsided matchups, but also ones where it's two teams who aren't realistically going to compete for a Stanley Cup, but are still good and have a ton of talent,

and you get into these crazy back and forth, five, four games with late dramatic finishes and overtimes, and that's what makes round one the best, but this is clearly the cream of the crop, and there hasn't really been any drama in terms of whether this will or won't happen because these two teams have essentially been locked into this matchup for a long time.

The stars coming out of the Olympic break had that heater and winning streak where they at least push the ads a little bit, but since then Colorado separated themselves and it looks like Dallas is going to have home ice in this matchup. So I'm fascinated by it. We haven't really seen these teams play each other at full health. I believe they only had the one matchup

since Quinn Hughes arrived to Minnesota, but that didn't feature Ranton and hints for Dallas. And so it's two of the best, what, four or five teams in the league that are going to be playing each other in round one. Whoever loses is going to be wildly disappointed and be pointing at the NHL's playoff structure as the cause for it. But assuming full health, this is probably as good as it gets for the opening round. I would agree, clearly. What's the matchup in this that you're most intrigued by? Is it Jason Robertson just trying to stick it to Bill Guerin and seeing how many goals he can score?

Because he's been going nuts lately in particular. Every time I look up, he's got like 15 shot attempts and two goals and has really been carrying the Star's offense recently without rantant and hints. Is that the one that draws mostly your interest? Yeah, it probably is, especially because Jason Robertson, I feel like at different points in his career has been accused of going silent. And I've been, you know, a pusher of that narrative that points to where it's like he can be very streaky. And maybe he's exiting that sort of narrative attached to him. but in the past it seems like he's been very streaky and that can be very bad in the playoffs when you need your top score to consistently show up and give you contributions.

Yeah, I would say Robertson versus the Wild and to an extension, Bill Guerin kind of shoving it down down his throat or up his you know what as a nice little Olympic nod would be very fun. Yeah, I think for me, beyond the individual players from a team level, the wild are the best penalty differential team in the league. And they don't really take any penalties. Part of it is because especially after adding Hughes, they just always have the puck in the offensive zone. And we know that the star's power play is absolutely lethal to the second most efficient unit in the league. And so whether they get some of those opportunities to capitalize on that will be really interesting. And I do think this series has a very combustible element as well because there's so many agitators.

and shenanigans involved, like what Justin Ritzkoviens has been doing lately for the stars. You've always got Ryan Hartman since McCarren and Falino came over. We saw that game against the Wild and the Lightning. They're certainly not going to be afraid to mix it up. And so I expect a lot of fireworks in this one.

So I think, yep. It's two teams that, like, went into the trade deadline being, like, we need to get way bigger. And they just acquired, like, two bohemath guys with McCarran. And then on the other end, Tyler Myers.

and like Dallas is already big and beefy. So like this would be like two semi trucks kind of colliding. I like it. All right. Well, that was my first pick. So I'll go with the second potential series on my list. And it is Habs versus Lightning.

Now, given the state of the Atlantic and the Eastern general, it's kind of a coin flip in terms of who's actually going to play who in round one. And that probably leads itself to this format that we're doing here today. But the Habs three most likely round one opponents via hockey stats. dot com, the lightning at 40%, the sabers at 37%, and then the hurricanes at 13, I think all three of those would be really fun matchups. And the common denominator there is the HABs who have the perfect formula of being great

offensively, their fourth in the league and goals, their fifth on the power play, and then being vulnerable defensively, where they're 24th in goals against 26th on the PK, have played a ton of dramatic high-scoring games this season with late finishes. going to get three on three here for Cole Coffield, but still, I think a lot of those games are going to be very close decided by the final shot, essentially. And so I'm very excited about that. And Habs' Lightning, I think, stylistically, is a really fun one. This Habs offense against the lightning defense, which is one of the most stingiest units in the league and kind of how that matches up. And I'm fascinated to see how that plays out. Yeah, I like that a lot. I think that, like,

you said to come into a nominator and a lot of the fun matches there are the Canadians and how kind of electric they are. My preferred opponent for the Canadians in round one would be Buffalo, just because it's, it's two of the best offensive teams in hockey. So the, you know, kind of the home run derby aspect there would be fun. There's plenty of young star power. But I think ultimately what sells me on that being preferable is that it includes two of like the absolutely most electric atmospheres in hockey.

and Buffalo returning to the playoffs is going to be just a madhouse at Key Bank. And then Bell Center is always the most electric playoff atmosphere in hockey. So that to me would be regardless of where the games take place, the juice that's provided by the building would be astronomical. And just the element of like two teams that have been wanting and ready to break through in their own unique different ways for the past several years, would definitely pull me towards that series. Yeah, I was a bit surprised that there is a 37% chance of it.

And I guess, you know, the lightning are within striking distance. There are two points back with a game in hand, although Buffalo is a tiebreaker for first in the Atlantic. But given the way Buffalo has been playing for months now and the momentum they've built and I think how motivated they are to finish this season strong, I would probably put it more likely that they actually overtake Carolina

over first in the East Outrate and wind up staying out of that matchup and then the two three is probably Tampa Bay, Montreal and that's kind of why I went with it just the cleanest path towards getting there and I do think like you look at how this Habs top lines been playing since the traded line when they put Slavkovsky back together

Wauquil and Suzuki and all three of them are top 10 in the league in points in that time I do think Tampa Bay as good as they've been defensively by all the metrics might be a bit vulnerable, especially in terms of foot speed, and so off the rush,

Montreal might be able to create some stuff there. And then on the other end, Kuturav, who's playing as well as anyone I can recall playing during all my years covering hockey at this point, especially offensively and how much he creates and passes to the slot and stuff against this vulnerable,

Habs defense. I think there could be fireworks there. So I'd be really looking forward to that one. Okay, what's next in your list? I have Oilers, Golden Knights. And for me, like, that's not going to be the highest quality of play based on these two teams on the full season sample, but I do think it's two teams that have a higher gear to reach, and maybe the playoffs helps

unlock that. But even if it doesn't, you're looking at two teams with high-end talent and pretty terrible goal-tending, which leads to very high event hockey potential. and I love a series. Me personally as sort of like a sicko, I love watching a playoff series that comes down to, well,

whose goaltender sucks the least because that's so fun to see. And obviously these two teams have playoff history. I'd really like to see what happens in the series. And this is probably one of the only matchups in the league where, to answer your question, it's probably not the Oilers,

because Aiden Hill has been that bad. He's played 19 games or 19 starts since the new year, over 908 percentage is four times during that stretch. And you could argue that this series, which is very likely to happen and the most likely one in the two, three in the Pacific, should be higher based on reputation and star player name brand value, especially if Dreis Eidl's going to come back and be anywhere near remotely full health. And just the expectations.

And we saw this in round two last year. pretty fun matchup even though it didn't go that long. And so there's the history there. It's overqualified for round one. And yet at the same time, based on form, I couldn't put it any higher. I added fourth on my list. So I had one that we haven't gotten to yet above it. And it's just because when you watch Vegas, it's tough for me to have any belief that this

team is going to turn it around at this point. I know some of the underlying metrics say that they've been unlucky and they're better. But man, they have so many issues right now. Like they're not scoring, you know, in March, no team scored more goal. a lot fewer goals than them, and then the goaltending is 30th and save percentage. And so you put all that together, and I know they played a fun back and forth

that went to overtime on Thursday night, but in terms of quality, I'm having a tough time getting there. Yeah, I would agree with you. What do you have above that one? Well, last note on the Oilers quickly. So hockey stats does have this as the most likely matchup. It's giving a 16% chance

for the Kings catching the Golden Knights for third in the Pacific and setting up a fifth straight, round one meeting between the Oilers and the Kings. And there is a bit of morbid curiosity for me to watch that. It's probably the only series that I'd be interested in seeing the Kings play just because not only just the fifth straight time, but I do think the Oilers would smack them around.

And hopefully that would cause the Kings to take a long look in the mirror and do some self-reflection this offseason. And I think it's reliable because their path is pretty easy moving forward. Now it's the Kings. So there's no real easy games for them. But they're playing a bunch of teams. out of the playoffs. They have seven straight games at home coming up. And so with the way the Golden Knights have been struggling, I do think it's possible that happens. My third series is the

Blue Jackets Penguins, which has a 56% chance probability happening. They've played four head-to-head games this year. Columbus won two of them, 5-4-4-3. Pittsburgh won two of them, 5-4-4-3. All four- over time. Now, all of them happened early in the year. I think their last meeting was January 17th, and both teams have changed since then, but they're very evenly matched. I think there's a ton of fun storylines. They've obviously played each other in the past in the postseason. It was a while ago, but I still think there's some connective threads there. And I like watching both these teams play quite a bit. So I do think, like, it could lead to some really fun, close games with a bunch of overtimes, and it's two teams that have really captured my attention and imagination

this year watching them play. And so I felt pretty good about putting them third out. I honestly considered to make it at second not to get too hockey hipster, but I do think it's going to be really fun. Yeah, I think these are two, like, this is the surprise bowl if it happens, where it's like nobody expected. I guess to a certain extent, if you headed into the season, you could see Columbus there.

I don't think anybody expected Pittsburgh to be in that spot. And I don't think anybody expected Columbus to be in that spot, given where they were at the at the midway point this season. So it'd be a very fun story from that angle. What are the other storylines that you would kind of attach to that series? Well, first is the level Eric Carlson's playing at and he's approaching his 36th birthday. I know he had 100 plus points and won the Norris in 2003. This is the best I've seen in play since probably that 2017 postseason when he carried Ottawa on one leg to within a goal of a Stanley Cup final appearance.

And in March, he's been just outrageous every single night. He's played 14 games this month. Nikita Kutrov is the only player in the league that scored more points than him. In that time, he's playing like 24 and a half minutes. I was watching very closely in that big game. Penguin Senators in Ottawa on Thursday night had another three points. Easy could have had five or six on a sea. Like he's creating so much, moving so well right now.

And so I think it's such a fun story that he's kind of turned back the clock to this level. and is carrying this team. And then beyond that, I think Columbus, under Rick Bonas, they've been 194 and 4. They've kind of changed the way they play as well, right? Like, I think last year we got so excited about them because they were this young team that was cooking off the rush and scoring a bunch of goals.

And since this coaching change, they've kind of become like a half-core team where they're probably the best team in the league, dots down in the offensive zone, in terms of just grinding out goals down low and then defensively they're not giving up much. And so I'd probably, favor them in this matchup just because

as fun as Pittsburgh's offense is defensively they can be a bit held to skilter in their own zone and the personnel isn't that great and I feel like Columbus is going to be able to sort of grind them down low and just punish them there but I think it would be really close and so those are

probably the most interesting elements of it to me I would also be very very invested in seeing Stuart Skinner and would ideally love to see a scenario play out in which Stuart Skinner helps the penguins win a playoff series. And at the same time, the Oilers are undone by bad goaltending in their own first round.

It just like, to me, the sicko and me would love, love that development. Well, it certainly helps the penguins that there's no shootouts in the playoffs. And so that's been their biggest weakness. That'll help quite a bit. I am a little bit worried. I talked about how fun it's been that Carlson's been this good. He's playing a lot. right now and we're already seeing crosbie's being banged up again malcon's been out like they're

hanging on by a threat a little bit um but offensively they've just been so outrageously good and so it's a true like offense first defense matchup here and i think it'd be really fun for the blue jackets i don't know if you feel the same way because it's tough to argue with the results as i said they're 194 and 4 they've worked their way up the standings they might even have home ice in this round one matchup if they finish strong yet i can't help feeling a little frustrated in some of the rotations where like Ken Johnson's being healthy scratch now, Demetri Broncoves are totally falling out of the lineup. And guys like Danton Hayden and Isaac Lindstrom

are playing ahead of them. And maybe they fit more within the identity of what Rick Bonas is trying to accomplish. And as I said, it's tough to argue with the results. But in terms of offensive juice and fun storylines, I do wish they were bigger factors here in being really all in on this Blue Jackets team.

100%. I mean, off that note too, like an additional storyline here would be one of those castoffs and a guy who didn't fit in with Chinikov in a revenge series. Like that would be a lot of fun to watch because he's been really good for Pittsburgh as well.

He's been so electric. Like he has at least two or three rushes a game where a penguin's defenseman throws it basically like into his skates and he just corrals it mid-stride and flies up the ice and gets a scoring chance off of it. And then he's good for drilling a 90-mile-an-hour slap shot off a goalie's mask at least once a game and everything coming off his stick is an absolute rocket right now.

So yeah, that would be a really fun one. Okay, what's your next pick? I have Ducks versus Mammoth. I think that would be a very, very fun high octane one. Like neither of these teams are perfect. And I don't think anybody really has extremely high expectations for them beyond just like making the playoffs. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But it would be a very fun, like welcome to the party series.

For I think the mammoth, I would be very, very excited about seeing them make the playoffs, seeing that fan base get a taste of where this team is headed. And then for the ducks, like, I'd be very excited for that fan base to see what the future holds for this core. That's so exciting and, like, have them be rewarded for reinforcing and committing to this group and just like how electric they've been. So that one to me has a lot of pull in just a, a fun element.

A very likely matchup. It's nearly 60% probability. Speak for yourself about expectations for the mammoth. I've been all in on them. And I think their path, especially getting out of the central portion of the bracket, if things hold a form and getting through the Pacific, I think opens the door for them a little bit.

You know, it's a tough reward for the ducks because it's been a dream season. It seems like the rebuild's over. You're seeing all these young players produce. They're likely going to win. in the Pacific as the number one seed there. And then they're going to draw this mammoth team that's a really tough matchup for them because the one area Utah's vulnerable is on special teams at both ends.

And the ducks are out of the top 20 inefficiency on both the power play and penalty kill. And then at 5-15 you look and the ducks have been quite suspect defensively. They give up a ton that Lucas Dostas to clean up. And the mammoth are our top five team essentially at even strength. And so the ducks would have home ice. They've been way better at home. They've been on the road. I think they can outscore a lot of those problems

and are going to be more efficient turning their shots into goal than Utah is, certainly. But it's a really tough draw for them, and I would probably favor the mammoth in that matchup despite starting on the road. Yeah, and like that might be like the punishment for winning the Pacific Division, which is the pillow fight division, obviously.

But like, it is funny that when you look at how bad the Pacific Division has been this year, that like the worst spot to finish is number one in that division because if you get the mammoth to me that is a a more fearsome matchup than than like the golden knights or the oilers who I think are definitely susceptible to being got in round one and like even if I don't believe in the mammoth as a true Stanley Cup contender I I'd rather get the oilers or golden nights in the first round than the mammoth yeah especially because Utah is so, sometimes to their detriment from a watchability perspective because they have the personnel to be one of the most fun teams in the league, but they play so structured and disciplined at times at even strength.

And I think the ducks are going to try to drag them into a back and forth track meet. And the Oilers certainly, I think, would be much more susceptible to that or willing as a participant, whereas I think UD is going to stick to their script. And that's going to be a difficult environment. For Anaheim, I guess you could argue, though, like Lucas Dostal is so good. good. And Valmelka's been awesome this season, but he's also played more than any goalie in the league. And I do worry about him being overworked and entering that series if the Ducks' offense could get to him. And, you know, the Ducks to their credit have played six games since John Carlson made his debut post the trade deadline acquisition and they're 5-0-1 in that time. He's leading

them at ice time starting to produce offensively. And so I think the Ducks are certainly live here. And regardless, probably should be high on this list just because they're going to give up a lot. score a lot and they're going to try their very best to drag a really fun series out of whoever they play and I'm not sure Utah is going to be willing to do so and are probably going to stick to their script but if we can get a back and forth and get some of these young players flying around the ice I think a casual fan is going to tune into one of these late games and be like all right maybe I'm going to start following these teams a little more closely moving forward yeah and like off of you know the the ducks conversation like I put in my list like not likely

to happen obviously, but I would absolutely kill for a Ducks versus Oilers first round matchup just based off of what we've seen in the regular season. Like they played twice and their 22 total goals scored. So if you're going to give me a seven round series where you're averaging 11 goals per game between the two, I'm absolutely not turning that down. And it could be insane. But again, probably not going to happen. and maybe for the best for everybody's just, like, sanity that it doesn't.

But man, it'd be so fun. Yeah, I do think Vegas would probably be the preferred opponent for Anaheim. It's unlikely to happen at this point. But just what I said about Aiden Hill and the way he's been playing, I feel like the duck's offense off the rush could really get to him. And instead, they're going to probably have to play the mammoth. All right, I believe it's my turn to pick here. and I'm going to go

Buffalo Sabres versus literally anyone and now that seems like a bit of a cop-out but it's really tough to figure out who they're going to play not only because we don't know where they're going to finish

but where the team they're going to draw is going to finish as I said Montreal is the most likely opponent at 37% but then you've got Ottawa 21%, Boston 21% and then the Red Wings

11%. You talked about this earlier the Habs one would certainly be an electric matchup I do think out of those other teams the one I'd probably want to see the most is Buffalo finishing first in the east

and drawing Wildcard 2 with the Red Wings getting in there just because I think aesthetically it would be really fun they're a nice foil to them the Red Wings got Larkin back here recently I know they had a couple rough losses along the way but we'll see

like they play each other on Friday night in Buffalo and so that could be a little taster for that and I think that would probably be the most fun one. I think Ottawa would be a tough draw for a lot of the stuff that I said about the mammoth in terms of how stingy they are defensively, how good they are at even strength. And then Boston would be entertaining.

Like they played that game on TNT, and it went to overtime. It was fun. It's ultimately the fastest team in the east in Buffalo against the slowest team in the east in Boston. And so maybe that would favor Buffalo a little bit more despite the result of that game. But I don't know, do you have a preference for those

or is it just Montreal? Yeah, no, I do. I have the next two on my list. I have senators versus sabers. I like the nasty potential that that series would bring. And like there's history there in terms of a little bit of a rivalry. You also have like the cousin, the Dylan Cousons, Josh Norris element. Like I don't know how much poll that really has, but it's an element.

It's a layer. And I think that these are just like two up and coming. teams in the East and much like the Sabres Canadians matchup. Like the East is just so chock full of like we've been waiting for these guys to take the next step and arrive and show that they can like realign the Eastern Conference a bit. And the reality is the Eastern Conference has been so realigned almost top to bottom this season that there's so much potential for that. And it's really interesting to me, whether it's the Senators,

whether it's the Canadians, whether it's the Sabres. And I do have Sabres Red Wings on this list. And that one has a little less pull to me, but I do like the element of like the two longest droughts in the Eastern Conference. And especially because the Sabres are guaranteed to make it this year and end that drought, I would like to see the Red Wings align themselves there as well. So they don't have to enter into next season with everybody looking at them. being like, all right, well, time for you guys to to sack up and do something and get there.

Because I think that the Red Wing's circumstances are not the circumstances of the Sabres. Even if we are impatient with them, they're almost there. They're on the cusp. And I'd like to see them get there this year and bring playoff hockey back to Detroit. I mentioned this on a show earlier this season, but I was reflecting on it. And I started in this industry in the 2011-12 season, which means that professionally, I have never gotten to talk about a Buffalo Sabres playoff game since then. And I am so excited to watch this team because I do think not only you talked about

the home crowd and what an environment that's going to be, but they're playing style as well, especially with this wrecking ball fourth line they have now with Benson, Carrick, and Malenstein. Like they're going to endear themselves to so many people who have. and maybe been watching them closely since the trade deadline. And they've got a bunch of guys who, because they've been on Buffalo,

have never gotten to play in this setting. But I do think have games that are very conducive to becoming guys who look great in the playoffs. And we sort of lionize as like big time performers on the biggest stage. And so those guys are all going to get their shine. And I think a lot of people,

if they haven't already, are going to fall in love with this team. And so it's tough to design a team that's a bad matchup for them, especially any of these other young. Atlantic division teams because the storylines sort of write themselves. So that's kind of why I had Sabres versus anyone because at this point, I don't think there's a matchup where I'd be like, I'm not excited to watch that one.

They could literally be playing anyone, maybe not the LA Kings, but anyone other than that. And I'd be like, you know what, I'm going to be tuning in every single second of this matchup. I saw Sean McIndoo write a thing last week that was like, the Sabers have potential to be the most popular bandwagon team in the history of the NHL. And I think that that's absolutely true from both the storyline and atmosphere perspective, but also this is just a really good team. And that team is for real. And I think they're going to win a lot of people over, like you said.

So, yeah, I'm very excited that they're going to make it. And I'll be interested no matter who they play. Me too, buddy, me too. All right, let's take our break here. And then we come back. We're going to close out and go through the rest of the round one matchups. We're excited to watch. You're listening to the Hockey Ocast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network.

All right. We're back here in the Hocopio cast, run by Pete Blackburn, closing out the week by doing our round one matchups. We're most excited to watch. We've gone through a bunch of the best ones already. I still got at least a handful left on my list. I'm sure you do as well. I believe it's your pick. Before we went to break, I picked Sabres for just literally anyone who's next on your list of matchups you're excited for if they are to happen.

Yeah, you know what? I'm going to go like a little off the board here, just like humor me for my Bruins fandom. there's a 1.4% chance listed at Bruins Canadians. I've been dying for this rivalry to have a little bit of juice for a long time. It just seems like they've kind of alternated being relevant and haven't been relevant at the same time in quite a bit. And like this has been a year in which that rivalry has felt renewed. Like the two matchups that they've had or the matches they've had this year have had juice. they've had nastiness to them.

They've been very, very entertaining. I think the Bruins would almost certainly lose that series and maybe fairly quickly. I think it's a massive mismatch. But just from a fandom perspective and just from a storyline and rivalry perspective, I would love to see that back in my life. I think you're really stretching the bounds of our definition of what's possible.

For this to happen, I think the Bruins would essentially have to pass the lightning to set up a two, three in Atlantic, which I know you're a big Bruins fan, but even the Habs could have a really, really strong final surge. Yeah, I think that's probably more likely, honestly. Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's fair. I don't know, I haven't talked to you in a while about this. I remember when we did our mid-season watchability rankings, you had the Bruins quite a bit higher than me, and I sort of laughed it off a little bit as you being a homer. I have enjoyed watching this team, a bit despite the fact that, you know, as an analyst, they frustrate me because I think every rational opinion I have in terms of looking at whatever metrics you want or just even watching

them, you're like waiting for the other shoe to drop. And I get the logic of Pasernac is as likely as anyone in the league right now to do two or three things a game that are just going to create goals out of nothing. And then Swainman's playing as one of the best goalies in the league. And we talk about the Islanders being a playoff team because of Schaefer and Sorokin. And so same logic applies there yet I have no idea what to make of it and you know it's been really fun like victor it's in having a renaissance season and looking awesome um despite the scoring drying up for the most part for a good stretch here Fraser midden so really fun to watch like there's elements that I really like and I'm much more encouraged about this franchise's outlook moving forward than I was this time

last year yet I don't know what to make of it from an entertainment value perspective compared to some of these other young Atlantic division teams yeah I'm right there with you and even as a fan I've had to grapple with the sort of logical evaluation of this team and the emotional evaluation of this team. And I don't know how much of it goes back to last year and just how much of a slog and just a repeated getting kicked in the nuts experience watching that team was. And then you have the trade deadline and they strip it down. And in hindsight, it was a very good decision. And they did really good work. But it was tough to stomach at the time. Yeah, this team is a team that I don't have high expectations for in terms of their ability to compete once they

get there. I think that they can hold their own, but ultimately they have too many holes, they have too many flaws, they're too undisciplined, they rely on too few players to do too much on any given night. But if they're there, I'm going to have fun and I'm going to celebrate the fact that they got there against not all odds, but against most odds that they're going to. were not expected to be there and I want them to face their

their most bitter rival just to kind of add another chapter that and to set the table moving forward. Yeah, I think that's fair. I think Marco Stram has certainly done a phenomenal job. They've also been a team that's been quite good at home. Now obviously, unless they go on this type of late season run that you're expecting or hoping for here

to get that roundwell match up against Montreal or probably be starting off on the road. So maybe that hurts them a little bit. But yeah, I think it's certainly an intriguing one regardless and certainly with the history between those two organizations. That would be a good pick. Next one for me, the aves versus the Preds. Now, it's tricky because the Western Conference Wildcard 2 spot in the West is still

very up for grabs and in flux. This is the most likely one as of now. It's got about 30% probability. We saw this series in 2022 in round one when Colorado went on their way to win their cup that year. The shots on goal in that series were 176 to 100%. and 12 in four games and it was a bloodbath for the most part. We could see some, as I mentioned the morbid curiosity earlier, I think this is what the

category that applies here because I'm just fascinated to see how many shots UC Soros faces if this is the matchup and it could get into the 40 to 50 range at certain times. Yet when you've watched them head to head, the Preds have given them quite a bit of trouble this year and they're probably one of the few teams out of this bunch that could realistically play Colorado that has a top line with O'Reilly when he's playing at his best, they could hang for the most part with Colorado's best players and then Yuzi Sorrow standing on his head and, uh, and frustrating Colorado shooters, at least for an extended period of time is very possible. And so I don't know if you ever preferred one. I know that the sharks were everyone's dream candidate here. The wheels

have completely fallen off recently as you'd expect defensively. And so they're far away enough now that I didn't even really consider them there. It's kind of between Nashville and it. LA and Seattle for the most part and added those three, I do think the Preds are probably the most appealing one, especially with some of the young players. They've been integrating post-trade Atlanta after they sold out their vets. Yeah, I would definitely agree that Nashville is the most preferred.

And it would probably be like the best story and most feel-good story, especially with San Jose out of the mix. But I did say on what chaos this week, I was like, I don't care who Colorado gets. in that first round or I'll just say I don't care who Central 1 gets in that first round because I feel like it's just going to be an absolute waxing. Like the gap is just so big and I like basically guaranteed that that series would go

five games at most and there was some pushback on the show. It's like you can't guarantee anything, anything. I feel very, very comfortable saying that that's how I see that series go. So it's hard for me to put any sort of potential matchup there high up on my list of things to see. Yeah. I mean, that's fair, especially like the Preds have been on this stretch. I know they lost most recently to Devils, but before that they'd been winning games pretty much every single night. Yet a lot of the underlying metrics did not reflect favorably upon them, and especially defensively.

They're relying on Saros and Annen to such a large extent. And they've been so porous. And now you look at the idea of playing this abs, Abbs, Buzzsaw offensively. it's kind of a nightmare matchup. And it's a shame that we don't have a more frisky team. I know that maybe like a team like the ducks, for example, exceeded our expectations to a degree where now they're going to win your division. And so that takes them out of a potential 1-8 matchup essentially between these two teams.

And so we're stuck with less exciting young options. But I do think out of the bunch, the Preds are probably the most interesting one. And I don't know if you have a take on this. It's kind of like getting too into the weeds, like psychoanalyzing. but we talked about Minnesota, Dallas, round one, and sort of what a bloodbath that's going to be and how it's a coin flip and probably the highest quality of hockey. And then we talk about how Colorado is going to most likely sweep the Preds

or whoever they play in round one. Do you buy into it all the idea that whoever wins that two, three matchup is going to be a bit more ready, especially once the series starts to just be playing at the level they need to beat Colorado? Or do you think it's probably going to take a lot out of them there might be some injuries. They might play seven closely contested games, whereas Colorado is going to be fresh and really,

especially with some of the Landiscaule Gleckenin injuries they've had, being able to get their lineup right to be firing on all cylinders entering that round two heavyweight tilt. Yeah, I don't know. Like it's tough to forecast mainly because there's very much potential for that to be a war between two and three. And whoever comes out of there to just be like hanging on by a third. red even after one round.

I just ultimately I think that Colorado is really good and I don't think that they're truly going to falter until they face like a real strong serious test. And I just don't, I don't think that that's their round one opponent is going to be the reason for that because it's going to happen no matter what once they reach that second round round and get whoever they get. So like I'll always take the like give me an easy first round rather than being tested because it's going to be a grind no matter what. Everybody's going to be tested at some point no matter what.

Everybody's going to be banged up at some point no matter what. You may as well save it for as late as you possibly can. That's fair. And also like they made a lot of additions at the trade deadline. They've had guys out of the lineup and are starting to get healthy now. and I think that gives them more runway to figuring out their best combination is experimenting with stuff, right? And we're already seeing the dividends pay to that. Like the power play looks so much better after they moved stuff around and put an Aches in his one-time spot.

And that takes away one of their biggest weaknesses. They're looking mighty dangerous. Yet again, I know they had that little blip in January and around the Olympic break. But especially now that Nachushkin's playing so much better and that power play is humming, it's kind of tough to foresee. even as high as I am on Minnesota and Dallas, and I think they both pose their own set of challenges. If Colorado plays at their very best,

it's tough to see anyone really competing with them at that level. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think I'm out. I don't have any. Well, we have one more that we have not covered. It's the Carolina Hurricanes. And I had them eighth as well, largely, because I don't know who they're going to play

because, as I said, they're competing with Buffalo. like they've got first in the metro pretty much locked up but we'll see whether they draw wild car one or wild car two depending on whether buffalo or Tampa Bay can catch them for first in the east most likely opponents are Boston and Ottawa at 27% and then the Red Wings at 17 and then you get to the islanders at six I don't have a ton of interest in those I think the Ottawa one is the most dangerous one

because I think Ottawa is just legitimately really good the issue there is from an entertainment perspective, it would be hideous to watch, I think. Like, I think the shots on goal would be incredibly low. I guess Carolina generates a lot, but Ottawa has been so stingy when they're at full health and they'll get Sanderson back by that point. And for Ottawa, like, I mentioned I was watching that game against the Penguins. The broadcast ran this graphic where Linus Almark splits a corner support logic. When he faces an east-west shot or a straight line one off the rush, he's actually been really good this year. But he has like a 640, say,

percentage on second chance opportunities and I was thinking about Carolina just doing their stuff with point shots leading to rebounds and that seems like a nightmare waiting to happen so that's probably the one I'd be least intrigued to watch maybe Detroit just to see if Carolina's able to shed some of their playoff demons from like having to beat john Gibson as well as he's played and then Detroit's had some stuff on the power play I know not recently but from an efficiency perspective where they could get outshot but still outscore them and and beating an opponent like that would be a useful test for them but Beyond that, I don't have that much interest in any of those matchups. Yeah, me neither.

I don't want it to come off as disrespect to Carolina because it's not what it is. It's almost like too much respect for Carolina where I look at the potential matchups that they get. And I'm like, well, they kill the Bruins. Like maybe the Brandon Bussie storyline has a tiny bit of juice to add to that. Otherwise, not really. I think they just wax the Bruins. Ottawa, you mentioned, I don't really have a lot of interest in watching what the hell happens there. And then, like, Detroit and Montreal have more intrigue for sure.

But I just think that Carolina, they're really not going to be truly tested until the second round. I completely agree. I think that's the exact opposite of disrespect. Like, I think it speaks to what they've built where you think about their past handful of playoffs. runs and their round ones have typically been the most forgettable series of the bunch because they're just their opponent's so overmatched and it's kind of this like cookie cutter blueprint where shots on goal are going to be 41 to 22 they're going to have a couple games where they struggle to turn those shots into goals but are still probably going to win in in five relatively easy games

with maybe an overtime or two mixed in and that doesn't lead to the most entertaining dramatic series we'll see in round two certainly with the way Columbus has been playing it'll be interesting I know Pittsburgh, despite their last meeting, has played some fun games against them, but where it really gets good and where I'd really like to see a series for the Hurricanes is either them versus lightning or them versus the sabers or even the haps if they're able to get through that Atlantic Division gauntlet, because I think all three of those would legitimately give them a test for some of the stuff we've been worried about them and see if they can overcome that and finally make it to a Stanley Cup final.

Yeah. Do you have an Islander series? Because they're really the only playoff team out of the bunch that. we haven't gotten to yet that you'd be the most intrigued to see by. And it's tough to know who they'd play because they could still finish in the metro bracket. They could be a wildcard team. They could miss outright.

Yet, Sorokin's been playing so well. And Schaefer now, especially that he's playing nearly 30 minutes a game post-Olympics. I do give them a lot of credit from an entertainment perspective because the amount of time those two guys are going to be on the screen and how fun they are to watch is a good thing compared to some of these other ones where it's like, I'm excited about this player,

but he might play 14 out of the 60 minutes. And the other times he's not going to be on the ice. Those guys, you know, you're going to get your bang for your buck, and it's going to be worth watching. So I am curious to see who the Islanders play if they make it. And I'm curious for your take on which matchup you'd like to see the most out of them. Yeah, for me, it's more like Islanders versus anybody kind of thing. Because I just want to see what they look like when they get there.

I want to see how far Sorokin can drag them. Like, it's not necessarily hinging on the matchup more than just a, a fascination with where they are right now, what they're going to look like, and what you could potentially build off of, because we know with the Islanders, it's not really about this year. It's about what they have coming

and what they're building towards. And getting a taste of Schaefer in the playoffs would be great. But ultimately, like I'm not looking at that team being like, ooh, this matchup is amazing. Or like this team is going to really accomplish something of legitimate value this year

other than just getting some experience under their belt. Yeah, that's fair. I do think from an individual perspective, especially applying the context of history, like Schaefer is already having an all-time rookie season, especially when you account for a position in age. But he's been nearly unforecheckable or whatever, however you wanted to classify it this year.

And we know about the playoffs where that really becomes such a key element of the game with teams just getting so heavy in terms of the pressure they apply and dumping it in and getting after it and trying to hit defenders. and if he's still able to keep playing that way and avoid damage and make plays out of the zone, not only is that make the Islanders a more interesting playoff team,

but would also just add another layer to his case as just like an all-time rookie and someone who I have no idea what the ceiling is for moving forward because I can't really ever recall seeing this before. I mean, just even getting them there in the first place, helping to get them there in the first place would be a notch on his belt. I mean, this is a, it got to be a Mount Rushmore,

holy crap rookie season where like even from day one not only talking about his his performance on the ice but just stepping into the role of being like the new face of that franchise and being ready for every single part of the job and the expectations he's just been he's been perfect in terms of what they were hoping to get all right buddy well i am uh i'm really looking forward to this postseason i mean i always am it's the best time of the year but it really feels like this year as well and I think today's show encapsulated that a little bit. There's so many different matchups possibly because we were getting fresh blood and teams who haven't been in the playoffs in a while and new players who haven't played on this stage before. And so I can't wait to see how it shakes out.

And I think round one is going to be an absolute thrill ride. What do you got to coming up here moving forward? What's the content plan for the playoffs over? What chaos? Let the listeners know all about that. Well, we're going up to five shows a week. We're Monday through Friday once the playoffs start, which is super exciting. We're going to have like streams and additional content stuff. I think we're going to Buffalo for the first round. We're going to be in that line. I feel like you probably should have led with that instead of bearing that.

Probably. Yeah. Yeah, we're going to, we're going to Buffalo for the first round, which is we'll be in the building. We'll be there for one of the road games as well, just to kind of hang around the city and get a sense of what playoff hockey is like in that city. it's been so long. We need a refresher. So that's exciting. And then we've got a player guest next week that I'm very excited about.

I'll hold that closer to the vest, but it's a good one, a very, very fun personality. Well, you're a broadcasting professional. That was a tease and a half. And I am incredibly jealous that you're going to be in Buffalo for the start of the playoffs. And I'm looking forward to all your takes. I imagine you're going to come out of that experience being the second biggest Josh Donan and Zach Benson fan after me, after getting to watch them live in that, in that type of atmosphere. So looking forward to that. And I'm happy for you.

Keep up the great work, buddy. And we'll have you on again, I'm sure once the playoffs start, I'm also looking forward to my annual, what chaos appearance at the start of the playoffs, where you guys ask me who my X factor is for the playoffs and then take incorrect sound bites out of stuff I didn't say and post it online. And you know what?

Actually, I take it back. I feel like history has looked favorably upon me because I was all in on Facilipa goals in once a point. on a time and sure enough now you look and everyone is excited about him and the role he's playing on the Oilers. So maybe it was prophetic if anything. Absolutely. 100%. Yeah, we love having you on to talk about like the guys who are most likely to raise their profile throughout the playoffs. And that's like that's a big element. You mentioned it for Buffalo's guys, I believe, earlier in the show and then again here, like there's so much potential this year with so much new blood to have

players become wholesale names. So we'll definitely have you back on for that. All right. Well, listen, it's not quite on the level of going to Buffalo to watch the Sabres team play postseason hockey live. But the PDO guest does have a very cool trip coming up as well. And as I mentioned before, we will be going to Denver this coming week. We'll be there from Saturday through Thursday for the analytics conference, the avalanche are hosting. Got a lot of fun stuff already scheduled, including a couple cool interviews involving big time guests. We've got the live show on that Tuesday from Ball Arena, where we will be having Jared Bednar on for a live show and then a bunch of other fun stuff as well, including a PDOCAST

hang out that evening at the DNVR bar if you want to come join us and are in town and in the area. So reach out to me for that and any more info if you want, if you'll be around. Love to catch up with all of you and talk hockey and have a good time. If you enjoyed today's show, give us a five-star review wherever you listened. Subscribe to the PDOCast Patreon as well. We had Shane on earlier this week. we got Harmon on as well. So a bunch of extra content there.

We've got some merchandise coming here soon as well, some PDOCAS T-shirts and other fun stuff that will be releasing on the Patreon as another perk for our single subscribers. So another reason for you to sign up there. And that is all for today. That's all for this week as well. We'll be back on Sunday with a special Sunday

special live from Denver with Drans. Thank you for listening to the Hockey Ocast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network.