The Eastern Conference of the NHL has been considerably more competitive than the Western Conference this season.
While the Central Division of the West contains the best team in the league with the Colorado Avalanche (34-5-8), the East has been more competitive as a whole.
The bottom five in the standings are all Western teams (Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames). If you put the Ottawa Senators, who currently stand at the bottom of the Atlantic, into the Pacific Division, they’d automatically have a playoff spot.
The Atlantic Division and Metropolitan Divisions are neck and neck. In this article, I want to talk about which Eastern Conference teams are truly Stanley Cup contenders.
Carolina Hurricanes:
First in Metropolitan
(31-15-4)
Brandon Bussi (32) celebrating with the Carolina Hurricanes. Photo credit / James Guillory-Imagn Images
It’s no surprise the Hurricanes are dominating right now. They finished second in the Metro last season and made it to the Eastern Conference finals. They are ranked fifth in the NHL for goals scored per game with 3.38. Their starting goaltender, Brandon Bussi, is having a stellar breakout year with an impressive goals against average (GAA) of 2.20. Bussi has been a huge reason for the Hurricanes’ success. He is capable of making big saves and playing aggressively in between the pipes.
Leading the team offensively is Finnish center Sebastian Aho with 17 goals and 35 assists. Another notable forward is Russian native Andrei Svechnikov with 17 goals and 25 assists.
With the potential chance of the Florida Panthers missing the postseason, maybe the Canes can avoid facing off against the team that eliminated them in the ECF and make their way to the finals. But there’s a giant that awaits in the Atlantic Division; they might have to get past first.
Tampa Bay Lightning:
First in Atlantic
(31-13-4)
Jake Guentzel (59), center for the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates with teammate Anthony Cirelli (71) after scoring a goal against bitter rival Florida Panthers.
What a season the Tampa Bay Lightning are having. They sit tied for second in the NHL with the Hurricanes. They have one of the best goaltenders in the game with Andrei Vasilevskiy, who totes the lowest GAA in the NHL with 2.18. The former Vezina and Conn Smythe winner has been absolutely stellar in the crease for the Lightning.
Right-winger Nikita Kucherov is currently third in the NHL for points with 24 goals and 49 assists. The Russian forward has been phenomenal with the puck and still has one of the most lethal one-timers in the league. Jake Guentzel has also been great with 22 goals and 29 assists followed up by Brandon Hagel with 25 goals and 21 assists. The Lightning also notably have the third-best penalty kill in the league, thanks to Cirelli and Hagel’s defensive prowess.
They also have a whopping 10 players who will be participating in the Winter Olympics in February. They’d have even more if Russia were allowed to participate, with Vasilevskiy and Kucherov being countrymen from Russia.
In the past two years, the Lightning have been eliminated by their rival Panthers in the first round. With Florida potentially out of the picture and the division title possibly won, the Lightning have a chance to face a wild-card team in the first round.
The Lightning are a team that really could make their way to the finals this year and return to the championship glory they experienced at the start of the decade.
