Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, let me introduce you to our future Stanley Cup Finalists.

First up we have the Colorado Avalanche who are led by MacKinnon, Rantanen and Makar. They are a powerhouse in the regular season but have had trouble the last few years in the yoffs. However, this year they have had a new fire with their new goalie Darcy Kuemper. Can they finally win another cup?

Next we have the BACK TO BACK DEFENDING CHAMPS who have terrorized their opponents in the playoffs with a mix of offensive firepower of Kucherov, Point, and Stamkos, and defensive lockdown, with Hedman, Sergachev, McDonaugh, and their depth liners on the offense. When they can’t get enough offense to win the game, their goalie denies every chance. Andrei Vasilevskiy recently had a 49 save shutout and could possibly backstop them to  another cup.

For offense, this series is pretty close, but I think Tampa Bay slightly takes the hand in this one. They have more players who bring the offense every game. Kucherov, Stamkos, Point, Cirelli, and Hedman on the back can slightly outdo MacKinnon, Rantanen, Landeskog, Makar, and Kadri. And if Tampa Bay’s big 5 don’t score, secondary players like Perry and Killorn can step up. Colorado’s secondary players are not as good.

For defenseman, the Avs are winning by a small margin. If Girard was playing it would be wider, but without Girard Makar and Toews have to carry. Erik Johnson can support but not at a high level. Still though, those are better than Hedman, Sergachev, and McDonaugh. Plus, Makar provides excellent offense. However, if you take into account the last defender (a.k.a. the goalie) then Tampa Bay wins this by a landslide (or should I say, an avalanche). Kuemper is  a very good goalie, don’t get me wrong, but Andrei Vasilevskiy is insanely dominant, especially in the playoffs. He is the greatest goalie on the planet and the way he is playing he is at the rate of a top 8 goalie of all time. He literally single handedly got the Lightning the dub in game 4 with a 49 save shutout. So all in all, the Lightning could win the cup if they play their best game. If the Avs play one bad game they are done, and I think the Lightning are good enough experienced they could recover from any series deficit if they really have to. I have the Lightning in 6.

Here is a link to the NHL website and here is a link to a video of a replay of Vasilevskiy’s best saves of his 49 save shutout.