William Nylander checks Keegan Kolesar during the third period. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/3a85307c-2b26-4232-aa62-f0ef313567de.jpeg] William Nylander checks Keegan Kolesar during the third period. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images) As the NHL regular season nears an end, we’ve got a good idea of the Stanley Cup front-runners once the playoffs arrive. On Friday, we looked at moneypuck.com [https://moneypuck.com/predictions.htm] odds to break down which teams were battling for a wild card post-season spot [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/buckle-up-the-nhl-playoff-race-intensifies-as-more-teams-fall-behind?backLinkUrl=%2Fnews%2Fauthor%2FAdamProteau%40TheHN&backLinkLabel=Back%20to%20AdamProteau@TheHN]. This time around, we’re analyzing the teams that look the most likely to win it all. Which team needs to win the Atlantic Division the most? In the Eastern Conference, it starts with five teams who have a 100 percent shot at making the playoffs – the Washington Capitals [http://thn.com/washington], Carolina Hurricanes [http://thn.com/carolina], Florida Panthers [http://thn.com/florida], Tampa Bay Lightning [http://thn.com/tampabay] and Toronto Maple Leafs [http://thn.com/toronto]. After that, the Metropolitan Division seems to be the easier path to the Cup final, as the Hurricanes have the best Cup odds – 13.4 percent – in the NHL. The Capitals have the next-best Cup odds at 10.2 percent. We know going in that the Atlantic Division will be a tougher road, and that’s reflected in the Cup odds for the Lightning (9.6 percent) and the defending-champion Panthers (8.6 percent). But the Maple Leafs – the current second best team in the Atlantic – are relatively disrespected, with only a 3.9 percent chance to win it all. There’s a similar preference going on in the Western Conference, where MoneyPuck believes the easier road to the Cup goes through the Pacific Division. The current Pacific leader – the Vegas Golden Knights [http://thn.com/vegas] – have the West’s best odds to win the Cup at 11.4 percent. However, the powerhouse teams in the ultra-competitive Central Division have the next-best odds, with the Dallas Stars [http://thn.com/dallas] at 10.8 percent, the Central-leading Winnipeg Jets [http://thn.com/winnipeg] at 10.5 percent, and the Colorado Avalanche [http://thn.com/colorado] at 5.7 percent. MoneyPuck doesn’t give much stock to other Pacific teams, as the Edmonton Oilers [http://thn.com/edmonton] come in at only a two percent chance to win it all. And the Los Angeles Kings [http://thn.com/la] are given a 6.2 percent chance to win the Cup. But before we get to the playoffs, we need to see which teams will jockey for top spots in their respective divisions. To that end, the Tankathon [https://tankathon.com/nhl/remaining_schedule_strength] site ranks the difficulty of teams’ remaining schedules, and the Capitals have the second-easiest schedule in the league, followed by the Stars with the third-easiest and the Oilers with the eighth-easiest. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have the 10th-hardest schedule, followed by the Jets with the 12th hardest, the Hurricanes with the 13th hardest, the Golden Knights with the 16th hardest and the Kings with the 17th hardest. So, in sum, the teams in the Atlantic and Central divisions will have the most difficult road to the Cup, and the Metro and Pacific teams will have the easiest road to winning it all. But don’t kid yourself – there’s a good reason why the best team still has only less than a 14 percent chance to win the Cup. It’s going to be a brutal path forward for any and every playoff team, and even the front-runners will need good health, good fortune and timely great play if they’re going to outlast the rest of the field and emerge as this year’s champs. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
