The Vancouver Canucks haven’t looked like the Pacific Division’s or the Western Conference’s best team lately. But here they are, with just one month to go in the regular season, still leading at 92 points. The big lead they built up earlier in the year created enough space, so if the team hadn’t played as well or if a star player went down with an injury, they at least wouldn’t drop. That said, they remain the top team in the NHL Playoff Bracket, even if their projected opponent looks scary.
Come the end of March, the Vegas Golden Knights could be the talk of the league, and unfortunately, they are who the Canucks would face in the First Round of the NHL Playoffs if they began today. But if Vegas surges like they should, then the Edmonton Oilers can play them, and Vancouver can instead deal with the Central Division’s Nashville Predators or their own rival, the Los Angeles Kings.
NHL Playoff Bracket has the Canucks facing Vegas
Even if the Canucks were forced to open the NHL Playoffs against the Golden Knights, we still need to remember which team has more chemistry that led the league in scoring at one point and could easily regain form when goaltender Thatcher Demko returns. Meanwhile, Vegas will never have that same chemistry regardless of Noah Hanifin and, eventually, Tomas Hertl’s presence.
Vegas made the blockbuster trades, but the Canucks have been stacked all season, and that could, and should, give them the edge in this matchup should Vegas be unable to catch the Predators or the Kings. The trades will make the Golden Knights a great hockey team, but Vancouver has been playing well all season, sans a rough February, and so far, at least, during Thatcher Demko’s injury.
This would still make for one of the more interesting matchups and one NHL fans would tune into, regardless of the team they follow.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)