After doing my annual analysis of the 16 teams that made the NHL Playoffs and, not surprisingly, both of the top seeds -- Pittsburgh in the East and Chicago in the West -- profile out as the top teams in each conference, and by a rather substantial margin.
How much the fact that this was a shortened 48 game regular season will impact upon how form holds up or is battered in the Playoffs remains to be seen but both the Penguins and Blackhawks have been at the top of the standings all season, have been extremely consistent and played well down the stretch.
As to the teams that profile as the most likely to pull upsets in round 1 and perhaps round 2, no team really shows up in the East as my profiles are in agreement with the top five seeds rating in the same order.
In the West, however, both St Louis (#4) and Detroit (#7) appear capable of going deep in the Playoffs with Vancouver (#2) and Los Angeles (#5) showing as extremely vulnerable.
Priced at from even money to plus 105 St Louis is a solid play to get past Los Angeles in the opening round. None of the other series offer much of an edge according to my Profiles.
Best of luck to everyone. Let's root for an exciting Stanley Cup Playoffs season with a high level of play.