NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket: Swimming with the San Jose Sharks?

Frank Doyle has spent hours studying his NHL playoffs bracket and this is what he’s finally come up with. Boston is the Cup favorite at +392, followed by St. Louis +607, Chicago +800, and Pittsburgh +800. You can check out all of Sports Interaction’s NHL playoffs futures odds here.

I knew going into the playoffs I was taking a team from the Western Conference to win the Stanley Cup. That was the easy part. The hard part was everything else.

The West has been a significantly stronger conference all season but this time of year you have to worry about all these big nasty teams wearing each other down. By the time the finals roll around, any team that comes out of the West is going to be held together by stitches and hockey tape.

(Continued below)

NHL Playoff Series Previews and Picks:

Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Anaheim Ducks vs. Dallas Stars

New York Rangers vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche

San Jose Sharks vs. Los Angeles Kings

Chicago Blackhawks vs. St. Louis Blues

Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings

So is that enough for a team from the East to come in and take advantage? Maybe. The three teams from the East who have a shot against the West are the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Bruins have the best makeup for playoff hockey, the Rangers are putting everything together at the right time and have Henrik Lundqvist, and the Pens have the best player in the world and more offensive skill than they know what to do with.

I finally decided to put Boston in the finals because this club is the deepest team in the conference with the most experience. The Bruins can roll four lines and wear teams down over a seven-game series. The Penguins and Rangers could take a couple of games from Boston, but the Bruins should be able to come out on top in the end.

The West is a complete crapshoot and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. In the end, I have the San Jose Sharks in the finals (great value at +1000 to win the Cup at Sports Interaction) but could easily make an argument for Anaheim, Los Angeles, Chicago, or St. Louis.

The Ducks can be beaten if Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have two bad games. Los Angeles averaged just 2.4 goals per game and its power play converted on only 15.1 percent of its chances. St. Louis may be the deepest team on paper, but have too many injuries right now. The Blackhawks have played a ton of hockey in the last year when you factor in last year’s Cup run and the Olympics. I have a feeling they’re going to run out of gas and Corey Crawford can still let in some awful goals.

The San Jose Sharks just don’t have any holes – when they’re on their game. This is also getting awfully close to a now-or-never situation for Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dan Boyle. The Sharks have a great mix of youth, experience, speed, size and toughness – all things you need for a long playoff run.

The worst part of picking the Sharks is that they could easily lose to Los Angeles in the first round, but if they can squeak by, I think they have a serious depth advantage against either Dallas or Anaheim. Same thing if the Sharks face Chicago in the conference finals.

It’s a big “if” but if the Sharks make it out of the West, I can’t see even the mighty Bruins stopping them. This may just be the year we see Thornton lift the Cup.

I like the Sharks in six games.