The biggest storyline for each NHL tournament team

For the first time since their surprise run to the 2011-12 Western Conference Final the Arizona Coyotes are back in the postseason. Well, the play-in round anyway. As exciting as that is for them and their fans, there is a ton of chaos surrounding their arrival. General manager John Chayka and the organization parted ways (rather messily) just before the team arrived in the Edmonton bubble, they have to deal with the pending free agency of big in-season trade acquisition Taylor Hall, and they still have to get through the play-in round to officially get into the playoff field. That is kind of a lot to deal with going into the postseason. Even so, the goaltending duo of Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper will make them a difficult out and there is more talent on this roster than they often get credit for having. If Hall and/or Phil Kessel can go on a tear offensively they can take over a game.

It would be nearly impossible to get closer to the Stanley Cup than the Bruins were a year ago. After losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final (at home) the Bruins came back this season and from the opening draw were the best team in hockey, dominating the Eastern Conference standings and running away with the Presidents' Trophy. They have the best top line in the league, two outstanding goalies, a strong defense, and enough depth to complement their trio of superstars at forward (David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Patrice Bergeron). They go into the round-robin portion of the playoffs needing to reclaim their top-spot in the Conference, but whether they do or not will not change the fact this is the league's best team going into the playoffs. 

As crazy as it seems to say out lout this feels like it could be an important postseason for Gaudreau in Calgary. His two most recent playoff performances have come under intense scrutiny, and his 2019-20 regular season performance was a step backward offensively given the standard he has set for himself throughout his career. The entire Flames team took a big step backwards this season, and while Gaudreau has still performed at a top-line level, there was a noticeable drop in his production. A big postseason could help everyone in Calgary forget all about that. 

Hamilton was having a Norris Trophy worthy season for the Hurricanes before an injury sidelined him in mid-January. Getting him back in the lineup would be a massive addition for the Hurricanes as they begin the playoffs, but his status for the start of the play-in round is still not yet known. He missed a series of training camp practices leading up to Carolina's trip to the bubble due to an undisclosed injury. Carolina has one of the league's deepest and best blue lines, and Hamilton is one of the main cogs in that machine. He is a bonafide No. 1 defender when healthy. 

Before the NHL season was paused the Blackhawks were on their way to a third straight non-playoff season. They were near the bottom of the Western Conference, had sold off pending free agents at the trade deadline, and were just an overall bad hockey team. But they were the last team in to the modified postseason and now have an opportunity to take another run at a championship with their aging core of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Corey Crawford. What is crazy is they actually have a real shot to get through the play-in round and get into the playoffs because their opening round matchup (Edmonton) is definitely beatable. 

A year ago the Avalanche were a team on the rise. A fast, exciting team loaded with potential that everyone knew was on the verge of greatness. Now they are not taking anyone by surprise. They enter the playoffs with the target on their backs as one of the elite favorites in the league with Stanley Cup expectations. Given their overall age, talent, potential, and the salary cap room they still have at their disposal in future seasons they are set up to be the Western Conference power for the foreseeable future. 

A year ago the Blue Jackets pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in recent playoff history when they -- as the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference -- swept the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1. Now they have a chance to do it again. The very fact the Blue Jackets are even in this position is kind of amazing given the offseason free agency exodus they had. But they still have a strong core of players in place and received some surprisingly strong goaltending to help keep them in the playoff hunt. Now they have an opportunity to shock the world again in the play-in round when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. An upset here would send shockwaves through the league, not necessarily because it would be a huge upset, but because of what impact it could have in Toronto. 

If you like goals the Dallas Stars are probably not the team for you. They are one of the lowest scoring teams in the league and also one of the absolute best defensive teams. They have two elite defenders in John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen, and a spectacular goaltending duo in Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin. That defense and goaltending has made them a top team in the Western Conference and will make them a tough out in the playoffs. The offense is a legitimate question, but if it is true that defense wins championships the Stars are going to have a fighting chance. 

On paper the Oilers roster still has a ton of flaws, and quite frankly, it is not very good when compared to the NHL's top Stanley Cup contenders. But they do have something nobody else in the league has: The two-headed monster of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. They are the two most dominant offensive stars in the league right now, can each carry their own line, and are both MVP level producers. It is really hard to win a Stanley Cup with just two superstars being counted on for everything (as is the case in Edmonton) but it does give an otherwise flawed team an opportunity it would not have otherwise had. 

That is the storyline. It is Bobrovsky, and nothing else is even really close. The Panthers made a massive free agent investment in the goalie before the season with the hopes that he would solidify the position and help get them back to the playoffs. The problem was that his season got off to an absolutely dreadful start and resulted in the lowest save percentage of his career. Add in the fact he has historically struggled in the postseason (the 2019 postseason being a notable exception) and it is hard to see any other player having a bigger impact on the Panthers' chances. 

This has been one of the strangest teams in the league this season. They fired their GM after one year (and after he ran the draft and free agency), fired their coach mid-season just as they were starting to turn things around, sold off players before the trade deadline, then played their way back into playoff contention with their backup goalie (Alex Stalock) leading the way. It is not a bad team. It is not a great team. It is not a team in a full-blown rebuild. It is not a team ready to win a championship. They could easily win their play-in matchup and then maybe steal a Round 1 series, or they could just as easily bow out in the play-in. 

The Canadiens were going to miss the playoffs by a mile in a normal year, but ended up sneaking in as the 12th team in this year's modified format. The one big X-factor that is making people think they have a chance: Starting goalie Carey Price. The problem: This not the Carey Price of five years ago. He is still good and still very capable of getting white hot for five straight games, but there has not been a level of consistent dominance from him in a few years. The Canadiens' chances will rest entirely on which version of Price shows up in the play-in round. 

Given their record, mid-season coaching change, and overall place in the standings it would be easy to write this Predators team off as a disappointment. But it is not an entirely fair assessment. When it comes to their 5-on-5 play the Predators have been every bit as dominant as they were expected to be at the start of the season, only to have their special teams and sub-par goaltending sink them. The special teams might be a lost cause at this point, but if the goaltending can get itself on track in the playoffs this is a team to keep an eye on. 

After last year's surprise run to the playoffs and the second round, the Islanders opened the 2019-20 season as one of the league hottest teams with a 17-game point streak that sent them to the top of the standings. That would prove to be the high point of their season. After that streak ended the bottom completely fell out on their season, they slumped to the playoff bubble, and at the time of the season pause were on a 20-game run that saw them win just seven games. They also ended their regular season on a seven-game losing streak. A lot of their success a year ago seemed unsustainable, and for the bulk of this season they have been a mostly mediocre team. They have a difficult play-in matchup against Florida which looks like it could be a toss-up series. 

The Rangers' rebuild was accelerated this past offseason with a huge offseason that was highlighted by the free agent signing of Artemi Panarin. Panarin has been an immediate success with one of the best offensive seasons in franchise history and a performance that made him an MVP finalist. They were still in the playoff hunt when the season was paused, and their inclusion in the tournament gives them another opportunity to get Lundqvist the only thing his Hall of Fame career is missing -- a Stanley Cup ring. The question, though, is whether or not he will play much. Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev had taken over the bulk of the goaltending duties this season, with Lundqvist basically being relegated to third goalie duties. 

At the time of the season pause the Flyers were one of the hottest teams in the NHL and had rapidly climbed the Eastern Conference standings. That push put them into a top-four spot in the conference and has them playing in the round-robin portion of the tournament where they will have a chance to claim the No. 1 seed in the East. That did not even seem possible at the start of the season. The question now is whether or not the four-month layoff will have robbed them of that momentum and whether or not they can pick up where they left off. 

The Penguins were once again major buyers at the trade deadline by adding Jason Zucker, Patrick Marleau, Conor Sheary, and Evan Rodrigues to an already strong team loaded with All-Star talent. They are getting another huge addition for the 2019-20 season restart when Guentzel returns to the lineup after being sidelined since the end of December. Guentzel is their best winger and was on pace for a second consecutive 40-goal season when he was sidelined. He and captain Sidney Crosby have an outstanding chemistry and his presence on that line makes an already great team just that much stronger. 

After winning their first ever Stanley Cup a year ago, the Blues came back this season and finished with the best record in the Western Conference. What makes that record so impressive is they did it while getting just 10 games from Tarasenko, their best and most impactful forward. He will be back in the lineup, however, for the start of the playoffs and will give an already outstanding lineup a significant boost. They should be considered one of the top favorites in the West as they try to repeat as champions. 

This is one of the best and deepest roster in the league on paper. Overall, they have been one of the NHL's elite for five years now with three Eastern Conference Final appearances and a Stanley Cup Final appearance to go with a ton of regular season wins. But the way the postseason has ended for for them over the past five years has led to constant frustration because this group has not been able to finish the job. Their offense has repeatedly gone cold in crunch time and they are coming off a four-game sweep a year ago at the hands of Columbus.That happened after a record setting 62-win regular season. All this current core is missing is a championship. Is this the year they get it?

The Maple Leafs were far from a lock to make the playoffs before the 2019-20 season was paused, but thanks to the 24-team format they safely made the play-in round where they will face the Columbus Blue Jackets. On paper Toronto has the better roster, but the pressure is absolutely on and if they end up getting bounced in the play-in round after losing in the first round in three consecutive seasons they could potentially be looking at a significant offseason of change. 

The Canucks are one of the most fascinating teams in this tournament. Overall, the roster is littered with holes and question marks. But the top of the lineup is very good with a handful of outstanding young stars (Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes in particular) that can be game-changers on any given night. Now they get a chance to make some noise in the playoffs for the first time in years. Before this season they had qualified for the postseason just once in the previous six years and have not actually won a playoff series in eight years. They open the play-in round against the Minnesota Wild. 

This was not Fleury's best season for the Golden Knights and that is absolutely worth pointing out given the goalie that is currently right behind him on the depth chart -- Robin Lehner. Lehner has been one of the league's best goalies over the past two years and was one of Vegas' big ticket trade deadline acquisitions. He is good enough to start and serves as a great safety night should Fleury get injured or struggle. How quick of a hook will coach Pete DeBoer have for Fleury if he gets off to a slow start when play resumes?

This very well could be Holtby's final run with the Capitals before he hits unrestricted free agency this offseason. The 2019-20 season was -- statistically speaking -- his worst in the NHL and creates a pretty big question mark for the Capitals as the playoffs begin, especially with Ilya Samsonov sidelined for the entire tournament due to injury. Holtby has clearly been declining for a couple of years now but has still shown the ability to rise to the occasion in big moments. He will need to do it again this postseason. 

Expectations were low for the Jets at the start of the season given the way their defense had been decimated over the offseason. But thanks in large part to a career year from Hellebuyck in net they were able to remain in the thick of the playoff race all season. Hellebuyck's performance earned him a nod as a Vezina Trophy finalist and there was a very good argument to be made that he could have been an MVP finalist. Goaltending can always change a playoff series, and he gives the Jets a fighting chance in their play-in matchup.