From the armchair:
Three weeks ago, it looked to be Tampa's cup to lose but they've hiccuped a bit lately. This is one of those years that any team (well, maybe not NYI) could find themselves in the final, outside of the wildcard teams. The only WC team in there that looks like they could advance a round might be Dallas.
I'm thinking that the teams with 4 solid lines vs. 2 or 3 great lines may be a factor in lasting all the way to the finals (provided they can get past the first 2 rounds). The teams that can keep time-on-ice spread out relatively evenly and keep their star forwards under 17-18 minutes have a decent shot at winning the playoff marathon. To me those teams look to be: Toronto, Tampa, and St. Louis (the Blues have the #1 rated 4th line in the league), with Calgary, Vegas and Boston close seconds.
The other metric to overlay is depth of starting and backup goal tending (but a clear distinction between starter and back-up). And the front runners I'd pick are Boston, Tampa and Nashville (in that order). The teams with fickle starting/backup tenders or too reliant on one goalie (Calgary, Vegas, and San Jose) could find themselves struggling.
So by that logic: Tampa and Nashville in the final - Tampa wins in 6!
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