We’re into the second week of January, and if the playoffs started today, that would be way too early.
After all, there’s still half a season left to go. But on the other hand, well, there’s still half a season left to go. We need something to look forward to beyond eight weeks of trade deadline speculation. And since the NHL loves to tell us that success in the playoffs is all that matters, they can hardly blame us for wanting to fast-forward ahead to the good stuff.
So let’s do that, with five of the best quasi-realistic playoff matchups that could be on the horizon.