It’s time for my obligatory Stanley Cup prediction.
I want to pick the Tampa Bay Lightning but I feel that’s the easiest thing to say. A great team will achieve greatness. OK, thanks. But there is only one team I truly believe can beat them this season. Toronto.
The Leafs are built to win right now and have the horses to do it.
Out west the champion is going to come from the Central Division — Nashville, St. Louis, Colorado or Dallas.
But I have my eye on the Avalanche taking another leap forward. It’s a team with a good young forward group, with veteran additions of Joonas Donskoi and Nazem Kadri, paired with a quick blue line and goaltender in Philip Graubauer, who proved he can win in the post-season last year.
So there you have it: Colorado and Toronto are the teams I like this season. And yes, it pains me to say the Leafs will be in the Stanley Cup final. But I can’t ignore they’ve done what they needed on the blue line to win in the post-season.