NHL Push for the Playoffs: Pondering paths for Panthers, Avalanche

Push for the Playoffs will run every morning through the end of the 2021-22 NHL season. We’ll highlight the current playoff picture in both conferences, take a look at what the first-round matchups might look like, see who’s leading the race for the best odds in the draft lottery and more.

After a busy Tuesday in the NHL, it’s not yet clear if the Colorado Avalanche or Florida Panthers will end up winning the Presidents’ Trophy. There’s also room — not much, but some room — for the Golden Knights to wrestle the final remaining playoff spot from the Stars.

Yet we already know that the Avalanche clinched the West and the Panthers locked down the East. However the Presidents’ Trophy race goes, both the Panthers and Avalanche will hold home-ice advantages for at least three rounds of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The only way the Presidents’ Trophy really matters is if it’s Avalanche vs. Panthers in a series that would feel a whole lot different than the last time the franchises met in a Stanley Cup Final.

So, we know enough to plot out possible playoff paths for the Panthers and Avalanche. Let’s take a look for each team.

By beating the Panthers on Wednesday, the Bruins distanced themselves from a first-round matchup vs. Florida. Right now, the Panthers will instead face whoever falls short of the third seed in the Metropolitan Division: the Penguins (currently third) or the Capitals (second Wild Card spot now, too far to pass the Bruins).

During the regular season, the Panthers followed similar patterns against both the Capitals and Penguins. Florida began with an OT win, lost a close game, then won by a single goal. The Panthers wouldn’t admit this either way, but maybe the preference would boil down to Tristan Jarry‘s