If the Stanley Cup Playoffs Started Today, the Matchups Would Be Extremely Interesting

With another 82-game schedule nearly in the books, the playoffs are just around the corner, and now seems like as good a time as any to take a peek at the potential first round matchup from the lens of if they began today.

Out West, the marquee matchup appears to be a potential Round 1 meeting between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars -- arguably the two most successful teams at the trade deadline.

The Rantanen vs. Avalanche matchup would sell tickets in its own right. Then you factor in names like Jake Oettinger, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnson, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Brock Nelson, and you have the makings of a potential 7-game war.

The rest of the field out West shapes up like this:

Naturally, the potential matchups in the East are a lot more exciting, starting with what may very well be a first round matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the surging Tampa Bay Lightning.

This one is interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the Lightning were the last team the Leafs beat to move onto Round 2 a couple of short seasons ago.

There are also some new potential rivalries that may form if/when the Ottawa Senators take on the Florida Panthers and the Columbus Blue Jackets look to continue their fairy tale run this season, currently lined up to face the Washington Capitals in Round 1.

There is still very much a possibility that we could see a Leafs/Senators matchup in the first round of the playoffs, but that would require the Leafs to finish strong and overtake the Panthers for first in the Atantic, while the Senators would have to retain their current Wild Card spot.

I'm sure the "softer matchup" would be preferable to most Leafs fans, as the Tampa Bay Lightning is quite arguably the more dangerous team on paper. However, we have seen in the past that the Leafs haven't done too well against the "softer matchup" in recent years, with their play-in loss to Columbus and their Round 1 loss to Montreal being the two most recent examples of their struggles.

At any rate, with approximately 17 games to go, we're going to begin to see the playoff picture become a little more clear, and some very exciting matchups take form.