The final 2023–23 Stanley Cup Playoff bracket needed the full 82 games to decide, and for the Edmonton Oilers, they had to wait until the very last game to figure out who their opponent was. In almost another moment of Deja vu, the team will be facing the Los Angeles Kings for the third straight season looking to continue their trend of series victories.
That being said, looking at the rest of the playoff bracket, the Oilers should consider themselves lucky with the draw that they have. In fact, do the Oilers now have the easiest path to the conference finals out of any playoff team? Let’s take a look:
The bracket
Starting the playoffs, this is what the road to the cup looks like:
Now of course as it is with every postseason, anything can happen in the playoffs. We saw last year the Florida Panthers make a miraculous run to the Stanley Cup Finals as a team that snuck in on the final day of the regular season. Essentially, no series win is a given.
That being said, looking at where the Oilers have landed their path looks somewhat easier than others. No disrespect to the team in the Pacific Division portion of the bracket, but their ends to the season have been less than ideal.
Breaking down the opponents
The Kings may be the weakest opponent in all of the Western Conference, as they have been riding a roller coaster of performance all season. A coaching change, no true number one goaltender, and underperforming stars make them the true perfect matchup for the Oilers to tune themselves up for the post season. Now their underlying numbers have been top ten for most of the season, which could mean there is more than meets the eye, but at the same time the Oilers are 3–1–0 against the Kings this season. They have also won the last two series against them, so the Oilers have their number.
Looking at the other matchup, the Vancouver Canucks versus the Nashville Predators, there are two key things to look at. The Predators rode an extremely hot win streak around the trade deadline to solidify their playoff spot, but are 4–5–1 in their last ten games. The Oilers are 2–1–0 against them this season and could pose an interesting matchup if they make it past the Canucks. That being said, the Predators forward group may not be fully playoff ready as they have been riding the performance of Juuse Saros and Roman Josi. That doesn’t disqualify them, but the Oilers forward group easily outmatches them.
Then there is the Vancouver Canucks, who the Oilers have not been able to beat this season going 0–4–0 in some lopsided games. That being said, the Canucks have been riding a PDO high all season long and it will be fascinating to see if they can keep that going in the post season. It may be the toughest matchup they have, but out of all the division winners the Canucks may be the weakest of the four.
What makes this the easiest bracket is that the Oilers won’t have to face the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, or Vegas Golden Knights until the Western Conference Finals—if they make it there. This is a huge stroke of luck for the team who actually could have played the Golden Knights in the first round had they won last night’s game in Anaheim. That has been what has hurt the team in the past was facing a team earlier than they would expect to, but this season is when they could face a team coming from that side of the bracket after they went through a gauntlet of strong Central Division teams.
Maybe it’s getting ahead of themselves, as the focus is just LA right now, but at this point in time I think most would like their chances.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
