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NHL playoff predictions 2017: Confidence high in Blackhawks, Capitals

In a year full of parity, we’re still picking the No. 1 seeds in each conference in reach the Stanley Cup Final.

The NHL playoffs get started Wednesday night, and arguably more than any year in recent memory, it’s a wide open competition. Parity has seeped into the foundation of the NHL to the point that there are roughly 10 teams that could conceivably win the Stanley Cup without anyone batting an eye.

That should make for a thrilling few months in the hockey world, and it also makes predicting these series especially difficult. There’s no obvious Stanley Cup favorite, even if people seem to be lining up behind the Capitals and Blackhawks. Most analysts probably don’t feel particularly confident about those predictions. (Or maybe that’s just me projecting).

But that won’t stop us from making our own guesses on how the 2017 Stanley Cup Final will go, even though you’ll probably walk away from reading this thinking we’re a bunch of homers because most of us picked the Blackhawks. That’s probably part logic, part intuition, part blind optimism.

With that in mind, here are Second City Hockey’s 2017 NHL playoff predictions.

2017 Stanley Cup Playoff picks

VoterCHI-NSHMIN-STLANA-CGYEDM-SJMTL-NYROTT-BOSWAS-TORPIT-CBJEast ChampionWest ChampionCup ChampionConn Smythe
BrandonCHI in 6MIN in 5CGY in 6EDM in 6NYR in 6OTT in 6WAS in 5CBJ in 6CapitalsBlackhawksBlackhawksCorey Crawford
SatchelCHI in 7MIN in 6ANA in 6EDM in 7MTL in 6BOS in 5WAS in 5PIT in 7CapitalsBlackhawksCapitalsBraden Holtby
LizCHI in 7MIN in 6CGY in 6SJ in 7MTL in 6BOS in 7WAS in 5PIT in 6Capitals
JennaCHI in 6MIN in 6CGY in 7EDM in 6NYR in 7OTT in 6WAS in 5CBJ in 7CapitalsBlackhawksBlackhawks Patrick Kane
AdamCHI in 6STL in 7CGY in 7SJ in 6MTL in 7BOS in 5WAS in 5PIT in 7BruinsBlackhawksBlackhawksArtemi Panarin
Erika CHI in 6MIN in 6CGY in 7SJ in 7MTL in 6BOS in 6WAS in 5CBJ in 7Capitals BlackhawksBlackhawksPatrick Kane

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