As one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference, the Caps have the good fortune of getting some postseason tune-ups in the round-robin tournament without worrying about potential elimination (yet).
Not so lucky are the teams that finished in fifth through twelfth place, who will be pitted against each other in a best-of-five series – with the winning teams advancing to take on the newly seeded top four.
Trying to figure out who the Caps will draw is, at this point, a completely futile exercise. We don’t know where the Caps will end up in the top four, nor do we know who will advance from the qualifying round or where they’ll slot in to the bracket.
What we can do, however, is pick out some rooting interests in each of the qualifying-round series – just for fun!
Do you want to see Pittsburgh humiliated by the lowest-seeded team in the tournament? Or does the mere chance that they could go on to snag Alexis Lafreniere in the draft as a result make you shy away from this particular endeavor? Without worrying about the seeding vortex, would the idea of a rematch against the ‘Canes be enough to root on the Rangers, or are you more afraid of a potential date with New York?
Make your picks below!