2016 NHL Eastern Conference Champion Expert Picks and Predictions

The 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs is upon us. Before we get ahead of ourselves and start calling this and that team to come away with the cup, it’s time to take a look at what the experts have to say ahead of the postseason. Let’s start small as we take a look at the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Read on as the experts sound off on their picks for the champions hailing out of the East.

Get more out of hockey futures. Check out our experts picks for the Western Conference and the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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2016 NHL Eastern Conference Champion Expert Picks and Predictions

The Odyssey

Round | Matchup | Yanni Latzanakis’ Predictions
Conference Quarterfinals | Capitals vs. Flyers | Capitals in 5
| Panthers vs. Islanders | Panthers in 7
| Red Wings vs. Lightning | Red Wings in 7
| Penguins vs. Rangers | Penguins in 6
Conference Semifinals | Capitals vs. Penguins | Capitals in 6
| Panthers vs. Red Wings | Panthers in 6
Conference Championship | Capitals vs. Panthers | Capitals in 6

Yanni Latzanakis of the Odyssey is early to the party. He already has his picks for the entire 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, let’s first take a look at what he has in store over in the East.

The Washington Capitals are looking very unstoppable, especially with Alex Ovechkin and his 50-goal effort in the regular season. While Ovi will certainly be a terror in the frontline, the Caps will be kept safe by Vezina Trophy candidate, Braden Holtby. Facing the Caps is a very tall order, even for the best teams in the league. They’ll have their way with the Flyers in five games.

It’s pretty straight forward, as far as Latzanakis’ picks. He has all the higher-seeded teams winning out until the Caps deal the finishing blow to win the East. But there will also be some tight series such as the Panthers vs. Islanders and the Red Wings vs. Lightning. He believes that both series would need all seven games to decide the winner.

Florida has ageless wonder 44-year-old Jaromir Jagr leading a young cast of talented forwards, while Roberto Luongo remains one of the best goalies in the league due to his experience. The Islanders have plenty of injury concerns but John Tavares should still be good while Jaroslav Halak won’t be easy to beat between the pipes.

The Red Wings squeaked into the playoffs to extend their historic streak of 25 straight playoff appearances. They’ll be hard-pressed to give one of their legendary team members, Pavel Datsyuk, a fitting farewell before his retirement at the end of the season. Detroit faces an injury-ravaged Tampa Bay squad missing All-Star captain Steven Stamkos, top defenseman Anton Stralman and superb young forward Tyler Johnson.

Having their competition limping after playing taxing seven-game sets should give the Caps plenty of advantages of making the Stanley Cup Final.

Star Pulse

Round | Matchup | Mike Flanagan’s Predictions
Conference Quarterfinals | Capitals vs. Flyers | Flyers in 7
| Panthers vs. Islanders | Islanders in 6
| Red Wings vs. Lightning | Red Wings in 6
| Penguins vs. Rangers | Rangers in 6

Mike Flanagan of Star Pulse didn’t go deep into the Eastern Conference Playoffs in his predictions. He only made picks for the first round. It may be a wise choice considering that anything can happen in these games, such as injuries or breakout games. But enough of that for now, let’s take a look at Flanagan’s picks for each of the Eastern Conference First Round series.

The Capitals won the President’s Trophy and have the top seed in the Eastern Conference. It seems pretty easy to trust them right? Not for Flanagan. He’s picking the Flyers to upset Washington in a seven-game thriller.

Flanagan notes that the Caps are a great regular season team, but they’re infamous for early exits and collapses in the playoffs. The Flyers are also no slouches themselves as one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. The Caps could keep their hopes up as T.J. Oshie might be the missing link to give them playoff success. But as things stand, Flanagan has the Caps falling off way early.

It’s an upset-filled first round in the East for Flanagan. Aside from the Caps falling off, he also has both Florida and Pittsburgh losing to their New York opponents. The Isles should have the necessary firepower with John Tavares at the helm to beat Florida, while the Rangers’ deep forward rotation should deal with a Pittsburgh defense dealing with injuries and lack of depth.

Bleacher Report

Round | Matchup | Adrian Dater’s Predictions
Conference Quarterfinals | Capitals vs. Flyers | Capitals in 5
| Panthers vs. Islanders | Panthers in 6
| Red Wings vs. Lightning | Red Wings in 6
| Penguins vs. Rangers | Penguins in 6
Conference Semifinals | Capitals vs. Penguins | Capitals in 7
| Panthers vs. Red Wings | Panthers in 6
Conference Championship | Capitals vs. Panthers | Capitals in 6

Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report didn’t make any ground-breaking predictions in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. He’s basically picking each of the higher-seeded teams to win their respective matchups with the Caps eventually winning out to make the Stanley Cup Final.

Picking the Caps to win out is no surprise given their dominance this regular season. But what about the underdogs? Dater is giving one particular dog a good chance of making the conference semifinal. He’s picking Detroit upset Tampa Bay to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The Lightning will play without All-Star captain Steven Stamkos and one of their top defensive players Anton Stralman. They’ll also be potentially without Tyler Johnson, who’s currently nursing an injury.

Goalie Ben Bishop may be very good at keeping opponents away from the net, but he may not be enough to steal this series. The Red Wings have a very deep forward rotation and pretty good offensive support from the blue line. Dater believes that depth should give Detroit the series victory.

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