Vancouver Faces Elimination, Matthews Returns To Toronto

With just one game on the schedule Monday, we look back and ahead to what is a shortened week for the NHL.

The Canadian teams are preparing for the playoffs and the end of the regular season. One of those teams newest to the offseason party plan is the Vancouver Canucks.

The Canucks are not officially eliminated but have a 0% chance of making the playoffs, according to Sports Club Stats.

Why Vancouver Will Miss The Playoffs

For those who have placed a prop bet on Vancouver missing the playoffs, you can cash in that ticket.

Here’s why:

A series of cataclysmic events would have to occur for Vancouver to force a one-game tiebreaker.

The NHL instituted this backup plan four years ago after Florida and Philadelphia got a bit too close for comfort during the last week of the regular season.

Naturally, Dallas would have to lose the rest of their games (all at home), and Vancouver would have to win all of theirs.

Then Vegas would have to get just this, and this team would have to do that. One gets the idea. It is convoluted and ridiculous to think something like that would happen honestly.

Despite this, Canadian sports wagerers should be happy with Vancouver’s run to make it this far.

When Bruce Boudreau took the team over, they were an absolute mess.

Consider that the Canucks have some excellent pieces in play for bettors and have their flaws, too. That is what makes a team like theirs fun, and most important, profitable.

Thankfully, the future could be considered bright in Vancouver. There will be some bumps to getting Vancouver at that playoff level.

There are cap concerns and general manager types of things that get in the way. However, as we said, the pieces are there.

The final games will be interesting to see how Vancouver approaches them.

With three games in four nights, expect some players to be rested. That is how “load management” goes when it comes to the NHL.

Toronto Gets Matthews Back, Loses Bunting

Ontario sports bettors still have to wonder what Toronto did in a previous lifetime to warrant such weird circumstances, but here we are.

Good news came in the form of Auston Matthews returning to the lineup on Saturday, so the chase for 60 goals is on.

The bad news came when Michael Bunting was revealed to miss “some definite time” after an injury.

It does feel a bit like a revolving door sometimes in the NHL, doesn’t it?

However, the good news for Toronto, unlike in previous years, is that they have the depth to overcome such a loss. Goaltending will be another issue entirely for the playoffs, but that is again for the playoffs.

If bettors think Toronto will go full bore this week, then I have some bad news.

With just two games on the schedule, the Maple Leafs will be micromanaged to death.

There is a reason why most fantasy hockey playoffs do not go into this final week. The same applies to betting. Pick one’s spots carefully in that last week – more than most any stretch.

Calgary, Edmonton In Unique Position

For this week to come, Calgary and Edmonton are in an interesting position, too.

Calgary cannot catch Colorado.

However, what about Minnesota and St. Louis? Inevitably, one of those two will be eliminated after the first round.

Now, what if Colorado gets eliminated unexpectedly early? This creates a few interesting scenarios.

If Calgary outpoints the remaining team between Minnesota and St. Louis, they would have home-ice advantage.

Darryl Sutter has some interesting decisions to make this week as his Calgary team gets ready for what could be a deep playoff run.

Sutter has been here before (winning two Stanley Cups in Los Angeles), but the stakes are even higher for Calgary.

Edmonton is in the playoffs but has a game in hand and two points on the Los Angeles Kings.

Their matchup is far from set. The Oilers play in Pittsburgh Tuesday on ESPN before heading home to face San Jose and Vancouver on back-to-back nights.

Coach Jay Woodcroft (23-9-3) has some intriguing decisions to make later in the week that will impact betting lines.

Looking Ahead To Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg

The Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators keep on playing the games in front of them.

That goes for the Winnipeg Jets, too.

Montreal is employing what can be called a “tank at all costs” philosophy. This is not intentional. Their team is just that bad. When the offense dries up, there is little left defensively. Montreal has lost nine straight games. Expecting 12 by the week’s end is not unreasonable.

Ottawa and Winnipeg are more the opposite. Ottawa has won three straight games and looks every bit the team some expected at the start of the season.

This is an up-and-coming team with some noticeable missing parts that needed to be addressed in the summer. For those who will be doing some NHL betting this week, look at things on a game-by-game basis. Be careful here with the Senators and particularly the Jets, too.

Why?

For example, Connor Hellebuyck nabbed his 200th win over the weekend. Does he play much the rest of the way? Does Ottawa rest Anton Forsberg a bit?

These are questions that do have to be asked. It is why taking a more cautious tact is OK and recommended.