NHL Playoff Picture 2015: Bracket Predictions and Teams to Watch

The best part of the Stanley Cup playoffs that no other sport can match is the true feeling anyone has a real chance to walk away with the title. That's especially true for a season like 2014-15, where there are plenty of good teams but no standout club. 

As the final two weeks of the season arrive, there are five teams within for points of the Presidents' Trophy, and 23 teams are still in the playoff mix. Chicago (2012-13) is the only team in the last six years to have the most points and win a Stanley Cup in the same year. 

Last year, the Los Angeles Kings came from the sixth seed in the Western Conference to win the title. It's one big crap shoot once the 16 teams that will make up the playoff field get set. 

In anticipation of the insanity that will happen, here's a look at how the bracket is likely to play out and the top teams to keep an eye on down the final stretch. 

Eastern Conference	Western Conference
No. 1 New York Rangers vs. No. 8 Boston Bruins	No. 1 Anaheim Ducks vs. No. 8 Los Angeles Kings
No. 2 Montreal Canadiens vs. No. 7 Detroit Red Wings	No. 2 Nashville Predators vs. No. 7 Calgary Flames
No. 3 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 6 Washington Capitals	No. 3 Chicago Blackhawks vs. No. 6 Vancouver Canucks
No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 5 New York Islanders	No. 4 St. Louis Blues vs. No. 5 Minnesota Wild

Chicago Blackhawks

Len Redkoles/Getty Images

Injuries and a midseason lull took a lot of shine off the Chicago Blackhawks, but this team is getting things together at the right time. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games heading into a big matchup on Thursday against Vancouver. 

As Tracey Myers of Comcast SportsNet Chicago wrote after the Blackhawks' 4-1 win over Los Angeles, everything is falling into place:

"

The same Blackhawks team that was looking out of sync and perhaps even a little tired during last week’s road trip is looking energized off their last two games, especially Monday night’s. And just when it looked like the Blackhawks had no chance to catch the top teams in the Central, they’re right there again.

"

Winning the division, while a nice feather in the cap, isn't essential for the Blackhawks. David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune made two observations during that win over the Kings:

Dominance is more important than where you finish. There are plenty of teams that run through an 82-game regular season with nothing left in the playoffs. The Blackhawks went through their short dry spell in February, only to come out of it stronger than ever. 

Oh, the Blackhawks could be looking at the return of their best offensive player, Patrick Kane, sooner than the initial May timetable that was set when he broke his clavicle in February. 

A lot will have to go right for Kane to come back for the first round of playoff action, but his return adds an MVP-caliber player to a lineup loaded with balanced offensive players across the board.

Washington Capitals

Lance Thomson/Getty Images

It's fashionable to dump on the Washington Capitals this time of year. I get it, they missed the postseason last year and didn't win more than one playoff series in the previous six years. 

Yet there is something inherently different about the 2014-15 version of the Capitals than those that came before. The biggest thing is goaltending, as Braden Holtby is tied for sixth in goals-against average and tied for seventh in save percentage (h/t ESPN). 

Holtby is the key to the Capitals this season, not just because his numbers look terrific, but because, as Chuck Gormley of Comcast SportsNet Washington wrote, the 25-year-old has a mentality that is necessary to succeed:

"

Back on Oct. 14, when Barry Trotz was still getting to know what Braden Holtby was all about, he yanked his 25-year-old goaltender from a game against the San Jose Sharks after watching him allow three goals on seven shots.

Holtby responded the next game with a 26-save effort in a 6-2 rout of the New Jersey Devils.

By the next time Trotz pulled Holtby from a game, after he allowed four goals in 22 shots in a loss to the Dallas Stars on March 13, Trotz was beginning to learn what many of Holtby’s teammates already knew.

That there’s a lot of bounce back in the fiery goaltender from Llyoydminser, Saskatchewan.

"

Last year's Kings were carried by a confident, dominant, fiery goaltender in Jonathan Quick. Holtby has a long way to go before reaching that level, but the raw ingredients certainly seem to be there. 

Combine the improved goalie play with the always-potent offense, led by Alex Ovechkin, and suddenly this Washington team looks like more than just a novelty in the regular season that flames out in the postseason. 

Ovechkin has grown into a more mature player after years of failures and criticism, something even his head coach Barry Trotz admitted he bought into, via Kevin Allen of USA Today:

"

I totally miscast him from afar. Perception is reality, and my perception was all off.

...

He is not scared of any player in the league. He is not scared of having to play against top players. He is not scared of criticism. He is not scared of accountability. He is not scared of coaching. He is a stand-up guy. He shoulders more of everything than is imaginable. And he does a lot in the community.

"

It's not time to say the Capitals are ready to win a Stanley Cup, but they are in a better position this year even as they fight to stay out of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference. 

Los Angeles Kings

Bill Smith/Getty Images

The final team to keep an eye on actually wouldn't even be in the playoffs if things ended today. The defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, with 88 points, are sitting behind Calgary and Winnipeg in the final two Western Conference spots. 

Perhaps this is residual love for the Kings based on what they did last year, as this team hasn't looked the same in 2014-15. They have never been a good offensive team during this run of two titles in three years, so defense and goaltending were always key to success. 

The problem is defense is failing Jonathan Quick, who is being forced to do more, which David Schuster of WSCR radio in Chicago illustrated with this tweet during Monday's loss against Chicago:

Unless the defense finds its footing soon, or Quick goes out of his mind, there's a strong chance the Kings don't even make the playoffs. Yet the schedule does set up nicely for a run with four games against Edmonton (twice), San Jose and Colorado.

Assuming there are enough points in there to push the Kings into the postseason, Haugh noted in the Blackhawks section of this piece that this is a dangerous team no one will want to play because of what we know. 

It would be nice to see the Kings score more than one goal like they have in their last two games, both losses. 

Arash Markazi of ESPN did note last week that the Kings might actually be right where they want to be coming down the stretch:

"

This is the same group that last season became the first team to advance to the Stanley Cup finals by winning three straight Game 7s, all on the road.

It's the same group that just barely qualified for the playoffs as the eighth seed three years ago and steamrolled through the top three seeds -- winning the first three games in each series -- to became the first North American professional sports team to win a title as an eight seed.

"

Call it complacency, call it a team not playing well, call it whatever you want, but maybe the Kings are just one of those anomalies that needs to be challenged in the most difficult way imaginable before finally pulling things together. 

The Kings haven't taken off like expected coming off their Stanley Cup last year, but they are the monster waiting in the shadows ready to jump out to devour anyone in their path.