Every NHL Team's Biggest 'What-if?' of the 2025 Season
Nothing makes a NHL season more open to interpretation than asking one of the world's great questions: "What if?"
No matter how good a team is or has been, there are always some things that leave us wondering how things could've been if they'd done something differently.
We're here to point those "what if" questions for everyone. Join us as we take a look back on moments where things could've gone down a different path, for better or worse.
Anaheim Ducks
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What if the Ducks traded John Gibson?
Anaheim is on the rise, and they've shown so much growth this season, particularly from young upstart Lukas Dostal who seized the starting job over the veteran, yet oft injured, Gibson.
Gibson again battled injuries but has played very well this season (.913 save percentage in 28 games) to the point that many of us thought that he'd be traded by the deadline. Even though Carolina and Edmonton were rumored to be in the hunt and Gibson preferred to go to either team, he remains in Anaheim.
The Ducks could've cashed in from either the Oilers or Hurricanes by trading Gibson and would've done him a solid for his years of holding it down while Anaheim rebuilt. Maybe it'll happen this summer, but if it happened this season, you wonder if Anaheim would be even closer in the playoff race and maybe even in a wild card spot.
Boston Bruins
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What if the Bruins didn't wait so long to re-sign Jeremy Swayman?
Goalie Jeremy Swayman was the biggest restricted free agent the Bruins had to re-sign last summer. They traded Linus Ullmark to Ottawa and upstart Brandon Bussi wasn't ready for the NHL, so Swayman was far and away the No. 1 goalie.
It wasn't until October 6 that Swayman signed his eight-year, $66 million extension, and the Bruins' season opener was October 8. Swayman made his season debut October 10. He went 3-4-1 with an .884 save percentage in October, and things didn't get much better from there.
You can't help but wonder how different things would've gone for Boston had Swayman gotten a full training camp and was ready to go from the start of the season.
You could point out the rest of the Bruins' offseason foibles and tack it onto this, but dragging their feet with Swayman, who they knew they were keeping, is the biggest head-scratcher.
Buffalo Sabres
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What if the Sabres didn't lose 13 games in a row?
Boiling down why the Sabres will miss the playoffs for the 14th straight season could lead you down a few different paths, but after watching them beat Edmonton, Vegas, Winnipeg and Washington over the past month and seeing how they're nine points out of the wild card, you wonder how different their season would be if they didn't lose 13 straight games in November and December.
The Sabres went 0-10-3 during that season-ruining run while Rasmus Dahlin missed some time with injury. They had six one-goal losses during that stretch and three other losses that had empty-net goals turn one-goal losses into multi-goal losses. That's virtually nine coin flips lost in theory and that's without dissecting how those losses came about.
If five of those 10 regulation losses flipped to wins, we're talking about the Sabres being right in the fight for the playoffs while sitting in the second wild card spot. Sure, they had a lot of hockey to play after that run, but any team losing 13 games in a row is destined to miss the playoffs.
For what it's worth, the Sabres have gone 20-17-2 since the end of that streak and even squeezed in another six-game slide (0-5-1) in that time. There's always next year, right?
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Calgary Flames
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What if Matthew Tkachuk was still in Calgary?
We're not going to slam on Jonathan Huberdeau here, but seeing how well the Flames have played this year with Dustin Wolf in goal, you cannot help but think how different things could be with Matthew Tkachuk stirring things up and making everyone in the West miserable.
We know Calgary would be worse off on the blueline without MacKenzie Weegar and seeing Huberdeau rebound the past year or two has been really nice to see, but man, Tkachuk has been such a difference maker with the Panthers even though he's not scoring as prolifically as he did in Calgary.
Tkachuk's style of play was made for the rough and tumble Western Conference and it's an element missing from the Flames lineup and that's even with Nazem Kadri out there. We know this is a tough one for Flames fans still, but watching Wolf carry them deep into the playoff race is encouraging, right?
Carolina Hurricanes
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What if they kept Martin Nečas?
Understanding that the writing was probably on the wall when Martin Nečas's RFA contract negotiations didn't go super smoothly with Carolina management, after seeing how dealing him to Colorado for Mikko Rantanen played out, you really have to wonder how things would be had they held onto Nečas instead.
Things didn't work out with Rantanen in Carolina, and they dealt him for Logan Stankoven and more at the deadline so perhaps all's well that ends well. Seeing Nečas continue to score a point per game in Colorado while the Avalanche roared up the standings had to inspire a lot of buyer's/seller's remorse especially since Rantanen had six points in 13 games with the Hurricanes.
We get the move, adding an elite scorer to the lineup should lead to a boost of some kind, but Rantanen basically telling GM Eric Tulsky he wasn't going to stay there no matter what made for a brutal turn of fate. All will be forgiven if Stankoven helps lead Carolina to a Stanley Cup someday, but leaving well enough alone now could've made a difference in the short term.
Chicago Blackhawks
6 of 32
What if Chicago didn't load up on veterans in the short term?
We all figured Chicago wasn't going to be a great team this season, but no one thought the Blackhawks were going to be deep in the race for the best odds to win the NHL draft lottery.
General manager Kyle Davidson wanted to help his team grow up and be more competitive as Connor Bedard went into his second season and took his inevitable big step. Instead, neither thing happened, and the veteran players meant to show the way just haven't panned out.
Not all the vets have done poorly. Ryan Donato has had a great season while leading the Blackhawks in scoring. But giving poorly playing vets ice time over younger players who need more experience in all situations in the NHL can prolong rebuilds unnecessarily.
Colorado Avalanche
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What if they addressed goaltending a lot sooner than they did?
The Avalanche saw last season what can happen when goaltending goes south when Alexandar Georgiev went from having a .918 save percentage in 2022-2023 to .897 the following season and continued to struggle in the playoffs.
Patience is a virtue, but for a team that's in their Stanley Cup window, putting up with poor goaltending is not something to be tolerated. That they waited until December 9 to trade Georgiev to San Jose for Mackenzie Blackwood helped put the Avalanche in a tough spot in the standings while Winnipeg, Dallas and Minnesota raced out in the Central Division.
Ever since landing in Denver, Blackwood has been lights-out going 21-9-3 with a .919 save percentage and three shutouts and the Avs went from just barely being in the second wild card spot to third in the Central and trying to close in on Dallas for second. When the Avs start out on the road against the Stars in the first round, they'd better win that series or else they'll be wondering why they waited so long to make a change.
Columbus Blue Jackets
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What if they could stop more pucks?
The Blue Jackets are so close to making the playoffs this year and they still may pull it off, but their biggest weakness this season has been goaltending, and it may be the main culprit if they miss out.
Elvis Merzlikins is their No. 1 and his .895 save percentage which is below the league average .900. Backup Daniil Tarasov hasn't provided much relief with a .882 save percentage. Columbus's defense does give up a lot of shots (they're tied for sixth in the league in most shots allowed per game) but stopping them is imperative to winning, so says Captain Obvious.
It wouldn't stick out so badly if they weren't scoring, but the Blue Jackets are 11th in the league in goals per-game, albeit with a below-average power play. More saves would mean more wins, however, and hopefully they can find more of them as the season winds down.
Dallas Stars
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What if they added a scorer sooner?
One of the biggest moves that's jolted the Stars down the stretch is the addition of Mikko Rantanen. He's scored a point per game since joining them and the Stars have found another gear late in the year as they gear up for a shot at the Stanley Cup.
Dallas didn't require much help to get better, but after consistently being in rumors to add scoring help, they finally pulled it off at the deadline and, by gum, it's working out great. Adding an elite player like Rantanen helps out in a big way, but after being without Tyler Seguin for most of the season, it felt like they were lacking a little something more.
Perhaps the timing will be perfect and Rantanen will hit another gear in the playoffs, but after bowing out of the playoffs the past couple of years sooner than they liked, you can't help but wonder why they waited this long to make a move.
Detroit Red Wings
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What if Detroit didn't have so many similar forwards?
Something that's stood out about the Detroit Red Wings lineup is how similar all of their forwards are. Yes, there is a lot of skill with Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jonatan Berggren and Marco Kasper but when it comes to battling around the net, along the walls and in the corners, they're lacking.
Teams in the Eastern Conference can get away with having a little less physical play, but Detroit has leaned so much on skill that hard-nosed teams can take advantage of them all over the ice.
This isn't to say they need to build a lineup of human tanks, but having a few more players who can muck it up around the net and along the walls to win battles would go a long way to helping the skill players light it up more.
Edmonton Oilers
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What if they acquired John Gibson from Anaheim?
What's amazing about the Oilers is that they can outscore almost every team on every night because they have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. What's also amazing about them is sometimes those guys aren't enough even if they have monster nights because Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard haven't gotten it done regularly enough.
Anaheim Ducks star John Gibson could've been an Edmonton Oiler by the trade deadline, but it was a trade that never happened. GM Stan Bowman sticking by Skinner and Pickard is noble, sure, but with Skinner's .894 save percentage and Pickard's .899 in a backup role, they'll enter the playoffs playing with fire while trying to return to the Stanley Cup Final.
Florida Panthers
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What if the 5-on-5 scoring doesn't pick up?
The Florida Panthers have been a machine again this year and look menacing again as the playoffs approach. They added Seth Jones to make up for losing Aaron Ekblad's performance enhancement suspension, they brought in Brad Marchand to be even nastier to play against and their goaltending has been steady. No problems, right?
Well...
The Panthers are 20th in the NHL in 5-on-5 scoring and while they've piled up goals on the power play this year (seventh most in the NHL), we all know that the rule book gets a little different in the playoffs and the power plays aren't quite so common.
Last season, the Panthers were seventh in the league power play goals and 26th in 5-on-5 goals so they know how to get it done, but the bill comes due at some point, right?
Los Angeles Kings
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What if the playoff format was different?
This is a "what if" question more than a few teams could ask, but in the Los Angeles Kings' case, it's a really important question.
The Kings are destined to face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth straight season. They're hoping to have home ice advantage this time around, but if the NHL had the traditional 1-to-8 playoff seeding, they'd be looking at a first-round date against Colorado while trying to catch them to get home ice in the first round.
It's not any easier to face Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar than it is to deal with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but being fated to deal with the latter no matter what they do is kind of cruddy. Variety in the playoffs is great, but if the Kings lose to the Oilers in the first round again, they couldn't be blamed for being extra sore about it.
Minnesota Wild
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What if the franchise wasn't haunted?
All right, we're kidding a little bit here, but think about what an incredible start to the year the Wild got out to. Kirill Kaprizov was an early MVP candidate and the gloom that got the team down last season was all but gone.
Then Kaprizov got hurt. Then Joel Eriksson Ek was injured. Jonas Brodin was in and out of the lineup. Mats Zuccarello missed some time and so did captain Jared Spurgeon. Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek are still out of action which makes seeing how Kaprizov has 23 goals and 52 points in 37 games all the more painful while the Wild limp towards the finish line.
The Wild's chances of the playoffs are still high, but with the St. Louis Blues roaring, they might get pushed down to the second wild card and a date with Winnipeg in the first round and that's if the Calgary Flames or Vancouver Canucks don't catch them first.
Montréal Canadiens
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What if they were more aggressive at the trade deadline?
Watching the Canadiens and their young lineup thriving as the season goes on and how they're right there in the playoff hunt with a chance to get back for the first time since the truncated 2021 season where they went to the Stanley Cup Final, it's honestly incredible.
They're deep in the fight with the Rangers, Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Islanders for the second wild card which makes how quiet they were at the trade deadline stick out loudly. GM Kent Hughes held firm with his rebuilding team and while he didn't trade away veterans as rentals to other teams, he didn't add anyone to help give them an edge against the rest of the playoff hopefuls.
It's one thing to have a young group grow and learn together, but when they're this close to a playoff spot, giving them a little extra veteran help might've made a big difference.
Nashville Predators
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What if they didn't have the worst shooting luck in the NHL?
It's really difficult to figure out why the Predators came up so small after such a massive offseason. But if there's one thing that sticks out, it's how many pucks just straight up did not go in for them all year.
The Predators have the league's lowest shooting percentage at 8.6 percent and when you consider they added Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault to a team that already had Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly, you figured goals would pour in. It just hasn't happened though and the poor shooting and bad luck remained.
Last season, the Preds shot 10.1 percent and they were able to sneak into the playoffs, but this season knocking it down by 1.5 percent was enough to help bury them in the bottom of the standings. Fickle game.
New Jersey Devils
17 of 32
What if injuries didn't happen?
Injuries can't be helped and players who are stuck dealing with them regularly must get so discouraged. Just imagine being Jack Hughes or Dougie Hamilton and how the Devils must feel.
Through 62 games, Hughes has 70 points and he's helping get the Devils back to the playoffs. Fortunately, the 13 games he's missed this season aren't as many as he's missed in the past. Hamilton, meanwhile, has missed 12 games and been their top scorer on defense, but the games missed by both of them could make a huge difference in how their first-round series plays out.
The Devils are destined to face Carolina in the first round and the Hurricanes have a seven-point lead on them for home ice. Having fuller seasons from both Hughes and Hamilton could've made a big difference.
New York Islanders
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What if they did anything at all to help themselves?
Being an Islanders fan must be exhausting. Their high-end talent is great from Mathew Barzal to Bo Horvat and Noah Dobson to Ilya Sorokin and yet outside of trading for Horvat, they've been quieter than most teams in the NHL in the offseason and at the deadline.
Yet once again, a season that seemed to be careening into nothingness has turned around and they're threatening to make the playoffs out of nowhere again and that's after dealing Brock Nelson to Colorado. It's hard not to wonder if the cardiac season's end could've been avoided had they made any serious moves to improve the roster at any time.
If the plan was to squeak into the playoffs, then they're moving full steam ahead. Unfortunately, that's also the way to drive the fans to pull all of their hair out, too.
New York Rangers
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What if trade rumors didn't nuke the dressing room?
It's incredible how far last season's Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers fell from grace in less than a year. Instead of the team building on a great season, trade rumors surrounding then-captain Jacob Trouba popped up immediately in the offseason, which made things awkward.
A slow start to the season caused GM Chris Drury to declare anyone could be traded to help turn things around, including Trouba and Chris Kreider. That was the last straw, seemingly, for having a happy dressing room. Drury put the fire out as best he could, but Trouba was eventually traded, Mika Zibanejad was in rumors to go to Vancouver for J.T. Miller, but it was Filip Chytil who went instead.
What a seemingly needless set of mistakes in trying to make changes to a team that needed tweaks to compete, not a full overhaul.
Ottawa Senators
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What if they didn't get back to the playoffs this year?
The Senators haven't officially locked up a playoff berth, but they're in the first wild-card spot and have a seven-point lead on the second spot with nine games to play. They haven't been in the playoffs since they went to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against Pittsburgh in 2017, and it's all but certain that the drought is finally over.
But what would their summer be like if they didn't?
There were rumblings about captain Brady Tkachuk getting out of town well before this season, a move that, yes, would net a monster return in a trade, but would've been catastrophic for what their building in Ottawa. Think about how his brother Matthew getting dealt from Calgary did to the Flames.
Even though the Senators have made moves to grow up since last summer and during the year (acquiring Linus Ullmark, Dylan Cozens and Fabian Zetterlund for instance) but it also meant moving Jakob Chychrun and Alex DeBrincat in previous times. That kind of constant overhaul doesn't help, but if another season of not making the playoffs meant losing Tkachuk, it would've been a nightmare for what they're trying to build and establish in Ottawa.
Philadelphia Flyers
21 of 32
What if they fired John Tortorella sooner?
The way John Tortorella's Flyers tenure ended was sudden and awkward, what with the apparent situation with Cam York and all, but with how hard Tortorella worked the young players, particularly rookie Matvei Michkov, you wonder if hanging onto him to start the year was the right move.
We've watched Michkov take advantage of not having Tortorella around of late as he scores goals and makes highlight reel plays nightly (we're looking past his defensive misgivings for now) but he's not the only player who's been at the center of his focus. Others have been traded already (Joel Farabee, for instance) and those talented players just didn't fit with what Torts was trying to do.
Hearing Tortorella essentially throw in the towel on trying to teach players what to do was hard to hear if you're a Flyers fan because we're all left thinking about why he was there in the middle of a rebuild in the first place.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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What if they committed to a rebuild already?
It's really hard to not try to win when Sidney Crosby is still scoring a point per-game and one of the best in the league, still. It's also really hard to watch Crosby do this while leading a rag-tag group with aging stars around him and very little depth outside of them.
The writing has been on the walls for a few years now that the Penguins need to rebuild. Wanting to do right by Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson makes sense, especially when trying to get back to the playoffs one more time. But those players aren't getting younger, and Father Time comes for everyone at some point. Being a GM means trying to prevent being caught from behind and dragged into irrelevance.
Kyle Dubas was tasked at a tough time to try and get things right in Pittsburgh and the realism of the situation should be too much to ignore. That time was probably two years ago.
San Jose Sharks
23 of 32
What if they weren't quite this bad again?
It's hard to give the Sharks grief for being one of the worst teams in the NHL again. They're running with young stars like Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and William Eklund and have more young guys on the horizon. Those guys need to play and they're getting that valuable experience, even if it's on a brutally bad team.
Still, you see the excitement they provide and it's encouraging for what's to come, but still...the Sharks are really bad. When they traded starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to Colorado for Alexandar Georgiev, it was a baffling move if they were attempting to win as much as they could. Blackwood's numbers were stellar for being on a bad team (.909 save percentage and a shutout), but it was odd to add a goalie that was playing as poorly as Georgiev was.
San Jose added prospect goalie Yaroslav Askarov from Nashville in the offseason, but he's remained in the AHL for most of the season while Georgiev and rookie Georgi Romanov have held it down in the NHL. It's all curious, but if you're going to be bad, going all the way is the way, apparently.
Seattle Kraken
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What if they were more exciting?
It's a little unfair that Seattle and Vegas expanded the NHL so soon together because the Golden Knights set an impossible bar to reach and equal. But after watching the Kraken have a 100-point season in their second year of existence and beat Colorado in the first round of the playoffs, it was hard to not think they were on a similar track.
Instead, the Kraken sank back into the waters out of the playoffs a year ago and this season they're among the bottom five or six teams in the NHL. GM Ron Francis has played his hand very cool in building the team and while guys like Matty Beniers and Shane Wright are young and exciting, the team is lacking a lot of a "wow" factor.
It's been fun to see Jared McCann turn into a big-time goal scorer and adding Brandon Montour to join Vince Dunn on the blue line makes them a lot more fun on the back end, but they desperately need more scoring talent to hang with the rest of the West. They have two 20-goal scorers (Jaden Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen) and one player right now with 50 or more points (McCann) and just four others with 40 or more. That must be addressed.
St. Louis Blues
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What if they didn't hire Jim Montgomery?
When Blues GM Doug Armstrong suddenly made the call to fire coach Drew Bannister and hire Jim Montgomery seemingly only days after he was fired by the Boston Bruins, we didn't know at the time it would be the exact thing St. Louis needed.
The Blues are 31-16-6 since Montgomery took over and they've won 15 of their past 17 games including nine in a row. They've roared into a wild card spot and they're close to unseating the Minnesota Wild for the first wild card. It's a remarkable turnaround for a team that seemed so blah under Bannister.
The Blues' 9-12-1 start under Bannister is long forgotten and now Montgomery has Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas and Jordan Binnington putting fear into the Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights, one of whom will have to deal with them in the first round of the playoffs. Full marks to Armstrong on making such a tough call because it was very clearly the right move.
Tampa Bay Lightning
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What if they didn't move on from Steven Stamkos and passed on Jake Guentzel?
The Lightning offseason was deeply dramatic when GM Julien BriseBois opted to not re-sign captain Steven Stamkos and instead used the newfound financial flexibility to sign Jake Guentzel in free agency.
Stamkos has struggled this season with the Nashville Predators, but Guentzel has been the perfect complementary player to go along with Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel.
All four of those players have more than 30 goals each and have scored 70-or-more points this season. Guentzel is the second-leading goal scorer on the team with 37, one behind Point, and compared to Stamkos who has 23 goals and 45 points, as painful as it was to move on from a franchise icon, it's looked like it was 100 percent the correct call.
Toronto Maple Leafs
27 of 32
What if Auston Matthews wasn't injured?
It's true the Toronto Maple Leafs seemingly haven't missed a beat under new coach Craig Berube, but they're in one heck of a battle with Florida and Tampa Bay atop the Atlantic Division to see who can finish first and avoid playing one of the other two teams. But it's hard to not wonder how different the race would be had Auston Matthews missed as much time as he had with injury.
Through 59 games, Matthews has 29 goals and 68 points. Those are outstanding numbers that only seem to pale compared to his past results because he missed 15 games. He's scored 30-or-more goals every season he's been in the league and provided he doesn't miss any more time and doesn't go ice cold, he'll do it again this year.
It's a vital year for Matthews and the Leafs to go deeper in the playoffs than they've ever been, but if they've got to deal with Florida or Tampa Bay in the first round instead of any of Ottawa, Montréal, the Rangers, Islanders, Columbus or Detroit, those lost games to injury will stick out as a major reason why.
Utah Hockey Club
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What if they boldly added scorers as much as they did defensemen?
When Utah made their presence known at the 2024 Draft in Las Vegas trading for defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino, it signaled that things would be different for the team formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes. They were spending money, and they were going to go hard to win, and we like that kind of gusto.
One area they didn't go as hard in was at forward. Clayton Keller's brilliance was about to be surrounded by superb young players like Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley. Veterans like Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton provided good help, but they needed more scoring badly to stay closer in the Western Conference playoff race.
Not adding more made it more difficult to survive down years from Matias Maccelli, Logan Crouse and Michael Carcone and while they're still coming out of the Arizona haze, missing out on the playoffs this year when it's right there to get after hopefully motivates them instead of dragging them down.
Vancouver Canucks
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What if they didn't drag out the Elias Pettersson-J.T. Miller situation so long?
When the rumors about discord between Canucks stars Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller started popping up like mad, it felt like the kind of thing where there was too much smoke for there not to be fire. As it turned out, there was a five-alarm blaze that was only made worse when Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford acknowledged the rift and said they'd look into trading one or perhaps even both of the star players.
That this situation dragged into January a season after the Canucks returned to the playoffs and were one of the best teams in the Western Conference was staggering and that major issue along with an injury sustained by goalie Thatcher Demko and occasional ailments to captain Quinn Hughes made matters worse off.
Still, management can control issues like the one between Pettersson and Miller by keeping it quiet and taking care of matters out of the public eye, something that 100 percent did not happen.
Vegas Golden Knights
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What if they didn't lay low at the trade deadline?
The Golden Knights have never been known to play it cool when it comes to making moves they feel must be made for them to win the Stanley Cup. They added Tomáš Hertl a year ago at the deadline and were bold in acquiring guys like Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Shea Theodore in the past. That's what made it so strange to see them only bring back Reilly Smith at the deadline.
Vegas has been in control of the Pacific Division almost all year and they've been mostly able to avoid catastrophic injuries all season. They weren't exactly dealing with a lot of available salary cap space, but that's never stopped them in the past.
They've got every reason to be confident about their lineup and their chances of returning to the Stanley Cup Final, but if they're upended early, there's no doubt they'll be looking back at the deadline.
Washington Capitals
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What if Alex Ovechkin doesn't break Wayne Gretzky's goal record this season?
It seems goofy to think that for as prolific a scorer as Alex Ovechkin has been throughout his career that he could ever go cold shooting the puck. Now that he's five goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record and the number of games left in the season count down, you have to wonder how the team handles things if he somehow doesn't break the record this season.
It's easy to think that if he's only a couple of goals away and the pursuit of history goes into next season, it'll be relatively simple enough for him to break the record and celebrate, but will it cause Ovechkin to be distracted heading into the playoffs if he doesn't get it done now? We're sure that's something the Capitals would rather not have to consider or find out.
Winnipeg Jets
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What if they added more depth on defense?
It's hard to pick on any team that's playing as well as the Jets are, but when looking at the lineup microscopically, there are some slight things that could be an issue come playoff time. In their case, the depth they have on defense makes you wonder a little bit.
Having Josh Morrissey on the blue line takes care of a lot of things and the Jets are dangerous at both ends of the ice because of him. Neal Pionk is an adept puck mover, Dylan DeMelo is solid all around and adding Luke Schenn makes them a bit stouter as well. With Colin Miller, Logan Stanley, and Dylan Samberg they've got experience back there, too.
Still, when you compare what they have to teams like Vegas, Dallas or Colorado, you wonder if the high-end is high enough and if the depth can weather the grind of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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