Every Canadian Playoff Team's Biggest Weakness

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T. Tadi
May 13, 2021 (1:04 PM)

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The regular season, which lasted 56 games, is now over, and the real fun begins. The playoffs feature two rounds of all-Canadian matchups. In normal times, the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is the best time of the year. When you factor in the fact that we'll be seeing primarily rivalry matchups, it'll almost certainly be even better.

Of course, every team enters the playoffs believing they have a chance to win it all, and I suppose they do. In a best-of-seven playoff series, the lower seeds in hockey, more than any other sport, have a chance to cause havoc.

There is no such thing as a perfect team in the North, and each one has flaws. I thought it would be a good idea to look at each team's vulnerabilities before the playoffs started. To do so, I asked a writer/reporter from each of the four teams to describe what they think would be their team's weakness in the playoffs. This is what I came up with.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

For the Leafs, I asked our friend Jon Steitzer, who is the Managing Editor of The Leafs Nation. Here's what he said:

«It feels like the biggest weakness should be goaltending when our eggs are in the basket of a starter who has only had 21 games this season, and hasn't had a starter's workload since 2016-17 in the AHL. That would be a good choice, right? Well, I'll consider it the second choice behind being able to adapt their style of play. Unfortunately once a team figures out how to shut down the Leafs, they've had a hard time overcoming that. That was the issue last year with Columbus, and that lack of adaptation sank their powerplay this year as well. Thankfully they have enough talent to overcome it in the first couple of rounds.»

EDMONTON OILERS

I decided to handle this part of the article on my own. The Oilers have two of the most dynamic offensive players in the league and I'm not too concerned about those two producing in the playoffs. Still, their biggest weakness might still be their depth scoring.

If a team does find a way to keep McDavid and Draisaitl off the scoresheet for five or six periods, then the Oilers likely won't get enough offence from the bottom of their roster to overcome that. That's a big concern for me. Of course, Mike Smith will need to keep up his solid play and Darnell Nurse will need to log heavy minutes as well. But for me, the biggest concern is still their lack of depth scoring.

WINNIPEG JETS

For the Jets portion of things, I reached out to Angus Hout of Jetsnation. Here's his take:

«The Jet's biggest weakness is their defence. There is a lot wrong with this D-group. Everything from a lack of offence, being caught flat-footed which leads to high scoring chances, or just a general lack of high-end skill. You know what you're getting out of the Jets defense night in and night out and that predictability is starting to hinder the Jets. The lack of a number one defenseman is the biggest of the Jets' weaknesses. Every Jets fan has been screaming for a number one D-man since the departure of Dustin Byfuglien.»

MONTREAL CANADIENS
For the Habs, who are coming into the playoffs as the lowest seed in the North, I went to Tony Marinaro, who is a host on TSN 690 in Montreal. Here's what he said:

«No established number one Center. Suzuki has potential and has shown flashes but has not been consistent in that regard. Tough to ask of a 21-year-old in just his second season in the NHL. The team also lacks a mobile skating puck-moving defenceman.»

Credit: OilersNation