The San Jose Sharks did not just land an all-star in defenseman Erik Karlsson if they obtained him a commerce with the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 13, they also earned the last piece to a Stanley Cup championship team, in accordance with seven of the 18 NHL.com panelists who have made their preseason predictions.
The Sharks, who have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 18 have never won the Cup, reaching the Closing 2016, where they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Karlsson, who played his first nine NHL seasons will also be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy three of panelists predicted. Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (2), ahead Logan Couture (1) and goalie Martin Jones (1) were the other choices for Conn Smythe out of San Jose.Though that the Sharks received the most votes to win the Cup, the Tampa Bay Lightning, that attained the Eastern Conference Final last season, were selected by six specialists to win everything.
Winnipeg Jets and the Nashville Predators each got two votes and the Penguins got you. Even the Washington Capitals, the defending Stanley Cup winners, weren’t picked by any of the specialists to repeat. In reality, Vegas Golden Knights and the Capitals, who played in the Stanley Cup Final last season, were not chosen by any of the specialists to return there this season.
The Lightning would be the favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the Cup Final, receiving votes. The Toronto Maple Leafs (2), Penguins (2) and Boston Bruins (1) obtained the other votes in the East.
From the West, the Sharks got nine votes while the Jets got Predators four and five, to reach the Final.
Of those six who picked the quad to win the Cup, three called defenseman Victor Hedman to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, two select forward Nikita Kucherov and one picked goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The other Conn Smythe picks were Filip Forsberg of the Predators (2), Sidney Crosby of the Penguins (1) and Mark Scheifele of and Patrik Laine of the Jets.
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