The San Jose Sharks didn’t only land an all-star in defenseman Erik Karlsson if they obtained him a trade using the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 13, they also brought in the final piece to a Stanley Cup championship team, in accordance with seven of the 18 NHL.com panelists that have made their preseason predictions.
The Sharks, who were made the Stanley Cup Playoffs at 18 have never won the Cup, reaching the Closing in 2016, where they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Karlsson, who performed his first nine NHL seasons will also be awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs, three of panelists predicted. Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (2), forward Logan Couture (1) and goalie Martin Jones (1) were another picks for Conn Smythe from San Jose.Though the Sharks obtained the most votes to win the Cup, the Tampa Bay Lightning, that reached the Eastern Conference Final last year, were selected by six specialists to win everything.
Winnipeg Jets and the Nashville Predators every got two votes and the Penguins got you. The Washington Capitals weren’t chosen by some of the specialists to replicate. In reality, Vegas Golden Knights and the Capitals, who played last season, weren’t chosen by any of the experts to get back there this season.
The Lightning would be the overwhelming favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the Cup Final, getting votes. The Toronto Maple Leafs (2), Penguins (2) and Boston Bruins (1) obtained the other votes from the East.
In the West, the Sharks got nine votes while the Jets got Predators four and five, to reach the Final.
Of the six who picked the quad to win the Cup, three predicted defenseman Victor Hedman to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, two select forward Nikita Kucherov and one chosen goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Another Conn Smythe picks were Filip Forsberg of the Predators (two ), Sidney Crosby of the Penguins (1) and Mark Scheifele of and Patrik Laine of the Jets.
