Barring some drastic change in the remaining weeks of the NHL’s 2024-25 regular season, the Colorado Avalanche are more or less locked into third place in the highly-competitive Central Division. However, the two teams currently above them in the Central — the first-place Winnipeg Jets and second-place Dallas Stars — aren’t nearly as secure in where they are at the moment.
Indeed, with the Jets having another eight games left to play, and with the Stars having another nine games left, there could be a switching of positions beween the two teams. Winnipeg presently has 106 standings points, while Dallas has 100 points with a game in hand on the Jets.
So, with that in mind, which of the Jets or Stars should the Avalanche hope to play in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs? For a few different reasons, we’re going to argue that the Avs should be hoping Winnpeg slides to second place and Colorado gets the Jets in the opening round.
Why? Well, for one thing, the Stars are arguably the deepest team in the league after the addition of star winger Mikko Rantanen. And Winnipeg’s recent playoff history has been far from ideal — and not nearly as good as Dallas’ recent playoff runs. To that end, last season, the Avalanche beat the Jets in the first round, before Colorado fell to the Stars in Round Two. So you can see why the Avs would probably prefer to take on Winnipeg in the opening round.
Now, the season series between Colorado and Dallas and Winnipeg would suggest the Stars should be the Avalanche’s preferred first-round opponent. The Avs went 2-1-0 against Dallas this season, and they only went 1-2-1 against Winnipeg. In addition, the Jets have the best goaltender in the league in Connor Hellebuyck, and Winnipeg has been slightly more dominant than the Stars.
That said, Dallas also has an elite goalie in Jake Oettinger, and the Stars also have the best defeseman (other than Avs superstar Cale Makar and Canucks star Quinn Hughes) in Miro Heiskanen. This is to say it’s going to be very difficult for Colorado no matter who they get in the first round, because in the second round, the Avalanche is almost assuredly going to take on either Dallas or Winnipeg.
Still, if we were an Avalanche fan and we had to choose either the Stars or Jets in Round One, we’d pick the Jets without hesitation. Winnipeg simply hasn’t proven itself worthy of being a favorite in the post-season, and Dallas has continually proven itself to be a team that can win at least a round or two.
The Avs should want to avoid the Stars until the second round — or even more ideally, they ought to hope that Dallas is eliminated in the first round — and that means taking on the Jets in the first round. Time will tell if we’re right in that regard, but one way or another, the Avalanche are going to get a tough test right off the hop. And the way they respond in Round One will set the table for their subsequent destiny.
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