After Mikko Rantanen’s emotional return to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche with his new team, the Dallas Stars, star Cale Makar sent out a powerful message about potentially meeting his former teammate again during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Under the NHL’s wildcard system, the matchups in the playoffs tend to repeat themselves throughout the years. The Avalanche and Stars, two of the best teams in the Central Division, could face off against each other for the second time in a row, though their last series was in the second round during the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This time around, with the Jets leading the Western Conference by a wide margin and the Avs and Stars holding substantial leads over the wildcard teams, it seems almost certain that the franchises from Denver and Dallas will collide in the first round.
As a result, Rantanen may have to get used to seeing a lot more of his former teammates, possibly clashing with them in a seven-game series, where the winner would become a heavy favorite for the Cup.
After the Avalanche’s 4-3 overtime win over the Stars, Cale Makar delivered a firm message about the potential playoff series against Rantanen and Dallas, which now seems closer to becoming a reality than ever.
“I think it’s inevitable,” Avalanche star Makar admitted, per DNVR Avalanche on X. “I think we’ve got to meet. I think if we matchup, it’s going to be incredibly hard series if it comes to that. They are a super deep team, and we’ve added so much depth, too. Again, it’s going to be games like tonight, very tight-checking and not a lot of scoring opportunities, but you’ve got to find ways to capitalize, and that’s what they did at the end.”
Groundhog’s Day
If the NHL adopted the 1-8 playoff bracketing system, the Avalanche and Stars would currently hold the second and fourth seeds in the West, respectively. However, under the current format, one of these teams will most likely be eliminated in the first round.
The format has garnered significant criticism from both fans and organizations, with many pointing to matchups that seem to repeat season after season. Moreover, second- and third-place teams in a division are matched up regardless of their overall position in the conference standings, which harms teams in tougher conferences.