Round three predictions

 Some of which I was wrong, such as Winnipeg beating Dallas or Washington beating Carolina. But some I was right about such as the length of the Dallas series being six games, but more importantly knew it'd take Florida seven games to beat Toronto. But also, Edmonton beating Vegas was another I got right.

One thing I notice here is one big thing, and it's the fact in the last two seasons separately, we've seen the exact same teams going at in in the Western Conference Finals. Florida and Carolina in 2023, and Edmonton and Dallas in 2024. But one thing that needs to be brought up here is the taxation. Teams are signing players to contracts whereas they sign less money than they did in a high-taxed market such as a New York/California team. I notice over the past few seasons some of which being primary examples in Vegas, Dallas, Tampa, and Florida is they keep playing in either the finals or conference finals because of the extra cap they have to spend because they're giving their stars $9M AAV where they make as little to $5.8M a year, but if they're playing in let's say Canada they make $4M after taxes, agent fees, etc. What I propose should be in order is a tax cap where taxes are irrelevant to the salary cap no matter where a player may play. Say if a player signs a contract, taxes would be added on later, or if they're traded to a team with low taxes they get the taxes reduced onto their new team. 


But anyway, here's my predictions.

Eastern Conference Finals:

Florida vs Carolina - Florida in six - Game seven in Toronto may have taken a toll, but I think they're on a roll as Carolina may be too relaxed and have lacked more in production than Florida. Also, I believe Florida to be the stronger team with more edge than Carolina. Not saying Carolina beating Florida can't be possible as I do believe it's nice to see a new team head to the finals rather than the same one for the third-year in a row.  

Preference: May the best man win. 

Western Conference Finals:

Edmonton vs Dallas - Oilers in seven - Dallas is the better team with more firepower with better goaltending, defense, and offense than Edmonton. Now, Edmonton has better effective forwards and leaders in McDavid and Draisaitl. Based on how they're playing, it looks like they're hungrier than ever to bring a Stanley Cup back to the city of champions. Though I believe Dallas gives them a challenging challenge that may just have all hockey fans questioning the entire series. But I love how the Stars/Oilers rivalry is staying strong through many years and some may disagree, but it's one of the best rivalries in hockey. That's why it's a very exciting series. 

Preference to win: Edmonton.





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