Teams that top contenders want to avoid

They can’t say it publicly. There’s nothing to gain. All you’d be doing is providing bulletin board material. But you’d better believe players, coaches and executives from playoff teams are looking at the standings and trying to figure out which opponents make a better first-round matchup compared to others.

One assistant general manager was chatting on Wednesday, and he ran right through the options for his playoff-bound group.

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He actually liked how his team matched up with one Stanley Cup contender. He saw an average team as a real threat because of a history of failure…