The Stanley Cup playoffs are when the spotlight shines the brightest on the NHL. Not coincidentally, they're also when hockey's star players shine the brightest, too.
Every preseason, we publish the ESPN NHL Rank, which rates the top 100 players based on how good they're expected to be in the upcoming season -- predicting potential greatness rather than relying on past performances or positional value. It's time to do the same for the postseason.
Here's the playoff edition of ESPN NHL Rank, which seeks to identify the top forwards, defensemen and goaltenders in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.