Canucks-Wild series debated by Hirsch, Carter

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers will use eight best-of-5 series and two four-team round-robins to determine the field and seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL.com will preview every series with an alumni roundtable, featuring a former player from each team debating key points.

Today, former Vancouver Canucks goalie Corey Hirsch and former Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Carter look at the series between Vancouver and Minnesota, to be played at Rogers Place in Edmonton beginning Sunday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, FS-N, FS-WI).

RELATED: [Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule | Rosters for Stanley Cup Qualifiers]

Hirsch, who played four of his eight NHL seasons for the Canucks from 1995-99 and had 87 of his 92 NHL wins with them, is a Canucks commentator for Sportsnet radio.

Carter, who played the final two seasons of his nine-season NHL career with the Wild from 2014-16, is an analyst for the Wild on Fox Sports North.

GOALTENDING

Hirsch: "If Jacob Markstrom doesn't have the season that he has, they're not even in this five-game series. I watched Markstrom steal so many games for them. That's not to say the Vancouver Canucks are a poor team, they're a good team. They are just young. To me, it's all about Markstrom. You can look at this series and to me it comes down to goaltending. Devan Dubnyk didn't really have a fair start to the season. His wife wasn't doing well and that was hard on him. He started to come around toward the end of the year. Is he going to be the Devan Dubnyk that we know? I know Jacob Markstrom is going to give it everything he's got."

Carter:"This open competition for the Minnesota Wild (between Dubynk, Alex Stalock and Kaapo Kahkonen) has created a real sense of urgency between these goaltenders and I do believe players are at their best when their backs are against the wall. If these guys truly want to win the job and play those games, they've got to perform consistently. That's one situation I'm watching really closely right now because I truly don't know how that's going to play out."

Hirsch: "That's a good point. I think it benefits having two guys that can play because you can kind of pick one to heat up. If your No. 1 guy isn't going in a short series, you're in trouble. If you've got two guys that can play, you're probably in a better position."

Carter: "I don't know whether it's an advantage or a disadvantage because I can see points for both sides. If you have your No. 1 guy and he's not sharp but is given the reigns and lets in a couple of soft ones in Game 1, you're not going to pull him."

PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE

Carter: "Regardless of the amount of experience you have as a club or an individual, no single player in the NHL has experienced anything like this. I do think the more veteran clubs and teams like the Wild will be able to look back on what their successes were in other playoff series and hopefully implement those. I do think more veteran clubs are more disciplined and they understand the structure and what [Stanley Cup Playoff] hockey ultimately amounts to."

Hirsch: "I think you can throw playoff experience out the window right now. Maybe in rounds two, three and four (it matters). You might get a young guy that gets hot in that first round and you're done before you know it. The teams are so close right now. Minnesota was one of the hottest teams (before the pause). This is a completely different animal. As you get deeper into the playoffs, that's where the veteran stuff comes in. But I'm going to go with teams (like the Canucks) that have younger players just because you're going to be chasing these young guys around. The younger guys are going to go 100 miles an hour."

CANUCKS OFFENSE VS. WILD DEFENSE

Hirsch: "The Canucks now have three lines that can score with Brock Boeser back and the addition of Tyler Toffoli. Up front, they are young but can put the puck in the net."

Carter: "I think because skating is their strength, that kind of drives some of the offense. But the 'D' are going to be relied upon not just to shut those guys down -- Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller -- they've got some good guys up front that can move. I think that the mobility being a strength for the Wild, I like that matchup, the 'D' core and team as a group have done a great job of limiting high-danger chances. If the Wild 'D' can do that, I like their chances, but I think they may have to take a little bit of an extra risk and count on their mobility offensively. That is an intriguing matchup and I do like their chances against the Canucks' top-end guys."

Hirsch:"Vancouver forwards will take chances and have to be careful not to turn the puck over because Minnesota's defense is very skilled and able to transition from defense to offense in a hurry, which could catch Vancouver in odd-man rushes against."