Canadiens ‘could go far’ in Stanley Cup Playoffs, Schneider says

The bracket for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference isn't set yet, but Cory Schneider said he already sees more upset potential in the Eastern Conference when the playoffs begin Saturday.

On this week's episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast, Schneider, a retired goalie turned analyst on NHL Network and MSG Networks, specifically mentions the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens as teams he is watching closely for upsets.

Ottawa (43-27-11), the second wild card in the East, will play the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. Montreal (48-24-10), the third-place finisher in the Atlantic Division, will play the Tampa Bay Lightning, who will finish second in the division.

"The West, the top teams I think are just too good that it's going to be hard to knock some of them off," Schneider said. "But out East, I love Ottawa. They've played really well all year, just haven't quite gotten the saves, but now they are with Linus Ullmark playing a little bit better, so I don't know if I'd want to play them. And also, Montreal has all the ingredients for a team to go on a deep run -- they've got the franchise center in (Nick) Suzuki, they've got the elite winger in (Cole) Caufield. They have a Norris-caliber defenseman in Lane Hutson, and (Jakub) Dobes has been playing as well as any goalie in the League.

“They're a team that I think could go far here if they get out of that first round against Tampa, which is no easy feat. They were my preseason pick to win the Stanley Cup. That's going to be a heck of a matchup."

Schneider provided the goalie perspective in his interview with podcast co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke, giving his opinion on several East goalies, including Brandon Bussi (Hurricanes), Dobes (Canadiens), Jeremy Swayman (Boston Bruins) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning).

He said the Bruins are the most interesting team in the playoffs because he thinks they're a year ahead of schedule. He also said Vasilevskiy is his choice as the goalie who he thinks will have the best postseason and suggested Tampa Bay will face the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final.

But he stressed that he feels the upsets are more likely to come out of the East.

"The East to me is a little more up in the air," Schneider said. "Even Carolina, we know what they can do and I think they have an easier path than potentially Buffalo or a team in the Atlantic, but they haven't gotten it done to get to the Final, so they're not sure thing either.

“I think it's a lot harder to predict the East than the West, let's put it that way, because there's so much more variety and parity."

Rosen and Roarke were also joined by former NHL player and coach Tony Granato, who provided some coaching perspective heading into the playoffs.

Granato credited John Tortorella for helping the Vegas Golden Knights find some traction after replacing Bruce Cassidy on March 29 with eight games remaining. Vegas can wrap up first place in the Pacific Division on Wednesday, needing one point against the Seattle Kraken (10 p.m. ET; KHN/Prime, KING 5, SCRIPPS, KONG, SNP, TVAS).

"Bruce is a great coach, we all know that, but something just wasn't clicking for Vegas during the year; they kind of looked like they were just playing," Granato said. "When you're in management and you're looking at your team and you're going, 'Geez, we're underachieving here, how are we all of a sudden going to turn it on in playoffs?' Well, they didn't wait until playoffs to try to turn it around. I think it's paid off for them.

“'Torts' has got a lot of energy still. He obviously sparked a few guys into performing a little bit differently, a little bit better and with a little bit more confidence. And because of that they've gone on a run, and it looks like they're going to win that division. Kudos to them for making that change."

Granato said he was surprised the New York Islanders fired Patrick Roy with four games remaining in their season and hired Pete DeBoer to replace him. He said he would have had Roy on his ballot for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.

With Roy out of the mix, Granato said he would instead have Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis on his ballot for the job he's done in Montreal.

He also talked about Rick Bowness and the job he did in taking over the Columbus Blue Jackets, providing his thoughts on why he was surprised to how the coach reacted after a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.

The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.