Avs Need To Pay Back Jets - And Eliminate Them As Potential First-Round Opponent

Common NHL cliched wisdom goes like this, if you’re a No. 1 seed entering the playoffs: Don’t wish for your first-round opponent over others. It’s bad karma.

Nonsense.

Players and coaches would never say this, but in my experience, they do absolutely root for certain teams to be their first-round opponents.

To be clear: the Avs are going to be overwhelming favorites in the first round, ASSUMING they keep the No. 1 seed that they’ve held every day since Nov. 1.

They would play the second wild-card team in the first round, and if the playoffs started today, that team would be the Nashville Predators. As much as I fear the Curse-of-the-ex-Avs power of Ryan O’Reilly, I don’t think the Avs play any more than five games to beat the Preds.