Some huge teams won't make it past the first round

For many fans, this year was heaven. Perhaps you're a long-time Panthers supporter or even a L.A. Kings fan who saw your team surprisingly make the playoffs. For other less fortunate people, they saw their teams fail miserably.

Imagine being a Vegas fan and seeing your team miss the postseason for the first time in franchise history. Or even a Canadiens fan who just one year ago, overcame a 3-1 series deficit against the Maple Leafs, then swept the Jets and made it to the finals. One year on, and you've clinched last place in the NHL.

Arguably though, Flyers fans may have just had it the worst. Last summer, the team made huge strides in an effort to improve on what they thought was a positive young core. Rasmus Ristolainen, Ryan Ellis, Cam Atkinson and Claude Giroux were all to some extent, "star" caliber players.

Who could have foreseen a 25-46-11 record, standing dead last in the Metropolitan Division? The Flyers endured an almost always empty Wells Fargo Arena, a lawsuit by its own employees, the departure of their franchise captain Claude Giroux and the firing of their head coach midway through the season. These fans are the most resilient in the world.

However, the Flyers are not going to be the team most upset about this season. We know what we're getting, A top-6 prospect in the first round. The teams who will really be upset are those about to lose in the first round after all this hard work. The matchups are set and let me tell you, there are going to be many good teams in the golf courses very very soon.

The Leafs and Auston Matthews take on Tampa while the Bruins and Hurricanes face off on Monday, May 2nd. The Blues also play the Wild, with both sides promising to be exciting dark horses.

On Wednesday, the President trophy winning Florida Panthers play a depleted Washington while the Avalanche look to beat the Predators.

By mid May, four of these teams will be out of the playoffs and have their GM and fans scratching their heads wondering where it all went wrong. This is where upsets are made and these next few weeks will determine whether a side shuts it down or runs it back.

Will McDavid and Draisaitl be able to get past the Kings? Will Matthews have another record breaking season just to have a first round exit? Will MacKinnon and Makar finally make it past the conference semis? All these questions will be answered soon and as Flyers fans, we may feel a little better about ourselves.