Tonight's Playoff Preview - A Dive Into the Depths

In this post, I will get into the background of each team's "role players" in tonight's Stanley Cup Playoff games that feature the Golden Knights @ Avalanche and the Canadians @ Jets for the title of Canada.

(Image Credits - CBS Sports)

I'll start with the final two Canadian teams left in the Playoffs to begin this post. The matchup tonight between Montreal and Winnipeg will begin at 7:30 and should turn out to be a fantastic series. As we take a look at this image above, it's hard to believe the Canadians and Jets are the two teams battling for Canada based on their seeding. The role players of each team, specifically Montreal, enabled them to get this far.

Canadians - Jesperi Kotkaniemi

The specific player for the Habs that I will focus on is Jesperi Kotkaniemi. This guy has been an absolute workhorse for them, and in the Playoffs especially. It is hard to imagine he would've been this good when they drafted him, but he is one of the guys that any team would take on their bottom six. In the bubble in Toronto last year because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, he had a fantastic playoff. Against the Pittsburgh Penguins in said bubble, the center scored big goal after big goal, helping the Canadians win that qualifying round series in 4 games. He was scratched in the first game of the first round this year against Toronto but found his way back into the lineup after the injury to Jake Evans. The team rallied with his help as he helped them overcome the 3-1 deficit. Kotkaniemi is a native of Finland and has only been playing in the NHL for 3 years. He played a few years of World Juniors on the Fin national team before going to the big leagues and put up some impressive numbers, which brought very high expectations among the Habs and their fans. This signing by Marc Bergevin has been one that Montreal has benefited from, and should help the Canadians in the long term.

Jets - Adam Lowry

This player has been very good for the Jets and did a fantastic job of making big plays in their first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers. He doesn't have the high-octane scoring ability that most top-line players have, but he is big and that is something that has become very valuable in the NHL as of late. The center has been a regular on this team for some years now, and this is the only team he has played for. He was drafted by the Jets in the 2011 NHL Draft in Pittsburgh and is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He has been playing hockey his whole life and was on the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL before being brought into the American Hockey League and then the NHL from there.

Golden Knights - Ryan Reaves

Everyone knows who Ryan Reaves is, and how often he gets involved with the NHL Department of Player Safety. He is known for his reckless play and physical game, but what people don't see is the role he plays on this team. Without Reaves, the Golden Knights would not be able to take chances with their stars as often as they do, guys like William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault stepping up when the team is down. He has provided the team with a spark of lower line offense and subtle skilled play, scoring goals at critical times, such as the 2018 Stanley Cup Final against the Capitals in game 1. The Knights winger came from the three-way trade between Pittsburgh, Ottawa, and St. Louis in 2018, and being a Manitoba kid has known nothing but hockey his entire life. He played on the Brandon What Kings of the Western Hockey League before being drafted by the Blues in the 2005 NHL draft in Ottawa.

Colorado Avalanche - Jonas Donskoi

Donskoi made a name for himself in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final when he sent the Shark Tank into a wave of chaos after scoring a big goal in Game 3 against the Penguins. He has been a very good addition to the right-wing on the third line of the Avs and has been a major part of their success so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Colorado will continue their push for a Stanley Cup Title, and Jonas Donskoi will be sure to factor in on what happens to them. The Avs right-winger was born in Finland and drafted into the NHL in the fourth round of the 2010 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers. He, like JK, also played in the IIHF tournament and was seen making play after play there, which sparked the interest of the NHL scouts and paved the way for his career into the Sharks franchise.