For now, the season is on pause. Yes, there’s been talk about what will happen if and when hockey returns to close out the 2019-20 season over the summer — from a 24-team playoff to teams getting in by percentage points to finishing out the regular season first. Whether or not that comes to fruition is still a guessing game.

What we do know is that if the NHL standings on March 12, when everything came to a screeching halt, had indeed been the final standings, oh, what a postseason it could have been. 

Here’s a look at some of the storylines from what would have surely been a thrilling first-round on the long road to the Stanley Cup.

Eastern Conference

Battle of Pennsylvania

Penguins vs. Flyers. Some may say it doesn’t have the same bite to it as the old Red Wings-Avalanche, Rangers-Islanders or even this season’s Flames-Oilers, but it’s still a heated rivalry nonetheless. This season would have been the eighth postseason match-up between the teams with the Broadstreet Bullies holding a slim historical playoff advantage (21-20); however, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins did take the most recent series back in 2018.

Playoff series history

*Penguins won Stanley Cup

This year, the Flyers were rolling and went 9-1-0 in their last 10 games while battling the Capitals for the top spot in the division; on the flip side, Pittsburgh was mired in a slump and had only won three of their last 10. It would have been an interesting match-up of teams with the young upstart Flyers taking on Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and company. Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault knows how to take a team all the way to the Finals but has yet to get over the hump. Whether or not this was the City of Brotherly Love’s year for a deep run is unknown, but this first-round series would have been a good gauge to see where they were at.

2019-20 series

Hey! The Leafs don’t get the Bruins in the first round

They did it! The Leafs don’t have to play the Bruins in the first round! Instead … it’s the Tampa Bay Lightning.

But still! Not the Bruins! (Reminder: three of their last four postseasons, Toronto lost to Boston in seven games in the first round.)

Could the Leafs finally get back into the second round? It’s only been 16 years. A first-ever postseason meeting doesn’t leave much in terms of history; however, Toronto does hold the upper-hand from the regular season, winning the two meetings that came well after Jon Cooper fixed the Lightning’s early-season woes.

2019-20 series

2019 rematches

The last two Eastern Conference series in 2020 harken back to yesteryear — or last year.

Boston, the expected 2020 Presidents’ Trophy winner, meets back up with the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Washington Capitals face their nemesis, the Carolina Hurricanes.

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Last season, the Bruins ended the playoff hopes for the Blue Jackets — who had just swept the Lightning — in six games. This year, could Columbus again knock out the NHL’s top team? They did beat them in both regular-season games, including a 3-0 shutout in January.

As for the Capitals, last year’s series was a doozy that saw big-time goals, shutouts from both teams and a double-overtime winner in Game 7 that, of course, had Mr. Game 7 himself, Justin Williams, involved.

Western Conference

Blues begin title defense

It was definitely an easier go of things this season for the St. Louis Blues. Last year they fired their coach and went on a downward spiral that saw two teammates fighting in practice. They turned things around, going from worst to first, and as the top team in the Western Conference, they looked poised for back-to-back titles. 

They were set to play the Predators, a team that fired their coach this season. While Nashville was playing better of late and swept the season series, they probably would have bowed out in the first round; St. Louis was on a tear with 10 wins in their last 12 games.

Revenge series

Just like in the East, the West has at least one team looking for some postseason payback. Two years ago, expectations were high for the Winnipeg Jets. They finished the regular season second in points in the entire NHL to the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Nashville Predators. 

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After getting past the Wild and the Preds, pundits and fans alike thought they’d be in the Stanley Cup Final, after all, they just had to get past Vegas. Instead, the upstart first-year franchise skated into the final in convincing fashion, sweeping Game 2-5.

This year, Vegas is in the driver’s seat in this one as the Central Divison champs. Although, one should point out that Winnipeg did sweep the 2019-20 season series.

2019-20 series

The next generation

The last time the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche met, the likes of Mike Modano, Joe Sakic and Bill Guerin were suiting up. There’s no love lost between these two teams today but it would be a treat to see the next generation of, er, stars, battle it out in this one. 

Nathan MacKinnon loves to light the lamp against the Stars — he has a career-best 30 points (10 goals, 20 assists) against them. Along with him and Gabriel Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar on the blue line, Colorado brings a stacked lineup. On the other bench, Dallas brings its own firepower with perennial Vezina Trophy candidate Ben Bishop in net and Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Miro Heiskanen up front.

It’ll be a battle of two teams that are expected to be Cup contenders for the foreseeable future.

Battle of Alberta

Sure the other playoff series in the West, and the entire NHL, would have been great to watch but holy smokes, this was the big one. Two teams who hate each other — goalie fights! line brawls! — facing off first-round seven-game series.

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It would have been must-watch-hockey every night.

2019-20 series

The match-up would have also marked the first time these two teams met in the playoffs since the days of Mark Messier and Al MacInnis sporting their respective colors. Back then, Theo Fleury had the goal celebration of all goal celebrations and Esa Tikkanen was doing what he did best, scoring overtime winners.

This year’s version would have pitted the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl against Mark Giordano and Matthew Tkachuk. “The Real Deal” James Neal against his trade partner Milan Lucic. Two netminders — Cam Talbot and Mike Smith — who know the other team very well and two fanbases salivating for another Stanley Cup,

Oilers’ Oscar Klefbom: ‘This should be and would’ve been the most interesting part of the year for us.’

Playoff series history