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Craig Custance, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Resetting the Eastern playoff hunt

This may be the most wide-open Stanley Cup chase in the Eastern Conference the NHL has seen in years. Even with a number of Eastern teams making big deals at the trade deadline, nobody created separation.

It’s going to come down to health and matchups and, most likely, a lot of luck. It makes the Eastern Conference Stanley Cup race hard to project, but after analyzing the Western Conference on Wednesday, here’s a look at the East race and awards favorites now that the trade deadline has passed:

The Stanley Cup favorites

1. Pittsburgh Penguins

They’ve almost become the forgotten team in the Eastern Conference because nobody cares how they perform during the regular season. This is all just a warm-up act for the playoffs, but it’s shaping up to be a good one for the Penguins.

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