On paper, this looks like one of the more lopsided matchups on the slate. Which means that in reality, it'll probably be an absolute barn burner and probably the most exciting back and forth contested series to watch.
Sorokin has had a down season, but he's also still got the potential to turn it on, stand on his head and steal games as a real X-Factor. Especially compared to Carolina's goaltending, which is a bit of an unknown and potential achilles heel going in.
Horvat also showed briefly that he has another gear that he can potentially get to in the playoffs and really take a team on his back, score timely key momentum shifting goals, etc.
You've also got the Isles coming in scrapping and clawing their way to that wildcard spot, whereas Carolina have been cruising more for a while now...even if they've got that line firing on all cylinders, there might be a little bit of an intensity difference out of the gates.
So it has some potential to turn into that much better series than it looks at first glance.