Each passing day the legend of how "Bad" the North is grows. I grew up with the Leafs in the Norris division LOL. North has among the best talent in the entire NHL.
A Team from this division can certainly win a cup
A team from this division can win the cup only because we're in this division.
I still say the division is pretty bad. They're still all NHL teams though, it's not like we're playing AHL teams or anything. And let's not forget that we're in this division too so ... we don't have to play the Toronto Maple Leafs which means that our opposition on average is substantially weaker then teams in our division when we're included.
I think the OP doesn't line up well with the thread title. On one hand we won't know how we match up with teams we won't play this season until we play them so there is that but then, the same can be said for every team in the NHL. On the other hand, every game we play tells us something, it's not like we don't know anything about this team until we start playing in the semi-finals (assuming we make it that far).
If we can keep going the way we are and dominate the division from start to finish, that tells us something. If we falter, see our play drop off substantially and limp into 1st place or even not win the division, that tells us something. Again, every game tells us something and like I said before, what our play so far this season tells me is that this is a damn good team. I am quite sure that when teams like Boston, TB or whoever else is thinking about us, they're not thinking ah those Leafs, they always fold in the playoffs. They're thinking it looks like these guys have taken a big step forward this season, they're bringing it pretty much every night and Matthews and Marner have cranked up a notch and are among the most dangerous players in the league. I sure hope someone in the North flukes out a victory over them in the playoffs because if these guys make it to the final 4 on a roll, they're going to be scary.
