The NHL playoffs begin today and they are sure to be entertaining.

The 16-team tournament features eight teams each from the Eastern and Western conferences, with the winner of each conference meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Western Conference may have one of the weakest playoff fields in recent memory. The Chicago Blackhawks seem to have the scariest roster and most likely won’t face much of a challenge until the Stanley Cup Finals.

Two intriguing options in this conference are the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers.

The Flames are a young, talented team that can move the puck and score with some of the league’s best teams. They are currently one of the NHL’s hottest teams. The only thing that may plague them is their goaltending situation.

The Oilers have been inspired by the play of Connor McDavid in his sophomore season in the NHL. He led the NHL in points and put the team on his back, but they likely are too inexperienced to make any sort of run.

The Eastern Conference is going to be fun to watch, especially the teams from the Metropolitan Division. The Columbus Blue Jackets and Penguins both had more than 100 points in the regular season, but one will be sent home in the first round because they play each other.

The Washington Capitals have a first-round matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team very similar to the Oilers. They’re young and have one of the best young players in the NHL in Austin Matthews. They likely have no chance to beat Washington, but it will be a good experience for a young team going forward.

People need to be aware of the Boston Bruins. The Bruins present a challenge with their physicality and they can score just as well. They should handle the Senators well in round one and potentially could find their way into the Eastern Conference Finals against the Capitals. They present a huge problem for a Capitals team that would be making their first appearance beyond round two since 1998.

A Stanley Cup Finals between the Blackhawks and the Bruins could get interesting. Both teams have top-tier goaltending in Corey Crawford and Tuukka Rask, respectively.

Boston’s biggest weapon is Brad Marchand. He is a pesky forward who scored 39 goals and had 85 points in the regular season. He will be opposed by Patrick Kane, who scored 34 times and had 89 points for Chicago.

This series would be rugged, with Boston’s physicality and good goaltending, but the Blackhawks would prevail in six games and beat Boston in a Stanley Cup Finals rematch from 2013, which Chicago also won.

This would be Chicago’s seventh championship since they became a franchise in 1926.

But that’s just as it stands today. It’s impossible to know for sure which teams will get hot and which teams will falter.