‘NHL 17’ playoff simulation picks surprising Stanley Cup champion

Congratulations to the Nashville Predators — the 2016-2017 Stanley Cup Champions!

OK, so the NHL playoffs have yet to even get underway. But EA Sports has gone ahead and run its annual Stanley Cup simulation in an effort to predict hockey's top team. This year, "NHL 17" has given the honors to Nashville.

According to the simulation, the Preds will take down the Montreal Canadiens in a seven-game Cup Final, with the Conn Smythe going to Filip Forsberg with 12 goals and 23 points.

Here's EA's full bracket:

 

The enticing takeaway here is the SCF matchup between the Predators and Canadiens — the two teams that swapped P.K. Subban and Shea Weber last summer in the biggest blockbuster trade the NHL has seen in a while. Obviously, that's a matchup that would create plenty of buzz and drama. It would almost be too convenient.

But considering that EA Sports has yet to correctly predict a Cup winner in their eight previous years of running the simulation, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for a Subban-Weber showdown. In fact, we can probably go ahead and congratulate the Not Nashville Predators on their Stanley Cup win.