The Stanley Cup is considered by many to be the most coveted and hardest trophy to win in all professional sports. Over the next couple of months, 16 teams will battle it out, and the first to 16 wins will get to hoist the cup at the end of a long but hard-fought season.
So, who are those 16 teams and how will the playoffs get started? The postseason will begin with eight opening round matchups, four in each conference, the East and West. Since the reformatting of the playoffs back in 2014, the field includes the top three finishers from each division within each conference. Each series is a best of seven all the way through the finals.
There are also two wildcard teams, regardless of division, that fill the eight spots on each side. In the Eastern conference, the first six teams are the top three from the Metropolitan and Atlantic divisions, plus the two wildcards. In the West, six come from the top three in the Central and Pacific divisions along with the two wildcard teams.
Here are the round one games for this year’s Stanley Cup Playoff field and who I believe will make it to the second round.
Starting with the East, the top team in the conference are the Washington Capitals from the Metropolitan division. They will take on the Montreal Canadiens, the last wildcard team to make the field after winning their 82nd and final regular season game, securing the final spot in the playoffs.
The Capitals roster includes Alexander Ovechkin who broke Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record of 894 career goals, finishing this regular season with 897 in his career. Despite Washington losing eight of their last 12 regular season games, they had secured the top spot a while ago, so it’s not shocking that they let their foot off the gas a little. They’ll pick themselves back up in the playoffs and I think they will down the Canadiens in five games.
The next matchup between two Metropolitan teams is the second seed Carolina Hurricanes against the third seed New Jersey Devils. The playoffs are nothing new to the Hurricanes, as they’ve made the second round the last few seasons. Meanwhile, the Devils missed the last postseason. I think the Canes will take down the Devils in six games and return to round two once again.
A few seasons ago, in round two, we had the battle of Alberta which pitted the Edmonton Oilers against the Calgary Flames, which the Oilers won in five. This year, we have the battle of Ontario which pits the Atlantic division champion Toronto Maple Leafs against the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa has not been in the playoffs since they were eliminated in the Eastern conference final in 2017 by the Pittsburgh Penguins. I don’t think they will take down the Leafs, so give me Toronto in five games.
Finally in the Eastern conference, for the second year in a row in the first round and fourth time in the last five seasons in the overall playoffs, we have the battle of the Sunshine State. The reigning champion Florida Panthers find themselves an underdog to their state rival Tampa Bay Lightning who last won the cup back-to-back in 2020 and 2021. I always say you can’t count out past champions, so I like the Panthers, but I do think this series will go the full length of seven games.
Shifting to the West, the top seed Winnipeg Jets also won the Presidents’ Trophy this season, which means they had the best record in the entire league. They take on the St. Louis Blues in the opening round. There’s a superstition fans believe that the Presidents’ Trophy winners tend to lose early, and the last ones to win the cup were the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. I don’t think the Jets will win the cup, but they will beat the Blues in round one, taking about six games.
The next matchup between Central division opponents is one I believe to be the best series of the first round. The two-seed Dallas Stars are playing the three-seed Colorado Avalanche. Some people are calling this the Mikko Rantanen bowl, since he played for Colorado and is now with Dallas, facing his old team in the postseason. I also think this series will go seven with the Stars coming out on top.
The top team in the Pacific division, the Vegas Golden Knights who won the cup two seasons ago, will go up against the wildcard team Minnesota Wild who have never won the cup. Vegas defeated Minnesota all three times they matched up in the regular season. I believe they will once again defeat them in the postseason, winning this series in five games.
Finally, our last first-round matchup is one that will take place for the fourth consecutive season between the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton has won the prior three, but this is the first of the four in which LA is the higher seed. I really like the Kings’ chances, so I have them winning in six games, finally getting past the Oilers in round one.
I usually tend to lean toward at least one or two series ending in sweeps each year, meaning 4-0 dominance on one side. However, this year, we have some intriguing matchups that will provide a binge-worthy first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is the first time in nine seasons that five of the seven Canadian teams are in the field. The only two that didn’t make it were the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. The last Canadian team to win the cup was Montreal in 1993.
The NHL postseason gets underway on April 19 and in the U.S., every game can be seen on ESPN, ABC, TNT, TruTV and TBS. The Stanley Cup Final this season can be seen on TNT and TruTV. All ESPN and ABC games can also be streamed on ESPN+ and all games on TNT, TruTV and TBS can be streamed on MAX. All games in the Canadian region can be seen on Sportsnet throughout the entirety of the tournament. The semifinals, finals, certain first and second round games can also be heard on Sports USA radio.
Jackson Hamelund can be reached at arg-sports.uidaho.edu.