Your bag is empty.
The NHL regular season is over, which means the best time of the year for hockey fans is right around the corner: the playoffs. After a tense and thrilling season, it all comes down to this. Some teams clinched their final spots, like the Philadelphia Flyers, in highly dramatic (shootout win) fashion on the last day. Here’s what could happen.
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs predictions: East R1
- Buffalo Sabres over Boston Bruins in seven
- Tampa Bay Lightning over Montreal Canadiens in five
- Carolina Hurricanes over Ottawa Senators in six
- Pittsburgh Penguins over Philadelphia Flyers in seven
The Sabres are the NHL darling right now, breaking the longest active playoff drought in the process. They are the upstart, and the Bruins have the experience, even if they haven’t been as good. Still, the surging Sabres will keep on going.
The Lightning and Hurricanes are the best teams in the East, and they’ll dispatch their opponents with relative ease, although the Senators have some experience and talent to make it close. The Penguins have the veteran talent with championship experience, so they can edge out the Flyers.
West R1
- Colorado Avalanche over Los Angeles Kings in six
- Minnesota Wild over Dallas Stars in seven
- Vegas Golden Knights over Utah Mammoth in five
- Edmonton Oilers over Anaheim Ducks in five
The Avalanche may be the best team in hockey, so they shouldn’t struggle too much with the Kings. The Wild-Stars series can truly go either way, but the Quinn Hughes midseason trade will pay dividends here for Minnesota.
The Golden Knights are too talented to lose here, although the Mammoth deserve a ton of credit for making it to the playoffs so soon. The Oilers may be banged up, but they still have Connor McDavid. That will be enough.
NHL Eastern Conference R2
- Buffalo Sabres over Tampa Bay Lightning in seven
- Carolina Hurricanes over Pittsburgh Penguins in five
The Sabres’ dream run continues, though this would be a decent upset despite what the regular-season records hold. Tampa Bay is extremely talented, but the Sabres have a Cinderella team of destiny vibe going for them.
The Hurricanes are much better than the Penguins, and they have tons of playoff experience, too. The Canes also took three of four from the Penguins this season, so they should have very little trouble advancing.
West R2
- Colorado Avalanche over Minnesota Wild in six
- Vegas Golden Knights over Edmonton Oilers in seven
The Avalanche have the best collection of talent, so while the Wild will pose a threat, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar should give the Avs too much firepower for the Wild to keep up all series long.
The Oilers do have McDavid, but they do not have Leon Draisaitl, which is a huge blow. The Golden Knights went out and got Mitch Marner, who has struggled in the playoffs, to give them a talent edge in series like this, and it will pay off.
Conference and Stanley Cup Finals
- Hurricanes over Sabres in seven
- Avalanche over Golden Knights in six
It’s Carolina’s year. Their Eastern Conference Finals woes will finally come to an end, thanks in no small part to finally avoiding the Florida Panthers, who missed the playoffs entirely. The Avalanche can continue to ride their excellent top-end talent to the Stanley Cup Final.
- Hurricanes over Avalanche in seven
It’s been a long time since the Hurricanes have been in the Stanley Cup Final, but this feels like their year with Florida out. They have the scoring to complement Rod Brind’Amour’s defensive style, and he, as a player, has Stanley Cup Final experience. The Avalanche are supremely talented, but Carolina’s been building to this for a long time.
Related Posts
