You can make a good argument for any one of eight or nine teams to hoist the Stanley Cup in late-June.
Of course, you can make a good argument for several of those teams to fall in the first round of the playoffs that start today with opening games in Winnipeg (3 p.m.) and Dallas (5:30 p.m.).
There simply aren鈥檛 many first-round 鈥榞immes鈥 anymore. With the competitive balance never better than it is now, just surviving the 82-game grind to get to the post-season is challenging. In a league where only half the teams make the playoffs, a lot of very good teams don鈥檛.
We鈥檒l do our best to dissect which teams will emerge from the sweet-16 in what is arguably the most difficult of the 4 major North American pro sports to predict:
Eastern Conference:
1 Washington vs. 8 Montreal: The youthful Habs needed the full 82 games to earn the final ticket to the dance, but won鈥檛 be 鈥渏ust happy to be here鈥 against a surprising Capitals team that topped the conference after qualifying in Game 82 themselves last year.
Game 1 is on Monday at 4 p.m.
The Capitals stumbled a bit in the last three weeks after clinching the conference and focusing mainly on Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzkysa国际传媒 career mark of 894 goals, which of course he did.
Caps retooled their roster in the off-season and everything worked as they racked up 111 points going into their regular season finale.
They suffered a key injury recently when forward Aliaksei Protas went down with a foot injury, and his status is murky at best for the Montreal series. The talented youngster had a breakout season with 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games. He will be missed.
Habs, meanwhile, recently added explosive forward Ivan Demidov who joined them after leading the KHL in scoring. He joins a speedy core than includes young standouts Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.
I think this is going to be a 鈥榮exy鈥 pick for a first-round upset and I too am buying in on the Habs, who have basically been playing playoff hockey for the last month.
Montreal in 6.
2. Toronto vs. 7. Ottawa: The Senators have been a nice story, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Now they come up against arguably their biggest rivals in the much-anticipated 鈥楤attle of Ontario鈥.
The Senators have a talented young core let by budding superstar Tim Stutzle. They鈥檝e got a mobile defence corps and get spectacular goaltending at times from Linus Ullmark.
The Leafs have suffered their share of playoff disappointments in recent years as they look to win their first Stanley Cup since 1967. But theresa国际传媒 plenty of reasons to believe they鈥檒l exorcise those demons in 2025. Matthew Knies has emerged as the missing piece on the top line with Matthews and Marner, William Nylander could have a huge playoffs, and Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll give the Leafs the quality goaltending they have lacked in recent seasons.
Should be a fun series, but the Leafs will ultimately have too much.
Toronto in 5.
Carolina vs. New Jersey: The 2nd and 3rd place teams in the Met have known pretty much since the turn of 2025 they would be clashing in the first round.
A lot of observers are writing the Devils off because star centre Jack Hughes is out for the season, but as a Rangers fan I watch this division a lot. The Devils seem to be playing a much more disciplined and effective team game without Hughes.
Carolina (99 points) has had a so-so season by their high standards. The ill-fated trade for Mikko Rantanen set them back for a while. I am not convinced they have enough go-to players up front or on the blueline, and their goaltending is suspect at best.
The Devils have the third best power play in the league, and getting offensive blueliner Dougie Hamilton back after a lengthy injury absence should help, and Jakob Markstrom gives them solid, veteran goaltending. In another upset 鈥
New Jersey in 6.
Tampa Bay vs. Florida: The Sunshine State rivals clash again with the Lightning having home-ice advantage over the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers.
No shortage of star power in this series with Kucherov, Point, Guentzel, Hagel, Hedman and all-world goalie Vasilievskiy going up against Floridasa国际传媒 Barkov, Reinhart, former Bruins star Brad Marchand and heart-and-soul captain Matthew Tkachuk, who is expected to return after missing the last month with an injury.
Should be a fiercely contested series that goes the distance, but I think the goaltending and special teams will be the difference.
There will be a new champion in 2025...
Tampa Bay in 7.
Western Conference
1 Winnipeg vs. 8 St. Louis: Coming off a sensational 116-point season that netted them the Presidentsa国际传媒 Trophy, the Jets will be heavy favourites to dispatch a much-improved Blues squad.
The Jets do have some concerning injuries including second-line forwards Nikolaj Ehlers and Gabe Vilardi. Ehlers likely won鈥檛 be available until the second round (if the Jets advance) and Winnipeg will really miss his speed.
Winnipeg ultimately should be fine led by snipers Kyle Connor and Mark Schiefele and standout blueliner Josh Morrissey. And then you have the terrific big man in goal, Connor Hellebuyck, who should win another Vezina Trophy.
Led by gifted forward Robert Thomas, Blues will definitely not be an easy out.
Winnipeg in 6.
2. Vegas vs. 7 Minnesota: The Golden Knights are a big, strong deep team led by star forward Jack Eichel.
Shea Theodore heads up a defence corps that is easily one of the best in the NHL 1 through 6.
The Wild are a scrappy group that is capable of matching up physically with Vegas. Superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov returned after a series of injuries a week ago and if he is healthy, Minnesota can push the Knights in this series.
Vegas in 7.
Los Angeles vs. Edmonton: The Oilers and Kings meet yet again in the post-season, with the Kings hosting Game 1 Monday at 7:30 p.m. PDT
The Oilers have been ravaged by injuries down the stretch, at one time having to play several games without both superstar forwards McDavid and Draisaitl.
Edmonton is hoping to have most of the cavalry back for the series, but they will have to get by without standout defenceman Mattias Ekholm and maybe a few others. The Kings are dealing with some key injuries of their own, but in comparing these teams, I just see L.A. as the more deep, complete, disciplined and defensively-adept squad.
Neither team has spectacular goaltending but the Kings will do a better job of protecting veteran Darcy Kuemper.
McDavid and Draisaitl will do their thing but the Kings are one of the few NHL teams capable of neutralizing them.
Los Angeles in 6.
Dallas vs. Colorado: Unfortunate one of these terrific teams will be eliminated in Round 1.
No shortage of star power in this one. The Avalanche have two of the very best in the game in Nathan MacKinnon and defenceman Cale Makar, who is the Paul Coffey or Brian Leetch of his generation. Martin Necas, who came over in the Rantanen trade, gives Colorado yet another skilled forward with blistering speed.
Rantanen? After getting traded to Carolina, he was moved to Dallas where he goes up against his old team and longtime linemate MacKinnon.
Rantanen has plenty of offensive talent around him in Dallas, but the Stars are missing a massive piece in standout defenceman Miro Heiskanen, who won鈥檛 be available until Round 2.
The Stars have the edge in goal with Jake Oettinger, but I think when all is said and done, they won鈥檛 have an answer for MacKinnon and Makar.
Colorado in 6.
STANLEY CUP FINAL: Leafs become first Canadian team to win the Cup in 32 years and end their own 58-year drought, beating
Colorado in 7 games.
Dave Crompton is a retired sports writer from The Herald.
