With the hype for March Madness dying down, the center stage is open for playoff hockey. Two months of incredible goals, improbable comebacks, devastating collapses, and at the end, the lifting of the Stanley Cup. Every year brings sixteen teams ready to fight to carve their names into history. One will succeed, fifteen will fail. These are their matchups:

C1. Winnipeg Jets (56-22-4, 116 pts) v. WC2. St. Louis Blues (44-30-8, 96 pts)

The team with the best start to a regular season in NHL history is against the hottest team in hockey. Winnipeg came out of the gate to start 15-1, while St. Louis won twelve straight to launch themselves into a playoff spot. While the Jets slowed down a little in the middle of the season, they still won the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in their history. They have proved they can soar above the rest, however, the question is, can the Jets conquer their postseason woes? Great seasons like this one have ended in uneventful series losses for the Jets, and the time is now to show that the Jets can go far. 

Their first test will be the reincarnation of the 2019 Blues. Winnipeg knows that team well, they lost in the first round four games to two. Under Jim Montgomery, the Blues have become a force to be reckoned with, however, there are still doubters about their ability to take on the juggernaut of the Western Conference. Answering that question will most likely be St. Louis’s goalie Jordan Binnington. He got the better of Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck in the Four Nations Championship, but he must be at his best to give the Blues a chance. 

C2. Dallas Stars (50-26-6, 106 pts) v. C3. Colorado Avalanche (49-29-4, 102 pts) 

The ultimate revenge series. Colorado seeks to avenge last year’s second-round loss against Dallas, and Mikko Rantanen looks to prove that he can be a game-changer without Nathan MacKinnon. For Dallas, the sky's the limit, but like Winnipeg, they have to prove they can play up to their potential come playoff time. Back-to-back losses in the Western Conference Finals haunt the Stars, and coach Peter DeBoer still seeks to win his first Stanley Cup. The Stars will need to be at their best if they are to go far, and hope to not collapse like they did against the Canucks a few weeks ago. And they’ll have to do it without the team leader in goal scoring, Jason Robertson. 

Similarly, Colorado has faced similar playoff futility ever since their Stanley Cup Championship in 2022. It’s going to be an uphill battle to reclaim lost glory as their depth and goaltending have not been fantastic this year; however, with one of the best starting lineups in the dance, anything’s possible. MacKinnon and Makar have shown that they can turn the tide of a game almost at will. Perhaps they can catch Dallas off guard, but Colorado is in more danger of collapsing than Dallas. Then again, the Oilers were in the same position last year and made it to the Cup Finals, so there’s always a chance, especially with the captain, Gabriel Landeskog, returning for the first time since the 2022 Cup Finals. 

P1. Vegas Golden Knights (50-22-10, 110 pts) v. WC1. Minnesota Wild (45-30-7, 97 pts)

The Golden Knights have been one of the most solid units this season. They quickly regained the Pacific Division title with a dominant season after losing it to the Vancouver Canucks last season. Their forward core, led by Jack Eichel, doesn’t have the highlight reel plays like other teams, but has been able to get the job done time and time again, and even if they don’t perform well in a game, they have Adin Hill in the net ready to defend against any onslaught. 

Minnesota has had quite the season. A team contending for the Central Division title before the break almost fell out of the playoff picture entirely due to a slew of injuries. The play of goalie Filip Gustavsson allowed the Wild to survive, and his hard work paid off. Star forward Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek returned to the ice just in time to take on Vegas. If they can rebound to form and the rest of the team continues to play well, they have a shot at taking down Vegas. 

P2. Los Angeles Kings (48-25-9, 105 pts) v. P3. Edmonton Oilers (48-29-5, 101 pts)

Fourth time’s the charm for Los Angeles. The past three years, they have met these Oilers in the first round, and for the last three years, they have been swept aside. They haven’t won a playoff series since the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals, where they beat the New York Rangers. Perhaps this year is their chance. Edmonton has been weakened by injuries, and the Kings have become a machine on home ice. The best home ice record in all of hockey with the series advantage, now is their time to exact their revenge on Edmonton. 

It’s a season of redemption for the Oilers. After coming so close to their first championship since 1990, when they weren’t even expected to make it to the Finals, they are hungry for more. Unfortunately, they didn’t get much better from last season. They still have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who both had injury scares before the playoffs. Other than that, there isn’t much else. They don’t have many notable depth players, and goalie Stuart Skinner hasn’t gotten any better. However, they’re playing the Kings, whom they’ve dominated for the past three years, so there’s always time to pull out old magic.

M2. Carolina Hurricanes (47-30-5, 99 pts) v. M3. New Jersey Devils (42-33-7, 91 pts) 

Two seasons that started with so much hope for the future ended with expectations not being met. At the beginning of the season, these two teams were expected to be contenders for the Metropolitan Division title, yet bad moves and unlucky circumstances caused both teams to fail in that endeavor. The Hurricanes, who have had playoff struggles for the past few years, tried to go all in by trading their captain, Martin Necas, and some draft picks to Colorado for Mikko Rantanen. Necas has been thriving on a line with MacKinnon, while Rantanen was out of Carolina and off to Dallas in fourteen games, not making an impact for the team in the process. Carolina got Logan Stankoven from Dallas, who also has not been a game-changer. The result of such moves has been the Canes tapering off to a distant second in the division. Luckily for them, their opponent is even worse off. 

The Devils started strong to lead the Metro for much of the first half of the season. Then injuries to key players, including star Jack Hughes, caused the Devils to fall off a cliff. The only reason they are in a playoff spot is goalie Jacob Markstrom playing incredibly despite a weakened defense, and the New York Rangers conveniently having a worse downfall than New Jersey. It’s a lost season of sorts for the Devils, and they’ll probably be back in the playoffs next year once everyone gets healthy, but in this series, they should be thoroughly crushed in every way. Still an improvement from last season, though. 

M1. Washington Capitals (51-22-9, 111 pts) v. WC2. Montreal Canadiens (40-31-11, 91 pts) 

Alexander Ovechkin did it. The Great 8 passed The Great One to become the all-time leading goal scorer. In addition to that, the Capitals went from getting swept in the playoffs after barely getting in last season to reclaiming the Metropolitan Division title. While this may be their last great chance to win a Cup in the Ovechkin Era, even if Washington falls short of a Stanley Cup this season was a success. However, they do have a team that can make a good run, and if Ovi can keep scoring goals like he did in the regular season, they will have a much better chance of dispatching opponents. 

The Canadiens also had a great rebound season. Going from the bottom of the Atlantic Division last year to coming out of nowhere to grab the last playoff spot in the East is a tremendous feat. They don’t have much in the way of defense or goaltending, but the future is very bright with talented young rookies like Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov, and a great forward core with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Patrik Laine. This year will most likely not be their year, but everyone said the same in 2021 when they made a miracle run to the Cup Final. 

A1. Toronto Maple Leafs (52-26-4, 108 pts) v. WC1. Ottawa Senators (45-30-7, 97 pts)

The Battle of Ontario has returned to the hockey rink for the first time since 2004. The Maple Leafs wish to continue their domination over the Senators, and they have a much-improved roster to help them. The forward core is relatively the same, with Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner dominating the statsheet, but the defense and goaltending have become a strength for Toronto as well, with goalies Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz becoming one of the best goaltending tandems in the league. Not to mention Toronto’s boogeyman is gone. The door is wide open for the Maple Leafs to finally make a deep playoff run. 

On the other hand, Ottawa has made the playoffs for the first time in eight years, snapping the third-longest playoff drought in the NHL. Ottawa had very few expectations for this year, but the physical team led by Brady Tkachuk managed to stay ahead of the competition in the Eastern Conference to make it to the dance. There’s also Linus Ullmark, who, like always, has been a stone wall in the net. While they can’t match the scoring prowess of the Leafs, if the defense can keep up and Ullmark can play like he did in the regular season, the Senators can upset a hated rival and bring joy to NHL fans everywhere. 

A2. Tampa Bay Lightning (47-27-8, 102 pts) v. A3. Florida Panthers (47-31-4, 98 pts)

The Battle of Florida has returned from last year. Tampa Bay will be looking to get revenge for last year, and they can do it. They can score goals at will. Nikita Kucherov won another Art Ross Trophy for most points in this NHL season. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been a brick wall in the net. What was thought to be a fading dynasty a year ago has made a surprising comeback with a great season. Although Tampa must win a cup now and add one more championship to their collection before the clock strikes midnight on their revival. 

It’s been an underwhelming season for the Panthers. The latter half of their season without Matthew Tkachuk hurt them, but it’s worse than that. The Panthers have been to two Cup Finals in a row before this season. While that's incredible, their offseason break was significantly shortened. The Four Nations didn’t help them either. They are a team that seems sluggish, bogged down by hidden injuries. They’re still a great team, but the question determining if they can go far is whether they can keep up with the Lightning.