The NHL playoffs are finally here after a long and action-packed 82 game season. The final spots for the playoffs were even decided on the last week of the season with the Philadelphia Flyers sealing the last spot in the Metropolitan Division after a win against the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Los Angeles Kings earning the last Western Conference Wild Card spot with a victory over the Seattle Kraken. The Flyers are among many teams ending playoff droughts and the other teams joining them are the: Buffalo Sabres (ending an 11 year absence from the playoffs), Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Anaheim Ducks. Shockingly, some of the most notable differences in the playoffs from last year to this year include both the #1 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference failing to make the playoffs after having major “step-back” seasons. And, the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers failed to make the playoffs as well. The Stanley Cup Playoffs never fail to put on a show but this year could be even more entertaining, so let’s get right into the details. 

Eastern Conference

The story all year long in the Eastern Conference has been the Carolina Hurricanes. They’ve been phenomenal all year long and have looked like a contender since the start of the season. Additionally, they’ve made it past the first round for five straight years and even made the Conference Finals last year before ultimately losing to the Florida Panthers in five games. However, when it comes to contenders, it’s impossible to ignore the Tampa Bay Lightning. Led by MVP Candidate Nikita Kucherov, they had a firm lead over the Atlantic Division for most of the year until Buffalo went nuclear in December and overtook them in the final weeks of the season. Both of these teams scored over 100 points this season but one thing that separates these two is playoff experience. Tampa Bay is no stranger to the postseason as they’ve made it for nine straight seasons. Buffalo on the other hand looked nothing like a playoff team until December 9. After that OT win over Edmonton, they only lost nine games after that until the end of the season. That is an incredible turnaround and they can be argued as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. 

Both of the Eastern Conference Wild Card teams are coming out of the Atlantic Division, the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators. Boston scored 100 points and Ottawa was right behind them with 99, but both of them lost out to the Montreal Canadiens for the last Divisional Spot. Montreal is a young, fast, and exciting team that will for sure put on a show in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Senators will face off against the Hurricanes and the Bruins and Sabres will also duke it out in the first round. However, the most anticipated matchup, arguably in the whole first round, is the Battle of Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are playing each other in the playoffs for the first time since 2018, and this is a complete surprise to the NHL and fans alike. Both teams were in the last two spots in the Metropolitan Division a year ago and no one predicted a young, rebuilding team like the Flyers to earn the last spot available. And for a large part of the season, that was true. The Flyers got off to a good start to the season, with a new center in Trevor Zegras who revamped the team as a whole, but it didn’t take long for the Flyers to descend. In January, they won 4/15 games and looked like they were going to fall short again, but after the Olympic break in February, the team looked entirely different. With a defensive change to team dynamics, and a surge in goaltending from Dan Vladar, it didn’t take long for them to start winning and crawl to the last spot in the Metropolitan Division. Similarly, not many predicted that the more experienced, but aging, Penguins would get second in the Metro Division after having goaltending issues for the past few seasons. However, a trade with Edmonton for Stuart Skinner might’ve done the trick; the Penguins finally had a reliable goalie and all of a sudden, the push for the playoffs was on. Another “Grade A” season from Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led to their offensive surge, and before you knew it they were on track for a playoff berth. 

Western Conference

One team has completely blown away all competition this season in the entire NHL and that is the Colorado Avalanche. The President’s Trophy winner with 121 points has led in almost every single offensive team stat and only had two regulation losses for the first three months of the season. However, the President’s Trophy could be a bad omen as the last team with the best record in the regular season to even make the Stanley Cup Finals was the 2012-2013 Chicago Blackhawks. (NBC Chicago). The runner up in the Central Division, Dallas Stars also are a team to be feared. With 112 points, only one less than the Carolina Hurricanes, a matchup with the Minnesota Wild (104 points) is going to be a blockbuster. Another surprise to this year’s playoffs is the addition of the Utah Mammoth, who earned their first ever playoff berth. Formerly the Utah Hockey Club and Arizona Coyotes, their duel with the Las Vegas Golden Knights will be a fun one to watch and the potential for a Game 7 is especially high with both teams being fairly matched. Even though the Golden Knights are the Pacific Division Champions, this has been a poor year for the division as a whole. It only took 95 points to win the division and the Wild Card winners looked even more bleak, with the Mammoth earning their spot with 92 points and Los Angeles Kings taking the final spot with 90 points. 

The Los Angeles Kings have made the playoffs for the fifth straight year, but they have failed to advance past the first round in all of the prior four years. It looks unlikely that they’ll break the streak as they face off against the Avalanche and a sweep is looking like the most likely possibility. However, the most anticipated matchup coming out of the Western Conference is the Edmonton Oilers going against the Anaheim Ducks. The Florida Panthers are back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, but the team that was right there with them in both of those years was the Edmonton Oilers. Led solely by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Evan Bouchard, this trio pushed Edmonton to second place in the Pacific Division and only one point ahead of the Ducks. The Ducks on the other hand, lack the playoff experience the Oilers have and are making the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. The Ducks had been great all year long but crawled to the playoffs. Going 2-8 to finish the last ten games of the season, these two teams are polar opposites but the Ducks have the upper hand in one aspect of the game: youth. The Ducks were another team that no one expected to make the playoffs; being in a rebuild with the majority of the team being young players, they’ve already surpassed expectations and look to carry this through the playoffs. This could definitely go to seven games and be one of the best first round matchups this year.