The Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally here! After an exciting and unpredictable 82-game regular season, sixteen teams will now battle it out for the chance to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup and forever have their names etched into the history books. Only one of those teams will get that glory, though; fifteen others will head home disappointed. Today, we here at Total Pro Sports are going to predict which team will hoist that Cup and the road it will take to get there.
Which NHL team will be triumphant in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs?
East First Round- (A1) Panthers vs (WC1) Lightning
We kick things off with probably the most exciting matchup in the first round. Both teams are star-studded, both teams are from Florida, and both teams do not like each other. The last time these two teams met in the Stanley Cup playoffs was two years ago in the second round. That playoff series saw Tampa absolutely dominate en route to a four-game sweep. Both teams are vastly different from two years ago. Florida is coming off a Cinderella Finals run, determined to prove themselves as legitimate contenders. Tampa wants to show that they still have what it takes to make it to the Cup final.
This series should be brutal. Florida’s entire game is meant to tick you off and throw off your game. They’re physical, chippy, and relentless, and Tampa will have to keep their cool if they want to stave off that well-oiled machine that is the Florida offense. Tampa will also need Andrei Vasilevsky to be on his absolute best game. Florida will want to keep Nikita Kucherov under wraps as often as possible while using their physical prowess to constantly undermine Tampa’s system. All in all this series could be won by either team, but I feel like Florida just has more to prove.
Prediction: Panthers over Lightning 4-2
East First Round: (A2) Boston Bruins vs (A3) Toronto Maple Leafs
Make no mistake. This was not the first-round matchup Toronto wanted. Toronto has repeatedly failed to defeat Boston in the postseason, and given that they didn’t win a single game over Boston this season, it seems that Boston still might be their kryptonite. That being said, this is a different Toronto team from 2019 when they last faced off.
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Auston Matthews has truly cemented himself as the best goal scorer in the league today and containing him is all but impossible. Toronto will want to exercise those Boston demons once and for all. However, Boston has its own demons from last season to exercise and will be looking for revenge over Florida. It’s going to be a long series, but I don’t see Toronto being able to bring it home this year, especially with Boston’s goaltending advantage.
Prediction: Bruins over Maple Leafs 4-3
East First Round: (M1) New York Rangers vs (WC2) Washington Capitals
On paper, this series is entirely too easy to call. The Rangers brought home the President’s Trophy as the league’s best team in the regular season and the Capitals… barely made the playoffs. Their 91 points are the lowest of any playoff team this year and their -38 goal differential is the worst of a playoff team in NHL history. On paper, the Rangers have them outmatched everywhere. The Capitals have a revitalized Alex Ovechkin, but the Rangers have five people who scored over 70 points.
The Caps have Charlie Lindgren, who has played his heart out this season… but the Rangers have Igor Shesterkin and a revamped Jonathan Quick. The President’s Trophy curse may still get the Rangers, but I don’t see it happening in the first round. I just don’t see what Washington has to offer.
Prediction: Rangers over Capitals 4-0
East First Round: (M2) Carolina Hurricanes vs (M3) New York Islanders
This matchup is flying under the radar for a lot of fans, and that’s a tragedy. They may not have the most exciting styles of the playoff teams, but they are two of the hottest teams entering the Stanley Cup playoffs. Hurricanes were 7-3-0 in their final ten games, and the Islanders were 8-1-1. On paper, you would think the Hurricanes should win pretty easily. They’re younger, have more talent, and are incredibly deep. But don’t sleep in New York.
These guys have the type of defensive system that could give any team they play absolute fits. They’re physical and big, and they will grind you out on their own end before counterattacking. There’s also one big x-factor in this series, and that’s goaltending.
The Islanders have, far and away, had the better goalie tandem. Ilya Sorokin is a top-five goalie in the league right now, and Semyon Varlamov has been outstanding in his own right. Frederik Andersen has been good when he’s healthy, but can he stay healthy? I think the Islanders may surprise everyone with how competitive they make this series, even if they fall short in the end.
Prediction: Hurricanes over Islanders 4-3
West First Round: (C1) Dallas Stars vs (WC2) Vegas Golden Knights
This is another absolute banger of a matchup, and it’s a shame that one of these teams is going to be out in the first round. That’s the luck of the draw though. Dallas has been nothing short of outstanding all season long, and they rightfully won the Central division and finished atop the Western Conference. While goalie Jake Oettinger hasn’t been his usual dominant self, he’s still been very good.
This team is probably the deepest in the league, with scoring across all four lines. Vegas is also incredibly deep though, and while they’ve had their ups and downs this season, it wouldn’t be right to count out the defending champs. This is also a rematch from last season’s conference finals, which Vegas won, so you know Dallas wants revenge.
On paper, these teams stack up incredibly well against each other, but in my eyes, Dallas just appears to be the hungrier team. They’ve been in the shadows for too long, and they are determined to make this their year. Vegas will put up one heck of a fight, but I think they will fail to take down the beast that is Dallas.
Prediction: Stars over Golden Knights 4-2
Also Read: 5 Cinderella NHL Teams That Can Win the Stanley Cup This Season and 5 Teams That Have Zero Chance
West First Round: (C2) Winnipeg Jets vs (C3) Colorado Avalanche
The Jets are one of the best defensive teams in the league right now. Pair that up with Connor Hellebuyck in net, who’s my frontrunner to win this year’s Vezina trophy, and you’re going to struggle to score goals against this team. They also added some serious offensive firepower at the deadline. This is a team that wants to make a splash this year. They drew Colorado in the first round, which on paper appears to be a tough matchup, but Colorado has looked in their worst form of the season heading into the playoffs.
While you can never count out a team with powerhouses such as Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar, there’s only so much they can do to spark this team. Especially when goalie Alexandar Georgiev has just not been very good this season. The playoffs are more fun with Colorado in them, but I expect Winnipeg to come out on top this time.
Prediction: Jets over Avalanche 4-1
West First Round: (P1) Vancouver Canucks vs (WC1) Nashville Predators
Both of these teams had really good second halves of the season before kind of fizzling out right before the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canucks have been this year’s surprise team, blowing fans away in terms of how fast they got this good. The Predators have been a surprise in their own right this year, completely surpassing expectations to zoom their way into a playoff spot. Top that off with two titans competing against each other in net in Juuse Saros and Thatcher Demko, and you have a series that is a little tough to call.
However, despite Vancouver’s talent, I don’t think they’re quite there yet. This will be an experience year and I think it’s Nashville’s experience that will propel them through this round.
Prediction: Predators over Canucks 4-2
West First Round: (P2) Edmonton Oilers vs (P3) Los Angeles Kings
We round out the first round with the exact same matchup we’ve gotten the last two years: Oilers vs. Kings. Both teams had quite different looks coming into this season. The Oilers looked like a disaster for the first half of the season before firing coach Jay Woodcroft and then dominating their way into a playoff spot. The Kings looked absolutely phenomenal in the first half before a catastrophic losing streak heading into the All-Star break.
They, too, had a coaching change, and since then, they’ve been good, if not a little inconsistent. Cam Talbot has well exceeded expectations for the Kings this year, but it’s safe to say Pierre-Luc Dubois has not at all panned out the way they were hoping. All-in-all these two teams are close on paper, but with Edmonton’s offensive firepower being hard for any defense to handle, even one as good as LA’s, and with LA’s tendency to not really know what kind of team they want to be, it’s hard to pick against Edmonton.
LA will have to be perfect throughout, shutting down all of Edmonton’s top stars while also trying to somehow take advantage of Edmonton’s poor blue line. I think LA has a real shot to win this series if they show up in the right form, but right now that might be too much of an ask. I think Edmonton beats them for the third year in a row.
Prediction: Oilers over Kings 4-2
East Second Round: (A1) Florida Panthers vs (A2) Boston Bruins
This is the rematch everyone wants. They met in the first round last year in which Boston experienced an all-time collapse, blowing a 3-1 series lead to lose in game 7. Obviously, Florida’s perspective is quite different, as they overtook the number one seed, who had just set the record for NHL wins and beat them in a dramatic comeback en route to a Cinderella Finals run. Having come up short in the finals against Vegas, Florida is hungry for more. They’ve been a pain in the neck for Boston all season, even stealing the Atlantic title from them.
Boston wants revenge and they want it bad. This is going to be a hard-fought, high-level series that I think has both teams giving it everything they’ve got. It’s a really tough one to call, but I do think Boston will get the revenge they’re looking for.
Prediction: Bruins over Panthers 4-3
East Second Round: (M1) New York Rangers vs (M2) Carolina Hurricanes
There are so many good teams in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs it’s hard not to get excited. This series will be one of the most high-level of the playoffs. Once again, Carolina will find themselves outmatched in the goalie department but will make up for it by frustrating New York with their disciplined defensive system. Both teams are very good, and both teams have the potential to make deep runs. It’s really hard to pick a winner, but I think there’s one x-factor. New York is, by all means, still figuring it out a bit, whereas Carolina is ready and all in.
They want to win and they want to win now. The acquisitions they made at the deadline are proof of this and I think that determination is going to be what pushes them into the next round.
Prediction: Hurricanes over Rangers 4-3
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West Second Round: (C1) Dallas Stars vs (C2) Winnipeg Jets
With yet another very good matchup on paper, this one becomes a bit more clear when you look deeper. That deeper look will show you that perhaps Winnipeg just doesn’t have the depth to match Dallas. With their defense and goaltending, they can certainly give Dallas a lot of trouble and make life difficult for them, but they’re going to have a hard time implementing their own game as opposed to just defending Dallas’.
Anything can happen in the playoffs and I’m certainly not counting Winnipeg out at all, but this just seems like a really difficult matchup for them to win.
Prediction: Stars over Jets 4-2
West Second Round: (P2) Edmonton Oilers vs (WC1) Nashville Predators
While the Predators’ experience might’ve been enough to get them past the very young Canucks team, the same can’t be said for the Oilers. The Predators have the offensive tools to punish the Oilers’ blue line make no mistake, but outside of Roman Josi.
I struggle to see them being able to stop Edmonton’s offensive weapons themselves. Saros is by far the better goaltender than Stuart Skinner, but I think he’s going to get absolutely peppered this series, and if you’re letting Edmonton set up in the zone and get shots over and over again, you’re going to have a tough time getting your feet under you and getting your game going. I think the Oilers are simply going to overwhelm this Nashville team and knock them out.
Prediction: Oilers over Predators 4-1
East Conference Final: (A2) Boston Bruins vs (M2) Carolina Hurricanes
This is yet another Stanley Cup playoff matchup that appears close on paper, and it most likely will be. However, to have even gotten to this point, Boston most likely will have given their hearts and souls. With Carolina’s more structured, reserved system, it’s likely that their gas tanks will be a little less empty. Boston has a couple of x-factors though. Their goaltending is vastly superior, as both Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark can outplay any of Carolina’s netminders.
And they just simply have more superstars. David Pastrnak alone is a massive game-changer. I think Carolina can neutralize these stars, though, and have added their own firepower at the deadline with Jake Guentzel; I think the Bruins will be hard-pressed to break down the structure of this team. Carolina will finally get their wish and make it into the Cup final.
Prediction: Hurricanes over Bruins 4-2
West Conference Final: (C1) Dallas Stars vs (P2) Edmonton Oilers
The offensive firepower in this series is going to be an absolute spectacle, but alas I think that’s where the similarities end. Dallas may not be as high-powered in the offensive zone as Edmonton, but they’re high-powered enough to compete with them. They’re vastly superior defensively and in goaltending. They’re more structured and they’re deeper, having four lines worth of guys that can find the back of the net.
Edmonton has shown more depth this season, but they still lack scoring or production from their bottom guys. Stuart Skinner has shown flashes of brilliance this season but has been wildly inconsistent, and their blue line is atrocious. Dallas is more than structured enough to shut down Edmonton in the offensive zone and make them pay in their defensive zone.
The real x-factor here though, is the ability to adapt. Dallas has shown time and time again that they can adapt their play to match their opponents, figure them out, and get their game back. If Edmonton can’t set up in the offensive zone, get possession, and begin their attack, they struggle heavily and I think that’s where Dallas will beat them down.
Prediction: Stars over Oilers 4-1
Stanley Cup Final: (C1) Dallas Stars vs (M2) Carolina Hurricanes
We’ve finally made it to the Stanley Cup Playoff Final. Either of these teams absolutely deserves to be here and deserves to be champions, but sadly, only one can. Every team that’s made the playoffs this season deserves a kudos. It was a fantastic regular season, with some of the best teams making it into battle in the postseason. No matter how it goes, we’re guaranteed some banger matchups throughout.
If the Final really does culminate into the Hurricanes and Stars… man are we lucky as fans. Both teams are ready to win, and they want to win now. Both teams are ready to step out of the shadows. However, only one team is truly all in, and that’s Carolina. With their deadline acquisitions, they announced that they needed to win fast.
The window will begin to close after this season. That being said, Dallas has time. Their time will come, just not this year. I think the Hurricanes will outduel them and win their second Cup in franchise history.
Prediction: Hurricanes over Stars 4-2
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