It’s April. Everyone’s favorite time of the year – the NHL playoffs.

The bracket is official and it’s time to break down every matchup and every team that has one goal in mind: to win Lord Stanley.

Sixteen wins is all it takes for one of the sixteen teams in the hunt to claim the ultimate prize and lift the 34.5 pound prestigious trophy.

With the Stanley Cup being one of, if not the hardest, trophy to win in all of professional sports, let’s dive into each matchup and confer about who has the greatest opportunity to go the distance.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

(M1) WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs. (WC2) MONTREAL CANADIENS

The Montreal Canadiens were 31st in the league back on December 1st. Now, they squeak their way into the playoffs for the first time since they nearly won it all in 2021. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield lead the way in scoring for the Habs and have now added young sensation Ivan Demidov, who is poised to make his name heard in the playoffs.

The Caps looked rough down the stretch. They finished 4-6 in their last ten games of the year, but have been missing a lot of key players. Goaltender Logan Thompson has been out since April 2nd, but has been one of the best goaltenders in the league in 2025.

With lots of injuries and guys sitting out for rest before the playoffs, it’s hard to gauge how the Caps will look in the first round of the playoffs. The key factors of this series will be veterans versus young guns. The Caps, who have Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, and more will have to keep up with the young, flashy guys such as Caufield and Demidov.

It’ll be a tight series. The Caps are looking to win their first playoff series since their Stanley Cup win in 2018, and the Canadiens are looking to play spoiler in the eastern conference.

Prediction: Caps win series 4-2

(M2) CAROLINA HURRICANES vs. (M3) NEW JERSEY DEVILS

This will be the sixth time these two metro teams face-off against each other in postseason play, most recently in round 2 of the 2023 playoffs where the Canes won the series 4-1. Four of their five playoff series have ended in either 5 or 6 games, and we should expect the same this year. Once the Canes got out of the drama that involved Mikko Rantanen, they have started looking like a unit again.

The New Jersey Devils have had a couple key players injured this year, including star Jack Hughes, who will not be playing in the remainder of the 2025 season and will look to return in training camp next season. Jonas Siegenthaler had a lower body injury in February and has not played since. If the Devils can get a few guys back from injury, they will be more of a threat than we currently have them at. However, without Hughes, it’s going to be difficult for the Devils to match up physically with the Canes.

Prediction: Canes win series 4-1

(A1) TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS vs. (WC1)OTTAWA SENATORS

The Battle of Ontario returns to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2004, where the Maple Leafs took down the Senators in 7 games. This is Ottawa’s first postseason appearance in eight years, in which they lost a heartbreaking game 7 in the conference final against the eventual champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Toronto has heavy expectations placed on them as well, as they have only advanced out of the first round once in their last nine appearances. The Senators are also 3-0 against Toronto this season and have outscored them 9-3.

Ottawa is a young, scrappy, fast team that can dismantle physical teams. Brady Tkachuk returned from injury against the Hurricanes on Thursday night in the regular season finale, where he recorded a 3-shot, 1-hit stat line in a 7-5 Senators victory. Tkachuk is going to be the difference maker in this series.

I’m torn on who to pick in this matchup. It is going to be a very fun matchup to watch. We all know about the Leafs’ first round history in recent years, and with the Senators having nothing to lose this postseason, I’m putting the Leafs on upset watch.

Prediction: Senators win series 4-3

(A2) TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs. (A3) FLORIDA PANTHERS

The battle of Florida commences for the second straight season as the Lightning look to avenge their 4-1 series loss against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. In what should be an absolute war of a series, will come down to who has the better offense.

Andrei Vasilevskiy versus Sergei Bobrovsky is the best first round goaltending matchup in the playoffs and will bail out defensive mistakes on both sides. The factor that will decide the series, other than physicality, will be the offensive production, including power plays. Tampa Bay has scored on the man advantage 26.2% of times whereas the Panthers have scored 23.5%. Plus, the Panthers have given up nine more goals to opposing teams on the power play than the Lightning have.

In another offensive stat, the Lightning have a whopping +75 goal differential, which is the second best in the league, and the Panthers rank 10th with +29.

Another great first round matchup, but due to all the offensive output the Lightning have, plus a stellar goalie, I’m giving them the upper hand, and sending home the reigning champs in round one.

Prediction: Lightning win series 4-2

WESTERN CONFERENCE

(C1) WINNIPEG JETS vs. (WC2) ST. LOUIS BLUES

The Winnipeg Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2025 and have secured the league’s best record and top overall seed for this postseason. However, that may not always be a good thing. It has been said that winning the Presidents’ Trophy is a curse come playoff time. The last time a team has won the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same year was the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2012-13. Over a decade ago. Is it a curse? Statistics seem to think so.

The St. Louis Blues are taking a page out of their 2019 playbook, where they started slow but rallied to make the playoffs, and win the Stanley Cup in seven games over the Boston Bruins. This year feels the same way, as back on December 1st, they were 8th in the conference, and on the decline. However, since February 22nd, the Blues put together a string of wins, and setting a franchise record for most wins in a row (12). Their previous record? Eleven wins, set back in that 2019 season.

Does history repeat itself? Is the Presidents’ Trophy curse going to nip Winnipeg early? Only time will tell. This series will be all about who can survive and advance. I like the Blues’ chances in this one as I think they are another team that has nothing to lose and can make some big noise. However, this is a Winnipeg team we’ve never seen before. They are really good.

Prediction: Jets win series 4-2

(C2) COLORADO AVALANCHE vs. (C3) DALLAS STARS

The storylines write themselves on this one. After Mikko Rantanen was “blindsided” in his trade from the Avalanche to the Hurricanes, his chance at revenge came sooner than expected. On the other hand, Dallas is looking to requite their conference final losses the past two seasons.

A key player returning to the league is Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog. After spending two games in the AHL on a “conditioning trip,” Landeskog looks to add to the already tough and physical Avalanche offense. After a retool at the deadline, the Avalanche are a force to be reckoned with.

However, with Dallas’ impressive display of weapons, it will be a tall order for Colorado to advance past the first round.

In between the pipes is playoff-seasoned Jake Oettinger, who boasted a .909 save percentage in the 2025 season and looks to carry Dallas not only past the Avalanche, but also past the threatening conference final.

Will this be the year Dallas goes all the way? Or will the Avalanche send Rantanen out of the building for the second time this season? It’s a tough one, but I am high on the Avalanche this postseason.

Prediction: Avalanche win series 4-3

(P1) VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS vs. (WC1) MINNESOTA WILD

The Golden Knights are the only top-seeded team that I don’t have on upset watch. They have swept the regular season series over the Wild 3-0 and are aiming to win their second cup in the past three seasons. The Golden Knights have reached the 50-win mark this season, making it the third time in their eight season history they have done so. The last two times they achieved this accomplishment, they made the Stanley Cup final (lost in 2018, won in 2023).

The Wild have not won a playoff series since 2015 and haven’t made it past the second round since losing in the conference final in 2003. I see this series going the same way the Hurricanes-Devils series will go, with a short series lasting only 4-5 games. However, the Wild are not scared and are seeing it as an opportunity.

Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno stated: “it’s just got to be a team that has no doubt really… We got to throw our best hockey in a seven-game series.”

Although the odds being stacked against the Wild can be menacing, they are looking to be another upset in this gauntlet of a bracket.

With that being said, I still think Vegas makes a deep run this year and meets Colorado in the western conference final.

Prediction: Golden Knights win series 4-1

(P2) LOS ANGELES KINGS vs. (P3) EDMONTON OILERS

Death, taxes, and the Kings and Oilers squaring off in the first round of the NHL playoffs.

This is the fourth straight year these Pacific division teams will go at it against each other. The Oilers have won all three series up to this point, but there is a different feeling about this one.

Kings fans believe this is the best opportunity for them to finally defeat their arch-nemesis, and they might be right. The Kings have won the regular season series 3-1, although the Oilers in two of those games had at least one of their star players, Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl.

The injuries don’t stop there for the Oilers, they will be without Mattias Ekholm for the entire series, and will have to rely on guys like Brett Kulak to keep the defense together. Furthermore, the Kings boast a +48 goal differential compared to the Oilers’ +23. Defense will be salient for the Oilers if they want to maintain their perfect record against the Kings in recent years.

In the last three matchups, Edmonton has had home ice advantage for all of them. This time, the Kings will have majority of games on home ice. Which may come across as a cliché, but when you take a look at the Kings’ home ice record in 2025, it speaks volumes. 31-5-4 inside Crypto.com arena this year, and that’s where the first two games will be held in this series.

If the Kings can continue to defend home ice as well as they have so far, and win the first two games of the series, they will have a golden opportunity to dethrone the Oilers. If Edmonton can steal one of the first two games, they will set themselves up much better for an opportunity to continue their reign over the Kings.

Prediction: Kings win series 4-3

STANLEY CUP FINALS PREDICTION

It’s a unique postseason for the NHL this year, as for the first time since all three teams entered the league in the mid-1920s, the Stanley Cup playoffs will not feature the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, nor the Detroit Red Wings.

So, who is the front runner? Who’s the dark horse?

I believe that we will see a few top seeds fall in the first round, and if the others manage to get past the opening series, they will still have a rocky road to make it to the NHL’s biggest stage.

I believe out of the west, the Colorado Avalanche have one of the most complete teams, and of course, some of the best players in the league. Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, and more will propel their offense to a high scoring run. They will have their hands full if they meet the Jets in the second round, but if they can defeat the league’s top seed, the sky’s the limit for the Avalanche.

They will face-off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Lightning have the experience. Jon Cooper is one of the best coaches in the league, and Auston Matthews tops the scoring chart every season. This experience mixed with talented players and elite goaltending, will be a very difficult group to stop on their road to the Cup.

Not to mention that Tampa Bay is 16-3-5 against metropolitan teams. If they can get through their first two rounds (which will be Atlantic division opponents) then I see no reason why they would not have a date with destiny in June.

In a rematch of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals, the Lightning would look for reprisal against the Avalanche, as they dropped the series 4-2.

Although the Lightning have defeated the Avalanche both times in their regular season matchup, this is a different Colorado team.

It would be a grueling, physical, war that would feature some of the NHL’s best going head to head.

In the end, I have the Avalanche winning the 2025 Stanley Cup in a 4-3 series victory.

WHEN DO THE PLAYOFFS START?

The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday, April 20th with the first game of the postseason featuring a clash between the Blues and Jets at 6PM EST.

Follow all of Fantom Sports’ social media and never miss an article like this one!