Before the puck drops on the hockey world’s grandest stage, change is already certain – the Florida Panthers won’t three-peat.
The back-to-back Stanley Cup champion – and three-time reigning Eastern Conference winner – missed the postseason for the first time since 2019 after a slew of injuries derailed their season.
That means the door is wide open for a new team to reach hockey’s summit.
Only three Canadian teams arrived at the NHL’s annual spring dance, which is the lowest tally since 2023. But what Canada lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality.
Edmonton has home-ice advantage in the first round, Montreal sits third in the stacked Atlantic Division and Ottawa, which grabbed the East’s final wild-card spot, is one of the hottest squads since January.
The three other Cup winners this decade – Vegas, Colorado and Tampa Bay – are among the favourites to be hosting a parade in June.
Eastern Conference
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (Photos: Jay LaPrete/AP, Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images)
Buffalo Sabres (A1) vs. Boston Bruins (WC1)
Buffalo bursts drought bubble
After owning the record for the NHL’s longest playoff drought at 14 years, Buffalo lays claim to the Atlantic Division’s best record.
On Dec. 15, 2025, the team relieved general manager Kevyn Adams of his position. The Sabres were tied for last in the Eastern Conference at the time of his dismissal. Their 36-9-5 record since Adams’s firing tops the NHL.
Leading the charge is a swath of young talent. Olympic gold medalist Tage Thompson tops the team in points while captain Rasmus Dahlin provides a commanding two-way game on defence.
Other playoff freshmen, such as Owen Power, 23, Jack Quinn, 24, Josh Doan, 24, and Zach Benson, 20, will all look to make a notable first impression.
Shipping up to Boston
At the other end of the ice is a team ripe with postseason experience. Boston owns a 6-2 playoff record against the Sabres, but their last meeting came in 2010.
After finishing 2025 in the Atlantic’s basement, a bounce-back year led by goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who posted a career best in wins, and David Pastrnak’s fourth consecutive 100-point season brought the Bruins to the playoffs.
Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm will provide veteran experience on defence, but Boston needs some of its players to rediscover their early-season form.
Morgan Geekie, who scored at a 50-goal pace before the Olympic break, scored seven times over his last 25 contests.
Rookie Fraser Minten earned NHL rookie of the month honours in January but, like Geekie, has struggled to find the scoresheet since NHL hockey resumed.
Opening game: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet One
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (Photos: David Kirouac-Imagn Images, Joe Hrycych/Getty Images)
Tampa Bay Lightning (A2) vs. Montreal Canadiens (A3)
Keeping up the firsts?
A flurry of career seasons for Montreal propelled the Canadiens from playoff hopefuls in 2025 to Stanley Cup hopefuls in 2026. Cole Caufield, who became the first Habs player since Stéphane Richer to slot 50 goals, and Nick Suzuki, Montreal’s first 100-point player since Mats Naslund in 1985-86, front the youngest team in the playoffs.
Despite an abundance of offensive talent, Montreal’s playoff hopes will come down to how well it keeps the puck out of the net. An injury to top right-handed defenceman Noah Dobson means he’ll miss the beginning of the playoffs. If depth players can step up and goaltender Jakub Dobes carries his stellar end-of-season play into the playoffs, the franchise’s 25th Stanley Cup may be within reach.
Keeping Stanley in-state
Tampa Bay’s stars know a thing about 100-point seasons. Nikita Kucherov cruised to his sixth triple-digit season and finished eight points shy of Connor McDavid (138) for the NHL’s scoring lead. Darren Raddysh set the franchise record for goals by a defenseman (22) during an unexpected career year. His presence on the backend, along with J.J. Moser and Erik Cernak, strengthens a rugged, battle-tested defence corps looking to keep Lord Stanley in the Sunshine State.
Captain Victor Hedman is on a leave of absence for personal reasons and his status is unknown.
This will be the fifth time these teams face off and the first since the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, when Tampa Bay thumped Montreal in five games. Andrei Vasilevskiy earned playoff MVP honours that year.
Opening game: Sunday, 5:45 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, CBC
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (Photos: John McDonnell/AP, Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)
Carolina Hurricanes (C1) vs. Ottawa Senators (WC2)
In the eye of the storm
Ottawa has made the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. Like last spring, it required a late-season surge to secure a wild-card spot.
Ottawa, which sat at the bottom of the Atlantic early in the new year, elevated its game over the last few months. It’s one of the league’s hottest teams since late January, with Linus Ullmark playing some of his best hockey since the Olympic break. Brady Tkachuk’s Olympic experience will benefit his on- and off-ice leadership come Game 1. The talented Senators are primed to build on their brief six-game outing against Toronto last spring.
Searching for new heights
In Ottawa’s way stands the East’s top dog. Brandon Bussi eclipsed former Senator Andrew Hammond’s record for the most wins through a goalie’s first 25 NHL games. In front of Bussi is a legion of defensively sound blueliners such as Jalen Chatfield, Sean Walker and Team USA’s Jaccob Slavin.
It’s Carolina’s eighth consecutive postseason appearance, a stretch where they’ve made it past the first round six times. Despite this, the Hurricanes have capped out in the Eastern Conference final. In the summer, the organization signed winger Nikolaj Ehlers and acquired offensive-minded defender K’Andre Miller to add more skill to its defensively sound lineup.
It’ll be the first playoff date between these organizations. Both teams play a stingy style of hockey, but it’s Carolina who owns a 2-1-0 record against Ottawa this season.
Opening game: Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, Sportsnet
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (Photos: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images, Geoff Burke/Reuters)
Pittsburgh Penguins (C2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (C3)
‘The Kid’ is back
After 21 seasons and 16 playoff appearances, one must wonder how long Sidney Crosby has left. The 38-year-old broke Wayne Gretzky’s record of consecutive point-per-game seasons last year and extended that streak to 21 years with ease, but time catches every athlete.
Entering this postseason, Crosby leads all active players in playoff points with 201; one more point will give him sole possession of fifth all-time. His teammate of 20 seasons, Evgeni Malkin, is second among active skaters with 180. Veteran scoring is the name of the game for the Penguins. The team will lean on aging wonders Crosby and Malkin and a pair of seasoned defenders, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, for a deep playoff push.
Porter hits Broad Street
The Flyers are postseason-bound for the first time since the 2019-20 season. After a few years near the basement of the Eastern Conference, the resurgence of Trevor Zegras, Dan Vladar establishing himself as a bona fide No. 1 and a new style of play under head coach Rick Tocchet engineered a 22-point jump from last season.
The late-season addition of Peterborough, Ont., product Porter Martone injected skill and snarl into the Flyers’ lineup. The rookie is scoring at over a point-per-game pace and has X-factor potential for Philadelphia.
The Penguins are 3-4 all-time against the Flyers in the postseason, but during Crosby’s tenure, they are 3-1 against their in-state rival.
Opening game: Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet
Western Conference
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (photos: Justin Berl and Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Colorado Avalanche (C1) vs. Los Angeles Kings (WC2)
Kopitar’s last dance
The good news for Los Angeles is it isn’t playing the Edmonton Oilers – the Southern California squad dropped four consecutive first-round series against the Alberta team. The bad news: It will face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche, who swept their season series against the Kings.
The Kings are 0-2 all-time in playoff series against the Avalanche. The last time the teams met was 2002. Goaltending greats Felix Potvin and Patrick Roy – who were at the tail end of their careers – anchored either side.
Like Potvin and Roy, franchise legend Anze Kopitar is at the tail end of his own career. He’s hanging up the skates after the playoffs. The Slovenian surpassed Marcel Dionne for the franchise lead in points, establishing a new record of 1,316.
Unfinished business
After a disappointing Game 7 first-round loss last spring, Nathan MacKinnon and Co. have been on a warpath. MacKinnon leads the NHL in goals and sits third in points league-wide. Teammate Martin Necas notched his first 100-point season and is seventh. Colorado and Edmonton are the only teams with two players in the NHL’s top 10 in scoring.
Cale Makar looks ready for the playoffs after an upper-body injury sidelined the reigning Norris Trophy winner. He returned to NHL action on Tuesday after missing seven games.
The Kings will need all hands on deck to shut down the Avalanche. Colorado leads the NHL in goals for, goals against and penalty-kill percentage.
Opening game: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET, Sportsnet
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (photos: Abbie Parr/AP, Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)
Dallas Stars (2C) vs. Minnesota Wild (3C)
The fault with the Stars
The Dallas Stars’ Achilles heel has been the Western Conference final. They lost in the third round for three consecutive years, two of which came at the hands of Edmonton. Different this spring is Dallas’ head coach.
The organization hired Glen Gulutzan as its new bench boss in July – reprising a role he held from 2011 to 2013. Overseeing a group knocking at Lord Stanley’s door, Gulutzan guides a team rich with talent at every position. It’s ranked second-best in goals allowed and power-play percentage. Wyatt Johnston’s 27 power-play markers this season – a Dallas record – is a primary reason for its special-teams success.
A wild season
On the other end, Minnesota hopes the superstar splash it made in December will help the franchise win its first playoff round since 2015.
It pried Quinn Hughes from the league-worst Vancouver Canucks for a haul of young players and a 2026 first-round pick. Hughes leads the team in assists and is second in points since the mid-December trade. Paired with two 40-goal, 85-point wingers in Kirill Kaprizov and Matthew Boldy, Minnesota may have enough star power to neutralize a lofty Dallas team and exorcise its first-round demons.
The Stars won both previous postseason meetings against their divisional rivals. The most recent came in 2023 when Dallas knocked off Minnesota in six games.
Opening game: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (photos: Melissa Majchrzak/AP, Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Vegas Golden Knights (P1) vs. Utah Mammoth (WC1)
A Mammoth-sized debut
The Utah Mammoth are playoff-bound for the first time in team history.
The Mammoth relied heavily on Karel Vejmelka this campaign as he’s the only goaltender to play over 60 games this season. Vejmelka’s heavy workload will continue against a Vegas team that loves to pepper goalies – it averages 29 shots per game, which is eighth in the NHL.
Out with the old...
For Vegas, the 2023 Stanley Cup champion is in an unusual spot. Despite making the playoffs, it’s the first time the franchise recorded more total losses than wins in a season. Given the spotty record, the Golden Knights made a last-minute coaching change by swapping Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella for a springtime boost.
Vegas is 7-0-1 since the March 29 substitution. It will be up to Vegas’s premier scoring talent, headlined by Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner and Pavel Dorofeyev, to keep the good times rolling in Sin City.
Opening game: Sunday, 10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, CBC
Illustration by The Globe and Mail (photos: Ryan Sun/AP, Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Edmonton Oilers (P2) vs. Anaheim Ducks (P3)
No Panthers, no problem?
In oil country, Connor McDavid hopes the third time’s the charm after back-to-back Stanley Cup final losses. This spring, the league’s top scorer starts at home against the Anaheim Ducks.
McDavid’s up-and-coming Oilers lost in seven to a grizzled Ryan Getzlaf-led Anaheim team the last time these teams met in the postseason in 2017. This spring, the roles have reversed.
McDavid and Co.’s strengths are clear. Edmonton possesses the league’s most potent power play headlined by him, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard. The latter leads all defencemen in points with 95, tied for 21st all-time in a season by a defender. In the playoffs, Bouchard’s 1.08 career points per game average (minimum 50 games played) ties him with Cale Makar for second in NHL history, trailing only Bobby Orr.
However, lingering injury questions surrounding Draisaitl and the recently acquired Jason Dickinson cast a cloud of doubt over Edmonton this spring.
Young Ducks flying high
A trio of under-23 players lead the Ducks. Cutter Gauthier, 22, is the fourth Duck to reach the 40-goal mark and first since Corey Perry in 2013-14. Leo Carlsson, 21, sits second in team points, and Beckett Sennecke, 20, should receive rookie of the year consideration.
Until this season, Anaheim had finished sixth or worse in the Pacific Division since 2019, so there’s little pressure on these young Ducks against an Edmonton team with Stanley Cup aspirations.
Opening game: Monday, 10 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, CBC
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