The road to the Stanley Cup Final: Ranking the 14 playoff series that got us here

We’re two games into a Stanley Cup final that already seems like it could be headed for classic status. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a moment to look back at the 14 other matchups that brought us here, with our annual ranking of every series that led to the final.

All in all, it’s been a mixed bag of a postseason. We avoided having even one sweep, which is impressive. We also had half the series end in five games, which generally isn’t. It’s a top-heavy list, but having gone through it all, I’m not sure we can really complain about what the hockey gods served up. Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up...

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Oilers or Panthers (again)? An updated rooting guide for 30 other NHL fan bases

I can’t speak for every hockey fan, but one of the reasons I enjoy this time of year in part is that there’s a pleasant sense of familiarity. The postseason story is winding its way to a conclusion, hitting most of the usual beats along the way. We’ve hit on all of the mandatory controversies. My favorite team is, of course, already out. And most importantly: We can crack open the file folder labelled “recurring bits”, which makes life easier for everyone. Well, for me. I guess I’m mainly concerned about me here.

But here’s the thing about that comfortable familiarity – you can have too much of a good thing. This year’s playoffs are getting a little too familiar, and it’s messing things up.

There’s already been one causality. For the first time in a while, I didn’t bother with the “lessons from the final four” post this year, because three of the four finalists were the same as last year. And now it’s happened again, with the hockey gods serving up a rare Stanley Cup final rematch.

Look, we all love a good sequel, and there are plenty of juicy narratives to sink into over the next few weeks. But a rematch threatens to ruin one of my favorite gimmicks, the annual Cup final rooting guide for the 30 other fan bases. We already did Florida vs. Edmonton, this time last year.

What’s a grizzled sportswriter to do? The answer is obvious: Come up with some new ideas for once you hack Double down. So today, we’re doing Oilers vs. Panthers, the sequel. But this time there’s a twist – I’m going to try really hard to switch up the picks, or at least the reasoning, for as many of the 30 teams as possible.

Hey, when has a strategy of running it back every failed anyone in the past? Let’s do this.

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The Lightning are a lock to go deep, and other lessons from the prediction contest

And then there were two. And soon, just one winner.

No, this isn’t a Stanley Cup preview post that accidentally ran a few days early. It’s an update on the annual playoff prediction contest, which is already over for almost all of you. We’ll get to that in a bit.

But first, a refresher. This is the contest that seems simple, because it’s only one question: Name as many or as few playoff teams as you’d like based on how many games they’ll win, in order from most to least. That’s it. We even give you the benefit of the doubt on ties, because we want you to succeed. But you don’t. Did I mention that you’re not good at this? Because you’re not.

You can find this year’s contest post here, and if you entered, you can find your answer by heading to the comment section of that post and using the dropdown to select “my comments”. But you probably don’t want to do that, because spoiler alert, there’s a roughly 99.8% chance that you’re out of the running.

Let’s get into what happened, and why you’re bad at this.

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Auston Matthews and Connor Hellebuyck lead the 2025 NHL playoffs all-bust team

We’re well into the conference finals, having now witnessed over a month’s worth of playoff performances. For some fans, now would be the time to celebrate the best of the best, and spend some time admiring the players who’ve elevated their games when it matters most.

For the other 99% of us, there’s this column. It’s playoff disappointment time.

As always, some ground rules™:

• We’re building a 21-man roster, with 12 forwards, six defensemen and three goalies, because we’ll need that extra guy. Beyond that, positions don’t matter. We’ll also have a coach and GM, because the guys in suits deserve some scrutiny too.
• There’s a maximum of three spots per team.
• Every playoff team must be represented at least once.

And yes, that last rule applies to the teams that are still playing, which opens the door to that fun situation where I call somebody a bust and then they score four goals that night. I’m willing to take that risk, because it’s the playoffs, and it’s all about courage.

As with any great team, we build from the net out…

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DGB "Leafs Lose" mailbag: Thoughts on Shanahan, Marner, hope, and all those boos

It’s the middle of May, which means that the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost. It took a little longer this time, with this team going deep into the second round, but the ending was the same: An absolutely brutal no-show, fans and media pleading for something to change, and this time we mean it.

Sounds like it’s time for a spring tradition around these parts: The annual “the Leafs lose again” mailbag. Let’s see what was on your mind this time around.

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Ranking the 16 possible Stanley Cup final matchups, based purely on narratives

Once the first round of playoffs was over, we could say goodbye to eight teams. And more importantly for our purposes today, we could also say goodbye to 48 potential Stanley Cup finals.

Sorry, anyone hoping for Blues vs. Canadiens in a rematch of the 1969 final, or Kings vs. Senators in a re-litigation of the Dion Phaneuf trade. Losing half of our playoff teams means we lose three-quarters of our possible final combinations – thanks, math – bringing us down to a manageable 16. Gosh, that almost feels like the right number for a ranking.

To be clear, we’re going to be going from the worst possible matchup to the best, based purely on narratives and vibes. After all, why was Stars/Avalanche the best and most memorable series of the first round? Because the two teams were super-talented and played close games at a high level? Fool! It was because of Mikko Rantanen, and the power of the revenge game.

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Suggestions for the hockey gods: Eight ways this latest Leafs collapse could end

The Toronto Maple Leafs are coughing up yet another playoff series they should win. They’ve now lost 13 of the 14 games in the Auston Matthews era in which they’ve had a chance to eliminate an opponent. Five of those games have featured blown leads. Five have come in overtime. There’s been at least one in every year since 2018. And now it’s all happening again, in the same way, to the same group, building to Saturday’s inevitable Game 7 loss.

I know you know all that stuff. I just wanted to make sure any especially sensitive Maple Leaf fans had a chance to click away in horror before we went any further.

You wouldn’t think there’d be many of those fans left. After all, anyone who’s been paying attention over the years should be thoroug

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Who wants to win vs. who has to win? It's the 2025 NHL playoff pressure rankings

We’re a few days into the playoffs. Have you had a chance to unclench yet?

Probably not. And you probably won’t for a while yet, because this is the time of year when everything that happens feels massive. We watch a game, or a period, or a shift. We overreact. And then something else happens, and we either double down or swing all the way in the other direction. It’s both the best and worst part of the playoffs, all rolled into one.

In one word: Pressure. It’s unbearable. And that’s just for us, as fans. Imagine what it’s like for the teams in the middle of it.

Of course, that pressure isn’t divided equally, and some teams are facing significantly more than others. So today, let’s do our annual Pressure Rankings, as we count down from the teams that don’t want to lose to the teams that absolutely can’t.

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2025 Old Guy Without a Cup rankings: Brock Nelson, John Tavares, Ryan Suter and more

It’s tough times for OGWAC fans.

I won’t sugarcoat it. It’s been a bumpy year for us here in the OGWAC world. For those of you who are new, that would be Old Guys Without a Cup, the beloved NHL playoff trope that’s served up classic stories like Ray Bourque, Teemu Selanne and Lanny McDonald. Everyone loves an OGWAC story – especially one that ends with a Cup.

It happened last year, with Kyle Okposo. He won his first Stanley Cup at the age of 36, in what would turn out to be the final game of his 17-season career.

But while seeing Okposo get his lap with the Cup was a great moment, it’s been largely downhill since then for the OGWAC community. We lost Joe Pavelski, the patron saint of active OGWACs, to retirement. We’ve also said goodbye to Zach Parise, Sam Gagner, Blake Wheeler and Mark Giordano. And this year’s playoff field means we can’t root for names like Chris Kreider, Anders Lee or Tyler Myers.

That said, change can be good, even when it comes to old guys. All those absences should clear the way for some new names on this year’s list, and maybe a few older ones that we haven’t seen in a while. Let’s see where this takes us.

The criteria remans the same as previous years: A player is “old” if they’ve been in the league for at least 10 seasons and will be at least 33 when the Cup is awarded. The older the better, and while we’ll consider everyone, we prefer OGWAC stories that feature players who are actually contributing, preferably to a legitimate contender. Bonus points if the player has had an agonizing near-miss or two in their past.

I went into this wondering if all that turnover meant we’ve even be able to find 20 names, but that didn’t turn out to be a problem. Let’s start the list, and see who earns the top spot that Pavelski held for the last few years.

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The Stanley Cup bandwagon-hopper's guide to the 16 teams you could root for

It took a bit longer that expected – thanks for the suspense, Columbus – but we’ve got our 16 playoff teams. That means we’ve also got our 16 teams that missed, and those fan bases have a choice to make.

Stay neutral, and just root for the best playoff hockey possible? A very valid option. Root against your team’s rivals, and hope they lose in a way that makes them sad? We’ve all been there. Sit on the sidelines and sulk, acting like you don’t even care who wins? A bit unseemly, but understandable.

And then there’s the most controversial option: Pick a new team, just for the postseason. Yes, it’s the dreaded bandwagon pick, a path that some fans find untenable. If that’s you, feel free to check out now. But if you’re open to at least considering a bandwagon pick, you want to at least take the right one. That’s where this post comes in, as we’ll rank the 16 playoff teams from worst to best in terms of the bandwagon-ability.

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Win our prediction contest by getting this one easy question right (you won't)

The NHL playoffs are back, or will be in a few days. And that means its time for the annual playoff prediction contest, an incredibly simple single-question test that you will almost certainly fail.

We tried this last year, and readers seemed to enjoy it. A few of you even did reasonably well. But not many, and that was in a year where the postseason didn’t serve up many surprises. Let’s see how things go this time around.

All you need to do is leave a comment below, with your answer to our single catch-all question.

 

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NHL weekend rankings: A top 16, oddly specific predictions and Gold Plan standings

Welcome to the last Weekend Rankings of the 2024-25 season.

Longtime readers know what that means: You’re getting a Top 16 instead of a Top 5, with every playoff team ranked. We’ll also check in on what the Gold Plan standings would be looking like in the Bottom 5, and we’ll even make a few oddly specific predictions.

When the schedule first came out, I was a little bit nervous about having the season end on a Thursday, since that meant the last rankings would come out when each team still had a game or two left. What if there was a furious race down to the wire, and I couldn’t do a Top 16 because there were 20 or more teams still battling it out for the final spots?

Luckily, the NHL heard my concerns and responded accordingly, delivering an absolute dud of a late-season race in which we basically already know all the playoff teams and most of the matchups. Yay?

We’ll get to the rankings in a bit. But first, let’s make five oddly specific predictions...

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Battle of Ontario? Avs vs. Stars? Ranking the best potential first-round matchups

With just a few weeks left in the season, the playoff picture is coming into focus. And while we’re not sure which teams will claim the final wildcard spots in either conference, we’re pretty much locked in on 14 of the 16 playoff teams. That means we can start turning our attention to the potential first-round matchups, and arguing over which ones will be the best.

That’s easy: It’s Dallas vs. Colorado.

Look, I get that some people think this is happening too soon, and that the 1-vs-4 format means that some prime matchups arrive earlier than they should. I get that. But also: This series is going to absolutely rock. I can’t wait.

The downside of that monster meeting looming on the horizon is that other potential matchups can’t compete. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of the first round can’t have a few bangers. So today, let’s go through the series that have at least an 25% chance of happening, based on the calculations from hockeyviz.com as of yesterday afternoon.

We’ll count this down from the fifth best matchup to number one, with an added rule that each team can only appear once. Try not to pass out from the suspense of which matchup will be number one.

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