Hockey fans, we finally made it.
The 2025 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs are here, and aside from Canada being well-represented, the first-round series look phenomenal.
But all the teams seem to fit into one of four categories, and as is usually the case, just because a team finished first in a division — or even the conference — doesn’t mean it will go deep into the postseason.
So without further ado, here is our Heavy 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs preview.
Just happy to be there
Minnesota Wild
Why they can win it all:Â The Wild definitely had bigger plans than narrowly sneaking into the playoffs after starting 27-12-4. But Minnesota’s best hope is for goalie Filip Gustavsson to get absolutely smoldering hot and for its offensive weapons like Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson-Ek to chip in enough offense to go on a run.
What might stop them:Â Strange as it might be for a roster that has 10 double-digit goal scorers, the Wild’s offense is an issue. They scored just 225 goals and tallied just 97 over their final 39 games (2.41 per game).
Our prediction:Â Minnesota is swiftly eliminated by Vegas in no fewer than five games.
Montreal Canadiens
Why they can win it all:Â Because anything can happen. Plus, all joking aside about Montreal’s inexperienced roster, it does have players — like Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki — who have played in Stanley Cup final games for the Habs.
What might stop them:Â Goaltending. Sam Montembault has the worst goals-against average (2.82) of any starter in the postseason field, and the Habs finished 22nd in goals allowed (261). Maybe Jakub Dobes ends up playing in net at some point, but Carey Price they are not.
Our prediction:Â Montreal annoys Washington in the first round but falls in six games.
New Jersey Devils
Why they can win it all:Â The Devils have veteran goaltending in star Jacob Markstrom, and they can play a heavy style that grinds teams down. The Eastern Conference is wide open, and if New Jersey can get past its nemeses, Carolina, it could at least get to the Eastern Conference final.
What might stop them:Â Surprisingly, New Jersey’s offense hasn’t been up to snuff — especially without superstar center Jack Hughes. Two seasons after scoring 289 goals in their franchise-record 112-point season, the Devils averaged just 2.92 per game — and just 2.62 per game over their final 41 games.
Our prediction:Â New Jersey falls in the first round to Carolina in six games.
Upstarts Who Can Make Noise
Los Angeles Kings
Why they can win it all:Â Because they finally have goaltending that can get them over the hump. The Kings roster is again loaded, but Darcy Kuemper is having a season for the ages, finishing second in goals-against average (2.02) and third in the NHL in save percentage (.922). Oh, and he’s also won the Cup before already (2022 Avalanche.
What might stop them:Â The Western Conference minefield. It’s hard to believe a team can finish with 105 points and be considered an upstart. But the Kings are underdogs in their first-round series against Edmonton — even with home-ice advantage — and will not be considered the better team in any series unless they end up playing Minnesota or St. Louis down the line.
Our prediction:Â LA beats Edmonton and Vegas but falls in five games to the Avalanche in the Western Conference final.
Ottawa Senators
Why they can win it all:Â The Sens look a lot like the 2023 Panthers. They have a veteran goalie (Linus Ullmark) who needs to silence doubters. They have a stable of young ultra-skilled forwards. They even have a Tkachuk, albeit captain Brady Tkachuk.
What might stop them:Â Playoff experience is one of those things you don’t have until you do, and Claude Giroux and David Perron are both on the roster, but Ottawa is devoid of postseason know-how to fall back on.
Our prediction:Â The Sens give the Maple Leafs everything they can handle in the first round but fall in seven games.
St. Louis Blues
Why they can win it all:Â Boy, this team looks a lot like the 2019 version, doesn’t it? It made a midseason coaching change, upgrading from Drew Bannister to 2023 Jack Adams winner Jim Montgomery, and even won 11 straight games. The Blues will even open their playoff slate against the Jets like they did that season.
What might stop them:Â Jordan Binnington is the ultimate wild card. He has won the Stanley Cup and backstopped Canada to another best-on-best gold medal at the 4 Nations Face-Off. But if bad Binnington shows up, St. Louis’ playoff stay will be brief.
Our prediction:Â The Blues upset the Jets again but fall to the Avalanche in seven games in the second round.
Washington Capitals
Why they can win it all:Â They won the Eastern Conference during the regular season. Even though Washington finished atop the Metropolitan Division, perception is it is unlikely to advance beyond the second round, even though the Caps finished second in the league in goals (286) and eighth in goals against (229).
What might stop them:Â Playoff style of play. There are three remaining members from the 2018 Stanley Cup championship team, Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and John Carlson. So it is safe to wonder if Washington’s depth goal scorers — like Aliaksai Protas, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael — can produce in crunch time.
Our prediction:Â The Capitals defeat the Canadiens but fall in six games to the Hurricanes in the second round.
Cup or Bust Contenders
Carolina Hurricanes
Why they can win it all:Â Because Carolina is still awesome at shot and goal suppression and it survived the Mikko Rantanen debacle. The Canes took a huge swing by landing Rantanen and were left with egg on their face when he snubbed them, but the roster still has a ton of playoff experience and has arguably the easiest first-round opponent, in short-handed New Jersey.
What might stop them:Â The same thing that always stops them this time of the year: goal scoring. The Canes haven’t reached the Stanley Cup final under coach Rod Brind’Amour due to their inability to score enough in the postseason, and without Rantanen — and with Martin Necas traded to Colorado — this may be the thinnest their offense has been in the playoffs.
Our prediction:Â Carolina dispatches New Jersey and surprises Washington but is swept in the Eastern Conference final by the Lightning.
Edmonton Oilers
Why they can win it all:Â Because they still have the two best players in the world. Connor McDavid won the Conn Smythe Trophy a season ago, and Leon Draisaitl was long considered the Hart Trophy favorite until a late-season injury. These two have been two of the greatest playoff performers in Oilers history, and that’s saying something given the organization’s legacy.
What might stop them: It’s easy to say goaltending, because Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard don’t exactly inspire a deep playoff run. But the biggest question is whether Edmonton can get enough production from its depth — aside from McDavid and Draisaitl — to play into May.
Our prediction:Â The Oilers lose to the Kings in five games in the first round, and the organization is forced to do some serious soul-searching this off-season.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Why they can win it all:Â There probably isn’t a team better-situated to win the Cup. The Maple Leafs have a Stanley Cup-winning coach (Craig Berube), goalie (Anthony Stolarz), plus perhaps the most playoff-experienced roster of any team besides Florida.
What might stop them:Â The Ghosts of Playoffs past. Sure, Berube has led a historically cursed franchise to a Cup — in St. Louis in 2019 — but the Blues’ postseason failings are child’s play compared to those of the Leafs. Plus, it’s tough to trust their goaltending.
Our prediction:Â The Leafs once again survive the Sens but are quickly dispatched by the Lightning in the second round.
Vegas Golden Knights
Why they can win it all: Because the Golden Knights are built to win every year. After their hangover-type seven-game loss to the Stars in last season’s playoffs, the Golden Knights put up 110 points again and won the Pacific. They are stacked, especially on defense.
What might stop them:Â Special teams. The Golden Knights were second in the NHL in power play (28.3) but had the seventh-worst penalty kill in hockey by killing just three out of every four penalties taken. That shoddy PK may come back to bit Vegas, especially if it needs to face Edmonton (23.7), Colorado (24.8) or Winnipeg (28.9).
Our prediction:Â Vegas makes quick work of Minnesota but falls in the second round as part of the Kings’ revenge tour.
Winnipeg Jets
Why they can win it all:Â Because they were, after all, the best team during the regular season. Winnipeg has all the makings of a Stanley Cup contender, led by goalie and potential Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck and an underrated group of skaters, including defenseman Josh Morrissey and the criminally unheralded Kyle Connor.
What might stop them:Â Pressure. This is a huge playoff year for the Jets, since attendance has waned in Winnipeg after they failed to win more than four playoff games in each of the past six playoff years. Hellebuyck has buckled under postseason expectations in the past — including last year where he posted just a .864 save percentage and 5.23 goals-against average in Winnipeg’s five-game loss to the Avalanche.
Our prediction:Â The pressure, and analytics, catch up with Winnipeg again and it falls in seven games to St. Louis.
Stanley Cup Favorites
Colorado Avalanche
Why they can win it all:Â This looks like the year in the Rockies. The Avs fixed up their faulty goaltending with Mackenzie Blackwood and still have arguably the best center (Nathan MacKinnon) and defenseman (Cale Makar) along with suped-up depth keyed by trade-deadline acquisition Brock Nelson and underrated Martin Necas.
What might stop them:Â The Rantanen revenge series. Colorado will square off against its longtime forward in the first round, which it dealt to Carolina in February. Rantanen and the Stars expect to be Colorado’s toughest hurdle to the Cup.
Our prediction:Â Colorado perseveres and wins the Stanley Cup for the second time in four seasons.
Dallas Stars
Why they can win it all:Â Because only Colorado appears more skilled, and even that is a toss-up. The Stars are elite defensively and offensively and could have the edge in goal against Colorado with Jake Oettinger.
What might stop them: Injuries, especially to star players. No. 1 defenseman Miro Heiskanen (knee)Â is going to miss at least Game 1 of Dallas’ series against Colorado, and the Stars’ leading point producer Jason Robertson is also nursing a knee injury. In a coin-flip type of series, those absences could be the difference.
Our prediction:Â The Stars’ injuries are too much to overcome, and Blackwood outplays Oettinger and Dallas is knocked out by Colorado in six games.
Florida Panthers
Why they can win it all:Â Because you are the champs until someone knocks you off. The Panthers have climbed the mountain and have much of the same core in tact from the group that won the Cup last spring and reached the final in 2023.
What might stop them: Somehow it’s their offense. The Panthers are still the heavy forechecking and ultra-skilled team, but their offense has completely gone dry over the past 20 games — they’ve averaged just 2.00 goals per game since March 10 and are just 7-10-1 in that span. That cost them both home-ice advantage and the Atlantic Division crown.
Our prediction: Two straight deep playoff runs catch up with the Panthers, and they fall to the Lightning in the first round in an epic seven-game series.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Why they can win it all:Â Because Jon Cooper is still behind the bench, and their depth and playoff experience is still there. Sure, the Lightning may not have Steven Stamkos or Ondrej Palat, but they have arguably the game’s best wing (Nikita Kucherov) and one of its best defensemen (Victor Hedman) and a goalie (Andrei Vasilevskiy) that has won both the Vezina Trophy and Stanley Cup — plus their role players are awesome too.
What might stop them:Â That first-round series against Florida is an absolute nightmare, especially since the Panthers have won the Battle of Florida in consecutive years. The teams split their four regular-season meetings.
Our prediction:Â Tampa Bay turns the tables on Florida and brings the Prince of Wales Trophy back to Florida for the sixth straight year before again falling to the Avalanche in six games in the Cup final.
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