The Stanley Cup Playoffs are here and for the next two months the battle of attrition towards the NHL championship will be waged.
There will be breakout stars, of that there is no doubt. There will be emerging storylines that will have implications beyond this post-season, too. There will be upsets and, of course, the emotional celebration at the end for one lucky team.
To get you set for the playoffs, our staff of writers shares who they think will be the out of nowhere star to hit it big, the storyline they're watching, the bandwagon team they think you should jump on to and, yes, who they think will win the Stanley Cup...
EMILY SADLER
Out-of-nowhere playoff star: Nick Paul, Tampa Bay Lightning
One of the biggest strengths of the powerhouse Lightning over their back-to-back Stanley Cup campaigns was their incredible depth – it’s tough enough trying to match up against elite goal-scorers like Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point without also having to account for a trio of gamebreakers on the third line. So, when Yanni Gourde (expansion draft), Barclay Goodrow, and Blake Coleman departed last summer, their explosive success pricing them out of the cap-strapped Lightning’s pocketbook, it seemed like an impossible task to try to replace them.
Then came a pair of deadline moves: Nick Paul, the final piece to Tampa’s middle-six puzzle, acquired from Ottawa at this year’s deadline just a few days after landing Brandon Hagel in a deal with Chicago. A month later, the two new acquisitions were doing stuff like this:
After emerging in Ottawa as a solid depth scorer and reliable leader unafraid to play a physical game, Paul has really found his fit in Tampa Bay – and his greatest asset might be his versatility. He can suit up opposite Ross Colton, centred by Point for the second part of a one-two punch, or strike chemistry alongside Hagel on special teams.
In 20 contests since joining the Lightning, Paul has already tallied five goals and 14 points. Now, the 27-year-old winger is in a position not just to compete in his first post-season but to win – and he won’t just be a passenger along for the ride.
Playoff storyline I’m watching: Who will exorcise past playoff demons?
The post-season brings a fresh start of sorts for 16 teams, but some are carrying a little extra baggage – no one more so than the Toronto Maple Leafs. The post-rebuild Maple Leafs have now made the playoffs five straight years, suffering five swift heartbreaks – the last four of which have come down to Game 7 (or, in the case of 2019-20, the fifth and final game of the Qualifying Round). Last year’s series collapse against the Montreal Canadiens clearly stung the most, and the clock has been ticking on redemption since then.
The Edmonton Oilers face similar pressure. That two of the league’s biggest stars have yet to truly contend for a Cup has been one of the more puzzling developments since Connor McDavid entered the league, his frustrations more and more evident with every early exit. The Oilers have made the post-season the past two years, but haven’t exactly shown up once there – they lost 3-1 in the Qualifying Round against the Blackhawks in the 2020 bubble, and were swiftly swept by the Jets last spring.
And then there’s Florida. The Panthers haven’t won a playoff series since going all the way to the Cup Final in 1996. Last year’s first-round battle with the champs was one of the most thrilling series of the entire playoffs, and every move made since has them looking like the real deal.
Bandwagon to jump on: Colorado Avalanche
Yeah, I know. Picking the most popular pick to win the Cup is reeeal original, right? But hey, your team missed the playoffs – you deserve to have a little fun. And what better way to erase the sting of your team’s missteps than by drowning your sorrows in goals – lots of goals.
The Avalanche check all the boxes for a compelling playoff story, their dreams of deep runs the past few playoffs cut short just shy of the promised land. They play a game that’s fast-paced yet heavy, led by one of the league’s best in Nathan MacKinnon while the gamebreaker that is Cale Makar drives play from the blue line.
This is a bandwagon you can get comfortable on, because they look poised for a long road of winning ahead.
Stanley Cup pick: Tampa Bay Lightning
Who’s up for a three-peat? My recency bias is clearly showing here, but every time I think about the champion at the end of all this, my mind just kept going back to Tampa Bay.
Another Stanley Cup would make them the first team to win three straight championships since the Islanders won four in the early 1980s.
The biggest driver in this isn’t their elite offence or their strong blue line, but the man in the blue paint. For the past two years, we’ve watched Andrei Vasilevskiy hit another dimension come springtime, particularly in series-clinching scenarios where he’s posted five straight shutouts. He’s averaged an identical 1.90 goals against in back-to-back post-seasons.
If Vasilevskiy is back at his best, there’s simply no one better – and no team better than the reigning champs.
SONNY SACHDEVA
Out-of-nowhere playoff star: Andrew Mangiapane, Calgary Flames
It’s tough to peg a potential breakout as ‘out of nowhere’ for a guy who just put up 35 goals, but I’m going with Mangiapane. Anyone familiar with the Calgary Flames is well-aware of what Mangiapane brings to the table, but even the most loyal of Flames fans likely wouldn’t have had him reaching quite these lofty heights this season. And yet, that’s been the story of these Flames — career years on career years, all signs pointing to a special season at the Saddledome.
With all the attention on 100-point kings Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk — not to mention Elias Lindholm, the third 40-goal-scorer on that ridiculous top line — Mangiapane’s impact gets lost in the shuffle a bit for the wider hockey world. But the former sixth-round pick has been steadily building to this moment for the past half-decade, quietly honing his game year by year, fighting for a bigger role. Now he’s become a bona fide game changer. He started this stretch off with a 2021 world championship gold medal and an MVP nod to boot, and he’s followed that up with 35 goals in the bag heading into the post-season. Can’t imagine that train's going to slow down once the stakes get even higher. If the Flames put together the type of run they’re expected to over the next couple months, the hockey world’s going to get real familiar with Mangiapane’s name.
Playoff storyline I’m watching: Will the vets find some playoff magic in the potential of one last ride?
In each conference, we have a former champ staring down a final kick at the glorious can. In the West, it’s L.A., after former Kings captain Dustin Brown announced last week that he’ll retire when the 2022 post-season concludes. The Kings don’t have too many holdovers from those Cup-winning squads. ‘That 70’s Line’ has been split up and shipped out, their former coach is manning a new Western juggernaut, former key cogs like Jeff Carter and Jake Muzzin are looking to make some post-season noise with their own contenders, and others have long since hung up the dream. Somehow, Brown’s remained, and not only that — the 37-year-old’s seen something of a career revival over the past few years, potting goals with more regularity. Now, his Kings have surprised with a return to the post-season, and stare down a match-up with Connor McDavid’s club. Who knows whether L.A. has enough to take them down, but anyone who remembers the magic of that 2012 Kings run — the eighth-seed-that-could — knows there’s always a chance in Hollywood.
Speaking of Carter, in the East it’s his new side that’s staring down their own potential end of an era. For nearly two decades, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have led Pittsburgh into the post-season with as good a chance as any to make something happen. Three times, they did, delivering a trio of championship parades to the Steel City. With a division title last year and a fairly strong 2021-22 season, it’s clear there’s still something to work with in this current iteration of the Pens. But the team has wilted a bit of late, leading some to wonder if their age is finally showing. The string of first-round exits in recent years has prompted similar questions. Anything that leads the Penguins brass to contemplate turning over a new leaf is cause for concern for the black and gold faithful, as Malkin and Letang head into this off-season as unrestricted free agents, with those calling the shots upstairs not the same group that held loyal to the veterans that won them banners and rings. It’s tough to imagine either of the franchise icons truly moving on, but the chance is there. And the key question is whether that chance will inspire one more run of greatness from Pittsburgh’s Big Three before all is said and done.
Bandwagon to jump on: The Flames giving Calgary the playoff run it deserves
I’ll stick with the Flames theme and implore you to dive into the C of Red. If there’s a city that deserves a winner, it’s Calgary. Some see the resurgence at the Saddledome and think of the past few years of disappointment, but the potential of this run is about more than that. After all those years of being stuck in the middle of the pack, all those years Jarome Iginla dominated without a supporting cast that could play at his level, after that miracle run in ’04 that fell just a win short of Cup glory, after the hope of the Gaudreau-Monahan era seemed to spark and fizzle out as quickly as it arrived, the city finally has something it hasn't had in a while: a true, bona fide contender. A roster with two of the top 10 scorers in the league, three of the top 15 snipers, multiple century marks on the board, one of the top five netminders in the game behind them, and a coach who has the team playing a style tailor-made for the post-season grind.
This could be the big one for Calgary, and regardless of whether you feel they deserve to have their time in the sun, the fact is they’re also pure entertainment, from No. 13’s high-flying antics on the ice to Darryl Sutter’s in the press conference. Let’s see if they can put it all together when it matters most — here’s hoping for a Red Mile revival.
Stanley Cup pick: Colorado Avalanche
There’s a bevy of scary-looking contenders this year, from Florida’s ridiculous offence, to the balanced Flames squad mentioned above, to Tampa Bay flipping the switch and deciding they’re ready to Tampa-Bay everyone now that the important months have arrived. But it’s tough to look past Colorado. They’ve been the obvious answer who’s come up short the past couple years now, but you have to think they break through at some point here, just like the juggernauts before them did.
There’s a sense that the Avs might be a great regular-season team that can’t raise their game when the stakes are highest, but they lost to two good teams over those past two years — the Cup finalist Stars in 2020, in seven games, and another deep squad in the Golden Knights last year. Not exactly nobodies. This year, once again, they just look too deep, with too many weapons to bet against. Nathan MacKinnon still seems right up there in conversations of the game’s best, Mikko Rantanen’s had a dominant year, Nazem Kadri’s putting up career-best numbers, they have steady netminding in Darcy Kuemper and, most importantly, Cale Makar’s taken a step from elite to otherworldly.
The same questions were asked about the Lightning before they broke through and proved they could keep it rolling past Game 82, and about plenty of other squads that, looking back, seemed like inevitable champs. Now it’s the Avs’ turn to silence the doubters.
MIKE JOHNSTON
Out-of-nowhere playoff star: Brandon Duhaime, Minnesota Wild
Every year in the playoffs you see a few fourth-liners make waves across the league thanks to their high energy or scrappy nature. Brandon Duhaime could be that guy for the Wild this year, especially if they go on a deep run. The 2016 fourth-round pick had six goals and 17 points in 80 regular-season games during his rookie campaign. I don’t expect his impact to be made by scoring goals. He ranked third among all rookies with 198 hits and his impact will come in the form of providing a boost of energy during his 10 or so minutes per night. He’ll be counted on to finish checks and make life difficult for any Blues players he encounters while making sure he stays out of the penalty box. Duhaime was second to Marcus Foligno on the Wild with 105 PIMs. He’ll need to play disciplined with that edge.
Playoff storyline I'm watching: Another Leafs letdown
It’s an obvious one but like many I’ll be curious to see if the Maple Leafs continue their streak of early playoff exits. If Toronto gets eliminated within seven games again after yet another solid regular season the fallout will be loud and entertaining. Much of the media and fan base will be firing off hot takes at a breakneck pace either by way of overreaction or Schadenfreude. I can hear the collective groans now.
Bandwagon to jump on: Minnesota Wild
GM Bill Guerin was quite busy prior to the trade deadline and fortifying the roster by adding Tyson Jost, Nicolas Deslauriers, Jacob Middleton and Marc-Andre Fleury has noticeably taken Minnesota to a new level. The team has been rolling with only one regulation loss since mid-March. The Wild are built for a deep run if they get solid goaltending from Fleury and/or Cam Talbot and can overcome a high-scoring Blues team that excels on special teams in Round 1.
Stanley Cup pick: Florida Panthers
They’ve been the best team in the East all season. They led all teams with an insane goal differential and recently had a 13-game winning streak snapped. The Panthers have no excuses. Oh ya, and Aaron Ekblad could return as early as the first round. Ironically, one thing going against Florida is the fact they won the Presidents’ Trophy. The last team to win that trophy and hoist the Cup in the same season was the 2013 Blackhawks.
