1 Avalanche Dynamic duo | The Avalanche have a great team, and their depth has only improved throughout the season. That said, they could have an AHL squad around Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar and still be pretty formidable. MacKinnon and Makar are two of the premier players in the game today, and each one is capable of single-handedly winning games. — 44-25-3
2 Capitals Pierre-Luc Dubois | Back in September, I could never have believed that Dubois would be a source of hope for the Capitals. But he’s revived his career with 61 points and a plus-34 goal differential at five-on-five. Dubois looks like a completely different player in Washington, and he gives the team an elite power forward heading into the playoffs. 3 47-15-9
3 Hurricanes Clear path | The Hurricanes will once again try to get over the postseason hump, and their path sets up relatively well through the first couple rounds. It looks like they’ll get the Devils, sans Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, in the first round. Then they’d likely have to face the Caps, a possible Presidents’ Trophy winner, in the second. That would be a challenge, but the underlying statistical profile clearly favors Carolina. 1 43-24-4
4 Golden Knights Divisional supremacy | Winning the Pacific Division means avoiding the Kings and Oilers in the first round and getting a considerably weaker wild card opponent. The Golden Knights’ seven-point lead looks pretty safe, and it gives them a nice edge in the postseason. No matchup will be a cakewalk, but avoiding Connor McDavid as long as possible is a good strategy. 5 43-20-8
5 Jets Connor Hellebuyck | This one is obvious. It’s boring. It’s easy. I don’t care. The biggest key in the Jets being bona fide Stanley Cup contenders is the play of Hellebuyck. His 33.8 goals saved above average are first in the league, as is his .924 save percentage. Oh, and he’ll want to avenge last season’s playoff meltdown. 2 49-19-4
6 Stars Depth | It will never cease to be amaze me the depth at forward Jim Nill has assembled. The NHL postseason exacts a heavy toll on teams, so having as many capable scorers as possible is key. Dallas has plenty of those with seven players projected as 20-goal scorers. Other teams scour the Earth to find top-six forwards. The Stars find them in their couch cushions. 2 46-21-4
7 Kings Quinton Byfield | For most of the season, the Kings appeared to think scoring more than three goals was illegal. Byfield was in a deep funk for months, but a switch has flipped. Byfield now has eight goals in his last 10 games, and the Kings put up a touchdown in back-to-back games last weekend. Los Angeles still isn’t an offensive juggernaut, but they might have enough juice for a deep run. 4 40-21-9
8 Panthers Paul Maurice | The defending champs have been hit with some adversity. Matthew Tkachuk is on LTIR. Brad Marchand has yet to play with his new team. Aaron Ekblad will be suspended through the first couple games of the playoffs. Defending their title won’t be easy, but the Panthers have one of the best coaches in NHL history behind the bench. Maurice has seen it all, and he will have Florida ready to roll when Game 1 arrives. 2 43-25-3
9 Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | The Oilers’ two biggest reasons for hope are currently injured, but the silver lining is that Nugent-Hopkins has elevated his game a bit. After being pretty disappointing for large stretches, Nugent-Hopkins has four goals and five assists in his last four games. Edmonton will need him in order to make another Cup Final run. 3 41-25-5
10 Maple Leafs Core Four | The current core of Maple Leafs has experienced its share of playoff heartbreak, but will this season be different? It looks more likely that this will be the final season of the Core Four, which has been together since 2018. Maybe that will give Toronto’s biggest stars a little extra to rally around as they try to deliver a Cup to a championship-starved franchise. 2 43-25-3
11 Lightning Big Cat | The Lightning are a great team, but they aren’t as strong as they were in 2020 and 2021. Despite that, they’re still serious Stanley Cup contenders because Andrei Vasilevskiy is playing like one of the two best goalies on the planet. His 28.4 goals saved above average rank second in the league, and we’ve seen Vasilevskiy steal pivotal playoff games so many times in his career. 4 41-25-5
12 Blues Defense | The idea of associating the Blues with good defense as recently as six months ago would have seemed outlandish. Yet, here we are. Since Jim Montgomery took over in November, St. Louis has been among the NHL’s best at limiting scoring chances and expected goals at five-on-five. The team has done a complete 180 in those categories. 2 38-28-7
13 Senators Cohesion | After a sub-80 point season in 2023-24, the vision might finally be coming together for the Senators. Their young core is starting to click at last, and their playoff drought could end at seven years. Fans in Ottawa have waited a long time for this rebuild to yield results, and it seems as though the highly-anticipated