Category: Sports News

By Anthony Carbone, The Hockey News Intern

The NHL playoffs are where rivalries ignite, underdogs rise up and legends are made. Every post-season delivers its unforgettable battles, but some matchups have the potential to steal the spotlight before the puck even drops. Imagine high-octane superstars clashing, old foes revisiting past grudges or an upstart team trying to topple a dynasty. As the regular season winds down, the standings hint at some electrifying possibilities.

From classic showdowns to fresh new storylines, here are five potential first-round NHL playoff matchups that could set the hockey world ablaze and keep fans on the edge of their seats until the final buzzer.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars

The first matchup to consider would be between two Western Conference juggernauts, the Avalanche and the Stars. Superstars across both lineups would see Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas take on the likes of Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz, leading to an entertaining matchup.

The Avs are looking to win another Stanley Cup this decade – having hoisted the NHL’s championship trophy in 2022 – as they attempt to get back to the final. Not to mention, this series would pit former Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen against his former team as the newest member of the Stars.

Dallas has made it to the Western Conference final two years in a row, but his year, they want to take another step and compete for Lord Stanley’s Cup. This series will most likely happen if these two teams remain in second and third place in the Central Division, and with the way the standings look, a series between these two teams seems almost inevitable. With the amount of star power on both sides and their Stanley Cup windows open, these two teams are looking to do anything to win, and seeing them go against each other in Round 1 would make for a must-see series. 

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New York Rangers 

Here's an Original Six matchup for the list, as a battle between the Leafs and Rangers would make for a great first-round series. With the NHL’s current playoff format, Toronto hasn’t played a Metropolitan Division opponent in a long time – and the last time the Leafs faced the Rangers in the playoffs was way back in 1962. If the Leafs can win the Atlantic Division and the Rangers line up in a wild-card spot, this matchup could spark a lot of interest. The ‘Core Four’ in Toronto going up against Rangers newcomer J.T. Miller and standout goaltender Igor Shesterkin? Yes, please.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators

The Battle of Ontario would be a compelling matchup in the first round of the playoffs. The Senators, looking to make the post-season for the first time since 2017, would love a shot at playing their division rival in the first round. The Leafs, looking to progress from the second round and go on a Cup run, would entertain a Battle of Ontario matchup.

The rich history between the two teams could result in a great series with great matchups between Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander going up against the likes of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and goalie Linus Ullmark. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was 2004, with the Leafs winning in seven games. 

Edmonton Oilers vs. Calgary Flames

From the Battle of Ontario to the Battle of Alberta. The rich legacy between Alberta’s two teams began in 1980 when the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary, and the rest is history. Most recently, in the 2022 playoffs, the Oilers faced off against the Flames in a highly anticipated second-round matchup. The Oilers took that series in five games, and Connor McDavid was the hero in overtime of Game 5 in Calgary.

⏪🗓 May 26, 2022

The #Oilers clinched the second-round series over the Flames as Connor McDavid ended the #BattleofAlberta with an unforgettable 5-4 OT winner. pic.twitter.com/WXeYAloR7I

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 26, 2023

With the Oilers looking to make it back to the Cup final, a feisty Flames roster is looking to make the post-season for the first time since 2022. The Flames are leaning on rookie goalie Dustin Wolf to lead them into the playoffs. This series will likely happen if Edmonton can capture the top spot in the Pacific from Vegas and if Calgary remains in a wild-card position. If it does happen, it will certainly be electric.

Florida Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Battle of the Sunshine State is the Florida showdown that NHL fans need. This rivalry has intensified over the past few seasons as these clubs have battled in the playoffs three times in the past four years. In 2021, the Lightning won the series 4-2. In 2022, they swept the Panthers 4-0. And last post-season, the Panthers won 4-1.

Every regular-season meeting between these two teams is always intense – in a game in December, Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov hit Panthers pot-stirrer Matthew Tkachuk knee-on-knee, which did not sit well with Florida’s bench. The Panthers are looking to go back-to-back and win their second Stanley Cup in a row, while the Lightning are pushing for another Cup with their core players, after going back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.

This series will most likely happen if these two teams finish in the second and third spots in the Atlantic Division, which could happen if Toronto overtakes Florida again. Two Eastern Conference favorites that could potentially meet in the first round would make for must-watch playoff hockey.

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By Nicholas Rego, The Hockey News Intern

In recent years, one of the best teams in the NHL has been the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have been dominant throughout the regular season and, more importantly, in the playoffs. The Lightning won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 and then made it back to the Cup final in 2022, losing to the Colorado Avalanche in six games.  

Entering this season, there was some doubt that the Lightning were going to continue being a dominant team. And losing former captain Steven Stamkos to the Nashville Predators via free agency left some questions about the direction the team was going in. But those questions were quickly answered when the Lightning signed UFA winger Jake Guentzel to a seven-year, $63-million contract on July 1. 

One of the main reasons why the Bolts are considered one of the best teams in recent history is goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. During the Lightning’s three straight Stanley Cup-final runs, Vasilevskiy stood on his head. During those three playoff campaigns, he averaged a .928 save percentage, 2.10 goals-against average and posted seven shutouts. This year, Vasilevskiy is still performing at a high level, giving the Lightning a chance in the highly competitive Atlantic Division. He currently sits at a 2.01 GAA, .926 SP and has four shutouts on the season.

Another big reason for the Lightning’s success is two-time NHL scoring champion Nikita Kucherov. During Tampa Bay’s three-year run to the Cup final from 2020 to 2022, Kucherov scored 23 goals and 93 points in 71 playoff games – nearly 30 points more than the second-highest playoff scorer during that span. This season, Kucherov is still Kucherov, with 28 goals and 92 points in 61 games. When the games count the most, having someone like Kucherov leading the way on the scoring front and someone like Vasilevskiy in the crease can only lead to success deep into the playoffs. 

The supporting cast of players are contributing in so many ways that they are helping the Lightning continue their regular-season success. Players such as Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli have the ability to take over a game on any given night. And having veteran defensemen such as Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh to steady the blueline helps the rest of the roster breathe when the puck is on their sticks. In addition, the team recently acquired center Yanni Gourde and right winger Oliver Bjorkstrand at the 2025 trade deadline, further deepening their roster.

Three-quarters of the regular season is in the books and the Lightning are holding their own in the Atlantic Division, chasing the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers for first place. The Bolts have a shot at securing the top spot and becoming a Stanley Cup threat once again as they pursue their fourth NHL championship in franchise history.

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One hundred and ten years ago, Lt.-Col. John McCrae wrote In Flanders Fields after the funeral of a close friend who had died in battle in the First World War. More than 30 years later, Montreal Canadiens GM Frank Selke absconded the famous line, “To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high.” And for almost 75 years, that line has greeted Canadiens players as they’ve entered the team’s dressing room, either in the Forum or the Bell Centre. It’s there to remind them of the greatness that has preceded them and their responsibility to uphold the standard that was established by the franchise’s icons.

Generations of players have done their parts, but woo-boy there have been some rough years lately. With a few notable exceptions, young Canadiens players have spent the better part of the past 20 years or so handling the torch like it was a book of matches from a Crescent Street strip club that someone had inadvertently set on fire. There have been some hits, lots of misses and a team that has been among the top 20 in the NHL only once in the past five years. Of course, they finished 18th that year and made it to the Stanley Cup final, so there’s that.

Canadiens GM Kent Hughes remembers the glory days. Larry Robinson’s son played minor hockey with him in Beaconsfield, and Jacques Lemaire’s kid played with Hughes’ younger brother, Ryan. And what the Canadiens are building right now is not the 1970s dynasty that Hughes and his brother idolized, but it’s something. Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle and David Reinbacher will never be confused with Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe, but they’re really good. Nick Suzuki probably isn’t Lemaire, but work with us. Cole Caufield could stand in for Steve Shutt and Juraj Slafkovsky or Michael Hage for Pete Mahovlich. Nobody is saying Owen Beck and Oliver Kapanen are the next Bob Gainey and Doug Jarvis, but let’s use our imaginations here. Arber Xhekaj as Pierre Bouchard? Sure. (Just keep him away from the modern-day Stan Jonathan.) People are saying great things about Jacob Fowler, the same way they did about Cayden Primeau at the same age, but the kid is putting up Ken Dryden-like numbers at Boston College.

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And then there’s Ivan Demidov, star of YouTube and the single-season under-20 scoring leader in KHL history. He plays right wing. So did Guy Lafleur. So, let’s imagine the possibilities. The thing that sports sells better than anything is hope, so let’s give this a go. What if Demidov becomes the dynamic, lift-you-out-of-your-seat scoring star the Canadiens have lacked for decades? And what if the rest of them come together and hit their career peaks simultaneously? Hey, even a poor man’s 1970s dynasty could win the Stanley Cup in today’s parity-ravaged NHL. “I can tell you that if you made those comparisons and you were right,” Hughes said, “you’d be talking to the happiest man in the world.”

"His ability to move laterally suddenly is one of his calling cards."

- Kent Hughes

Which brings us back to Demidov, who fell to the Canadiens when they were picking fifth overall in the 2024 NHL draft and who has since emerged as the world’s No. 1 NHL-affiliated prospect. There’s a video going around in which Canadiens executive VP of hockey operations Jeff Gorton asks Demidov in his draft interview if the team would be crazy to pass on him at their position, and Demidov confirms they would be. Demidov is making them look pretty good, which is probably why the Canadiens allowed the video to surface.

Demidov doesn’t have Lafleur’s shirt-flapping speed – he probably doesn’t spark up a heater between periods, either – but he’s deadly in the scoring areas. His sense of deception is sublime, and he can make a puck find the net while negotiating its way past multiple sets of shin pads. Nobody in KHL history – not Kirill Kaprizov, not Matvei Michkov – has as many points in a teenage season as Demidov has so far in 2024-25. All that is great, but Hughes is most impressed with how Demidov has handled the situation with his KHL team in St. Petersburg, being sat out of the lineup by coach Roman Rotenberg, then playing sparingly early in the season. He has figured it out, which means the Canadiens have been handed a bit of a development gift in the tough love that Rotenberg has shown Demidov.

In December, Hughes accompanied Canadiens head amateur scout Nick Bobrov and special consultant Vincent Lecavalier (along with Demidov’s agent, Dan Milstein) on a multi-pronged mission to assure Demidov that his early-season struggles were not a concern to them and to find out from Rotenberg what Demidov had to improve upon to get more playing time.

“To be honest, some of the stuff they were asking him to do, as much as it made for some frustrating times for him, it’s probably going to help his transition to North America,” Hughes said. “With any young prospect, before you have complete control over their development, you want them in an environment where the things being asked of them are productive in terms of making them better future NHL players. The ice time was not ideal, and he couldn’t do what they were asking of him if he wasn’t playing.”

So, fans of the Canadiens – and there are apparently a few of them – watch the regular postings of Demidov’s most recent exploits in a league where Josh Leivo is the leading scorer and they wonder whether the parade is going to go the usual route down Rue Ste-Catherine. Since Demidov’s contract with SKA expires on May 31, it’s assumed that he’ll be in the Habs’ lineup next season. And there’s a good chance he will be. The Laval Rocket had the best points percentage in the AHL at the all-star break, and, hey, it’s not out of the question that Demidov could sign with the Canadiens and join the Rocket for their playoff run. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Both Hughes and Milstein are loath to talk about when the NHL might see Demidov because, well, Russia. Both will breathe a huge sigh of relief when the young man sets foot in Montreal.

But for now, the Canadiens are thrilled he’s turned his season around, and good things are on the horizon. When Hughes watches Demidov play, both in person and on video, he sees a player with a unique set of skills and the ability to control his edges like few other players. “His ability to move laterally suddenly is one of his calling cards,” Hughes said. “It makes him so elusive. Ivan doesn’t skate at the high speeds Connor McDavid does, but he cuts and moves from right to left, and the amount he covers is significant. He can score, but he also has the ability to see plays and make plays. He has a lot of qualities that we think are going to allow him to be successful in the NHL.”

Hughes waits a second or two, then adds, “And very different. Not the kind of player you see every day.” That makes the Canadiens excited for the time when they can start seeing him every day.

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This article appeared in our 2025 Future Watch issue. Our cover story focuses on Ducks prospect Beckett Sennecke, who is tearing it up with the OHL's Oshawa Generals this season. We also include features on other exceptional NHL prospects, including: Zayne Parekh, Porter Martone, Gavin McKenna and more. In addition, we look at the top-10 prospects in the pipeline for each of the 32 NHL clubs.

It's available on newsstands now, or you can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.