A month before NHL's playoff openers this weekend, Commissioner Gary Bettman was more than happy to defend the decision to not expand the bracket like other professional leagues around North America have done in recent years.
“If you look at the races that we’re having for the regular season, playoffs have started already,” Bettman said then. "We’re in our play-in tournament, and I think it’s terrific. What can be more compelling and exciting and entertaining than that?”
It took until the penultimate night of the season to lock in all 16 playoff teams and the eight first-round series.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers open against the cross-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators face off in the first Battle of Ontario in more than two decades. The Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche collide in a matchup of two of the top three betting favorites to win it all. And Connor McDavid’s Edmonton Oilers open the postseason against the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth year in a row.
A look at the matchups, first in the East and then the West with division and seeding noted:
Toronto (Atlantic 1) vs. Ottawa (wild card 1)
The Maple Leafs and Senators last met in a playoff series in 2004. That was before the salary cap and rule changes designed to generate more offense.
Along came Auston Matthews, Toronto's captain who reached 400 career goals and teammate William Nylander, who scored 45 this season. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz has won his past eight starts, three of the past four with a shutout, and the Leafs look capable of making a run if Matthews, Nylander and Mitch Marner can keep scoring.
The pesky Senators are led by hard-nosed captain Brady Tkachuk. Retired Norris Trophy-winning defenseman P.K. Subban, who now works for ESPN, said the playoffs "are tailor-made for Brady Tkachuk and his game and his mentality.”
Toronto is a slight series favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Ottawa has 2023 Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Linus Ullmark, and a rivalry like this has its ways of evening the scales.
Tampa Bay (Atlantic 2) vs. Florida (Atlantic 3)
The Panthers have won seven of their past eight playoff series since trading for Brady's brother, Matthew Tkachuk, and hiring Paul Maurice as coach. Their only loss came to Vegas in the 2023 final when injuries took their toll, and Florida beat Edmonton last year in seven games to capture the first title in franchise history.
The Lightning beating the Panthers in the second round in ‘22 led to that series of changes, and this will be the fourth Sunshine State Showdown in the past five years. Tampa Bay went through Florida in ’21 on the way to its second of back-to-back Cup championships.
Each team loaded up at the trade deadline. Florida added top-four defenseman Seth Jones and in-your-face winger Brad Marchand, while Tampa Bay picked up Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand, who is week to week with an injury.
The difference-makers could be in net. Russian goalies Sergei Bobrovsky for the Panthers and Andrei Vasilevskiy for the Lightning have already backstopped their team to the Cup before.
Washington (Metropolitan 1) vs. Montreal (wild card 2)
A rematch of the 2010 first round, when the Canadiens shocked the then-Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals and made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference final. Washington did finish first in the East after a season that saw captain Alex Ovechkin set the career goals record.
The Capitals were on cruise control much of the second half of the season but they lost starting goaltender Logan Thompson and forward Aliaksei Protas to injuries. They have not won a playoff series since hoisting the Cup in 2018.
The Canadiens clinched a playoff spot in their 82nd and final game of the season. The underdogs have been red hot and can count on full and frenzied playoff crowds at the Bell Centre in Montreal for the first time since 2017.
Carolina (Metropolitan 2) vs. New Jersey (Metropolitan 3)
Carolina is a heavy favorite in large part because New Jersey is missing its best player, No. 1 center Jack Hughes, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last month.
The Devils' biggest strength is their goaltending, with Jacob Markstrom filling a void in net that hasn't quite been the same since Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur. They also are expected to have top defenseman Dougie Hamilton back from his extended injury absence.
Carolina does a lot of things right and defends incredibly well. The Hurricanes after some disappointing playoff exits hope they can put together a long run, though their biggest question might be in goal between Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov.
“It’s been, I’m sure they would agree, up and down throughout the year for the goalies,” captain Jordan Staal said. “But the playoffs, you just ride whoever’s playing well and we’re very confident with both of them. We know both can win games for us and even steal games.”
Winnipeg (Central 1) vs. St. Louis (wild card 2)
The Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets have been, in hockey terms, a wagon all season. They have the likely Vezina winner in goal in Connor Hellebuyck, a near-100-point producer in Kyle Connor and the kind of big, heavy game that wins this time of year.
“They don’t give up much,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. "They’re a good defensive hockey team with a good goalie. It’s going to be an exciting series, and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
St. Louis, like Montreal, got in by winning its final game of the season. The Blues were eight points out when play resumed in late February out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, and they won 19 of 26 to qualify.
Coach Jim Montgomery, hired in November to replace Drew Bannister fresh off being fired by Boston, turned things around even faster than he expected. The Blues with big-game goaltender Jordan Binnington, won't be an easy out.
Dallas (Central 2) vs. Colorado (Central 3)
Under the old 1 to 8 conference playoff format, this easily could have been a West final. Instead, the Stars and Avalanche meet right away with one of them guaranteed to be going home early.
“Looking forward to the matchup,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “You’ve got to get out of the gate, you’ve got to play well right away and you’re going to have to play your best hockey for two weeks in order to win.”
Both teams made significant trades this winter. Dallas acquired defenseman Cody Ceci and forward Mikael Granlund, then went even bigger by getting former Avalanche standout Mikko Rantanen from Carolina at the deadline.
Colorado had traded Rantanen to the Hurricanes in January, flipping the pending free agent for younger forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury. The Avs also added centers Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle and brought back veteran defenseman Erik Johnson.
Whoever wins this series likely becomes the Cup favorite.
Vegas (Pacific 1) vs. Minnesota (wild card 1)
The Golden Knights were nearly as dominant as Winnipeg but somehow flew under the radar. Jack Eichel surpassed 90 points and showed off his defensive prowess as part of the best, most well-rounded season of his career.
Vegas is only two years removed from winning the Cup. Adin Hill has grown into the starting role since, earning a long-term contract as the organization's goaltender of the present and future, and has valuable experience from 2023.
Minnesota clinched the eighth and final spot in the West by tying its last game of the season with 20.9 seconds left. The Wild struggled in recent months but have scoring winger Kirill Kaprizov back healthy and might get a spark from newly signed prospect Zeev Buium.
“It was up and down like crazy," defenseman Jake Middleton said. "There was times we thought the world was ending. There was times we thought that we’d already won the league.”
Los Angeles (Pacific 2) vs. Edmonton (Pacific 3)
Yes, again. Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers won this series each of the past three years, but the defending West champs are banged up and won't have defenseman Mattias Ekholm at least for the first round because of injury. Edmonton let young Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg go to St. Louis on offer sheets last summer and has missed that kind of play.
“I’m sure LA and Edmonton are sick of seeing each other," said retired forward Paul Bissonnette, now a TNT analyst. “It's going to be tough sledding for Edmonton, especially with all that turnover they've had, so we'll see what they've got.”
Los Angeles is one of the hottest teams in the NHL since the trade deadline and has five 20-plus-goal scorers: Kevin Fiala, Adrian Kempe, Warren Foegele, Quinton Byfield and Anze Kopitar. Darcy Kuemper's bounce-back season gives the Kings a legit presence in net, and they have the offense to supplement a suffocating defensive system.
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AP Sports Writers Pat Graham in Denver and Dave Campbell in Minneapolis and AP freelance writer Joe Harris in St. Louis contributed.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
