The Hockey Edit

Dive into the 2025 NHL Playoffs with full first-round matchups, top players to watch, bold predictions, and insights on who might win the Cup.

The Great Chase…for the Stanley Cup

With Regular season over, we now all turn our eyes to the most wonderful time of the year…NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. With some of the best players battling it out, I can’t wait to see the upsets, star power, incredible saves, and of course, some fights. The East and the West will go best on 7 to see who will get to raise the Stanley Cup up this year. 

Eastern Conference Breakdown

For most of the 2024-25 season, when you thought of the Easter Conference, you thought of OV’s Great Chase to beat Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. Can the Capitals now turn that moment to secure them the cup? Or will another hungry team like the Toronto Maple Leafs finally pull through?

First Round Playoff Matchups

• Toronto Maple Leafs vs Ottawa Senators
  • All of Canada will be watching as these teams battle out for Ontario. The Senators are expecting their captain Brady to be back for game one. The Leafs are known for having an early playoff exit, but with their new head coach, Craig Berube, they might finally have the resources to pull this off!
• Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers
  • Meanwhile, all of Florida will be watching as Lightning vs Panthers fight this one out. Similar to his brother, Matthew is expected to come back game one – our first time seeing him on the ice since the 4 Nations. 
• Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens
  • The Habs barely secured their spot in this year’s playoffs, keeping us all on our toes. Going against the best team in the East should definitely give them a run for their money even with their new talent in Ivan Demidov. 
• Carolina Hurricanes vs New Jersey Devils
  • With the New Jersey Devils missing some of their key players, like Jack Hughes, I don’t know if they have the star talent to pull off a win against the Carolina Hurricanes who have been gaining momentum. 

Western Conference Breakdown

A lot of the Western conference comes down to: who is healthy and who is not. Some of these key games could honestly be decided by the lack of one or two key players. Yet I can’t wait to see some of these matchups play out in real time. 

First Round Playoff Matchups

• Winnipeg Jets vs St Louis Blues
  • The Winnipeg Jets are riding the high of winning the Presidents Trophy. Meanwhile the Blues are lucky to be in the playoffs after almost losing their spot to the Calgary Flames. With Hellebuyck protecting the net, the Jets seem like an easy win to me. 
• Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche
  • This might be my favorite match-up in the West. The Stars have some depth with their veterans yet some young players that help control the game (read our piece on Wyatt Johnston here). On the other hand, the Av’s have some of the best players in the league with MacKinnon and Makar. They’re also expecting Gabriel Landeskog to return who we haven’t seen on the ice in an NHL game since 2022. 
• Vegas Golden Knights vs Minnesota Wild
  • The Minnesota Wild snagged the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. With Brock Faber in defense and a healthy Kaprizov, the Wild are a fun team to watch. Yet the Golden Knights will be hard to beat with the way Eichel has been playing. Read more about this game in this article from NHL.
• LA Kings vs Edmonton Oilers
  • The LA Kings have a hungry, physical team that could fight during this series. The Oilers have some of the best players in the league – the bigger question is if they will be healthy for game one. The Oilers just lost their best defenseman, Ekholm, for at least a few playoff games. We’re also waiting to hear if Draisaitl and McDavid make an appearance game one. To me, a healthy Oiler team is hard to beat.

Key NHL Players to Watch in the 2025 Playoffs

There are a few key players to watch out for this round. Most importantly, who will be healthy. With key players like McDavid and the Tkachuk brothers still unconfirmed for game one, their participation could shift the entire playoffs. I’m also very excited to see how Ivan Demidov plays with the Habs round one. 

Who Will Win the 2025 Stanley Cup? Final Thoughts

I think we can all agree that the playoffs bring forth some of the best hockey of the season. Personally, I can’t wait to see if the Av’s or the Maple Leafs can take it all. But who do you think will take it all and win? Let me know if the comments!