It’s the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the pressure is intense. But pressure comes in different forms for different teams in different circumstances. Some teams have regular pressure, while others have capital-P Pressure. Some teams go all caps and break out the fancy fonts.
You get the picture. It’s time for our annual playoff pressure rankings, where we count down from the teams that would prefer to win to those that have no other option.
16. Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks are a classic example of a low-pressure playoff team. Sure, it would be nice to win a round or two, and the ultimate goal is to win all four. But this is a young team that (almost) nobody thought would get anywhere near the postseason, and they almost finished first in the division.
Unfortunately, their reward for a stunning season was to draw the two-time conference champs, so what are you going to do? Lose, probably, and that’s OK, because just getting a chance to play winner-take-all hockey against Connor McDavid will pay off in a year or two when this team is ready to really contend.
If they lose early, it will be … an unexpected chance for a young team to earn valuable experience for the real thing.
15. Boston Bruins
The Bruins weren’t supposed to be in the running for much this year beyond a high draft pick, and I guess you could call that mission accomplished. But Marco Sturm and Don Sweeney somehow found a skip button for the rebuilding montage and got right back to the playoffs, stunning just about everyone. They rank a bit higher than the Ducks, because they’re a bit older, the market’s a bit more demanding, and they aren’t facing a team with a ton of recent playoff success, to put it mildly. But it’s the same basic scenario.
If they lose early, it will be … the start of a fascinating discussion about where they go from here.
14. Utah Mammoth
The first playoff run in the market’s NHL history is off to a so-so start against a tough opponent. You never get a second chance to make a first impression and all that, but the novelty of witnessing playoff hockey should outweigh the disappointment of an early exit for Utah fans … for now. If the league’s newest team exits early against its third-newest team, all they have to do is look at the team in the middle for a reminder of how future success isn’t promised.
If they lose early, it will be … a missed opportunity, albeit hardly a shocking one.
13. Philadelphia Flyers
Nobody had them as a playoff team. Certainly not at the start of the season, and not even in mid-March, when it seemed like they’d need a miracle to make a push. Yet here they are, not only earning the East’s last spot but now threatening to roll over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It’s a similar situation to the Ducks and Bruins, but two things put Philadelphia ahead: Their matchup looks far more winnable on paper, and it’s against a hated rival.
If they lose early, it will be … a tough-to-swallow collapse given how the first two games have gone, not to mention a missed opportunity to perhaps spell the end of Sidney Crosby’s playoff career.
12. Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens continue to be the model for a modern NHL rebuild, increasing their season point total by 15 for the second straight year. Cole Caufield scored 50 and almost won the Rocket Richard, while Nick Suzuki had 100 points in what will be a Selke-winning year. It wasn’t enough to win a surprisingly good Atlantic, but that step almost feels inevitable at this point. Any questions about whether Montreal’s core had a high enough ceiling to truly contend seem to have been firmly answered.
Will it sting if they lose to the Lightning? Sure. But we’re not quite in must-win territory with this team yet. (But check back next year.)
If they lose early, it will be … a screeching stop to a season that’s been all sorts of fun.
11. Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres are already the league’s best story, and even an early exit wouldn’t undo that. But would it dampen it? Sure. And worse, it would feed into the whole “Buffalo can’t have nice things” sports storyline that’s been decades in the making. In other words, a loss to the Bruins wouldn’t be a disaster, but it would be yet another kick in the gut to a fan base that’s become sadly used to them.
If they lose early, it will be … a disappointing end to a thrilling season. Still a net positive, sure, but one that will tarnish the story at least a bit.
10. Los Angeles Kings
Nothing takes the pressure off quite like a classic “nobody believes in us” narrative, and in the case of the Kings’ matchup with the Avalanche, it seems to be quite literally true. In theory, that means the Kings’ hopes are already dead, and anything they can do against Colorado is a bonus. But then you remember that this team has lost in the first round each of the last four years, and hasn’t won a round at all since 2014. Oh, and they traded futures for a 35-year-old winger before the deadline.
If they’re not rebuilding and they’re not contending, what are they? That’s the question in Los Angeles, and it’s only going to get louder unless they can shock us all with an upset. Or at least by putting up a bit of a fight.
If they lose early, it will be … five years in a row of making the playoffs without scaring anyone at all, which may be worse than missing them altogether.
9. Ottawa Senators
The Sens deserve credit for even making the playoffs after nearly having their season torpedoed by historically bad goaltending, and they emerged as an inspiring story down the stretch. So far, they’re giving the mighty Hurricanes all they can handle. But losses are still losses, and the magic number here is two: as in the 2-0 hole they’re in heading into Game 3, and as in the back-to-back first-round exits they’ll have posted if they can’t turn this around. (And also for the number of overtime goals they gave up in Game 2, but we’ll move on.)
For a team that’s always had questions about how high their ceiling is, just sneaking into a wild-card spot won’t be enough for much longer.
If they lose early, it will be … easier to swallow than losing a series to the hated Leafs, while still raising questions about how to find a higher level.
Could this be Sidney Crosby’s last shot to play in the postseason? (Justin Berl / Getty Images)
8. Pittsburgh Penguins
They weren’t supposed to be here. They were supposed to be tanking, at least according to the consensus outside Pittsburgh heading into the season. But Dan Muse must have missed that memo, and Crosby apparently decided he wasn’t missing the playoffs again. So here they are, with all sorts of “last dance” energy. Oh, and a very winnable matchup against a just-happy-to-be-here Flyers team … we thought.
If they lose early, it will be … the end of an era?
7. Minnesota Wild
They didn’t have a perfect season, but in terms of what you would have hoped for as a Wild fan back in October, they checked almost every box. And that’s not counting the Quinn Hughes trade, which was the move that transformed them from good to great in a lot of eyes. An early exit after all of that, in the last year before Kirill Kaprizov’s bargain deal nearly doubles, would be a major disappointment.
And yes, they’re victims of the NHL’s playoff format. But not to the extent it once seemed — they finished seventh overall, ending up closer in total points to the Flyers and Penguins than to the Stars, and don’t even own the best record of teams that started the playoffs on the road. In other words, this isn’t third overall, having to play the second overall like it once seemed. When you finish third in your own division, you’re going to have a tough matchup in the first round. And if you lose that matchup, you weren’t really a Cup contender.
If they lose early, it will be … a tough sell to blame it on the playoff format.
6. Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights followed a 110-point season by landing last year’s biggest offseason prize, and went into the season looking like elite Cup contenders. Then they lost more games than they won for the first time in franchise history, costing their head coach his job in the process. A late surge let them win the Pacific pillow fight by default, and for a lot of teams, that might be enough. The Golden Knights are absolutely not one of those teams.
If they lose early, it will be … a potential firing offense for everyone involved. As always.
5. Carolina Hurricanes
In a year where almost nothing went as expected in the East, the Hurricanes are the reason for that “almost” qualifier. They breezed to a 113-point season that was quietly the second-best in the league. (Yes, better than Dallas or any of the Atlantic teams.) But as impressive as all that was, none of it will matter much if they can’t do some real damage in the playoffs.
In Carolina’s case, that means a trip to the Cup final, if not a championship. That’s a big ask of any team, but it’s the reality for this one, as the Hurricanes start their playoff journey having won a round or two (but never more) in each of the last eight seasons. Most teams would love to have that kind of track record, but eventually it just translates to even more pressure.
If they lose early, it will be … a step back for a team that’s already developing a reputation for shrinking when the spotlight gets brightest.
4. Dallas Stars
Hey, remember when the Stars went all the way to the conference final last year for the third season in a row, then fired their coach because only winning two rounds just wasn’t good enough anymore? I bet Glen Gulutzan does.
If they lose early, it will be … validation for Pete DeBoer, another strike against the playoff format, and yet more evidence for those who believe this team, as good as they are, will never be able to outlast the big dogs.
3. Colorado Avalanche
They were the best team in the regular season by some margin. They’ve got an easy matchup in the opening round, followed by whoever manages to crawl away from the Stars/Wild slugfest, followed by the winner of the weakest division in hockey. And after this, there’s only one year left before Cale Makar’s new deal starts, which could shatter records and make their cap math very tricky.
So … If not now, when?
If they lose early, it will be … further proof that the regular season barely matters anymore. Oh, and a crushing disappointment for a core that’s talented enough to have multiple Cup titles by now.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
After a slow start — remember when they were 1-4-2 and we all wondered if the window was finally closed? – the Lightning eventually found the gas pedal and roared up the standings. They couldn’t quite seal the deal as far as top seed in the Atlantic, but that was OK because they still earned home ice against a team without anywhere near their playoff experience. The path is clear: Take a few rounds to teach the division’s young punks some lessons about postseason pedigree, then on to face Carolina for a trip back to the final.
And sure, maybe it still works out that way. But the Habs don’t seem like they want to be an easy out, and then you find yourself realizing that a first-round exit would be Tampa’s fourth in a row. And then you start wondering if that window is shutting after all …
If they lose early, it will be … more than a little disconcerting to realize that the Rangers, Kraken and Canucks have all won a playoff round more recently than the Lightning have.
1. Edmonton Oilers
I know Oilers fans are sick of hearing it. And yes, some of the “McDavid surely has one foot out the door” stories are just the product of jealous media and fan bases in other markets.
Some. But not all.
As much as Oilers fans can roll their eyes at the bad-faith McDavid narratives from around the league, that doesn’t mean that this situation isn’t both relatively unique and crucially important to the future of the franchise. This piece captured it accurately, and all the comment section meltdowns in the world won’t change that.
Even if you ignore McDavid’s short-term contract and convince yourself he won’t ever want to leave, you’re still left with a team built around two megastars who are exiting their primes. Draisaitl is already 30. McDavid will be next January. It’s not now-or-never, or even all that close. But this team left the 2020 bubble looking as if they were staring down a decade of limitless possibilities. That decade is more than half over.
Mix in Kris Knoblauch, whose job might be on the line after McDavid’s recent Jon Cooper comparison, and Stan Bowman’s bungling of a Stuart Skinner trade, and the pressure goes up and down the entire organization.
The Oilers were the top team on this list in 2024, then dropped a few spots last year after their first trip to the final showed progress. But I’m not really sure there’s even a case for anyone else being ahead of them this year.
If they lose early, it will be … a disaster.