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Buffalo Sabres players celebrate after a victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo\/Jeffrey T. Barnes)<\/p>\n
The Stanley Cup will have a new home this year after the back-to-back champion<\/a> Florida Panthers had their season derailed<\/a> by injuries.<\/p>\n They\u2019re not the only perennial contender to miss the playoffs, either, with the Buffalo Sabres<\/a> among the roughly half dozen newcomers in the 16-team field. The Pittsburgh Penguins are back<\/a> in the dance, too.<\/p>\n The Colorado Avalanche have been dominant since October and go in as the favorite after clinching the best regular-season record in the NHL. That has rarely been an indicator<\/a> of who hoists the Cup at the end of four rounds, and it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess who comes out of the Eastern Conference, as well as the West.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery team in the playoffs can win,\u201d Dallas Stars defenseman Tyler Myers said. \u201cEvery series is a tough series. That\u2019s what\u2019s so amazing about the NHL playoffs: It brings out the best in everybody, in every team, and it creates an unbelievable battle no matter who\u2019s playing.\u201d<\/p>\n New blood in the NHL playoffs<\/p>\n Buffalo ended the longest postseason drought in league history at 14 seasons and did so after losing 18 of its first 29 games.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that we strived for from Day One,\u201d said Lindy Ruff, who is among the favorites to be coach of the year. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to feel good about getting there. It\u2019s hard. We\u2019re in a division that\u2019s been extremely hard to get there. You\u2019ve got to look back and say that we did a lot of good things to get to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n The Sabres also look as if they can do some damage in the wide-open East without Florida. They’ve been the best team since the Olympic break.<\/p>\n Also hot down the stretch was Pittsburgh, which qualified for the first time since 2022 in new coach Dan Muse’s first season. The Penguins were 6-1 long shots on BetMGM Sportsbook in October to make it, but now the trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang gets another chance.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people doubted us and I guess counted us out, and it just put fuel on the fire for us,\u201d said defenseman Ryan Shea, who’s set to make his NHL playoff debut at 29. \u201cI\u2019ve been in the playoffs in the AHL, which was fun, but this is the best league in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The Utah Mammoth made it in the franchise’s second season in Salt Lake City. The Anaheim Ducks are also back with a young core coached by three-time Cup-champion Joel Quenneville<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Central Division path is the toughest<\/p>\n Colorado is justifiably the best bet to win it all. Nathan MacKinnon could be the MVP, Cale Makar the top defenseman, and the reacquisition of Nazem Kadri<\/a> at the trade deadline gives the Avalanche the depth to envision another parade in Denver this summer, four years since the previous one<\/a>.<\/p>\n To do so, they’ll have to go through either Dallas or the Minnesota Wild in the second round just to reach the West final.<\/p>\n \u201cConfident for sure: Believe in this group. I know we have what it takes,\u201d captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “It\u2019s going to be a long, tough road and mentally, physically grinding. I think we\u2019re ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Stars versus Wild opens the playoffs with a bang, pitting two of the top seven teams in the league in a best-of-seven series that ensures one of them will be golfing by mid-May. It’s the result of a division-focused format that Commissioner Gary Bettman has said leads to the best first round in sports.<\/p>\n “That makes for great matchups,” Bettman said. \u201cIf you\u2019re a fan of the game and you\u2019re looking for excitement, you\u2019re looking to be entertained, you\u2019re looking for intriguing stories, this format does it.\u201d<\/p>\n From going for gold to chasing the silver chalice<\/p>\n Several players who won gold with the U.S.<\/a> at the Olympics have the chance to add a Stanley Cup ring to their trophy case for the year.<\/p>\n Colorado’s Brock Nelson scored 30 goals after being a difference-maker<\/a> in Milan. Carolina’s Jaccob Slavin, Buffalo’s Tage Thompson, Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel, Minnesota’s Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber, Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson are all in the running, as are two goaltenders: Boston’s Jeremy Swayman and Dallas’ Jake Oettinger.<\/p>\n