Playoff Predictions: Round 1, the conference finals, and Cup champs

Heading into the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, theScore's Kyle Cushman, Kayla Douglas, Mike Dickson, Josh Gold-Smith, John Matisz, Sean O'Leary, and Josh Wegman make their picks for the first round, conference finals, Stanley Cup Final, and Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

Boston Bruins vs. Florida Panthers

The Bruins had arguably the most dominant regular season of all time, and their reward for such an incredible run is to face last season's Presidents' Trophy winners in the first round. It was a close season series as Boston just eeked out a 2-1-1 edge over the Panthers. But despite how close it was, our editors expect the Bruins to advance.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning and Maple Leafs meet in the opening round for the second straight year, with Toronto looking for its first series win since 2004. The Leafs took the season series 2-0-1 over Tampa, and the consensus among our editors is Toronto will get its revenge and finally earn that long-awaited series victory.

Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders

One thing is guaranteed from this matchup: Sebastian Aho will advance to the next round. That's because, in addition to Carolina's star forward Sebastian Aho, New York has a Sebastian Aho of its own on defense. The Hurricanes took three of the four meetings during the regular season. However, they won't have the injured Andrei Svechnikov, and the Isles will have stellar goalie Ilya Sorokin. New York has a legitimate shot at knocking off the Metropolitan Division champs, which explains why we gave them a slight edge here.

New Jersey Devils vs. New York Rangers

This will be the seventh Battle of the Hudson in the postseason, with the Rangers winning the series four times. The Devils prevailed in the most recent playoff meeting (2012 Eastern Conference Final) and took the season series with a 3-0-1 record. This will likely be one of the closest opening-round matchups, so it's no surprise that most of our editors believe it'll go the distance.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Seattle Kraken

The Kraken had quite the turnaround. They went from a last-place finish in the Pacific Division during their inaugural season to making the playoffs in their second year. However, Seattle is up against the defending champions, who enter the postseason playing their best hockey of the campaign. The Avalanche erased a 14-point deficit over the season's final three months to capture the Central. Even though the Kraken won the season series, our editors think Colorado's experience and talent will prove too much for the upstarts from Seattle.

Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild

You can't blame a longtime hockey fan in Minnesota if they feel a little conflicted with this one since it's a meeting of the old team that used to play in the state - the North Stars, now Stars - against the current group, the Wild. Most fans from the Land of 10,000 Lakes are likely rooting for the Wild, but our editors lean toward the Stars winning this matchup after Dallas took the season series with a 2-0-2 record.

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Winnipeg Jets

After missing the postseason for the first time in their short existence last campaign, the Golden Knights are back in the playoffs following a Pacific Division title. The Jets are in a similar situation, missing the postseason in 2021-22 after making four straight playoff appearances. But Winnipeg earned its spot this year by claiming the final wild-card berth in the West. Vegas swept the three meetings during the regular season, but some of our editors see the Jets pulling off an upset.

Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings

Here's another rematch from last year's first round in which the Oilers emerged from a hard-fought seven-game series and made a run to the Western Conference Final. Connor McDavid took his game to another level this season, becoming just the sixth player in NHL history to top 150 points in a campaign. That factor, plus an improved Oilers team that enters the playoffs red-hot, has each of our editors expecting another Edmonton victory in this matchup. The two teams split the season series with two wins each.

Eastern Conference Final

After their incredible regular season, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that most of our editors expect the Bruins to keep up their stellar play and emerge as the East representatives in the Stanley Cup Final. Who they'll face is split between the Rangers and Devils despite neither winning the Metropolitan Division.

Western Conference Final

Unlike the East, the West is a little more up for grabs, though it still likely comes down to two teams - Oilers and Avalanche. Both enter the playoffs playing incredibly high-level hockey, and our editors expect that to continue through the postseason, giving a slight edge to Edmonton here.

Stanley Cup Final

A season like the Bruins put together in 2022-23 is hard to bet against, and most of our editors see them as the favorite to lift Lord Stanley's mug. Between allowing significantly fewer goals than anyone else in the league and scoring more than anyone other than Edmonton, Boston really was in a league of its own. But they play the games for a reason, and maybe, just maybe, this is Toronto's year.

Conn Smythe Trophy winner

With most of our editors selecting the Bruins to win it all, Pastrnak becomes the pretty clear choice to take the Conn Smythe. There's no shortage of talent on the Bruins, and Linus Ullmark had a remarkable season in goal, but Pastrnak scored 46 more points than anyone else on the team. If Boston is going to succeed in the playoffs, it'll require a lot of scoring from Pasta.

Interestingly, despite the Oilers not being selected to win the title, McDavid got a Conn Smythe vote here. That would make him only the sixth player ever and the second forward to take the trophy while losing the Cup Final. If any player is capable of such a feat in today's game, it's McDavid.