Everything You Need To Know About The Stanley Cup Playoffs
- therookiereporters
- Apr 24
- 7 min read
With the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs officially having started, here is everything you need to know about the playoffs.
The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs officially began on April 18 and will conclude with the Stanley Cup Final with the series ending no later than June 21. For these two months, 16 of the NHL’s 32 franchises will battle through four rounds of best-of-seven series.
What Is The Stanley Cup?
The Stanley Cup is the oldest professional sports championship trophy in North America. The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston — the governor general of Canada — who donated it as an award to Canada’s top-ranking amateur ice hockey club.
The First Cup was awarded in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club, and the winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams only became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906.
In 1915, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) reached an agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. It was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926.
How The Playoffs Work
The National Hockey League (NHL) postseason is made up of a 16 team roster, equally divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences. Qualifications for these spots follow a divisional structure: the top three finishers in each of the league’s four divisions earn an automatic spot, while the two remaining spots in each conference go to the next two highest-placed teams by points, regardless of division — also known as wild cards.
The Playoffs consist of four rounds that each are a best-of-seven games series; First Round, Second Round, Conference Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals.
In the First Round, the division winner with the best record in a given conference faces the lower-ranked wild card, the other division winner takes on the higher-ranked wild card. The second- and third-place teams in each division face off against one another.
Winners advance to the Second Round where they will once again be met with the best-of-seven games format. The winners of the Second Round will advance to the Conference Finals, and finally to the Stanley Cup Finals, where the Eastern and Western champions meet.
Every round follows the same format: best-of-seven, with the first team to win four games advancing to the next round. Games are arranged in a 2-2-1-1-1 rotation, with home-ice advantage for the first two games going to the team that placed higher during the regular season.
The Stanley Cup Final itself is projected to begin no earlier than June 4, with a potential Game 7 on the calendar as late as June 21.
Who’s In, And What’s At Stake
Eastern Conference
Carolina Hurricanes (Metropolitan Division champions - 113 points): Carolina enters as the top team of the Eastern Conference. They finished the regular season with 113 points, the best record in their conference, and will open at home against the Ottawa Senators.
Buffalo Sabres (Atlantic Division champions - 109 points): The Sabres have ended their 14-year playoff drought — the longest in league history — clinching a playoff spot for the first time since the 2010-11 season. As Atlantic Division champions, they host the Boston Bruins in the first round.
Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic Division - 106 points): Tampa Bay Lightning enters the playoffs as one of the more experienced franchises in the field. They have reached the Stanley Cup Final as recently as 2021.
Montreal Canadians (Atlantic Division - 106 points): Tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning in points during the regular season, the Montreal Canadiens earned their spot in the playoffs. They will play against the Lightning — a team that previously beat them in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
Pittsburgh Penguins (Metropolitan Division - 98 points): Pittsburgh Penguins’s return to the playoffs is headlined by Sidney Crosby, who is widely considered one of the greatest players in NHL history and remains the engine of everything the Penguins do offensively. However, Crosby has been playing through the effects of a lower-body injury sustained at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Philadelphia Flyers (Metropolitan Division - 98 points): The Philadelphia Flyers return to the playoffs for the first time in six years. They were tied with the Penguins during the regular season, which will make a competitive matchup between the two teams.
Boston Bruins (Atlantic Division, Eastern wild card - 100 points): Boston Bruins qualified as the Eastern Conference’s top wild card and faced a tough draw against the division-winner Buffalo Sabres.
Ottawa Senators (Atlantic Division, Eastern wild card - 99 points): The Ottawa Senators qualified as the second Eastern wild card and will open on the road against the conference’s champion Carolina Hurricanes.
Western Conference
Colorado Avalanche (Central Division champions - 121 points): Colorado Avalanche is the top of the class of the entire league this season. They won the Presidents’ Trophy (awarded to the team with the most regular-season points) and are entering the postseason as the consensus favorite to hoist the cup. They face the Los Angeles Kings in the First Round, and they won all three regular-season games between these teams during the 2025-26 season.
Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific Division champions - 95 points): Vegas’s regular season was turbulent, but they managed to close their run to clinch the Pacific Division title. They are accustomed to the pressure of the playoffs, having won the Cup in 2023. They open at home against the Utah Mammoth.
Dallas Stars (Central Division - 112 points): Dallas Stars earned second place in the Central Division with 112 points and will face the Minnesota Wild in the opening round. The Stars have won both of their previous playoff series against Minnesota.
Minnesota Wild (Central Division - 104 points): Minnesota Wild finished third in the Central Division, earning their spot in the playoffs on the back of a strong all-around season.
Edmonton Oilers (Pacific Division - 93 points): No team enters these playoffs carrying more weight of expectations than the Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid has led his team to the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons, and lost both times.
Anaheim Ducks (Pacific Division - 92 points): Like the Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim’s playoff return is a story in itself. They have been absent from the playoffs since 2018 and ended an eight-year drought by qualifying this spring.
Utah Mammoth (Central Division, Western wild card - 92 points): Formerly the Arizona Coyotes franchise, the Utah Mammoths are playing their first playoff hockey in Utah. They head into Vegas as the Western wild card.
Los Angeles Kings (Pacific Division, Western wild card - 90 points): The Los Angeles Kings qualified as the second Western wild card with a 90-point campaign and drew the toughest possible first-round opponent in the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
Who’s facing who?
Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins
The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs marks the ninth time the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins have faced each other, with Boston having won six of the previous eight matchups.
They last met in the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, where Boston secured the win in six games. During the 2025-26 regular season, the Bruins also took three out of the four games between the teams.
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens
The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens will be meeting each other for the fifth time in their playoff history. The Lightning have won three of the previous four matchups.
Their most recent meetup was during the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, where Tampa Bay Lightning won in five games. During this regular season, the teams split their four-game series evenly.
Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators
The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs mark the first time that the Carolina Hurricanes and the Ottawa Senators will meet in the playoffs. During the regular season, Carolina took the win in two of the three games.
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers
This is the eighth time these interstate rivals are meeting up during the playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers have won four out of the seven previous series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Their last playoff meeting came in the 2018 Eastern Conference first round, where the Penguins won in six games. During the 2025-26 regular season, the two teams split their four-game series evenly.
Colorado Avalanche vs. Los Angeles Kings
Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings will be meeting each other for the third time during the playoffs, with Colorado having won both of the previous series.
The last time these two teams met was in the 2002 Western Conference quarterfinals, where the Colorado Avalanche won in seven games. They also won all three games against the Kings during the regular season.
Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild
The Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild will be facing off against each other for the third time in playoff history, with the Stars having won both of the previous series.
Their most recent matchup came in the 2023 Western Conference first round, which Dallas won in six games. During the regular season, however, the Stars and the Wild have split their four games evenly.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Utah Mammoth
This marks the first time the Vegas Golden Knights and the Utah Mammoth will be facing off against each other during the playoffs. Utah claimed two of the three games in their regular season series.
Edmonton Oilers vs. Anaheim Ducks
The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs mark the third time the Edmonton Oilers and the Anaheim Ducks will be meeting up during the playoffs. Each team has previously won one of the previous two meetups.
Their last playoff matchup came in the 2017 Western Conference second round, where Anaheim won in seven games. However, during this regular season, the Edmonton Oilers won two of the three games they played against each other.
The Bigger Picture
Several notable absences frame this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. The defending champion Florida Panthers failed to qualify — a jarring fall from grace for a team who won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, whose playoff streak had been one of the NHL’s most reliable constants, also missed the postseason for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Flyers return for the first time in six years, joining Buffalo and Anaheim as the tournament’s most emotionally charged returnees.
Article written by Jana Van Nieuwenborgh
