Sporting News' hockey experts Brandon Schlager, Jim Cerny and Evan Sporer predicted the final standings for the 2017-18 NHL season. The playoff seeding below was determined by the average finish for each team based on their combined projections.
There are a great many variables that go into determining a Stanley Cup champion. Many of them are uncontrollable. Yes, talent reigns supreme, but more than any sport fortune good or bad — pure, unadulterated luck — can swing a road trip in December or a series in June, almost all of which is unpredictable.
So it can become a fool's errand to try and predict in October which team will hoist the Cup in June.
That didn't stop Sporting News' team of hockey experts from trying. Here's how we feel the season will play out, based on information at hand. And though we couldn't agree on a champion, consensus says the Penguins won't three-peat and the Cup will be returned to the Western Conference.
MORE PICKS: Atlantic | Metropolitan | Central | Pacific
Eastern Conference playoffs
Tampa Bay Lightning (A1) vs. New York Rangers (WC1)
What may turn out as Henrik Lundqvist's last, best shot at a Stanley Cup meets one of the NHL's most talented teams head on in the first round. The last time these teams met in the playoffs (2015), the Rangers fell victim to the "Triplets" and lost in Game 7 of the East finals. It's a significant first hurdle for the Cup-minded Lightning.
MORE: What to make of the Lightning, one of NHL's most intriguing teams
Toronto Maple Leafs (A2) vs. Boston Bruins (A3)
A golden opportunity awaits the Leafs to avenge their embarrassing 2012-13 playoff collapse. The Bruins were laughing that year, all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, but not much has gone their way since. Now the tables are turned. These two stories franchises are no strangers to colliding in the spring, though they did go 39 years between meetings.
MORE: Don't expect Mike Babcock to coddle Leafs' youngsters
Pittsburgh Penguins (M1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (WC2)
Arguably the best player in the world against arguably the best goalie in the world. It would mark their first playoff meeting since 2009-10, the year Montreal ended Pittsburgh's title defense and last reached the conference finals.
MORE: Is Carey Price's mega-deal worth it for Canadiens?
Washington Capitals (M2) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (M3)
Barry Trotz and John Tortorella go head-to-head in a series between the last two coaches of the year, backed by their own Vezina winners in net. It's unfortunate one of these teams would be out in the first round, a hardship the Jackets learned last year. This would mark the first playoff meeting between these clubs.
MORE: Is Artemi Panarin the Blue Jackets' missing link?
Western Conference playoffs
Nashville Predators (C1) vs. Minnesota Wild (WC1)
The Predators and Wild never before met head-to-head in the postseason, even though both have been frequent participants over the last decade. It would serve as a war of attrition between two of the NHL's deepest defense units, not to mention the Ryan Suter reunion storylines. Otherwise, there isn't much in the way of tension here.
MORE: Curing the Bruce Boudreau playoff blues
Dallas Stars (C2) vs. St. Louis Blues (C3)
Ken Hitchcock gets his shot at revenge in his first season back in Dallas. He'll know not to underestimate former understudy Mike Yeo, who ironically had the Blues playing the NHL's best defensive hockey after Hitchcock's departure in 2016-17. These teams last met in the 2015-16 playoffs, when the Blues won a thrilling Game 7 to upset the Presidents' Trophy winners in the second round.
MORE: Boom or bust for Stanley Cup-minded Blues
Edmonton Oilers (P1) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (WC2)
This could be one for the ages: Connor McDavid and his Oilers, hoping to dominate the West this year and for years to come, collide head on with the old guard. Either we'd see an electric series between some of the world's greatest players, or a sure-fire sign the Blackhawks' watch has ended. These teams last met in the 1991-92 playoffs.
MORE: Oilers facing cap crunch, questions after Leon Draisaitl contract
Anaheim Ducks (P2) vs. San Jose Sharks (P3)
Although they've always played in the same division, there's only one Ducks-Sharks playoff meeting on record in 2008-09. These West Cost rivals are running out of time to seize a Cup before their respective windows close. It could well mean the last playoff run for a few franchise cornerstones.
MORE: Ducks continue to hang around West's best
Eastern Conference finals
Cerny
Lightning over Penguins in six games
The Penguins will push it as far as they humanly can in a bid for a Threepeat, but the toll of all those big games played the past two-and-a-half years will wear them down just enough that a fresh -- and extremely talented -- Lightning team will slip past them and into the Stanley Cup Final. -- JC
Schlager
Lightning over Penguins in seven games
There's no denying the Penguins are the best team in hockey — they're the champions two times running, after all. But for the first time in two years, the roster shows vital flaws, and it only takes one team to properly exploit them. The Lightning are that team in 2017-18, revenge for their East finals defeat two years earlier. — BS
Sporer
Penguins over Lightning in six games
Nothing sexy about this pick but, let's not overthink this. There's a reason the Penguins just won consecutive Stanley Cups, and it's because they have elite top-end skill mixed with lower salary guys that are super productive. Expect a huge year for Jake Guentzel playing with Sidney Crosby. The Penguins also ran through the East without Kris Letang, and a patchwork blue line. There's so much to like in Pittsburgh, and until another in-conference team steps up, each of them has a major hole somewhere that Pittsburgh can expose. — ES
Western Conference finals
Cerny
Ducks over Wild in five games
It won't be an easy road to reach the conference finals because the Ducks will first have to get by Connor McDavid and Co. in Edmonton, but once they do the Ducks are not going to let up and they will stifle the Wild in a low-scoring series. They reached the West Final twice in the past four years, but did not reach the Cup Final either time. This season, the Ducks will. — JC
Schlager
Predators over Oilers in six games
Connor McDavid's magic can only go so far. Upon carrying the Oilers to the best record in the West, the wunderkind runs out of gas in the West finals thanks to the stifling defense of the defending conference champs. The Predators are motivated to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final and strike while the iron's still hot. — BS
Sporer
Stars over Oilers in seven games
Full disclosure: A week ago, I had Dallas in this spot. The Stars are going to surprise a ton of people this season. This is a team that finished atop the Western Conference in 2016 before losing in the second round of the playoffs without Tyler Seguin. Last season was a weird, bad year, but more consistency from John Klingberg, and the additions of Alexander Radulov and Ben Bishop are going to be huge. If the Stars really do see the Oilers in the postseason, Jamie Benn and Seguin are going to be very not-nice to the Oilers defense. — ES
Stanley Cup Final
Cerny
Ducks over Lightning in seven games
This is going to be a great back and forth series, two teams that have been close to winning it all the past few years, but in the end a dominant series from Ryan Getzlaf lifts the Ducks to the Stanley Cup championship. John Gibson will outperform Andrei Vasilevsky in goal and, in the end, Tampa Bay will be unable to compensate for some poor play in their own end of the ice at critical moments. — JC
Schlager
Predators over Lightning in six games
Once again, the Predators find themselves facing down a few of the most dynamic forwards in the world. A clash between the NHL's top offense and defense, this time the Predators come out on top and deliver a title to their honky tonk hockey-mad fanbase. — BS
Sporer
Stars over Penguins in six games
I said the Stars would be a surprise this season, right? There will be many faces in Dallas that the casual NHL fan will come to know through the postseason, from six-foot four defenseman Stephen Johns, to the uber-talented Esa Lindell. So much of this hinges on Bishop's health, which isn't the most comfortable hedge. The top-six is as talented as its ever been in the Benn-and-Seguin era, now flanked by Radulov, Jason Spezza, and Martin Hanzal. The 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs will be the coronation of Benn cementing himself as one of the best players on the planet. — ES
Conn Smythe Trophy
Cerny: Ryan Getzlaf, Ducks
Schlager: Filip Forsberg, Predators
Sporer: Jamie Benn, Stars
