NHL PLAYOFFS: 'It's wide open' is the theme as the race to the Stanley Cup begins

Carolina Hurricanes’ Jesperi Kotkaniemi, left, and Maxime Comtois celebrate their goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

General manager Don Waddell likes how his Carolina Hurricanes finished the season, winning 16 of their final 21 games. He knows it means nothing now.

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Michael Amadio (22) is congratulated for his goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

“Your points get erased and you all start with zeroes,” Waddell said. “Playoffs are a different time. That’s what’s great about the NHL. Once you get to the playoffs, it’s wide open.”

Florida Panthers players celebrate after beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2, during an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

This year more than many in the recent past.

Unlike last year, when Boston broke league records for the most wins and points in a season, there is no clear favorite to hoist the Stanley Cup. Carolina, Florida, defending champion Vegas, Dallas, Winnipeg, Edmonton and the league-best New York Rangers are among the many contenders who could be the last team standing in June.

“I don’t think there’s that separation,” former player-turned-TNT analyst Ed Olczyk said. “I think that there is eight or nine or 10 teams that I really feel could win the Stanley Cup.”

Carolina, which opens against the New York Islanders, are 13-2 Cup favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Florida (7-1), Dallas (15-2), Colorado, Edmonton and the Rangers (all 8-1), Boston (11-1), Vegas (12-1 to repeat) and Toronto (14-1). The Canucks and Jets are listed at 15-1. and 2020- 21 Cup-winning Tampa Bay is 25-1, even with top goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy rounding back into form.

Fans cheer after the Dallas Stars won in a shootout during an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues in Dallas, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. With the win the Stars clinched the top seed in the Western Conference. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

“He’s at his best when the games are on the line, and we look for that once again this year,” 2020 playoff MVP Victor Hedman said. “It’s obviously so fun to have the best goalie in the world behind you when the playoffs start.”

EASTERN CONFERENCE

The conversation starts with the Rangers, who won the Presidents’ Trophy, have home-ice advantage throughout the postseason and open Sunday against eighth-seeded Washington. Igor Shesterkin, like Vasilevskiy, has won the Vezina as the league’s best goalie, and this season winger Artemi Panarin has been one of the most productive and valuable players on any team.

Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery discusses a play during the third period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

What could set New York apart? Maybe its depth, which comes in handy in the playoffs when unlikely players become heroes.

“It might not be the headliners — it might be somebody you go, this guy just got four goals in a series and that was the turning point,” said former player Ray Ferraro, now an ESPN analyst.” You know who I think of? It could be Kaapo Kakko. It could be a guy like that, who had a trying year.”

Or, Ferraro wondered, it could be someone like Boston’s Jake DeBrusk. The Bruins are a year removed from being stunned by Florida in the first round after their record-setting season and begin their redemption tour Saturday against Toronto.

Coach Jim Montgomery hopes his team learned “how to handle adversity when it smacks you in the face. … We know there’s a way we need to look on the ice and what we should look like, to ourselves most importantly. And when we look like that, we think we can play with anyone in the league.”

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews watches the puck during the second period of the team’s NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

The East is no cakewalk. As Lightning coach Jon Cooper pointed out ahead of his team’s first-round series against the cross-state Panthers, more than a decade on the job has led to just two championships.

“That’s a lot of times not being able to get through the gauntlet,” Cooper said. “It’s hard. It’s really hard to do.”

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy makes a stick save on a shot by the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

The West has what Ferraro called a “beast” of a first round. Among the intriguing matchups are Winnipeg vs. Colorado and Vancouver opening against Nashville. Dallas finished first in the conference, but are the Stars the team to beat?

“I think five out of the eight are contenders for the Cup that are legitimate that could win,” said former defenseman Jason Demers, now an NHL Network analyst. “It really is going to come down to a matchup that you get in the first round to get the ball rolling and then whoever stays the healthiest.”

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, center, celebrates with Jack Roslovic (96) and K’Andre Miller (79) after they shut out the Ottawa Senators in an NHL hockey game Monday, April 15, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

The top-seeded Stars, who open against either Vegas or Los Angeles, will try to outrace opponents to the Cup, using their speed and skill and relying on Jake Oettinger and a stacked blue line behind an elite group of forwards. But they know it won’t be easy.

Winnipeg Jets center Morgan Barron, left, congratulates goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, right, after an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

“It’s going to be a hard run to get through everything,” winger Mason Marchment said. “It’ll be exciting, but I think we’ll be ready for it.”

FILE – Dallas Stars’ head coach Pete DeBoer, center, shouts instructions to his players against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period of an NHL hockey match in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. The Stars are heading toward the NHL playoffs with the league’s most balanced scoring team. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Reigning and three-time MVP Connor McDavid could put the Oilers on his back and carry them through the playoffs like Nathan MacKinnon did when the Avalanche won the Cup in 2022. A lot will depend on Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner.

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) skates past Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, April 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)

With a first-round matchup against the Golden Knights or Kings, Demers said “Edmonton just needs to exorcise those demons.”

Vancouver Canucks players gather at center ice to raise their sticks to the fans after defeating the Calgary Flames in the team’s home regular-season finale NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

So do the Jets, who haven’t made it to the West final since 2018. Winnipeg has this season’s best goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck and a big, tough lineup full of players who can also score but think first about their end of the ice.

“Defend first,” assistant coach Scott Arniel said. “We don’t give teams very much time and space to do anything, and we grind people out and we kind of frustrate them by kind of smothering them to death.”

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AP Sports Writers Pat Graham in Denver and Stephen Hawkins in Frisco, Texas, contributed

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