TONY’S TAKE – 2025 CONFERENCE FINAL PREVIEW

by Tony Fiorello

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 6, 2024: The Stanley Cup is staged for a visit by staff members of the Nevada Congressional Delegation at Capitol Hill on March 6, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images)

Welcome to this year’s editions of the NHL’s Eastern and Western Conference Finals, where four teams will battle for the right to become the final two squads to square off for the most famous trophy in sports.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. While the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are in the Eastern Conference Final for the third consecutive year (and will have a rematch with the Carolina Hurricanes from their battle two years ago), last year’s Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers will take on the Dallas Stars – who have also gotten this far for a third straight campaign – in a do-over from a year ago.

Throughout the postseason, Buffalo Sports Page will provide you with series previews and predictions from the start of round one through the finals. Previews will become more in-depth as the playoffs roll along, but for now here is our analysis of the conference finals.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Carolina Hurricanes (2) vs. Florida Panthers (WC3)

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals and Andrei Svechnikov #37 of the Carolina Hurricanes meet following Game Five of the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

For the first time since the team moved to Raleigh from Hartford, Carolina has reached the postseason for a seventh consecutive year. General manager Eric Tulsky and coach Rod Brind’Amour lead a team characterized by a combination of guys entering their prime (Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov) and veterans (Brent Burns, Jordan Staal, Dmitry Orlov, Jack Roslovic, Jaccob Slavin, Taylor Hall and Shayne Gostisbehere).

While ninth in goals scored but just 25th on the power play, that mix has churned out positive results via Brind’Amour’s stifling defensive system (10th in goals allowed, first on the penalty kill) and the goaltending duo of Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov have brought stability to the Canes’ crease. After the Hurricanes’ five-game first-round win over the New Jersey Devils, they became only the fifth team all-time to win at least one playoff round in seven straight years. Carolina also needed just five games to eliminate the Washington Capitals in the second round, and they are in the Eastern Conference Final for the third time in seven years and the sixth time in franchise history.

TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 18: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs congratulates Sam Bennett #9 of the Florida Panthers on their victory in Game Seven of the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 18, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Panthers defeated the Maple Leafs 6-1 to win the series 4 games to 3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Florida is playoff-bound for the sixth straight year (the first time in franchise history that’s happened), and the Panthers are coming off back-to-back trips to the Final and a Cup win to boot. Coach Paul Maurice and general manager Bill Zito lead a team bolstered at forward by Selke Trophy-winner Alex Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart, and supplemented by quality depth in Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand.

Defensively the Panthers are held down by Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Seth Jones and Niko Mikkola. Sergei Bobrovsky remains one of the NHL’s better options in net for a team that was 15th in scoring and 14th on the power play, but 10th on the penalty kill and seventh in goals given up. The Panthers needed only five games to take down their in-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round and had to go seven games to knock off the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second to get to the conference final for the fourth time in franchise annals.

PREDICTION

Panthers in four. Florida is every bit as good as they were the last couple of seasons, and while Carolina is a rock-solid club they’re not as deep as the Panthers are.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Dallas Stars (2) vs. Edmonton Oilers (3)

DALLAS, TX - MAY 17: Jamie Benn #14 of the Dallas Stars shakes hands with Mark Scheifele #55 of the Winnipeg Jets after the end of Game Six of the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the American Airlines Center on may 17, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Glenn James/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Dallas Stars have reached the postseason for the eighth time in the last 12 years. Older forwards like captain Jamie Benn (35), Tyler Seguin (33) and Matt Duchene (34) are still steady point producers as they age while guys with fresher legs like recently acquired Mikko Rantanen – who became the first player with hat tricks in back-to-back playoff games since Hall of Famer Jari Kurri in 1985 – Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnson are key contributors.

Defensemen Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell have continued to perform well on the back end while 26-year-old Jake Oettinger has been stellar in goal for coach Peter DeBoer (who is now an NHL-best 9-0 in Game Sevens after defeating the Colorado Avalanche in the first round – also the top mark of any coach compared to MLB and the NBA) and general manager Jim Nill. The Stars ended the regular season third in goals, sixth in goals allowed and fourth on the penalty kill but were just 17th with the man advantage – which didn’t matter in their second round ouster of the Winnipeg Jets in six games.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MAY 14: The Edmonton Oilers and the Vegas Golden Knights shake hands after Game Five of the Second Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena on May 14, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Oilers defeated the Golden Knights 1-0 in overtime to win the series four games to one. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Edmonton continues to blossom in the Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl era, and the all-world duo (who each had over 100 points again) isn’t doing it alone. With Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane, Adam Henrique and Corey Perry in tow, the Oilers have good secondary scoring threats. The team is held down on the rear by defenders Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm (who is currently injured). Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard have split time in net for head coach Kris Knoblauch and new general manager Stan Bowman.

The Oilers, for the first time in a long time, don’t have an elite power play – they were just 12th in that category this year (which is low by their standards) and they were 16th on the penalty kill while 11th in scoring and 16th defensively. They also became just the fourth team to beat another for four consecutive years in the postseason when they eliminated the Los Angeles Kings in six games during the first round and took only five games to take down the Vegas Golden Knights in the second.

PREDICTION

Stars in seven. While the Oilers continue to dominate offensively their questions in net will hinder them against Dallas, who appear to be better than the rosters they’ve iced over the last two years.

STATS AND MUSINGS

·         According to Prashanth Iyer of the Expected By Whom podcast, since the NHL has gone to a 16-team playoff format in 1979-80 Bobrovsky had the third-highest save percentage in a conference final (minimum four games played) with a mark of .971 against Carolina two years ago. Only Jean-Sebastien Giguere (.992 against the Minnesota Wild in 2003) and Tuukka Rask (.985 versus the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013) have higher numbers.

·         Three ex-Buffalo Sabres are on the Panthers’ roster this year (Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues and Dmitry Kulikov) and the same exist on the Hurricanes’ roster (Hall, William Carrier and Eric Robinson). Dallas boasts one (Ilya Lyubushkin) while the Oilers have two (Kane and Jeff Skinner).

·         The Hurricanes have been swept in each of their last three appearances in the Eastern Conference Final – they haven’t won a game in this round since Game Seven of their 2006 matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.

·         After not meeting when the stakes were highest for 21 years Edmonton and Dallas are back at it. It’ll be the 10th time the Stars and Oilers will exchange postseason pleasantries going back to 1984 (twice they met when the Stars were known as the Minnesota North Stars) and it will be the third time the matchup will take place in the Conference Final since 1991. They also faced off against one another six times in a seven-year span from 1997-2003 – after Edmonton won the first of those playoff series, Dallas was triumphant in the next five.

·         DeBoer is attempting to become just the fifth coach ever to take three different teams to the Stanley Cup Final, joining Bowman, Dick Irvin, Mike Keenan and Peter Laviolette.

·         Additionally DeBoer is appearing in his eighth conference final in the last 14 years (2011-12 New Jersey Devils, ‘15-16 and ’18-19 San Jose Sharks, ’19-20 and ’20-21 Vegas Golden Knights and each of the Stars’ last three campaigns). It’s the third most appearances for any coach in the expansion era, trailing only Hall of Famers Scotty Bowman (16) and Al Arbour (11).

·         2024-25 is the fourth time in six years the Stars have reached the Western Conference Final, the eighth time since the team moved from Minnesota to Dallas in 1993 and – going back to their first year of existence in 1967-68 – the 14th time they have been among the league’s final four teams standing.

·         This will be the first repeat matchup in the Western Conference Final since 2013 and ’14, which featured the Kings and Chicago Blackhawks.

·         This year will mark the 12th instance that Edmonton has advanced to the conference final since the Oilers’ inaugural NHL season in 1979-80, tying the Chicago Blackhawks for the most in that time span. It’ll be the third time in the last four years Edmonton has gotten this far.