Stanley Cup playoffs power rankings: Who lurks behind Panthers in final eight?

The conference quarterfinals are over, with six teams heading into the offseason after a series of six or fewer games and two (Colorado and St. Louis) gutted by Game 7 losses. Round two begins Monday with Florida playing at Toronto. 

Every team left has a chance to hoist the Cup, but who will win it all? 

1. Florida Panthers

First round: Defeated Tampa Bay 4-1 | Second-round foe: Toronto | Previous ranking: 8 

Reason for optimism: The Panthers' regular-season injury issues seem like a distant memory. They're deep at every position, battle tested and just dispatched a Tampa Bay team that was a trendy pick to win the Eastern Conference. 

Reason for pessimism: The last team to go to three straight Stanley Cup finals (Tampa Bay, 2020-22) lost on its third trip. It's worth noting that Tampa team played significantly fewer games than this Florida team because of the COVID-19 stoppage (2020) and the 56-game 2021 season. 

2. Vegas Golden Knights

First round: Defeated Minnesota 4-2 | Second-round foe: Edmonton Oilers | Previous ranking: 3 

Reason for optimism: Vegas, the last Cup champion from the Western Conference (2023), showcased grit and resiliency almost non-stop in winning the final three games of its series with Minnesota.

Reason for pessimism: That was a physical series with a Wild team that, at times, looked like they found holes in the Vegas structure. Perhaps Edmonton could exploit them. 

3. Dallas Stars

First round: Defeated Colorado 4-3 | Second-round foe: Winnipeg | Previous ranking: 9

Reason for optimism: Mikko Rantanen was a stud in the final games of the Dallas-Colorado series, and the Stars are set to get back one of the world's best goal scorers  (Jason Robertson) and one of the world's best two-way defenders (Miro Heiskanen). 

Reason for pessimism: Colorado owned a lot of the ice for long stretches of that series. The Stars also won't be able to afford a lot of rust from either Robertson or Heiskanen.

4. Washington Capitals

First round: Defeated Montreal 4-1 | Second-round foe: Carolina | Previous ranking: 5 

Reason for optimism: They made it through the first round relatively unscathed and had plenty of time off. They'll also get massive forward Aliaksei Protas (6-foot-6, 225 pounds) back full time after he played only one game against Montreal.

Reason for pessimism: Montreal's speed gave Washington issues in spurts, and Carolina has a combination of team speed and tenacity that always make it a tough out in the playoffs. 

5. Edmonton Oilers

First round: Defeated Los Angeles 4-2 | Second-round foe: Vegas Golden Knights | Previous ranking: 10 

Reason for optimism: No lead is safe against Edmonton's nuclear weapons of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. 

Reason for pessimism: Without defenseman Mattias Ekholm (lower-body injury), the Oilers labored through the first four games with Los Angeles and were lucky to be split 2-2. Ekholm is not expected to play in the second round.

6. Carolina Hurricanes

First round: Defeated New Jersey 4-1 | Second-round foe: Washington | Previous ranking: 11 

Reason for optimism: A week to rest will allow the Hurricanes to throw the full might of their suffocating playing style at Washington. 

Reason for pessimism: The "Corsi Canes" are always going to win the puck-possession game because that's how they're built. However, the same questions have haunted this team for the entire era of coach Rod Brind'Amour — does Carolina have enough finishing talent? Is its goaltending good enough? The latter is particularly frightening — Frederik Anderson was injured during the New Jersey series and has a history of struggling later in the playoffs. 

7. Toronto Maple Leafs

First round: Defeated Ottawa 4-2 | Second-round foe: Florida | Previous ranking: 7 

Reason for optimism: The Leafs are officially in the "playing with house money" category, which is a start. More importantly, they limited Ottawa to Stanley Cup playoff bests in shots against per 60 (20.84) and goals against per 60 (1.49), according to Natural Stat Trick.

Reason for pessimism: The series with Ottawa was much closer than it seemed when the Leafs jumped to a 3-0  lead. Shades of the old Leafs emerged in a Game 5 loss. Finally, they will face a Panthers team that only seems to have leveled up since the teams met in 2023 in a series won by the Panthers in five games. 

8. Winnipeg Jets

First round: Defeated St. Louis 4-3 | Second-round foe: Dallas | Previous Ranking: 2 

Reason for optimism: The Jets' depth, home-ice advantage and commitment to defense will give them a chance, especially because goaltender Connor Hellebuyck found his game in the back half of Winnipeg's thrilling 4-3 comeback win in Game 7 against St. Louis. 

Reason for pessimism: Hellebuyck has an .830 save percentage, 23rd of 25 goalies who have suited up in the playoffs. It's also not clear whether Winnipeg will have top center Mark Scheifele (injured in Game 6 vs. St. Louis) or top defenseman Josh Morrissey (injured in Game 7 vs. St. Louis).