This confrontation is unequal, in principle. To everyone’s surprise, with an aging club, the Bruins had a near-perfect season. They broke an old NHL record by winning 65 games. They amassed 22 points more than the second overall team, the Carolina Hurricanes.

At some point this winter, Canadiens fans were hoping to see their favorite club win the draft lottery with the Panthers’ first-round pick last year over Ben Chiarot. Florida was a long way from a playoff spot.

The Panthers have won 12 of their last 16 games, before losing the most recent two, with qualification already in their pocket. They did it with their third goaltender, 30-year-old undrafted Alex Lyon, under contract for a year at a modest salary of $750,000 (modest by NHL standards, of course!).

The rich Sergei Bobrovsky has been treating a virus for a few weeks and the young first Spencer Knight, his ills in the soul. Lyon, meanwhile, went 6-1-1, with a 1.87 GAA and .943 save percentage.

But this could be a last opportunity to win the Stanley Cup for captain Patrice Bergeron, and this argument should be enough to motivate the team.

Matthew Tkachuk exploded with 109 points, including 40 goals, but Aleksander Barkov remains the key offensive player. The Panthers suffered from his absence for 14 games this winter. Barkov has 78 points in 68 games and, like Bergeron, is one of the top three defensive forwards in the NHL.

At 37, Bergeron has decided to return for another year this winter. He had a season that lived up to his standards with 58 points, including 27 goals, in 78 games, and exemplary defensive efficiency. He is well surrounded with solid goalkeepers and a revamped defense since the arrival a year ago of Hampus Lindholm and Dmitry Orlov.

Without warning, Brandon Montour, obtained from the Sabers for a modest third-round pick in 2021, has just finished fifth in scoring among defensemen with 73 points, by far his best production in career at 29 years old. In his own style, he made forget MacKenzie Weegar, traded to the Flames with Jonathan Huberdeau for Matthew Tkachuk.

Sixth overall pick in 2015, 26-year-old Pavel Zacha went for 32-year-old veteran Erik Haula. This is how a team like the Bruins regenerates without ever rebuilding. Zacha solidified the third line at center and is under contract for three more seasons. He is coming off a career-best season with 57 points.

The Islanders have narrowly reached the playoffs, winning five of their last ten meetings. Their number one center, Mathew Barzal, hasn’t played in a month due to injury, but is expected to be back for the opener.

It’s hard to see how the Islanders can make the weight against a team so well-honed, fast, without apparent weaknesses, second in the general classification behind the Bruins with a second consecutive season of more than 112 points.

Jordan Staal forms the team’s third center and Paul Stastny the fourth. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour can therefore send the trio of his choice without fear against any opposing formation.

No team has had such production from their defensemen: Hurricanes defensemen, led by Brent Burns and Brady Skjei, scored 59 goals.

The Islanders are still also endowed with a good depth with Jean-Gabriel Pageau in the center of the third line and Casey Cizikas on the fourth. They can also count on one of the best young goalies in the league, Ilya Sorokin, 31-22-7, 2.33 GAA and .924 save percentage. Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta should share the work at the Hurricanes.

The acquisition of Bo Horvat has been crucial at Elmont, especially with the absence of Barzal, although Horvat has been disappointing offensively with just 16 points in 30 games since his arrival.

At 25, Sebastian Aho is coming off a second consecutive season of over 35 goals. He remains the engine of the attack, but the absence of Andrei Svechnikov, lost until next year, deprives him of an important accomplice.

Dobson, just 23, is by far the Islanders’ best offensive defenseman, but he can also be a blunderer at times. We use it to animate the game in numerical superiority, but we try to avoid confrontations against the best opposing trios.

The former young Canadiens center finished the season strong with 26 points in his last 35 games. He was used to showing off in the playoffs in Montreal, as evidenced by his 9 goals in 29 games.

This is probably the most balanced series. Only five points separate the Stars from the Wild in the standings. These two clubs also employ a similar recipe: strong draft picks in recent years have allowed them to regenerate without aggressively rebuilding.

The Stars would have preferred to avoid the Wild in the first round, but they were beaten at the last moment by the Colorado Avalanche in the first place. Colorado has lost just one regular game in its last ten meetings.

Dallas is pulled by its youngsters, Jason Robertson, 109, center Roope Hintz, defenseman Miro Heiskanen, goaltender Jake Oettinger, all 26 or younger, but also stunning rookie Wyatt Johnston, 19, 41 points, including 24 goals, for this 23rd overall pick in 2021.

The Wild continued to win despite the loss of their star Kirill Kaprizov, thanks in part to the astonishing production of 22-year-old Matthew Boldy, 15 goals in his last 20 games. Minnesota will nevertheless be deprived of an important center, Joel Eriksson-Ek, 61 points, his best production in career.

Young goaltender Filip Gustavsson, given as a gift by the Ottawa Senators, is coming off a sensational season in Minnesota, but veteran Marc-André Fleury should in principle be trusted.

Kaprizov was delayed for five years, after the 2015 draft. But his arrival in 2020 transformed the Wild. He is coming off a second season of 40 or more goals, despite missing 15 games. He played two games late in the season and should be healthy for the playoffs.

The 2017 draft saved the Stars from a painful rebuild. Robertson, sixth in scoring in the NHL with 109 points, was drafted in the second round! Their first center, Roope Hintz, also two years earlier. Miro Heiskanen, third overall, and Jake Oettinger, 26th, are also the fruits of the 2017 vintage.

Obtained from the Los Angeles Kings with a first-round pick (Liam Öhgren) for Kevin Fiala, Faber, 20, a right-handed defenseman, has just signed a professional contract after a season of 27 points in 35 games at the powerhouse University Minnesota and played 21:49 in his first game. We could trust him in the playoffs.

We thought he was on the downward slope at 33, but Jamie Benn is coming off a 78-point season, after a meager production of 46 points last year. An unexpected bonus for Dallas. If only Tyler Seguin could imitate him…

This confrontation pits a team, Edmonton, on the rise after a long and painful reconstruction, with a Connor McDavid at the top of his game, against a club, Los Angeles, which clings to its pillars Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty and who prefers to reset, that is to say integrate young people sparingly and acquire veterans to fill important positions, in particular Phillip Danault and Kevin Fiala.

The Oilers are coming off a second straight season of 104 or more points. They reached the four aces last year. The Kings advance to the playoffs for the second straight season, after three straight shutouts.

The Kings have less time ahead of them as Kopitar, 35, and Doughty, 33, advance in age. They cemented two positions by giving up a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 third-round pick to the Blue Jackets for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, two players whose contracts expire at the end of the season.

As of March 3, the Oilers are nearly unbeatable, going 16-2-1. They have scored 82 goals and allowed just 51. This string of success coincides with the arrival of defenseman Mattias Ekholm, acquired from Nashville for a 2023 first-round pick, and Tyson Barrie.

Jonathan Quick was treated like a low-end goaltender when he was traded to Columbus at the trade deadline after such a great career in Los Angeles, but the Kings needed a top-tier goaltender. Korpisalo is 7-3-1, 2.13 GAA and .921 save percentage since arriving in California.

By far the best player in the NHL with 153 points, including 64 goals. McDavid also had 33 points in just 16 playoff games last year. It shouldn’t fade this spring either…

Second choice overall in 2020, Byfield is not progressing as quickly as Tim Stützle, drafted one rank after him, but he is gradually making his place. He has 22 points in 53 games and is expected to start the playoffs left of the top line with Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, he has the size to stand out in the playoffs.

Edmonton paid a heavy price last year for Jack Campbell in the free agent market, but it’s had a disastrous season and 24-year-old rookie Stuart Skinner, a third-round pick in 2017, has just been revealed. Let’s see how he reacts to the playoff pressure.