Winners and Losers from the 2023 NHL Playoffs so Far
The 2023 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs have reached the halfway point, with the Eastern and Western Conference Finals starting Thursday and Friday, respectively. As we await the outcomes of those series to determine this year's Cup finalists, it's worth reflecting on this postseason's winners and losers.
We've witnessed one of the biggest first-round upsets in NHL playoff history. Meanwhile, Canadian teams once again failed to advance beyond the second round, while southern-based franchises have reached the conference finals.
On an individual level, Florida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk has played a crucial role in his club's success. At the same time, Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel is flourishing in his first NHL postseason.
Here are our takes on the noteworthy winners and losers through the opening two rounds of this postseason. You can weigh in with your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below.
Winners: Seattle Kraken
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The Seattle Kraken did not advance to the Western Conference Final, but they went much further than expected for a second-year franchise. Their efforts provide them with invaluable postseason experience that bodes well for their future.
Going up against the 2022 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, the Kraken won the opening game but dropped the next two. Rather than fold, they battled back to win the next two contests. The Avalanche showed the heart of a champion to force a seventh game but were beaten by the Kraken's depth and tenacious defense.
That was a major upset but could be dismissed as a one-off. Instead, the Kraken pushed the Dallas Stars to the full seven games in a series that see-sawed back and forth, with each club posting two lopsided victories.
The Kraken fought off elimination to tie the series in Game 6 on home ice. By Game 7, however, they appeared to have run out of gas. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer kept it close with several big saves and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored in the final seconds, but that was all they had left in a 2-1 loss.
Nevertheless, the Kraken can hold their heads high. They proved they could hang with two of the top teams in the conference. Following the series, Grubauer told reporters the group got closer and closer as the playoffs went on. Winger Jordan Eberle believes they've built a solid foundation, while center Yanni Gourde praised the team's culture.
Losers: Canadian Teams
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Only three of Canada's seven NHL franchises—the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets—qualified for the playoffs. All three were eliminated by the end of the second round, making it 30 years since a Canadian club (the 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens) won hockey's Holy Grail.
The Jets were the first to go, beaten in five games by the Vegas Golden Knights. Injuries to key players Josh Morrissey, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele, inconsistent goaltending by Vezina Trophy finalist Connor Hellebuyck and an inability to contain Vegas' transition game contributed to their demise.
Next to drop were the Leafs, who had won their first playoff series in 19 years by eliminating the Tampa Bay Lightning only to fall in five games to the Florida Panthers. They were undone by a lack of production from core forwards such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares as well as their defense corps' inability to contain the Panthers' scorers.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights finished off the last Canadian club standing by beating Edmonton in six games during the second round. The Oilers were outscored at even strength 18-9, Leon Draisaitl managed only one point in the final four games after scoring six goals in the first two contests, and rookie goalie Stuart Skinner got yanked in three of those six games.
Heading into the offseason, the Jets must decide whether to sign Hellebuyck, Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Pierre-Luc Dubois to contract extensions or trade them this summer. The Leafs face a similar issue with Matthews and William Nylander. Meanwhile, the Oilers will endure another offseason trying to address their roster needs with limited salary-cap space.
Winners: Sun Belt Teams
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For the first time in NHL history, all four teams in the conference finals are based in "Sun Belt" states. The closest instance was during the COVID bubble playoffs based in Edmonton and Toronto in 2020, which featured the Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning among the final four.
These conference finals lack the name recognition of Original Six franchises such as Boston, New York, Toronto or Chicago, some other big-market U.S. hockey cities like Los Angeles or Philadelphia, or recent Cup champions such as Tampa Bay. Nevertheless, a final four consisting of Sun Belt franchises was bound to happen at some point because of expansion and relocation into those markets.
The Stars and Golden Knights will of course clash again in the Western Conference Final. Their last postseason meeting was in 2020 as the Stars emerged victorious in five games. This year marks the fourth time in the Golden Knights' six-year NHL history that they've gone this far.
Thanks to younger players Roope Hintz and Jake Oettinger as well as veteran winger Joe Pavelski, Dallas tamed the Minnesota Wild and outlasted the Seattle Kraken to get here. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights' roster depth and scorers such as Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault helped them down the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers.
A deep roster as well as a solid defense were key factors for the Carolina Hurricanes. They overcame the absence of Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen to eliminate the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. Jordan Martinook, Jesper Fast and Jesperi Kotkaniemi stepped up to bolster the Hurricanes offense.
Despite finishing as the lowest playoff seed, the Panthers rode an aggressive physical style and the solid goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky to upset victories over the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. Power forward Matthew Tkachuk epitomized their in-your-face style, while Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour were among their leading scorers.
In the short term, it'll be interesting to see what effect this has on the television ratings for the remainder of the 2023 playoffs. In the long term, however, it could help grow the fanbases and the game's popularity in those regions.
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Losers: Tampa Bay Lightning
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As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Such was the case for the Tampa Bay Lightning. After reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in three straight years from 2020 to 2022 and winning two championships, they fell in the first round this season to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
What the Lightning accomplished over the past three seasons was as close as it gets to a dynasty in today's salary-cap world. It's difficult to build a Stanley Cup champion and even tougher to maintain it for consecutive years.
A roster depleted by cap constraints was a significant factor in the Lightning's early exit. Having lost notables in recent years such as Ryan McDonagh, Ondrej Palat, Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman and Luke Schenn to free agency and cost-cutting trades, this year's version of the Lightning lacked the depth of their championship years.
Injuries hampered Victor Hedman and Brayden Point, while Erik Cernak was sidelined by a concussion. Starting goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy admitted the long seasons and shortened summers affected his performance.
The Lightning remain a very good hockey team with a solid core of veteran talent in Vasilevskiy, Hedman, Point, Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. They're in no danger of falling out of playoff contention anytime soon. Nevertheless, this season had the feeling that an era has passed for this once-dominant franchise.
Winner: Matthew Tkachuk
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The Florida Panthers shocked the hockey world last summer by shipping long-time winger Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar to the Calgary Flames for restricted free-agent winger Matthew Tkachuk. The Panthers then signed him to an eight-year contract worth $9.5 million annually.
Coming off a 104-point performance with the Flames in 2021-22, Tkachuk wasted little time settling in with his new club. The 25-year-old exceeded last season's career-best performance by finishing the regular season with a team-leading 109 points. As a result, he became a Hart Trophy finalist for the first time.
Tkachuk's efforts played a crucial role in the Panthers' overcoming a difficult first half of the season to finish as the lowest-seeded team in the 2023 playoffs. Nevertheless, he and his teammates faced a daunting challenge in squaring off in the first round against the record-setting Boston Bruins.
The Panthers shocked the hockey world with a seven-game upset. Tkachuk stood out in that series with 11 points while driving his opponents to distraction with his agitating style.
He had five points in as many games during Florida's second-round upset of the Toronto Maple Leafs, wearing down his opponents with his physical play. Leading his team with 16 postseason points, he played a significant role in the Panthers reaching the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 1996.
Losers: Colorado Avalanche
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As difficult as it is to win a Stanley Cup, repeating as champions can be even harder. Since the salary-cap era began in 2005-06, only the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016, 2017) and Tampa Bay Lightning (2020, 2021) have accomplished it.
The Colorado Avalanche are the latest to discover that difficulty the hard way. Their elimination in seven games by the upstart Seattle Kraken was one of the biggest upsets of this postseason.
Injuries depleted the Avalanche's depth and hampered their performance. Captain Gabriel Landeskog missed the season with a knee injury, while Jack Johnson, Josh Manson and Andrew Cogliano missed several playoff games.
Winger Valeri Nichushkin played in only the first two games before missing the rest of the series for personal reasons. Superstar defenseman Cale Makar received a one-game suspension for an illegal hit on Kraken forward Jared McCann.
Led by Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, the Avalanche had the sixth-best power-play percentage (24.5 percent) during the regular season. However, they struggled against the Kraken's solid penalty killing. They also had no answer for their opponent's aggressive forecheck and struggled with their puck movement through the neutral zone.
Winner: Jack Eichel
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It took Jack Eichel eight years to make his NHL playoff debut. He endured six losing seasons with the Buffalo Sabres before being traded in November 2021 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Eichel then missed over half of last season recovering from neck surgery only to return to action with an injury-depleted Golden Knights team that missed the 2022 postseason.
This year, however, was a different story. Finally settled in with his new club, Eichel led the Golden Knights in regular-season scoring with 66 points in 67 games despite missing 15 games to lower-body injuries. The 26-year-old center played a crucial role in the Golden Knights' bounce-back performance, as they finished atop the Western Conference standings.
Eichel has acquitted himself well in his first postseason. He finished with three goals and five points in his first series as the Golden Knights eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in five games.
Next up were the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid, who was chosen ahead of Eichel in the 2015 draft. While the Oilers captain finished with five goals and 10 points, Eichel was close behind with three goals and nine points as his Golden Knights eliminated the Oilers in six games.
Entering the Western Conference Final, Eichel is the Golden Knights' leading scorer in this postseason with 14 points. He's silenced any doubters who may have questioned how he'd cope with playoff pressure.
Losers: Boston Bruins
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The Boston Bruins were coming off a record-setting performance entering these playoffs. They collected the most wins (65) and points (135) in a single season, winning their second Presidents' Trophy since 2020 while finishing 22 points ahead of the second-place Carolina Hurricanes in the overall standings.
Entering their first-round series with the Florida Panthers, Boston appeared to be the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. Meanwhile, the Panthers were the postseason's lowest-seeded club, having finished a whopping 43 points behind the Bruins in the overall standings.
It looked like the Bruins would make short work of their lowly opponents after taking a 3-1 series lead. However, the Panthers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NHL history, rallying to win it in seven games, with Carter Verhaeghe scoring the series winner in overtime.
It was the biggest upset in a best-of-seven series in Stanley Cup Playoffs history, per SportsNet.
Several factors led to the Bruins' downfall. Starting goalie Linus Ullmark played through a painful injury for six games. Head coach Jim Montgomery waited too long to replace Ullmark with Jeremy Swayman. Home ice provided no advantage—the Bruins lost their last two games in Boston as they struggled against the Panthers' relentless forechecking.
This will be the only opportunity for this version of the Bruins to pursue a Stanley Cup. In a postseason interview, general manager Don Sweeney said his club will look different next season due to salary-cap constraints. Their stunning flameout against the Panthers could also be the last hurrah for Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci as they ponder retirement.
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