Stock Up, Stock Down on Every 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Team
We've reached the wild moment in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs where each series has taken its own life -- or death.
The Hurricanes swept the Senators and the Avalanche swept the Kings, so it was a bad weekend to be a governmental figure experiencing a natural disaster. Both top seeds proved they deserved those spots as they await their second-round opponents.
Meanwhile, it looks like the Stars-Wild series will go the distance as anticipated, the Sabers have the Bruins on their toes as the series heads back to Buffalo tonight at 3-1, and the Penguins have won two in a row to stave off elimination against the Flyers.
Which teams are trending up, which are trending down, and which are long gone as we continue to trudge through the first round?
Stock Up: Anaheim Ducks
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We anticipated the Oilers-Ducks series to be the "no defense, just vibes" portion of the first round, and boy, were we right. Each game has been a track meet, and most games have featured a multi-goal comeback, an explosion of goals, or both.
We maybe didn't expect the young up-and-coming Ducks to put the Oilers on their heels with a 3-1 series lead in this core's first playoff run. Sure, the overtime goal that gave Anaheim the 4-3 win in Game 4 was controversial, but it's not the story of the series.
The series' story is the Ducks beating the Oilers at their own high-scoring game. Jackson LaCombe leads the entire playoff field with eight points in four games. Mikael Granlund has proved a great veteran addition to the group with two goals and six of his own crucial points. Troy Terry and Alex Killorn have provided what they have needed to provide in their roles.
The youth movement has been fun in Anaheim, but their elder statesmen are chipping in in a group effort to force the Oilers to the brink of elimination.
Stock Down: Boston Bruins
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Look, one bad game is one bad game, no matter how ugly the score. We saw the Stars bounce back after their Game 1, 6-1 loss to the Wild, after all.
But these Bruins are not those Stars, and the Bruins' stock decline is more about the series' current trend as they look to avoid elimination in Game 5 tonight. Boston lost both games against the Sabres on home ice, allowing them a 9-0 scoring run in the process. After a stunning 4-0 deficit in the first period of Game 4, their pushback attempt in the second and third periods showed they just don't have that sort of magic in them, as it turned into a 6-1 loss.
Jeremy Swayman has been the best player on the team for most of the series, and you just cannot win a series if you're going to let so many good games from your goaltender go to waste.
Stock Up: Buffalo Sabres
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We wondered how the Sabres' magical season would translate to the postseason, and so far, so good as they stole two games on the road to bring a 3-1 series lead back to Buffalo.
The hometown kid Alex Tuch has stepped it up with two huge game-winners; the Bowen Byram trade is aging fantastically, as he's factored into each win with three goals and five points in four games; and Alex Lyon has stepped up in net after Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen's weaker Game 2.
This team is just getting stronger as the playoff games roll on.
Stock Up: Carolina Hurricanes
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The Hurricanes, the first of two teams to sweep in the first round after a raucous Saturday, clinched their 4-0 series win over the Senators. They look primed to make a serious run this year -- the Senators were no joke, riding off a strong end to the regular season in which they'd finally put it all together.
Game by game, these teams played a similar style, and the Hurricanes found a way to win each time. The second line was incredibly effective, as Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall provided the storied depth scoring that has often eluded this team in its quest for the Stanley Cup.
Freddie Andersen was fantastic in net, and he leads playoff goaltenders in most of the important metrics like goals saved above expected (7.6).
The Hurricanes will now have about a week until their next round, as they await the winner of the Penguins-Flyers series. Andersen will take all the rest he can get, and the fresh legs will only make this team scarier.
Stock Up: Colorado Avalanche
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Sure, the Kings had the second-fewest regulation wins in the NHL in the regular season, so you'd assume the Avalanche would make an easy meal out of them. But a playoff sweep is a playoff sweep, and it's something extremely difficult to do, so the Avs deserve credit for their 4-0 trouncing of the Kings.
Scott Wedgewood's incredible regular season translated nicely to the postseason in net. Cale Makar did his thing. Gabriel Landeskog reminded us of the impact he has on the team, and stepped up when some of the top line couldn't break through.
Stock Up: Dallas Stars
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The Stars-Wild series has been one of the more difficult first-round matchups to evaluate, with the 2-2 series tie to prove it. But part of the reason it has been this difficult to evaluate is that the Stars were able to completely bounce back from a Game 1, 6-1 loss at home, so for their ability to turn this into a fresh slate, we're giving them a "stock up" rating.
The Stars are losing the even-strength game in an alarming way, but on the flipside, they've shown just how important and useful a competent power play is in the postseason. Plus, when you're watching these games (besides Game 1), you see the effort, chances, and lack of luck the Stars have had.
You also remember that Mikko Rantanen tends to have a quiet first few games of the postseason before exploding. He's pitched in on the power play, but the Stars need more from him at even strength and more goals from him in general.
The fact that there's more to pull out of Rantanen makes me feel like it's only up from here for Dallas.
Stock Down: Edmonton Oilers
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The Oilers have not been able to defend a lead or outscore their defensive liabilities this first round as they sit down 3-1 against the Ducks.
They've long played an exhausting brand of track-meet, score-as-much-as-possible hockey. Now, following two consecutive postseason runs that took them to Game 7 of the Cup final only to lose, they look exhausted and injured.
Now that Connor McDavid tweaked his ankle in Game 2 and a controversial goal determined Game 4, a comeback in the face of elimination seems insurmountable for the Oilers.
Stock Down: Los Angeles Kings
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Did even one person genuinely think the Kings had a chance against the Avalanche? You know it's bad when a Stanley Cup playoff series is already that lopsided going into it.
The Avalanche swept the Kings as we expected. The most frustrating part about the Kings, in general, was that they know exactly how to keep games close, but they lack that scoring touch or any sort of killer instinct to actually win.
It was predictable, it's over, and now the Kings are going to have to figure out where they take this franchise as Anze Kopitar retires.
Stock Up: Minnesota Wild
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Both teams in the Stars-Wild series get a "stock up," as this is the exact meat grinder of a first-round series we thought it would be between two of the best teams in the league.
Minnesota is doing an incredible job of containing Dallas at even strength. They're also doing an incredible job of turning that solid defense into offense with the likes of Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber at their disposal.
Plus, Jesper Wallstedt's first NHL playoffs have been off to a solid start -- he ranks No. 6 among playoff goalies with 2.2 goals saved above expected.
The question for the Wild is now: Will they be able to produce a few more big moments from players like Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov to make all of this defensive effort worth it? They've managed to get enough of those moments so far, but the series is now a clean slate at 2-2.
Stock Down: Montreal Canadiens
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Canadiens vs. Lightning has arguably been the closest, most fun series of the first round. Both electric teams have provided huge overtime moments and tons of fast-paced shifts as the series sits at 2-2.
Will the veteran Lightning pass the torch to the up-and-coming Habs when all is said and done? We have to commend the young Habs for their confidence, the way they've ignored the nay-sayers, and the big moments that prove they've arrived and can hang with the best of them.
Still, there has been a reliance on the top players, which shows they might need to round out the depth before going on a long playoff run. For every Cole Caufield or Nick Suzuki point, there's an equal and opposite responsibility for these players to hold it down on defense. That goes for every star in the league, of course, but the Canadiens stars have had to do a bit too much defensive heavy lifting.
This is still anyone's series, but the Habs really could have used that very close Game 4 win.
Stock Down: Ottawa Senators
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The Senators had an impressive end to their regular season, putting together some consistent scoring, improved goaltending, and solid fundamentals to look like one of the scariest teams headed into the playoffs.
The Hurricanes were a nightmare opponent for the Senators. Both teams play a similar game that thrives off shot suppression, but the Hurricanes have been doing it longer.
The Hurricanes also had the depth scoring to make it count when the top lines of both teams neutralized each other. Depth scoring was incredibly difficult to come by for the Senators as Brady Tkachuk struggled to break through, and no other options quite prevailed.
The Senators are learning some hard lessons early in their playoff window, and the need for depth scoring is their lesson this year.
Stock Down: Philadelphia Flyers
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The vibes were so ridiculously high as the young Flyers took a 3-0 series lead over the veteran Penguins. Now, this team is having its real "welcome to the playoffs" moment as the Penguins have pushed back and won two in a row to avoid elimination.
It's still highly unlikely that the Penguins win two more to come back from a 0-3 deficit and win the series, but the Flyers have a lot to figure out past the initial happy-go-lucky winning.
Is the pressure finally getting to them, or will they start to show a more full-team effort necessary to close out this series?
Stock Up: Pittsburgh Penguins
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Oh, you thought Sidney Crosby was going to roll over and let the Philadelphia Flyers sweep the Pittsburgh Penguins? Honestly, for a second there, we did start to think that.
He was silent, save for a few sassy penalties, through the first two games, and then the Penguins dropping a third straight made the comeback seem hopeless. Sure enough, though, Crosby has turned it on as his team has clawed back to make this a 3-2 series.
He's got five points in the past three games, and if anyone could possibly turn a 3-0 series into a Game 7 win, it's Crosby against the Flyers. His arrival should scare us all, and it has turned a dud into a fascinating series regardless of what happens going forward.
Stock Up: Tampa Bay Lightning
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When it comes to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the question has long been: Will they ever leave us alone?
After the overtime win that tied their series with the Canadiens, the answer is still "No."
When this team gains momentum, it's difficult for opponents to regain it.
Jake Guentzel has been sturdy as ever with one goal and seven points in four games, and Nikita Kucherov is being Nikita Kucherov with six points in four games. Brandon Hagel has been effective all over the ice. Tampa's best players are stepping up, and it's feeling like it could be the difference in this air-tight series.
Stock Down: Utah Mammoth
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Overtime playoff hockey is essentially one of the wonders of the world to any hockey fan; it's also the stuff of nightmares when your team lets a win that was right there slip away.
We fear that could be the case for the underdog Mammoth, who let Vegas tie up the series in a winnable game against the Golden Knights on Monday.
Nick Schmaltz finally arrived in the series in the game, but is it too little, too late for the top-line center to make the overall impact to lift the Mammoth over the Golden Knights?
This team hasn't looked like the better team in the series, but the Mammoth have gotten away with it thanks to some terrible goaltending from Carter Hart and the Golden Knights. It feels like that luck is running out with Utah's inability to make it happen in overtime Game 4.
Stock Down: Vegas Golden Knights
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Maybe the Golden Knights are trending up, considering they won it in overtime last night and have tied the series 2-2, but the whole affair has been oh-so-2025-26 Pacific Division of them.
They've let the Mammoth capitalize on sloppy goaltending and defense far too often throughout this series; they've made some bad decisions and have had too many sloppy line changes. And yet, they've managed to persevere.
This could evolve into one of the most hapless seven-game series we've had in a first round in recent memory.
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