Stanley Cup Finals predictions

With the regular season coming to a close, we now look ahead to the Stanley Cup playoffs. 16 teams will go to battle all looking to hoist Lord Stanley. With that, let's take a look at some of the predictions.

Nate’s Prediction: Lightning vs Golden Knights

Two teams that are no stranger to playoff success. The Lightning won back-to-back cups in 2020 and 2021 and the Golden Knights won it all for the first time in 2023.

The Lightning still have a lot of key pieces from those teams, including Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Headman and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Golden Knights look a little more different but still have Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, Shea Theadore and Adin Hill.

The keys to winning in the playoffs are goaltending and elite coaching. Both teams have stellar goalies from those aforementioned cup winning teams as well as cup winning coaches in Jon Cooper and Bruce Cassidy.

Tristan’s Prediction: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Dallas Stars

The Lightning started out just mediocre, hovering around third in the Atlantic but over the closing months, they stormed back to be second in the Atlantic and only four points behind the Maple Leafs.

Andrei Vasilevskiy is having one of his best seasons since they last won the Stanley Cup in 2021. In 2020-2021 Vasilevsky won 35 games with a .925 save percentage and a 2.21 goals against average. This year he has won 38 games with a .921 SV% and a 2.18 GAA.

The Lightning have shown no slump after losing Steven Stamkos. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman have taken the leadership role perfectly and the return of Yanni Gourde brings a familiar face back.

The Stars are looking to get back to the finals for the first time since they lost to the Lightning in the 2019-2020 bubble playoff season. Since then, the Stars have been on the cusp every year but haven’t been able to close out the West.

The Stars added Mikko Rantanen to an already loaded team with Jason Robertson up front, Miro Heiskanen holding down the defense and Jake Oettinger occupying the pipes.

They have finally looked like they could take their team the Stanley Cup and look to finally get over the hump.

Bronwyn’s Prediction: Dallas Stars vs Tampa Bay Lightning

The Dallas Stars lost their last seven games, but why are they projected as heavy Stanley Cup favorites?

Well, to start they will have home ice advantage. Beyond that the team has enough offense to melt the ice with Matt Duchene leading Dallas with 81 points, 30 goals and 51 assists, in 80 games and Jason Robertson with 80 points, 35 goals and 45 assists, in 80 games.

With the rest of the roster the Stars have seven players with over 40 points.

Dallas will kick off the playoffs facing the Colorado Avalanche; the teams have met six times in the playoffs. With Dallas having won four series, including the past two.

Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Lightning will play the Florida Panthers to kick off the postseason. This is the second straight season the two will play each other in the Eastern Conference first round.

It will also be the third time in the past four seasons that the two Florida teams have met in the postseason. Each time the winner of that series reached the Stanley Cup Final, creating great coin flip odds for the Lightning.

Just like the Stars, the Lightning are hot on the ice as they are led by forward Nikita Kucherov, who leads the NHL with 121 points, 37 goals and 84 assists, in 77 games.

If these two teams were to face off there would be no clear winner, but at this moment but their tracks to the finals are a for sure lock.

Andrew’s Prediction: Tampa Bay Lightning vs Winnipeg Jets

The playoffs will always see some of the best matchups all season. There is nothing like playoff hockey. The two teams that I see coming out are the Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets.

It starts with one simple fact. The most important position is that hockey is in the crease. It’s the goalie. They can make or break a team and these two have some of the best goalies in the league.

Connor Hellebuyck is likely going to win the Vezina trophy after his outstanding season. The Jets are lucky to have him as their backstop because he simply is able to steal games for them.

For the Lightning, while he might not be as good as he used to be, Andrei Vasilevskiy is still a top three goalie in the NHL. Along with that comes tons of playoff experience as he has already won two Cups with the Lightning.

A huge factor going into this is the Presidents Trophy curse. It goes to the best team in the regular season. The Jets won the trophy this year and the last time a team won the Presidents Trophy and the Stanley Cup was 2012-2013.

And since the presidents trophy was introduced in the 1985-1986 season, only eight of the 37 winners ended up winning the Stanley Cup.

Both teams have a ton of Star Power but the most notable for each is Kyle Connor for the Jets who had 97 points and 41 goals leading them in both categories.

For the Lightning it's Nikita Kucherov leading the way in points with 121, while Brayden Point leads the team in goals with 42.

In this matchup I think the Jets get the best of the Lightning due to just how good Connor Hellebuyck is and lift the cup for the first time in team history.

Nate Johns is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jzn5275@psu.edu.

Tristan Kunec is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email tqk5432@psu.edu.

Bronwyn Liber is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email brl5354@psu.edu.

Andrew Matz is a third year majoring in broadcast journalism. To Contact him, email atm5759@psu.edu.