The field for the Stanley Cup playoffs is set with the first series set to begin Saturday.
Six of the 16 teams did not qualify a year ago, including Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston in the East. It’s the 10th time in 12 seasons under the divisional wild card format that there have been five or more new teams. The full field was set early Wednesday.
There will be a new champion and no three-peat after the Florida Panthers were derailed by injuries following three consecutive trips to the final.
The regular season runs through Thursday, a day after Eastern Conference teams wrap up.
Who’s in the playoffs
WEST: Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota and Utah from the Central Division, and Vegas, Edmonton, Anaheim and Los Angeles from the Pacific. The top-seeded Avalanche have won the Presidents’ Trophy to ensure home ice throughout the playoffs
EAST: Carolina, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia made it from the Metropolitan, with the Hurricanes earning the conference’s top seed. Buffalo won the Atlantic after the Sabres ended their NHL record 14-year postseason drought, and division rivals Montreal, Tampa Bay, Ottawa and Boston also are in.
The matchups
The top three teams in each of the four divisions make the playoffs. The other four spots go to the next two highest-placed teams in each conference, regardless of division.
The teams with the best record in each conference open against the wild-card team with the worst record; the other wild card plays the other division winner. Teams that finish second and third in their division play each other in the bracket headed by their respective division winner. The second round thus carries a higher prospect of division opponents matching up ahead of the conference finals.
All four rounds of the playoffs are best-of-seven; the first team to 16 victories wins the Stanley Cup.
The first-round matchups so far:
• Dallas vs. Minnesota
• Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia
The favorites
Colorado is the 3-1 favorite to win the Stanley Cup, followed by Carolina and Tampa Bay at 5-1 and Dallas at 10-1, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
How to watch
Every playoff game will be nationally televised in the U.S on an ESPN or Turner network. Much of TNT’s coverage, which includes the Stanley Cup Final, will be simulcast on truTV and available on Max’s B/R Sports Add-On. In Canada, games will be showcased on Sportsnet and CBC.
After three rounds of seven-game series, the final starts in early June. If the final goes the distance, Game 7 could go as late as June 21.
Who to watch
• Colorado, with MVP candidate Nathan MacKinnon and star defenseman Cale Makar, has been hockey’s best team since October.
• Connor McDavid and Edmonton lost in the Cup Final the past two years but are playing better defense and should have Leon Draisaitl for the playoffs.
• Tage Thompson was a big part of the U.S. winning Olympic gold and the Sabres’ leading scorer finally gets to the postseason.
• Nikita Kucherov is right there with MacKinnon and McDavid in the NHL scoring race and has steadied the Lightning through months of injuries.
• Philadelphia’s youthful duo of Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone were a big part of the Flyers going from 10 points back in mid-March to making the playoffs for the first time in six years.