Mikko Rantanen will be the center of attention when the Dallas Stars meet the Colorado Avalanche meet in the first round because he starred for the Avalanche before they shockingly traded him. He didn’t go straight to the Stars, but the Carolina Hurricanes moved him before the trade deadline and he signed long-term with Dallas.
Rantanen is a playoff standout with 101 points in 81 games, the type of production that the Stars hope get them beyond the conference final this year. But first Dallas will have to get past the Avalanche, no small task, even though it did last season. Colorado has reigning MVP Nathan MacKinnon and 30-goal defenseman Cale Makar, the 2022 playoff MVP. They added Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle at the trade deadline, and captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee) could be back for the first time since the 2022 championship.
The Stars have difficulties beyond their opponent. They followed a seven-game winning streak with a season-ending 0-5-2 slide. No. 1 defenseman Miro Heiskanen remains out and leading goal scorer Jason Robertson limped off the ice Wednesday.
The Stars-Avalanche series leads USA TODAY’s power rankings of the NHL’s eight Stanley Cup playoffs first-round matchups. Here are the rest:
2. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers
One of these teams has reached the Stanley Cup Final the past five seasons. Tampa Bay has two titles and Florida is the defending champion. The Lightning beat the Panthers twice in the playoffs and Florida won last year’s series. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy is a clutch goalie, Brayden Point is a clutch scorer and Nikita Kucherov has won the last two scoring titles. This might be the deepest Lightning team since the Stanley Cup days. The Panthers, though banged up and missing suspended Aaron Ekblad for Games 1 and 2, are also loaded with talent. Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk and newcomer Brad Marchand could make life miserable for Lightning players.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Ottawa Senators
You know a series will be intense when it’s called the ‘Battle of Ontario.’ This will be the first time the teams have met in the playoffs since 2004. Senators captain Brady Tkachuk is making his playoff debut a year after brother Matthew won a Stanley Cup. Toronto always faces pressure in the playoffs. Can pending free agent Mitch Marner follow his 100-point season with a big playoff performance? And will new coach Craig Berube, a former Stanley Cup winner, help the Maple Leafs avoid another early exit?
4. Winnipeg Jets vs. St. Louis Blues
Remember the 4 Nations Face-Off final, when Canada’s Jordan Binnington made several spectacular saves in overtime before Connor McDavid scored on the USA’s Connor Hellebuyck for a 3-2 win? Well, they’ll be in opposite creases again in this series. Winnipeg’s Hellebuyck is favored to win a second consecutive Vezina Trophy, but he was rocked last season in the playoffs (5.23 goals-against average, .864 save percentage) by the Avalanche. Binnington won the Stanley Cup in 2019 but has missed the playoffs the past two seasons.
5. Washington Capitals vs. Montreal Canadiens
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin drew plenty of attention because he broke Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. But that overshadowed the fact that the Capitals had a tremendous season after retooling on the fly. Coach Spencer Carbery made all the new veterans mesh properly, leading to numerous personal bests. The Capitals slipped a little down the stretch, so we’ll see if they can turn things around against the Canadiens, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2021. Lane Hutson tied a rookie defenseman record with 60 assists, Nick Suzuki scored 30 goals and Ivan Demidov has shown impressive skills in his two games in the league.
6. Los Angeles Kings vs. Edmonton Oilers
This will be their fourth consecutive first-round meeting. Edmonton has won the previous three series, needing seven games the first time, then six, then five last season as the Oilers went on to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. But something feels different this year. The Kings have home-ice advantage and were 31-5-4 at Crypto.com Arena before Thursday’s game. Former Stanley Cup winner Darcy Kuemper has provided steady goaltending and the Kings have good secondary scoring, including former Oiler Warren Foegele. Los Angeles won the season series 3-1 and shut out Edmonton twice. The Oilers have star power in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but those two had some injury issues down the stretch and defenseman Mattias Ekholm will miss the first round. Considering the series history, though, don’t count out Edmonton until the handshake line.
7. Vegas Golden Knights vs. Minnesota Wild
The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023, dipped the following season and won a division title this year, despite losing Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson and others to free agency. Pavel Dorofeyev took advantage and jumped from 13 goals to 35. This is a deep, dangerous team, especially with Jack Eichel returning from injury on Wednesday. The Wild have one of the league’s top players in Kirill Kaprizov, who missed half a season with injury. He scored three points in his return. This will be the last time to watch future Hall of Fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, though Filip Gustavsson likely will see nearly all of the action.
8. Carolina Hurricanes vs. New Jersey Devils
This series lost some luster because Devils star Jack Hughes had season-ending surgery. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour’s teams are a near lock to advance to the second round. Devils coach Sheldon Keefe got out of the first round only once when he was with the Maple Leafs. Carolina beat New Jersey two years ago in the playoffs.
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