NHL bracket set — new champion assured

The Stanley Cup playoff field is set, and the National Hockey League opens the first round Saturday, April 18, with a bracket that guarantees a new champion. (nhl.com) (espn.com) The league announced the full first-round schedule and national TV lineup on April 17, with Game 1s running from April 18 through April 20. Saturday’s openers are Ottawa at Carolina at 3 p.m. Eastern, Minnesota at Dallas at 6 p.m., Philadelphia at Pittsburgh at 8 p.m., and Utah at Vegas at 10:30 p.m. (nhl.com) (espn.com) The eight first-round matchups are Buffalo-Boston, Tampa Bay-Montreal, Carolina-Ottawa and Pittsburgh-Philadelphia in the East, with Colorado-Los Angeles, Dallas-Minnesota, Vegas-Utah and Edmonton-Anaheim in the West. The National Hockey League’s format gives each conference three automatic division qualifiers plus two wild cards, then matches teams inside the bracket by division. (cbssports.com) Colorado enters with the Presidents’ Trophy after finishing first in the overall standings, while Carolina won the Eastern Conference and Buffalo won the Atlantic Division at 109 points. Vegas closed the regular season on a 7-0-1 run to take the Pacific Division. (cbssports.com) (sportingnews.com) Florida will not defend its title because the Panthers missed the postseason at 37-36-3 and were eliminated from contention on April 5. The club had reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the previous three seasons and won the Cup in 2024 and 2025. (nhl.com) NHL.com said Florida’s season unraveled amid major injuries, including captain Aleksander Barkov’s knee injury in training camp that cost him the season and Matthew Tkachuk’s 47-game absence after offseason surgery. Coach Paul Maurice said the team would finish with more than 500 man-games lost. (nhl.com) Several series bring in their own history. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia meet in the playoffs for the first time since 2018, Tampa Bay and Montreal renew a matchup from the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, and Buffalo returns after ending a 14-season drought that Sporting News called the longest in NHL history. (cbssports.com) (sportingnews.com) The West also includes a first postseason appearance for Utah’s new Mammoth identity and another Connor McDavid-led run in Edmonton after a 130-point regular season. ESPN listed Dallas-Minnesota among the opening-day games, with the Stars starting at home after finishing second in the Central Division. (sports.yahoo.com) (espn.com) By Monday night, every series will have started. From there, one team still needs 16 wins, but this spring it cannot be Florida again. (nhl.com) (espn.com)