The Stanley Cup playoffs inevitably impart lessons, whether through victory or defeat.
Some of these lessons become entrenched truths. Others are quickly forgotten. Sometimes, new insights emerge even as the postseason reaches its conclusion.
Here are eight significant takeaways from the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, based on the action through Monday night.
The Leafs Possess Championship Caliber
Yes, the Stanley Cup. Why the surprise?
Ah, right, because we`re discussing the Toronto Maple Leafs. They haven`t competed for the Cup since their last win in 1967, a drought spanning 56 seasons. Their last appearance in the conference finals was in 2002. The notion that the Stanley Cup is safely housed in the Hockey Hall of Fame, far from being hoisted by anyone in Toronto, persists for a reason.
Every Maple Leafs postseason team carries the weight of half a century of dashed hopes and self-inflicted setbacks. Their most formidable adversary remains themselves, especially when they allow seeds of doubt to extinguish their Stanley Cup aspirations.
So, what distinguishes a Toronto team that appears immune to this self-sabotage? This squad has demonstrated resilience, securing five wins in seven games across two rounds. Members of the Core Five – comprising the traditional Core Four (Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares) plus Matthew Knies, as dubbed by ESPN`s P.K. Subban – are delivering clutch performances in critical moments. Crucially, this team reflects the psychological influence of Coach Craig Berube, and his approach is yielding results.
When the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup under Berube in 2019, they were arguably one of the most mentally tough teams to ever lift the trophy. From being last in the NHL standings on January 2nd to navigating various challenges and controversies en route to the championship, the Blues embodied the ability to simply move forward.
As assistant coach Larry Robinson noted in 2019: “We`ve been written off at times all year in certain situations, and every time we were counted out, we responded. We had calls go against us in this series and other series. Most teams might have panicked and done something reckless. But they showed immense willpower and heart.”
Upon Berube`s hiring in Toronto, a key expectation was that he would instill this stoic postseason focus in a franchise historically prone to panic and mistakes. This theory was tested in the first round, and the core held firm: the previous iteration of the Leafs might have collapsed after losing Game 5 at home, dropped Game 6 in Ottawa, and then lost back in Toronto for maximum fan agony. Instead, they secured a convincing Game 6 victory, ending the Battle of Ontario.
In Game 1 of the second round against Florida, they built leads of 2-0 and then 4-1, saw Panthers goaltender Anthony Stolarz exit due to injury, and watched Florida mount a rally… only to successfully hold them off for the win.
Perhaps this version of the team is fundamentally different. Maybe the harsh lessons from past playoff failures have equipped the Core Five with the tools to win. Perhaps they finally have the right coach to reinforce those lessons and filter out distractions during adversity.
Maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs truly are Cup-worthy.
Or perhaps I`ll regret this declaration by Game 6 of their series against Florida.
Could High Scoring Be the New Playoff Norm?
When you envision a Stanley Cup playoffs Game 7, what score comes to mind? A tightly contested, low-scoring battle with minimal chances? A game where goaltenders stand as the final barrier in a 2-1 thriller, with power plays awarded only for egregious procedural errors (like sending the puck over the glass or too many men) or outright aggression?
Yet, the Game 7 between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche finished 4-2. And the Game 7 between the Jets and Blues was a 4-3 game, despite extending into two overtimes.
This aligns with a broader playoff trend. Through 47 first-round games, 307 goals were scored, averaging 6.53 goals per game. If this average persists through the subsequent rounds, the 2024-25 postseason would feature the highest scoring rate since the 1992-93 season (6.84 goals per game).
Should the average goals per game remain above six, it would mark the third time in the past four postseasons this threshold has been reached. To find a similar multi-year pattern, you`d have to look back to 1992-95. In fact, the NHL went 26 seasons without a single playoff with an average goals per game of six or more (1995-2022).
Scoring has seen a significant increase in the NHL over the last eight seasons. Despite two seasons of minor year-over-year decline in goals per game – dropping from 6.36 in 2022-23 to 6.08 this regular season – the league average has exceeded six goals per game in six of the past seven seasons, with a slight dip during the shortened 2020-21 season (5.87).
One recent contributing factor: power plays remain highly effective. The conversion rate this season was 21.6%, the ninth best all time and the highest since 1985-86 (22.2%). The NHL has achieved a league-wide power-play success rate above 20% in six of the past eight seasons.
The conversion rate in the first round of the playoffs was 24.9%. This is an increase from 20.6% for the entirety of last year`s postseason. Again, this reflects a multi-year trend: after having only one Stanley Cup postseason with a power play conversion rate above 20% in a 36-season span (1983-2020), the NHL has seen a rate higher than 20% in five consecutive postseasons.
The long-held belief that the playoffs are a fundamentally different sport than the regular season is difficult to shake. However, the current numbers suggest that the regular-season trend of higher scoring has, for now, carried over into the postseason.
Mikko Rantanen Proved His Value
Any future standout performances by a player against their former team will inevitably be measured against what Rantanen accomplished to eliminate the Avalanche in the first round.
He amassed 11 points in the final three games of the series, two of which were victories for his Stars. Martin Necas, his less expensive replacement in Colorado acquired via trade with Carolina, managed four points in that same stretch and none in Game 7.
Rantanen is the first player in NHL history – in either the regular season or playoffs – to record four-point periods in consecutive games. He`s the first player to accumulate 10 or more points in Games 5-7 of a series. He`s also the first player to score a hat trick in the third period of a Game 7 and the first to achieve a hat trick against his former team in a Game 7.
He`s operating in playoff beast mode. He`s essentially a postseason MVP for Dallas. And frankly, he`s precisely the kind of player the Avalanche could have desperately used in that series.
Whether Rantanen`s agent priced him out of Colorado or the Avalanche simply made a “tough business decision” for greater salary cap flexibility, hoping to replace his production collectively, it was Colorado`s choice to trade Rantanen before free agency. Had they not sent him to Carolina, he would have been playing on Nathan MacKinnon`s line in this series. Admittedly, some other roster moves Colorado made at the trade deadline might not have happened either, but Rantanen would still be in Colorado and not in Dallas – and that fundamentally alters the series dynamic.
The Hurricanes pursued Rantanen when he became available, hoping to sign him long-term – which didn`t materialize – but also based on his reputation as a formidable playoff performer. He entered this postseason with 101 points in 81 career playoff games, including 25 points in 20 games during the Avalanche`s 2022 Stanley Cup win.
Credit to Carolina: they identified and acquired two clutch playoff scorers over the past two seasons who lived up to their billing in Rantanen and Jake Guentzel, who was arguably the standout player for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first-round loss to Florida. The irony is that the Hurricanes couldn`t retain either player, and in Rantanen`s case, they didn`t even get to see him compete in the playoffs.
The Hockey Gods provided the drama of Mikko Rantanen facing his former Avalanche teammates in the opening round, a player seeking “revenge” on the team that moved on from him. Will they deliver another narrative twist: Mikko Rantanen facing his former Hurricanes teammates in the final round, with *his current* team seeking “revenge” on the team that traded him?
One can never predict with the Hockey Gods. They certainly have a flair for the dramatic.
Surprisingly, Missing Key Players Can Catalyze Game 7 Rallies
Granted, the sample size is small.
But the Stars mounted a comeback from a two-goal third-period deficit in Game 7 to eliminate the Avalanche, doing so without injured forward Jason Robertson (80 points) and top defenseman Miro Heiskanen (averaging 25:10 ice time per game), both of whom missed the entire series.
Subsequently, the Winnipeg Jets rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit in Game 7 to eliminate the St. Louis Blues, achieving this feat without injured forward Mark Scheifele (87 points), who sat out Games 6 and 7, and defenseman Josh Morrissey (averaging 24:23 ice time per game), who played only four shifts in the first period of Game 7 before leaving with a shoulder injury.
Evidently, lacking two of your most crucial players in the season`s most critical game seems to bring about positive outcomes.
Okay, I acknowledge the counterargument: perhaps with those players in the lineup, a Game 7 wouldn`t have been necessary at all. This is somewhat akin to the “Pete DeBoer is 9-0 in Game 7s” observation, which overlooks his 7-15 record in Game 6s and 5-7 record when having a chance to clinch in Game 6. It focuses solely on the result rather than the process.
However, I`d counter that counter with a touch of the Ewing Theory. This concept, popularized by former ESPN columnist Bill Simmons, suggested that teams featuring Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing – Georgetown University and the New York Knicks – would “inexplicably perform better when Ewing was either injured or sidelined for extended periods due to foul trouble.”
Now, the Ewing Theory doesn`t apply universally. Witness the New Jersey Devils` meek five-game exit against Carolina without injured star Jack Hughes. But it`s not solely about success or failure in a star`s absence; it`s also about how individual players respond. Consider Nico Hischier, who scored two goals in his first 17 regular-season games but tallied four goals in five playoff games against Carolina without Jack Hughes (and Luke Hughes for four games).
Without Heiskanen, who logged the most minutes against Nathan MacKinnon`s line back in January, the Stars relied on Cody Ceci and Esa Lindell to contain him in Game 7. MacKinnon scored one goal but was otherwise limited. Without Robertson, Mikko Rantanen stepped up significantly with 11 points in the final three games of their series.
Without Scheifele, captain Adam Lowry skated over 14 minutes with Kyle Connor and Alex Iafallo on the top line in Game 7; that trio finished with a plus-21 advantage in shot attempts and combined for the double-overtime winner. Cole Perfetti scored three goals with Scheifele sidelined, including two in Game 7.
“His goal in St. Louis was crucial. Then he gets two big ones tonight,” coach Scott Arniel said of Perfetti. “That`s the development you hope for. For a player with limited playoff experience, I admire his response in a physically demanding series.”
Without Morrissey, Winnipeg navigated the game with five defensemen. Neal Pionk and Dylan Samberg each played over 44 minutes, while Haydn Fleury delivered a career-best performance with 33:02 of ice time.
“What a heroic effort from our defense. They had different partners every shift. It was about guys stepping up. That`s exactly what we needed,” Arniel stated.
Of course, getting their second-leading scorer and top defenseman back is genuinely what they need. Perhaps in Round 2…
The Fourth Time Is, In Fact, Not Necessarily the Charm
There were compelling reasons to believe the Los Angeles Kings could finally eliminate the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, despite failing to do so in the previous three postseasons.
The Oilers had been notably inconsistent defensively this season, relying heavily on goaltending described as a combination of “hopes” and “prayers,” and were missing key defenseman Mattias Ekholm. Edmonton`s hockey demigods, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, had both missed time near the end of the regular season due to injury.
The Kings themselves seemed poised to shut them down, boasting the best regular-season goals-against average (2.48) and a Vezina Trophy finalist goaltender (Darcy Kuemper) – resources they hadn`t possessed in previous matchups against the Oilers. The gap between these teams had been incredibly narrow: since 2023, 10 of their 12 playoff meetings were decided by a single goal or featured the game-winning goal scored in the third period.
But the primary reason many predicted a Kings victory over Edmonton – including 16 out of 26 ESPN pundits! – was the belief that the fourth consecutive meeting *had* to be the charm. How could virtually the same teams face off in four straight postseasons with one team winning every single time?
Well, history actually suggests this pattern isn`t unprecedented. Since 1968 (the “expansion era”), only one other instance exists where the same two teams met in the opening round for four consecutive seasons: Montreal faced Boston from 1984 to 1987 – and Montreal won every single time.
But hey, the fourth time`s the charm! Just ask the Buffalo Bills, who faced the Kansas City Chiefs four times in five postseasons and… lost every time. Now imagine that instead of one Patrick Mahomes, there are two of him, and that`s effectively what the Kings faced against the Oilers in perennial MVP candidates Draisaitl and McDavid.
It certainly didn`t help that, after a promising start with two wins at home, the Kings embarked on a series of self-inflicted wounds, punctuated by what might be considered the worst coaching performance of the first round by Jim Hiller. His coach`s challenge in Game 3 effectively handed the win to Edmonton, giving the Oilers a delay-of-game power play after the game was tied 4-4. His decisions to sit back with leads, his reluctance to utilize his depth players… it amounted to a defeatist strategy against a team that excels at exploiting weakness.
But given the current playoff format, there`s always next year. This time, it will be under a new general manager, as this latest playoff disappointment cost Rob Blake his position in L.A.
The Reign of Super Mega Lines
Conventional wisdom dictates that winning the Stanley Cup requires contributions throughout the lineup. Depth is often considered the deciding factor between hoisting the trophy and succumbing to playoff pressure.
Having said that: it is undeniably thrilling when teams opt to concentrate their firepower by assembling three ridiculously talented players to form a “Super Mega Line.”
The Vegas Golden Knights deployed one such line featuring Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and William Karlsson. Coach Bruce Cassidy utilized them after winger Pavel Dorofeyev missed Game 6 due to injury, tasking his trio of skilled defensive forwards with handling Kirill Kaprizov`s line. The result was that they successfully slowed down and outscored the Wild`s primary offensive unit in the elimination game.
“Everyone stepped up at different points of the series and found ways to contribute,” Eichel commented. “That`s what it takes to win at this time of year.”
In limited minutes, the Golden Knights` trio posted an impressive 67.7% expected goals percentage.
Stone and Eichel began to find their rhythm late in the Minnesota series, registering points in each of the final three games, all of which were Vegas victories. Perhaps Cassidy will maintain this line configuration with Karlsson to counter either Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Or maybe they`ll be tasked with facing both simultaneously. The Oilers themselves are no strangers to employing Super Mega Lines.
Regular-Season Award Favorites Don`t Guarantee Playoff Success
When discussing regular-season awards, I`m not referring to the Presidents` Trophy, which, as is widely known, seems to carry a curse. Only eight teams that finished first overall in the NHL since 1986 have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. The last instance was Chicago in 2013. Since then, and with the NHL`s move to a wild-card playoff format, no team that finished first overall has even reached the Stanley Cup Final, let alone won it, with two top teams having lost in the opening round.
Time will tell for Winnipeg.
No, I`m specifically talking about NHL individual awards. Consider Cale Makar, the odds-on favorite to win the Norris Trophy this season for the second time. This is a player whom 71.7% of his peers voted as the best overall defenseman in the NHL, earning him a Ted Lindsay Award nomination.
Where was that dominant player in the first round?
The scoresheet shows Makar with five points in seven games. Three of those points came in the Avalanche`s 7-4 Game 6 victory at home. He also registered assists in the first two games of the series. However, he went scoreless in four games against Dallas, including a subdued Game 7 performance where he finished minus-1, took a third-period tripping penalty, and managed only one shot on goal.
Dallas managed to contain him similarly last postseason, as Makar went scoreless in three of their six games and recorded just one assist and two shots in Colorado`s Game 6 loss.
“I need to be much better,” Makar stated before Game 6. “I think there have been flashes where I`ve played well. But there are many things I can significantly improve upon.”
Something was clearly affecting Makar in that series.
Something has also been amiss with Connor Hellebuyck for *three* consecutive series.
Look, he was solid in the third period and the two overtimes of Game 7 against St. Louis, mitigating two questionable goals he surrendered earlier in the game. But that Game 7 wouldn`t have happened in the first place without Connor Hellebuyck`s struggles.
And that observation is not meant as a compliment. If his performance in any of those three games in St. Louis had been better than that of a passive goaltending target, the Jets wouldn`t have needed a Game 7 to advance. But he was significantly below par. He was pulled three times and finished the road portion of the series with a .758 save percentage and a 7.24 goals-against average. Over the past 40 years of Stanley Cup playoff history, that represents the worst save percentage by any goalie on the road with a minimum of three road games and 50 shots faced.
Across the past three postseasons, Hellebuyck holds a 1-7 record on the road with an .838 save percentage and a 5.19 goals-against average.
To be clear, I am pleased for Hellebuyck. The first round was a nightmare for him, and he now has an opportunity to redeem his reputation against Dallas, alongside a chance to solidify his claim for the Team USA Olympic goaltending spot by outdueling Jake Oettinger, who is very much ready to challenge for it.
Furthermore, his Game 7 victory—a sigh of relief win—means we are spared the supreme awkwardness of a goaltender who contributed to his team`s first-round exit for the third straight season potentially winning the NHL`s award for best goaltender for the second year in a row – and possibly even being named league MVP.
The Capitals` Front Office Is Simply Showing Off Now
Consider the top 10 scorers for the Washington Capitals after their first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.
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Alex Ovechkin is there, the Russian Machine, who scored four goals in five games.
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Tom Wilson also contributed, with five points in five games, alongside a memorable moment on the Capitals bench with Josh Anderson, an instant classic crying meme, and a hit on Alexandre Carrier that still resonates in Montreal.
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Connor McMichael also recorded five points in five games and achieved a plus-5 rating.
That list accounts for the primary “homegrown” Capitals contributors.
Dylan Strome (nine points) was acquired after being a castoff from the Chicago Blackhawks. Anthony Beauvillier, who had five points, is on his sixth team in three seasons, having been acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline. Brandon Duhaime was signed as a free agent and given a career-high average ice time of 13:21.
Jakob Chychrun and Pierre-Luc Dubois were “buy-low” trade acquisitions last offseason; Dubois` market appeal was near toxic levels due to his contract and his difficult tenure in Los Angeles. Andrew Mangiapane was another trade addition. Trevor van Riemsdyk was a free-agent signing in 2020 who has thrived in Washington.
I have previously highlighted Washington`s impressive retooling around Ovechkin, the front office`s shrewdness, and the organization`s ability to develop and enhance talent. This has been evident in their playoff performance so far. Frankly, it remains underappreciated.
The Capitals enter their series against Carolina as significant underdogs. However, these two teams are considerably more evenly matched than the odds might suggest, with Washington holding a notable advantage in having home ice.
“We understand the intricacies of many of their systems because we play a similar style,” noted Capitals coach Spencer Carbery. “It essentially becomes a test of which team can execute it better and more consistently over an extended period.”
Continue to underestimate the Capitals at your own risk, Eastern Conference. They possess depth, chemistry, solid goaltending, and, when all else fails, the greatest goal scorer in NHL history leading their power play.
Rupert Hartwell