It’s that time of the year again. The Stanley Cup playoffs are back. The regular season ended in less than spectacular fashion as quite a few teams have been out of playoff contention for a while now. For most teams it did not come down to the wire. There was a lot going this season. The playoffs are looking to become pretty exciting.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to start on Monday, April 17th 2023. I will be doing a playoff preview before that.
The Boston Bruins had the best regular season record for the 2022/23 season. The won the Atlantic Division regular season title. They also won the Eastern Conference regular season title. They also won the Presidents Trophy for having the best regular season record in the NHL. They also set the broke the record for most wins in a regular season with sixty five. The closest teams were thirteen wins behind. The previous record was 62 wins and it was held by the 1995/96 Detroit Red Wings. They would go on to be swept by New Jersey in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Boston Bruins are the number one seed in the playoffs. The Carolina Hurricanes won the Eastern Conferences Metropolitan Division regular season title. The Vegas Golden Knight won Western Conference and the Pacific Division regular season titles. Their win over the Seattle Kraken in their final game of the regular season gave them two more points than the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche to win the west. The Colorado Avalanche would win the Central Division regular season title beating out the Dallas Stars by one point.
In the Eastern Conference, the Carolina Hurricanes, the New Jersey Devils, and the New York Rangers all secured playoff spots in the Metropolitan Division. The Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Tampa Bay Lightning secured playoff spots in the Atlantic Division. The New York Islanders and the Florida Panthers secured wild card playoff spots.
In the Western Conference, the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, and the Minnesota Wild secured playoff spots in the Central Division. The Vegas Golden Knights, the Edmonton Oilers, and the LA Kings all secured playoff spots in the Pacific Division. The Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets secured wild card playoff spots.
The big one is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They missed out on the playoffs by one point. That has been all over the news as it ends a seventeen year playoff streak. Also in the Eastern Conference the Buffalo Sabers came close. Like the Penguins the Sabers only missed out by one point. The Ottawa Senators are the only other Eastern Conference team to come within ten points of a playoff spot. The Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals only needed about five or so more wins to get close to a playoff birth. The Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens didn’t have a shot at a playoff birth. The Columbus Blue Jackets had the worst regular season record in the Eastern Conference. They didn’t even have thirty wins.
The Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators both came close to a playoff spot. The Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues both needed over ten points to make the playoffs. They were out of playoff contention for a while. The Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, and Chicago Blackhawks were all thirty or more points outside of a playoff spot. None of them came close. The Anaheim Ducks had the worst record in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks only beat out the Ducks by one point to not have the worst record in the NHL this season.
The Carolina Hurricanes make the playoffs for the fifth season in a row after not qualifying for nine seasons. It is their tenth playoff appearance since relocating. The New Jersey Devils made the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. It is their twenty third playoff appearance. The New York Rangers made the playoffs after not making them last season. They are also favored to be the next New York team to win a major championship. It is their sixty second playoff appearance. It is their seventh appearance in the last ten years. The Boston Bruins made the playoffs for the seventh season in a row. It is their seventy sixth playoff appearance. The have made the playoffs in seven of the last ten seasons. Outside of the 1960’s there has not been more than back-to-back seasons where the Bruins have not made the playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs have made the playoffs for the seventh year in a row. They have lost in the first round of every playoffs since the 2003/04 season. It is their seventy second appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Tampa Bay Lightning have made the playoffs for the seventh season in a row. It is their fifteenth appearance in the playoffs. They have only missed the playoffs once in the last ten seasons. They have been in the last three Stanley Cup Finals. The New York Islanders made the playoffs after not qualifying last season. It is their twenty eighth playoff appearance. This will be their sixth playoff appearance in the last ten seasons.
| Team | Playoff Appearances | Stanley Cups | Playoff Appearances (last ten seasons) | Series Wins (last ten seasons) | Finals Appearances (last ten seasons) | Stanley Cups (last ten seasons) | Last Finals Appearance | Last Stanley Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina Hurricanes | 10 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2006 | 2006 |
| New Jersey Devils | 23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | 2003 |
| New York Rangers | 62 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2014 | 1994 |
| Boston Bruins | 76 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2019 | 2011 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 72 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1967 | 1967 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 15 | 3 | 9 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 2022 | 2021 |
| New York Islanders | 27 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1984 | 1983 |
| Florida Panthers | 8 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1996 | Never |
The defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche made the playoffs for the sixth season in a row. This is their nineteenth playoff appearance. It is their seventh playoff appearance in in the last ten seasons. The Dallas Stars have made back-to-back playoff appearances after making the playoffs this season. This will be their eighteenth playoff appearance since relocating. This is their sixth playoff appearance in the last ten seasons. The Minnesota Wild made the playoffs making it their fourth playoff appearance in a row. This will be their thirteenth playoff appearance. They have made the playoffs in nine of the last ten seasons. The Vegas Golden Knights made the playoffs after not qualifying for the first time ever last season. This will be their fifth playoff appearance since they joined the NHL in 2017. The Edmonton Oilers have made the playoffs for the fourth season in a row. This is their twenty fifth playoff appearance. They have made the playoffs five times in the last ten seasons. The LA Kings have made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons after qualifying again this season. This will be their thirty second playoff appearance. They have made the playoffs in five of the last ten seasons. The Seattle Kraken made the playoffs for the first time ever. This will be their first playoff appearance since they joined the NHL in 2021. The Winnipeg Jets qualified for the playoffs after missing out last season. This will be their fifth playoff appearance since relocating. All five of their playoff births have come in the last ten seasons.
| Team | Playoff Appearances | Stanley Cups | Playoff Appearances (last ten seasons) | Series Wins (last ten seasons) | Finals Appearances (last ten seasons) | Stanley Cups (last ten seasons) | Last Finals Appearance | Last Stanley Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Avalanche | 19 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2022 | 2022 |
| Dallas Stars | 18 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2020 | 1999 |
| Minnesota Wild | 13 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Never | Never |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 5 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2018 | Never |
| Edmonton Oilers | 25 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2006 | 1990 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 32 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2014 | 2014 |
| Seattle Kraken | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Never | Never |
| Winnipeg Jets | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Never | Never |
The Pittsburgh Penguins made the playoffs last season. They had nine appearance in the last ten seasons. It is the first time they are missing the playoffs since 2006. The Buffalo Sabers have not made the playoffs since 2010. They have had zero playoff appearances in the last ten seasons. The Ottawa Senators last made the playoffs six years ago in 2017. They have only made the playoffs twice in the last ten years. That is probably part of they are getting sold off. The Detroit Red Wings have not made the playoffs since their twenty five season playoff run came to and end in 2017. They haven’t made the playoffs in seven years but they have made made the playoffs three times in the last ten seasons. The Capitals missed the playoffs after eight straight appearances. They last missed the playoffs in 2014. The Philadelphia Flyers will miss the playoffs for the third season in a row. They have only made the playoffs four times in the last ten seasons. The Montreal Canadiens will miss the playoffs for the second season in a row after back-to-back playoff births and a finals birth. They have made the playoffs five times in the last ten seasons. The Columbus Blue Jackets will miss the playoffs for the third year in a row. They have made the playoffs five times in the last ten seasons.
| Team | Last Playoff Appearance | Playoff Appearances In Last Ten Seasons | Last Missed Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 2022 | 9 | 2006 |
| Buffalo Sabers | 2010 | 0 | 2022 |
| Ottawa Senators | 2017 | 2 | 2022 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 2016 | 3 | 2022 |
| Washington Capitals | 2022 | 8 | 2014 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 2020 | 4 | 2022 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 2021 | 5 | 2022 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 2020 | 5 | 2022 |
The Calgary Flames missed the playoffs after qualifying last season. They have made the playoffs in five of the last ten seasons. The Nashville Predators will miss the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. The Vancouver Canucks will miss the playoffs for the third season in a row. They have only made the playoffs twice in the last ten seasons. The St. Louis Blues will miss the playoffs for the first time since they won the Stanley Cup in 2019. They have made the playoffs eight times in the last ten seasons. Nothing was expected of the Arizona Coyotes and they delivered. For the third season in a row the Coyotes will not be in the playoffs. They have only made the playoffs once in the last ten seasons. The San Jose Sharks will be missing the playoffs for the fourth season in a row. They have made the playoffs in five of the last ten seasons. For the third season in a row the Chicago Blackhawks will not be in the playoffs. The have made the playoffs in five of the last ten season though. The Anaheim Ducks tanked this season to get their next franchise player. This is the fifth season in a row they have missed the playoffs. They have been in five of the last ten playoffs.
| Team | Last Playoff Appearance | Playoff Appearances In Last Ten Seasons | Last Missed Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Flames | 2022 | 5 | 2021 |
| Nashville Predators | 2022 | 8 | 2014 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 2020 | 2 | 2022 |
| St. Louis Blues | 2022 | 8 | 2018 |
| Arizona Coyotes | 2020 | 1 | 2022 |
| San Jose Sharks | 2019 | 5 | 2022 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 2020 | 5 | 2022 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 2018 | 5 | 2022 |
The Pittsburgh Penguins ended a sixteen season playoff streak after failing to qualify for this years playoffs. That was the longest active playoff streak of any major pro sports team in the NHL, NBA, MLS, NFL, or MLB. The now current longest active playoff streak is the New York Red Bulls of the MLS with thirteen consecutive playoff appearances. At the same time the Sacramento Kings of the NBA snapped the longest active playoff drought in pro sports. After the Seattle Mariners of the MLS broke their twenty one year playoff drought last season, the Sacramento Kings held the title of longest active playoff drought with sixteen seasons. They would snap that this season by making the NBA playoffs. The Buffalo Sabers and New York Jets now share the active playoff drought record at twelve season. I just think it is crazy how these stuff is happening in the last year with some of it happening at the same time.
This is also the first time since 2006 that the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins have not made the playoffs.
Zac Electrifly 