{"id":609092,"date":"2026-04-17T00:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/609092\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T00:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:16:12","slug":"2025-26-stanley-cup-playoffs-round-1-preview-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/609092\/","title":{"rendered":"2025-26 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 preview hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

The greatest tournament in pro sports is back. Over the next two months, 16 NHL teams will battle for the Stanley Cup across four rounds of best-of-seven series. <\/p>\n

With the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers <\/a>missing the big dance, the trophy is up for grabs. Will the Colorado Avalanche<\/a> back up their Presidents\u2019 Trophy win? Can Connor McDavid will the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> to a third consecutive Cup Final appearance? What type of magic do Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins <\/a>have up their sleeve after clawing their way out of a three-season playoff drought? It\u2019s time to find out.<\/p>\n

The 2025-26 Stanley Cup playoffs begin Saturday, April 18, and Daily Faceoff is here to get you ready with all the preview coverage you can consume.<\/p>\n

Our in-depth list of stories, features and previews can be found below, with links to each article, and will be updated continuously in the coming days.<\/p>\n

2025-26 ROUND 1 PLAYOFF SCHEDULE<\/p>\n

Complete Round 1 schedule for 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs\u00a0\u2013 Coming soon<\/p>\n

2024-25 ROUND 1 SERIES PREVIEWS<\/p>\n

Western Conference<\/p>\n

(C1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (WC2) \u2013\u00a0Coming April 17
(C2) Dallas Stars vs. (C3) Minnesota Wild \u2013 By Anthony Trudeau<\/a>
(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) Utah Mammoth<\/a> \u2013\u00a0By Matt Larkin
(P2) TBD vs. (P3) TBD \u2013\u00a0Coming April 17<\/p>\n

Eastern Conference<\/p>\n

(A1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (WC1) Boston Bruins <\/a>\u2013\u00a0By Matt Larkin
(A2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (A3) Montreal Canadiens<\/a> \u2013\u00a0By Scott Maxwell
(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC2) Ottawa Senators \u2013 Coming April 16
(M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (M3) Philadelphia Flyers \u2013 Coming April 17<\/p>\n

PLAYOFF FANTASY RANKINGS<\/p>\n

Matt Larkin\u2019s top 150 players<\/a>
Brock Seguin\u2019s top 250 players \u2013 Coming April 17<\/p>\n

SPECIAL FEATURES<\/p>\n

The top five likeliest villains of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs<\/a> \u2013 By Ryan Cuneo
NHL rookies who could have big impacts in 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs<\/a> \u2013\u00a0By Steven Ellis
16 Sleepers: A potential unsung hero for every 2023-24 playoff team\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Coming April 18
Breaking down every goalie matchup in Round 1\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Coming April 17<\/p>\n

PREDICTIONS<\/p>\n

Round 1 series picks\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Coming April 18
Daily Faceoff staff brackets\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Coming April 18<\/p>\n

2025-26 SEASON IN REVIEW<\/p>\n

Daily Faceoff\u2019s best and worst NHL predictions of 2025-26<\/a> \u2013 By Matt Larkin
The five trends that defined the 2025-26 NHL season<\/a> \u2013 By Paul Pidutti
The biggest 2026 offseason need for every non-playoff NHL team<\/a> \u2013\u00a0By Anthony Trudeau<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

POST SPONSORED BY bet365<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

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Which bottom-dwelling NHL team could make the playoffs in 2026-27?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The greatest tournament in pro sports is back. Over the next two months, 16 NHL teams will battle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-609092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}