Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) attacks the puck as Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell (23) keeps moving it up the boards during the first period in Game 6 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in St. Paul, Minnesota, April 30, 2026.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
The consensus across the NHL entering the playoffs was that the Central Division had three Stanley Cup contenders.
Few thought the division would have no contending teams remaining before the Stanley Cup Final even began.
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But now with the Vegas Golden Knights sweeping the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference finals Tuesday night, the top three teams in the Central will once again watch a team outside their division hoist the Stanley Cup in June.
This season will mark the fourth year in a row that a team from the division didn’t advance out of the Western Conference bracket. Vegas and Edmonton of the Pacific Division have represented the conference for the last four years with the Golden Knights having the chance to win their second Stanley Cup title in that span.
The showing by the Central this postseason might’ve been the most underwhelming yet.
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The Stars fell to the Wild in six games in a series where they couldn’t seem to score 5-on-5 and made costly defensive mistakes. Dallas was without top-line forward Roope Hintz, which certainly hurt their scoring abilities, and Mikko Rantanen was never 100% after tearing his MCL in the Olympics.
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The Wild advanced to face the Avalanche and fell in just five games. After winning their first playoff series in a decade, fans quickly started to turn on the franchise that couldn’t advance further, even after making the trade of the year by bringing in defenseman Quinn Hughes.
After cruising through the first two rounds, the Avalanche were embarrassed by Vegas in the conference finals, becoming just the fifth Presidents’ Trophy winners to get swept in a postseason series and extending the trophy’s curse to 13 seasons.
The Central Division’s collapse was even more surprising after its teams’ regular-season showings. Not only were the Avalanche firmly the best team in the NHL all season, but Dallas finished third in the standings, and Minnesota finished seventh. No Pacific Division team finished better than 13th.
That discrepancy between the divisions prompted Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid to compare the Pacific Division to “a pillow fight” late in the regular season.
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But could that have helped the Golden Knights ultimately reach the Final?
The NHL playoff format made it so only one of the three Central Division contenders could reach the conference finals. Players from all three teams called the format into question earlier in the postseason.
“The regular season should set you up well if you do well. With our division being as strong as it is, it doesn’t,” Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “When you have three teams that are that caliber, and two of them are gone by the conference finals, it’s tough. People don’t want to see that.”
In those rounds, all three teams suffered injuries. Dallas, coincidentally, lost Miro Heiskanen and Hintz in regular-season games against Minnesota and Colorado. Then, Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek missed the entire second-round series due to a broken heel bone he suffered in the first round against the Stars. Minnesota also played without Mats Zuccarello, Zach Bogosian and Jonas Brodin at different points of the playoffs.
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Colorado’s superstar defenseman Cale Makar missed the first two games of the Western Conference finals with an injury he suffered against Minnesota. Valeri Nichuskin and Nathan MacKinnon also battled injuries late in the series against Vegas.
But all teams are injured in the postseason, and while that might’ve helped Vegas, the Golden Knights’ play can’t be diminished either.
Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (9) is congratulated after scoring a goal against the Nashville Predators during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Mark Humphrey/AP
Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel have been two of the best players in the postseason, leading the league with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Forwards Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev are tied for the league-lead with 10 goals apiece. No other player has more than seven.
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Vegas has also shown a ruthlessness few other teams in the NHL have. The team is known for making highly controversial decisions — many of which have played out in their favor. The Golden Knights made a coaching change with eight games left in the regular season, firing Bruce Cassidy to bring in John Tortorella, and signed goaltender Carter Hart, who was among the players on Canada’s world junior team charged with sexual assault but later acquitted. He has been among Vegas’ best players on the ice this postseason.
The Golden Knights’ reputation is soured for many reasons across the league. Preventing Cassidy from interviewing for other jobs because he remains under contract and skipping postgame interviews after clinching a spot in the Western Conference finals added to their lengthy list of unfavorable decisions.
But they’ve found a way to make the Stanley Cup Final three times in the franchise’s nine-year history. The Central Division as a whole has made the Final just twice in that span.
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Dallas, Minnesota and Colorado enter the offseason maybe more lost than they’ve been in years. The Avalanche could make a coaching change. The Stars could make a captain change.
For all three, something will have to change because when it comes to the postseason, the Pacific Division is firmly in control.