The NHL’s 32 teams have completed their 82-game schedules, and now 16 of them have a chance to take home the most glorious trophy in all of sports.
Yes, the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us. And this year, they’re back on the networks of ESPN and ABC, including every game on Monday through Wednesday this week to open the tournament.
But it’s also time for ESPN’s hockey experts to serve up their picks on every first-round series, along with their calls on which team will skate with the Cup this June and which player will earn the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
Jump ahead:
FLA-WSH | TOR-TB
CAR-BOS | NYR-PIT
COL-NSH | MIN-STL
CGY-DAL | EDM-LA
Stanley Cup champ
Conn Smythe
Atlantic Division
Sean Allen: Panthers in five
Brian Boucher: Panthers in five
John Buccigross: Capitals in seven
Ryan Callahan: Panthers
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Panthers in six
Sachin Chandan: Panthers in four
Chris Chelios: Panthers in six
Linda Cohn: Panthers in six
Ray Ferraro: Panthers in six
Leah Hextall: Panthers in six
Emily Kaplan: Panthers in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Panthers in five
Don La Greca: Panthers in five
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Panthers in six
Steve Levy: Panthers in five
Victoria Matiash: Panthers in five
Sean McDonough: Panthers in five
Barry Melrose: Panthers in six
Mark Messier: Panthers in six
AJ Mleczko: Panthers in six
Dominic Moore: Panthers in seven
Arda Öcal: Panthers in four
Kristen Shilton: Panthers in six
John Tortorella: Capitals in seven
Kevin Weekes: Panthers in five
Bob Wischusen: Panthers in six
Greg Wyshynski: Panthers in five
Consensus pick: Panthers, 25/27
Sean Allen: Lightning in seven
Brian Boucher: Lightning in seven
John Buccigross: Maple Leafs in seven
Ryan Callahan: Lightning
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Lightning in seven
Sachin Chandan: Lightning in seven
Chris Chelios: Lightning in six
Linda Cohn: Lightning in seven
Ray Ferraro: Lightning in six
Leah Hextall: Lightning in six
Emily Kaplan: Lightning in six
Tim Kavanagh: Lightning in six
Don La Greca: Maple Leafs in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Maple Leafs in seven
Steve Levy: Lightning in seven
Victoria Matiash: Lightning in seven
Sean McDonough: Lightning in six
Barry Melrose: Lightning in seven
Mark Messier: Lightning in seven
AJ Mleczko: Lightning in seven
Dominic Moore: Lightning in seven
Arda Öcal: Maple Leafs in seven
Kristen Shilton: Maple Leafs in six
John Tortorella: Lightning in six
Kevin Weekes: Lightning in six
Bob Wischusen: Maple Leafs in six
Greg Wyshynski: Maple Leafs in six
Consensus pick: Lightning, 20/27
Metropolitan Division
Sean Allen: Bruins in six
Brian Boucher: Canes in six
John Buccigross: Bruins in seven
Ryan Callahan: Bruins
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Bruins in six
Sachin Chandan: Canes in five
Chris Chelios: Bruins in six
Linda Cohn: Canes in six
Ray Ferraro: Canes in seven
Leah Hextall: Bruins in seven
Emily Kaplan: Canes in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Bruins in six
Don La Greca: Canes in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Canes in six
Steve Levy: Bruins in seven
Victoria Matiash: Canes in six
Sean McDonough: Canes in seven
Barry Melrose: Canes in six
Mark Messier: Canes in six
AJ Mleczko: Canes in six
Dominic Moore: Bruins in six
Arda Öcal: Bruins in seven
Kristen Shilton: Canes in five
John Tortorella: Canes in seven
Kevin Weekes: Canes in six
Bob Wischusen: Canes in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Bruins in seven
Consensus pick: Canes, 16/27
Sean Allen: Rangers in six
Brian Boucher: Rangers in six
John Buccigross: Rangers in five
Ryan Callahan: Rangers
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Penguins in six
Sachin Chandan: Rangers in six
Chris Chelios: Rangers in six
Linda Cohn: Rangers in seven
Ray Ferraro: Rangers in six
Leah Hextall: Penguins in six
Emily Kaplan: Rangers in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Rangers in five
Don La Greca: Rangers in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Penguins in seven
Steve Levy: Rangers in six
Victoria Matiash: Rangers in six
Sean McDonough: Rangers in six
Barry Melrose: Penguins in seven
Mark Messier: Rangers in seven
AJ Mleczko: Rangers in five
Dominic Moore: Rangers in five
Arda Öcal: Rangers in six
Kristen Shilton: Rangers in seven
John Tortorella: Penguins in six
Kevin Weekes: Rangers in six
Bob Wischusen: Rangers in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Penguins in six
Consensus pick: Rangers, 21/27
Central Division
Sean Allen: Avs in four
Brian Boucher: Avs in five
John Buccigross: Avs in seven
Ryan Callahan: Avs
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Avs in six
Sachin Chandan: Avs in four
Chris Chelios: Avs in five
Linda Cohn: Avs in six
Ray Ferraro: Avs in five
Leah Hextall: Avs in five
Emily Kaplan: Avs in five
Tim Kavanagh: Avs in six
Don La Greca: Avs in five
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Avs in five
Steve Levy: Avs in five
Victoria Matiash: Avs in five
Sean McDonough: Avs in five
Barry Melrose: Avs in five
Mark Messier: Avs in six
AJ Mleczko: Avs in five
Dominic Moore: Predators in seven
Arda Öcal: Avs in five
Kristen Shilton: Avs in five
John Tortorella: Avs in six
Kevin Weekes: Avs in six
Bob Wischusen: Avs in five
Greg Wyshynski: Avs in five
Consensus pick: Avs, 26/27
Sean Allen: Blues in six
Brian Boucher: Wild in seven
John Buccigross: Wild in seven
Ryan Callahan: Blues
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Wild in seven
Sachin Chandan: Blues in six
Chris Chelios: Blues in seven
Linda Cohn: Wild in seven
Ray Ferraro: Wild in seven
Leah Hextall: Wild in seven
Emily Kaplan: Blues in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Blues in six
Don La Greca: Blues in seven
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Blues in seven
Steve Levy: Wild in seven
Victoria Matiash: Wild in seven
Sean McDonough: Blues in seven
Barry Melrose: Blues in seven
Mark Messier: Blues in seven
AJ Mleczko: Wild in seven
Dominic Moore: Blues in seven
Arda Öcal: Wild in six
Kristen Shilton: Wild in seven
John Tortorella: Wild in seven
Kevin Weekes: Wild in seven
Bob Wischusen: Wild in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Wild in six
Consensus pick: Wild, 15/27
Pacific Division
Sean Allen: Flames in six
Brian Boucher: Flames in four
John Buccigross: Flames in seven
Ryan Callahan: Flames
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Flames in six
Sachin Chandan: Flames in five
Chris Chelios: Flames in five
Linda Cohn: Flames in five
Ray Ferraro: Flames in five
Leah Hextall: Flames in five
Emily Kaplan: Flames in six
Tim Kavanagh: Flames in four
Don La Greca: Flames in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Flames in five
Steve Levy: Flames in five
Victoria Matiash: Flames in six
Sean McDonough: Flames in five
Barry Melrose: Flames in five
Mark Messier: Flames in six
AJ Mleczko: Flames in five
Dominic Moore: Flames in five
Arda Öcal: Flames in five
Kristen Shilton: Flames in five
John Tortorella: Flames in five
Kevin Weekes: Flames in six
Bob Wischusen: Flames in six
Greg Wyshynski: Flames in four
Consensus pick: Flames, 27/27
Sean Allen: Oilers in five
Brian Boucher: Kings in seven
John Buccigross: Oilers in seven
Ryan Callahan: Oilers
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Oilers in six
Sachin Chandan: Oilers in seven
Chris Chelios: Oilers in five
Linda Cohn: Oilers in six
Ray Ferraro: Oilers in seven
Leah Hextall: Oilers in six
Emily Kaplan: Oilers in six
Tim Kavanagh: Oilers in seven
Don La Greca: Oilers in five
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Oilers in six
Steve Levy: Oilers in seven
Victoria Matiash: Kings in six
Sean McDonough: Oilers in five
Barry Melrose: Oilers in five
Mark Messier: Oilers in six
AJ Mleczko: Kings in six
Dominic Moore: Oilers in six
Arda Öcal: Oilers in six
Kristen Shilton: Kings in seven
John Tortorella: Kings in seven
Kevin Weekes: Oilers in six
Bob Wischusen: Oilers in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Oilers in six
Consensus pick: Oilers, 22/27
Stanley Cup champ
Sean Allen: Panthers
Brian Boucher: Canes
John Buccigross: Wild
Ryan Callahan: Flames
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Lightning
Sachin Chandan: Panthers
Linda Cohn: Avs
Ray Ferraro: Avs
Leah Hextall: Lightning
Emily Kaplan: Avs
Tim Kavanagh: Blues
Don La Greca: Canes
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Avs
Steve Levy: Rangers
Victoria Matiash: Panthers
Sean McDonough: Flames
Barry Melrose: Lightning
Mark Messier: Lightning
AJ Mleczko: Avs
Dominic Moore: Blues
Arda Öcal: Maple Leafs
Kristen Shilton: Flames
John Tortorella: Canes
Kevin Weekes: Flames
Bob Wischusen: Avs
Greg Wyshynski: Panthers
Totals: Avs (6), Panthers (4), Lightning (4), Flames (4), Canes (3), Blues (2), Wild (1), Rangers (1), Maple Leafs (1)
Conn Smythe Trophy (playoff MVP)
Sean Allen: Aleksander Barkov
Brian Boucher: Sebastian Aho
John Buccigross: Kirill Kaprizov
Ryan Callahan: Jacob Markstrom
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Brayden Point
Sachin Chandan: Jonathan Huberdeau
Linda Cohn: Nathan MacKinnon
Ray Ferraro: Cale Makar
Leah Hextall: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Emily Kaplan: Cale Makar
Tim Kavanagh: Robert Thomas
Don La Greca: Sebastian Aho
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Cale Makar
Steve Levy: Igor Shesterkin
Victoria Matiash: Jonathan Huberdeau
Sean McDonough: Johnny Gaudreau
Barry Melrose: Victor Hedman
Mark Messier: Andrei Vasilevskiy
AJ Mleczko: Darcy Kuemper
Dominic Moore: Ville Husso
Arda Öcal: Auston Matthews
Kristen Shilton: Elias Lindholm
Kevin Weekes: Matthew Tkachuk
Bob Wischusen: Nathan MacKinnon
Greg Wyshynski: Aleksander Barkov
Totals: Makar (3), Barkov (2), Huberdeau (2), Aho (2), MacKinnon (2), Vasilevskiy (2), Kaprizov (1), Markstrom (1), Thomas (1), Shesterkin (1), Gaudreau (1), Hedman (1), Kuemper (1), Husso (1), Matthews (1), Lindholm (1), Tkachuk (1)