Stanley Cup playoffs power rankings: Who lurks behind Avalanche?

In this edition of the power rankings, teams are listed in order of their chances of winning the Stanley Cup. Teams are also separated into these five tiers:

1. Lifting 34.5 Pounds (weight of Stanley Cup)
2. Hard Road
3. Injured But With Upside
4. Flawed But Dangerous
5. Playing With House Money

Postseason play begins Saturday (April 19).

Lifting 34.5 Pounds 

They're equipped to make a deep playoff run and should get those arms ready to lift the greatest trophy in sports.

1. Colorado Avalanche: 49-29-4, 102 points | First-round foe: Dallas

Reason for optimism: A 17-7-2 run after the 4 Nations Face-Off was powered by an elite core and a GM (Chris MacFarland) who spent aggressively to upgrade the supporting cast for the short and long term. 

Reason for pessimism: There are suddenly a lot of really good players in this room, making it a challenge for head coach Jared Bednar to determine proper deployments.

2. Winnipeg Jets: 56-22-4, 116 points | First-round foe: St. Louis

Reason for optimism: The best regular-season team has this season's best goaltender (Connor Hellebuyck), an elite power play and is much improved at 5-on-5.

Reason for pessimism: Ghosts of playoffs past still make it hard to trust these Jets. 

3. Vegas Golden Knights: 50-22-10, 110 points | First-round foe: Minnesota

Reason for optimism: They are game-tested, elite down the middle and on defense and have strong supporting pieces. Plus, they have excellent coaching, a recent Stanley Cup (2023) and are rested after a short playoff run last season.

Reason for pessimism: Edmonton getting healthy and Los Angeles surging presents a difficult path out of the Pacific Division.

4. Tampa Bay Lightning: 47-27-8, 102 points | First-round foe: Florida

Reason for optimism: They finished 16-7-4 down the stretch to secure home ice in the first round in a critical chess match between head coach Jon Cooper and Florida's Paul Maurice.

Reason for pessimism: An injury to winger Oliver Bjorkstrand will sideline him for much of their first-round series, eliminating their acquired winger depth. 

5. Washington Capitals: 51-22-9, 111 points | First-round foe: Montreal

Reason for optimism: They likely have the easiest first-round draw and easiest path of any team to the conference finals.

Reason for pessimism: Ill-timed injuries to massive scoring winger Aliaksei Protas and starting goaltender Logan Thompson are concerning.  

Hard Road

These teams are really good, but their path to the Final is challenging.

6. Los Angeles Kings: 48-25-9, 105 points | First-round foe: Edmonton

Reason for optimism: They are red-hot thanks to the leveling up of super-talent Quinton Byfield at center. Plus, they have improved scoring ability and elite defensive play led by defensemen Drew Doughty and Vladislav Gavrikov. 

Reason for pessimism: Their reward for a step forward this season is to play against the best player in the world (center Connor McDavid) for the fourth year in a row. 

7. Toronto Maple Leafs: 52-26-4, 108 points | First-round foe: Ottawa

Reason for optimism: They finished the season on a tear, winning 12 of 16 games, as winger Mitch Marner has taken his game to a new level since his performance in the 4 Nations Face-Off. 

Reason for pessimism: Their numbers show a team a lot less explosive than it had been, and superstar center Auston Matthews is playing through a nagging injury. They'll open the playoffs against a rival and may face either a red-hot Tampa team or the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers next.

Injured Upside

These teams are dealing with major injuries. If they survive long enough to get important players healthy, their upside is high. 

8. Florida Panthers: 47-31-4, 98 points | First-round foe: Tampa Bay

Reason for optimism: Florida frightens most teams, which is reason enough for optimism. They are a tested team coming off two straight runs to the Stanley Cup and have one of the league's elite two-way centers (Alex Barkov) and an elite defensive defenseman (Gustav Forsling). 

Reason for pessimism: They've played more games the past two seasons than anyone else in this tournament and are dealing with numerous injuries. They'll miss suspended defenseman Aaron Ekblad to open their first-round series.

9. Dallas Stars: 50-26-6, 106 points | First-round foe: Colorado

Reason for optimism: They have one of the league's premier playoff players in superstar winger Mikko Rantanen and will get forward Tyler Seguin back in the lineup. 

Reason for pessimism: They may have lost a significant goal scorer in winger Jason Robertson in the final game of the regular season and superstar defender Miro Heiskanen is sidelined for at least the first round with injury. If Dallas survives a first-round series with Colorado, it might get stronger as the playoffs progress.

10. Edmonton Oilers: 48-29-5, 101 points | First-round foe: Los Angeles

Reason for optimism: Once superstars Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid got healthy, the Oilers began to roll. They finished 9-5-1 in the final month. 

Reason for pessimism: Without injured defenseman Mattias Ekholm, they don't look as deep as they were a year ago. 

Flawed But Dangerous

All of these teams have a significant flaw, but they will be dangerous against almost any opponent. 

11. Carolina Hurricanes: 47-30-5, 99 points | First-round foe: New Jersey

Reason for optimism: The betting market likes Carolina best in an open field (+650 according to FanDuel), and the Canes play one of the weaker teams in the field in the opening round.

Reason for pessimism: The Canes haven't addressed any of the issues that have led to the organization not winning a game past the second round in 19 years. 

12. St. Louis Blues: 44-30-8, 96 points | First-round foe: Winnipeg

Reason for optimism: They've won 21 of their past 30 games and still have the bones of the 2019 Stanley Cup-winning team in center Robert Thomas and goaltender Jordan Binnington.

Reason for pessimism: When a team must win 21 of 30 games just to sneak into a wild-card spot, one must wonder how much it has left for the playoffs. 

13. Minnesota Wild: 45-30-7, 97 points | First-round foe: Vegas

Reason for optimism: The Wild were a disaster down the stretch but seemed to stabilize with the return of two stars (center Joel Eriksson Ek and winger Kirill Kaprizov). Add in elite prospect Zeev Buium on defense, and the Wild are intriguing.

Reason for pessimism: There's a fair bit of pressure as a result of the franchise going 10 years without advancing out of the first round. 

Playing With House Money

The expectations are low, so there's no pressure. 

14. Ottawa Senators: 45-30-7, 97 points | First-round foe: Toronto

Reason for optimism: The Senators have won six of their past seven meetings with first-round opponent Toronto, a team that is notorious for playoff disappointment in the Core Four era.

Reason for pessimism: They are a classic story as a young team finally emerging after years of rebuilding, only to find the playoffs are a completely different animal than the regular season.

15. New Jersey Devils: 42-33-7, 91 points | First-round foe: Carolina

Reason for optimism: The return of defenseman Dougie Hamilton should help bolster a talented team that has dealt with injuries for months.

Reason for pessimism: The season-ending injury to center Jack Hughes will almost certainly cap their ceiling.

16. Montreal Canadiens: 40-31-11, 91 points | First-round foe: Washington

Reason for optimism: They can be explosive offensively and will be playing with almost no pressure. 

Reason for pessimism: They finished the season 31st in Natural Stat Trick's high-danger chances against (per 60 minutes) category because their ability to defend the high-danger areas of the ice is deeply suspect.