What We Learned: How many contenders are in the East?

One thing I know for sure is that there will be one Eastern Conference team in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.

That might be the nicest thing you can say about the East this season. When you're trying to think of the teams across the league that are truly elite, how many of them are in the West? Even if we take it as a given that not everyone is going to view the top eight or so teams in the league in exactly the same way, you can make arguments for most of the following, I think: Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas, and maybe Minnesota and Winnipeg out West.

In the East? Florida, of course. Tampa, probably, if they can somehow avoid their cross-state rival in the first round. Carolina, sure. Is that it, or are we giving lip service to Toronto as well? Either way, we're talking about four teams at