The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday : NPR

Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Florida Panthers celebrates with the Stanley Cup following their victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game Seven of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2024. The 2025 playoffs begin Saturday with hopes of an equally thrilling ending.

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Hockey’s Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday.

It’s a tall order to live up to last year’s dramatic seven-game final. But the pieces are in place for an entertaining playoffs, with contenders for first-time Stanley Cup winners and generational stars looking for a last trophy to cap off their career.

The puck drops on the first round with a pair of games on Saturday and three more to follow Sunday. And with no New York, no Boston and no Chicago in the mix, it’s a chance for smaller(-ish) markets to shine — including the NHL’s smallest market, Winnipeg, whose Jets finished with the best record in the league and head into the playoffs with a top seed.

Here’s who to watch for:

The Washington Capitals

Pre-season expectations were low, low, low for the Washington Capitals last fall.

In October, the Athletic gave the Caps only an 18% chance of making the playoffs — and less than a 1% likelihood of earning more than 110 points. Franchise cornerstone Alex Ovechkin turned 39 and had just posted the second-lowest goal-scoring season of his career. The only two other remaining pieces of the roster that won the Stanley Cup in 2018 — winger Tom Wilson and defenseman John Carlson — also looked to be past their primes.

Instead, Washington has blown those expectations out of the water.

The Capitals have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Ovechkin has the fourth-most goals in the league, and his chase for Gretzky’s all-time career goals record energized the whole team. Younger players like Dylan Strome, Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas have all played the best seasons of their careers.