The Conference Finals are now set in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Canadiens beat the Sabres in a thrilling Game 7 on Monday night in Buffalo to join the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final, meanwhile, over in the Western Conference Final, it’ll be the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Every team takes a different path to contention and pivots at key points to remain there. The Philadelphia Flyers arrived in the playoffs ahead of schedule this year, and they can learn a thing or two from the final four teams standing to get back there next season.
Colorado Avalanche: Be patient with young stars
Nathan MacKinnon is now one of the best players in the game, but it took him a few years to get things going in Colorado. He started with an impressive 63-point season as a fresh-faced 18-year-old to win the Calder Trophy in 2014. After that, though, he didn’t record more than 53 points in any of the next three seasons: 38 points in 64 games in 2014-15, 52 in 72 in ’15-16, and 53 in 82 in ’16-17.
While the Avalanche likely never seriously considered trading MacKinnon, his name was in rumors during those down years.
MacKinnon hasn’t dropped below 93 points in a full season since then, which he had in just 65 games during the shortened 2019-20 season.
The Flyers should show that same patience with Matvei Michkov and any other prospect whose development isn’t linear early on. There are going to be ups and downs for any player, and superstars are no different.
Of course, the Avalanche have also done a lot to build up their roster alongside MacKinnon, but we’ll save those lessons for another day.
Vegas Golden Knights: Hockey is a Business
The Golden Knights came into the league in a unique scenario. They were gifted underrated players during the expansion draft, and teams fell over themselves to make sure that Vegas didn’t select certain unprotected players.
That allowed the Golden Knights to compete immediately, and they’ve been in the mix ever since.
Having no franchise history to look back on has helped the Golden Knights to be a little more cutthroat than other teams, especially the Flyers. While Philadelphia prides itself on The Flyers Family, sometimes it’s important to be aggressive and make tough decisions with prospects.
The Golden Knights are always in the mix for players on the market, and hit a home run with their trade for Jack Eichel. If the Flyers can find a top-line center in a similar move, they could soon be contending annually as well.
Carolina Hurricanes: Keep the Window Open
Say what you will about how the Hurricanes have handled things in recent years, but they’ve become the premier example of how to build a contender and keep that championship window open.
The Hurricanes have made the playoffs for seven straight seasons, and they’ve reached the Eastern Conference Final now in two of the last three years. That’s where they’ve fallen flat, but their path looks a bit clearer this year with the Canadiens on the other side.
Carolina has kept its window open by playing a consistent style of hockey, injecting youth into the lineup, and admitting its mistakes when it makes them. The Canes took a big swing as well for Mikko Rantanen, but then flipped him for Logan Stankoven and two first-round picks to help them right now and in the future.
It also helps if you hire a blogger from Broad Street Hockey dot com. Just saying.
Montreal Canadiens: Stay the Course
The Canadiens are perhaps the team most similar to the Flyers right now. After Carey Price carried them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, they bottomed out in the next few seasons.
Montreal then made the playoffs ahead of schedule last year, winning just one game against a more experienced Capitals team.
The Habs have hit on a few first-round picks (Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov), and missed on a few others, while finding some solid players in between. They didn’t really make any big move until they saw the opportunity to do so last summer, landing Noah Dobson for two first-round picks and Emil Heineman.
The Canadiens stayed the course and arrived sooner than expected. The Flyers may be on that path as well.
