Stanley Cup Playoffs: Who is under most pressure to win?

Also, the NBA's playoff format has won me over.

There is always an element of pressure and expectation when you get to the playoffs in any sport. Some teams, whether it be due to their roster, regular season success or recent playoff shortcomings (or a combination of all three) will be facing significantly more pressure than others.

With the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs set to begin on Saturday evening, it is time for me to take my yearly look at the teams facing the most pressure to win this season.

Not necessarily win the Stanley Cup, but to win something and make some sort of noise in the playoffs.

This is not a ranking of the best or worst teams in the playoffs. It is simply a look at the teams that, in my opinion, have the most pressure and expectations in front of them.

We are also working in reverse order with these rankings starting with the least pressure and working our way to most pressure.

Also today, a look at why I am ready for the NHL to introduce an NBA-style playoff format and play-in tournament for its postseason.

Let’s talk about all of it.

16. New York Islanders. In my experiences in dealing with New York Islanders fans, they will generally be the first people to tell you their team stinks when it does in fact stink. They love their team with an intense passion, but they also seem to have some deep hatred and resentment for how much they have frustrated them over the years. They just don’t want to hear OTHER people say the team stinks. You can pick on your little brother, but if somebody else does that’s when shit gets real. That sort of thing happens here. There are no delusions here of what this team is capable of from the fan-base or what the expectations are. They know the situation and the odds against them. I think they are just happy to get some playoff games after how bad the season looked at times. But YOU better not tell them that.

15. Washington Capitals. I feel like Capitals fans are just enjoying a pretty improbable ride and reveling in the fact their team got in the playoffs despite being outscored by 37 goals during the regular season. It is the worst goal-differential for a playoff team since the 1990-91 season, and back in those days 16 of the 21 teams in the league made the playoffs so you had a LOT of bad teams getting in. The Capitals got their Stanley Cup in the Alex Ovechkin era. Everybody knows the team is old and not particularly good. They have to play the Presidents’ Trophy winning team. Again, they are just happy to see Ovechkin play a few more playoff games. Minimal, if any, pressure here.

14. Nashville Predators. This is kind of the Western Conference version of the Islanders and Capitals where, “hey, it’s kinda cool we’re here!” I can’t speak for Predators fans, but I had zero expectations for this team at the start of the season, and even less about 30 games ago. Then they suddenly became unbeatable and are rolling into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in the league. I actually think this is a decent team with a real shot to beat Vancouver in the first round. I just don’t think anybody is going to be mad if they don’t.

13. Tampa Bay Lightning. If you are a Tampa Bay Lightning and get mad if your team does not win this season I can promise you that nobody wants to hear a single word from you. Since the start of the 2014-15 season the Lightning have won the most regular season games in the NHL (475), the most playoff games (86), played in the Eastern Conference Finals six times, played in four Stanley Cup Finals and won two of them. This has been the best and most successful franchise in the league for more than a decade, while their 86 playoff wins since 2014-15 are 32 more than any other franchise in the league (Vegas is second with 54; Pittsburgh is third with 45). Look at it another way: If Tampa Bay did not win a single playoff game over the next two seasons, Vegas would need to win the next two Stanley Cups in that time (32 wins) just to match them in total playoff wins since 2014-15. You have had your run. You are in the grace period, Lighting fans. You might not win this year. That is okay. But you probably will still win something because your team is still loaded with stars.

12. Vancouver Canucks. Canucks fans are used to playoff disappointment, and as good as this regular season was I don’t think anybody would be terribly mad at them if they did not win this season. It should be pretty accepted at this point that it is a flawed team that has relied on some smoke and mirrors to get where it is right now. They are fun to watch. There are some truly fantastic players here. I just don’t think it is their time, and I don’t think anyone actually believes that it is.

11. Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche are just two years removed from winning a Stanley Cup so that still leaves them in something of a grace period. They are one of the best teams in the league and have major award contenders at forward (Nathan MacKinnon) and defense (Cale Makar), and that does bring a level of expectation. But there are some big questions here that might limit the expectations a bit going in (like goaltending). They are also getting an extremely tough first-round draw against Winnipeg. They would be significantly higher on this list without that 2022 Stanley Cup. But banners hang forever and that one is still pretty fresh.

Now we start to get into the teams facing some REAL pressure.