Olczyk sees Avalanche, Hurricanes battling in Stanley Cup Final

The road to the Stanley Cup championship will go through the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes if the seeds hold, but Eddie Olczyk sees the situations being different for the two top teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Olczyk, the longtime broadcaster calling games for NHL on TNT, said the path is paved for the Hurricanes to make a run and finally get over the hump to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in eight consecutive seasons in the playoffs under coach Rod Brind'Amour.

They reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, 2023 and 2025, but lost all three times, going 1-12 combined in those appearances.

Carolina, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, finishing the regular season with 113 points, plays Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Ottawa Senators at Lenovo Center on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, ESPN, SN, TVAS). 

Ottawa, the second wild card into the playoffs from the East, had 97 points this season.

The winner of that series will play the winner of the first-round series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, who each finished with 98 points, 15 fewer than Carolina.

"It's time now for Carolina," Olczyk told NHL.com. "Come on, it's time. I mean, Ottawa looks like it can really do some damage in the playoffs. At the right time they're playing the right way, but for Carolina, it's right there for them. For Carolina, there are no excuses. We know how great 'Roddy' is. He's one of the best coaches. They've got checking lines. They've got scorers. They've got defensive defensemen. It's there for them. I won't be surprised if Ottawa wins because I've liked Ottawa for a while, but that would be considered an upset, 110 percent."

Olczyk said the same about an upset if the Avalanche were to lose to the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round. Colorado won the Presidents' Trophy as top team in the NHL during the regular season with 121 points. The Kings got into the playoffs as the second wild card in the West with 90 points.

Olczyk will be in Denver to call Game 1 at Ball Arena on Sunday with Kenny Albert and Brian Boucher (3 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNSC, truTV, TNT, ALT, SNP, SNW, SNO, TVAS).

But as much as he thinks it'll be an upset if the Kings can take out the Avalanche in the first round, Olczyk doesn't think the path for the top team in the NHL is as smooth as is for the Hurricanes.

If Colorado advances, it will play the winner of the series between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild. Dallas was third in the League this season with 112 points; Minnesota was seventh with 104.

"It is Colorado and I think all roads go through there in the Western Conference," Olczyk said, "but they'll have their hands full in the first round and whoever comes out of that other series, Dallas or Minnesota, it's going to be a battle and a half. It's different. That's just the way it is. Everybody has to play the hand they're dealt."

Though the Avalanche are the favorites in the West, Olczyk also has his eyes on the Vegas Golden Knights after watching them go 7-0-1 since John Tortorella took over as coach for Bruce Cassidy on March 29.

Vegas scored 4.13 goals per game and allowed 1.88 in its last eight games of the regular season to finish first in the Pacific Division with 95 points.

Goalie Carter Hart returned from an extended absence because of a lower-body injury and stabilized the crease down the stretch, going 6-0-0 with a 1.66 goals-against average and .930 save percentage after Tortorella took over.

The Golden Knights play Game 1 of the first round against the Utah Mammoth at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; Utah16, SCRIPPS, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"Well, I mean, let's call it what it is, they're getting goaltending," Olczyk said. "Every time I turn on a game Carter Hart is playing and they are getting saves, and that's something big for a team when you do have the confidence that the guy is seeing it and he's feeling it and you're not giving up 15 scoring chances a game. You're giving up maybe nine or 10 and you'll take your chances with that. So they've gotten goaltending and they've buttoned it up.

"They couldn't be playing any better going into the playoffs, that's for sure."

They'll be challenged by Utah, though.

The Mammoth are in the playoffs for the first time in their second season since the franchise moved from Arizona. They had 92 points and won two of three games against the Golden Knights, including 4-0 in their last meeting March 19.

Olczyk said a big reason he believes in the Mammoth is goalie Karel Vejmelka, who won 38 games and finished with a 2.75 GAA and .897 save percentage in 64 games, including 63 starts.

He will be making his first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I'll say this about Utah, they've got a guy in goal that looks like he has the ability to win a playoff series," Olczyk said. "He looks like he has that type of gene. He can win you games and if you can do that, it's going to win you series. That to me is a huge positive for a team that doesn't have a lot of experience." 

The Mammoth had a League-high six players with at least 20 goals, including forwards Dylan Guenther (40), JJ Peterka (25) and Logan Cooley (24), who each will make his NHL postseason debut.

The other three -- forwards Nick Schmaltz (33 goals), Clayton Keller (26) and Lawson Crouse (24) -- have played in a combined 22 postseason games. Keller and Crouse have never played an NHL postseason game in front of fans. 

They were part of the 2020 playoffs, played without fans because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Schmaltz's only playoff appearance was four games with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2017.

"But you do have a guy in (defenseman Mikhail) Sergachev, who has been through the ringer a few times in Tampa," Olczyk said. "(Defensemen) Ian Cole and Nate Schmidt too. I mean, look at their left side, Cup winner, Cup winner, Cup winner. I think that really helps. 

"Now guys will realize really quick that it feels like the other team has six guys on the ice when it comes to playoff hockey. The rink feels smaller. You do have time but you understand that every shift can be the difference. … They'll learn it. They'll get through it. They'll realize, 'OK, this is way different.' "

Olczyk thinks the Mammoth will adapt quickly because he expects Utah and Vegas to play a long first-round series.

"They're going to have to have their fastball, but it's a heck of a matchup," he said. "It should be great theater, especially going back to Salt Lake for the first time in the playoffs."