2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round 2 series picks

Eight teams down. Eight remaining. For the most part, the theme in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs was mismatches. The Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche all disposed of their opponents in five games or, in the Rangers’ case, four. Only the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars needed seven games to advance. Does that mean we’ll get some closer matchups as powerhouses clash in Round 2? The Rangers and Hurricanes represent the NHL’s best and third-best records in the regular season.

Who will break through to the Conference Finals?

Below, you’ll see our picks for Round 2. As a disclaimer: we each made our pick for the Rangers/Hurricanes series before the puck dropped on Game 1 Sunday.

The panel of prognosticators:

Colby Cohen, co-host of Morning Cuppa Hockey
Steven Ellis, DFO associate editor & prospect analyst
Jason Gregor, co-host of the DFO Rundown podcast
Matt Larkin, DFO managing editor & senior writer
Jonny Lazarus, DFO writer & co-host of Morning Cuppa Hockey
Brock Seguin, DFO managing fantasy editor
Frank Seravalli, DFO president of hockey content
Tyler Yaremchuk, host & senior producer of The Nation Network

Round 2 picks

The Oilers and Panthers are backed unanimously here. Vancouver had a devil of a time scoring against the Nashville Predators in Round 1, and none of us expects the Canucks to keep up with the high-flying Oiler attack. Meanwhile, after the Bruins barely got by a flawed Maple Leafs team in Round 1, we expect the Panthers to steamroll in Round 2.

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