Which team comes out of the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

We’re past the midway point of the 2025-26 NHL regular season, and there’s healthy competition at the top of the Eastern Conference. The Tampa Bay Lightning won their 10th game in a row Monday with a win over the Philadelphia Flyers, and are now the top team in terms of points in the conference.

But the Toronto Maple Leafs are 8-0-2 in their last 10 games and are climbing in the Atlantic Division, while the Carolina Hurricanes continue to dominate the Metropolitan Division and the Detroit Red Wings try to put their dent in the East.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the status of the East and which team is most likely to represent the conference in the Stanley Cup Final.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Lightning have won 10 games in a row, pretty impressive stuff in Tampa and they’re now the top team in the Eastern Conference. When you look at the odds board, they’re the favourite to come out of the East.

However, Carolina looks good and Detroit has been lurking all year near the top of the standings, and they’ve won four in a row. And the Maple Leafs haven’t lost in regulation in their last 10 games.

If you had to put your money on a team right now, who would it be?

Carter Hutton: I think, barring any long-term injury for Brayden Point, I’m going to go with the Lightning. I feel like with Andrei Vasilevskiy still being the wild card, he is a difference maker in a seven-game series. I don’t trust Carolina, I still don’t think they have the goaltending to win in a seven-game series.

For right now, I’ll go in the Lightning, because there’s still a black cloud that hangs over the Leafs.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…