Eight burning questions for the eight NHL teams eliminated in Round 1 of the 2025 playoffs

May 5, 2025, 15:57 EDT

Credit: Feb 2, 2025; Buffalo, New York, USA; New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes (86) waits for the face-off during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

Eight teams still playing means there are now eight teams today sifting through the rubble. For some teams, like the Colorado Avalanche, Round 1 was a bitter pill to swallow with no shortage of regrets. For others, like the Montréal Canadiens, the last two weeks were an important building block in a long-term vision.

All eight eliminated teams have questions to answer, though. Here is one for each of them:

1. Can Jack Hughes be relied upon as the New Jersey Devils’ franchise centerpiece?

Yes, this question has a chance to age poorly. But it feels like a fair one to ask at this juncture of Hughes’ career, after he underwent shoulder surgery on March 5 that will keep him out until training camp. Hughes, who turns 24 next week, has now missed 85 games in his career – the equivalent of more than one full regular season among the six that he’s played. His body is not cooperating with his immense talent, and his slight frame made him a non-factor in the heavier 4 Nations Face-Off. What does that mean for how the Devils shape their future?

2. Is the Tampa Bay Lightning’s championship window closed?

It’s difficult to balance three consecutive first-round losses with the injury list that cropped up for the Bolts. Victor Hedman (broken foot), Brandon Hagel (concussion), Nikita Kucherov (left hand), Anthony Cirelli (MCL sprain), Nick Paul (left wrist tear), Erik Cernak (knee contusion) and both trade deadline acquisitions, Yanni Gourde (broken finger) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (compartment syndrome) were all banged up. But then Andrei Vasilevskiy struggled with his third straight series below a .900 save percentage. Was this an injured squad running into a rock solid first-round opponent? Or is some more roster surgery required?

3. Who will succeed Rob Blake as next GM of the Los Angeles Kings?

The Kings announced on Monday that they parted ways with Blake, who did not have a contract next season. Blake, 55, tabled extension talks last summer – and then the Kings decided to go in a different direction this week. The ready-made, in-house replacement is Marc Bergevin. The former Canadiens GM has been with the Kings since 2022 as a senior advisor. Hiring him would also prevent him from leaving to join the New York Islanders, where he is a candidate to be president of hockey operations. And then it would be up to Bergevin to decide on the fate of coach Jim Hiller, who seemed to have the opposite of the Midas touch in Round 1.

4. Can the St. Louis Blues be more than one magical run?

For a 30-game stretch, nearly half the season, the Blues closed the year as the hottest team in hockey with a .767 points percentage. They won 15 games consecutively on home ice, including all three in the postseason. You know who did similar stuff last year? The Nashville Predators. Then the Preds convinced themselves they were ready to take a leap, and they fell flat on their face. St. Louis has unquestionably a great coach, a creative and aggressive GM, and a few really good pieces. They also have an aging roster that’s locked in on term.

5. How much will a Kiril Kaprizov extension cost the Minnesota Wild?

Kaprizov said a lot without really saying much at all on Wild locker cleanout day by mentioning that Minnesota feels like home. Kaprizov, 28, is eligible to sign an extension on July 1 – and while everyone is excited about the gain of $14.7 million in cap space from Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts falling back, Kaprizov will eat up a chunk of that. He’s a certified gamebreaker. The Wild gave him a mostly unprecedented contract coming out of entry-level: $45 million after just 55 games played. They’re going to back up the Brinks truck now. The only question: is it more or less than Leon Draisaitl’s extension?

6. What is the proper level of aggression for the Montréal Canadiens’ offseason?

“Big summer and big opportunities,” those were the words of Habs president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton on Monday. The Canadiens took a big step – from last place in the East on Dec. 1 to becoming the youngest team ever (25.5 years old) to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Here’s the thing: the Canadiens’ brass knows that progress in the NHL is not linear. Just because they have a young core full of firepower doesn’t mean they’ll qualify for the playoffs two years in a row. They’ll need to strike a balance of prudent aggression.

7. In the words of Nathan MacKinnon, where do the Colorado Avalanche go from here?

Their former superstar winger, Mikko Rantanen, just torched them. Their top prospect, Cal Ritchie, is now property of the New York Islanders. Then again, they still have two of the very best players in the world, they will have a little cap flexibility, and on paper they are probably deeper than they were before. Glass half-full or glass half-empty? It feels like a major miss now trading Rantanen, but lots of trades have felt lopsided early and then looked different later. Every fanbase would take losing in Round 1 or 2 seven of eight years if that meant they’d win a Stanley Cup, and the Avs already have one.

8. Can we finally put the ‘Brady wants out of Ottawa’ rumor to bed for the Senators?

It’s the bad rumor that won’t die. It should. Find a player more complimentary and dug-in for his fanbase than Brady Tkachuk has been in the nation’s capital? Good luck. “Just not true” is what Tkachuk said after the Sens’ playoff run. “It’s a lie,” he said. That the Senators got an all-important taste of the playoffs in Tkachuk’s seventh (!) NHL season will pay huge dividends, for him, for the market, for the rest of the league as the Sens announced they’re now ready to be taken seriously as a threat.

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