The NHL's first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs begins this weekend. Which Western Conference teams will emerge as first-round winners? Find out here with THN.com's exclusive post-season predictions.
The NHL’s 2025-26 Stanley Cup playoffs have arrived, and there’s no shortage of first-round drama. On Friday, we posted predictions for the Eastern Conference’s first round. In this file, we’re focusing on the Western Conference.
In the West, the four series are between teams that haven’t played each other in the playoffs in recent memory: the Colorado Avalanche will take on the Los Angeles Kings; the Dallas Stars will face the Minnesota Wild; the Vegas Golden Knights will battle the Utah Mammoth; and the Edmonton Oilers will go toe-to-toe with the Anaheim Ducks.
In these predictions, we’re giving you the case for and against each team winning their first-round series.
Here’s our picks to win the West’s four first-round series.
Colorado Avalanche (C1) Vs. Los Angeles Kings (WC2)
Season series: 3-0 Avalanche
Why Colorado will win: The Avalanche were easily the best regular-season team in the league this year, and they only got deeper and stronger at the trade deadline with the acquisitions of Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy. Colorado has been dominant enough that it didn’t matter who their first-round opponent would be – the Avs would still be the overwhelming favorite.
At 2.40 goals-against per game, the Avalanche allowed a half-goal less than the Kings (2.90). Colorado’s offense was the best in the league, while L.A.’s offense ranked 29th in the NHL. So it’s no wonder the Avs are the prohibitive favorites. It’d be shocking to see Los Angeles get the series to six or seven games, let alone eliminating the Avalanche.
Why Los Angeles will win: The Kings were nearly out of the playoff picture completely as of late March, but they went 7-2-2 in their final 11 games to sneak into the final wild card position. The acquisition of star winger Artemi Panarin added firepower to the Kings’ attack, and goalies Anton Forsberg and Darcy Kuemper have provided the netminding that L.A. GM Ken Holland has been looking for.
That said, who’s kidding who – it would be a massive upset if the Kings eliminated the Avalanche. It might’ve been tougher for Colorado if Kings star winger Kevin Fiala was healthy, but without him, Los Angeles doesn’t have the depth needed to beat the powerhouse Avs.
Prediction: Avalanche in five games
Vegas Golden Knights (P1) Vs. Utah Mammoth (WC1)
Season series: 2-1 Mammoth
Why Vegas will win: The Golden Knights set the standard for expansion teams, and the Vegas machine kept moving this summer, adding former Toronto Maple Leafs star right winger Mitch Marner. But Vegas’ offense hasn’t thrived this year, to the point that the Golden Knights ranked 14th in the NHL with 3.22 goals-for. And their defense ranked 12th this year, allowing 2.95 goals per game. This isn’t a perfect team by any means.
But against an inexperienced Mammoth team, the Knights will test Utah’s mettle, and Vegas’ Cup-winning veterans could help carry the team to the second round. The Golden Knights won’t steamroll Utah, but they could assert themselves as the better team by relying on their veterans and punching hard at the Mammoth’s young core.
Why Utah will win: Due to their lack of experience, the Mammoth aren’t going to be picked by many to win this series. But that may be the way Utah likes it. The Mammoth won two of three games against the Golden Knights this year, and Utah’s offense and defense ranked (slightly) ahead of Vegas this season. So it’s not at all a stretch to say the Mammoth can win this series.
While Utah faced pressure to get into the playoffs this season, they’re still very much playing with house money. The Mammoth will need their goaltending to outduel Vegas’ goalies, but Utah was a strong road team this season at 21-17-3, and they have what it takes to pull off the upset here.
Prediction: Mammoth in seven games
Edmonton Oilers (P2) Vs. Anaheim Ducks (P3)
Season series: 2-1 Oilers
Why Edmonton will win: As the defending Western Conference champions the past two seasons, the Oilers deserve a base level of respect. They’ve got the best player in the world in Connor McDavid and a top-five player in Leon Draisaitl, as well as proven elite contributors in Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Edmonton has the clear edge in the experience department, but the goaltending edge goes to Lukas Dostal and the Ducks, so this is likely to be a seven-game series.
It’s hard to bet against McDavid and Draisaitl. So, while we see the Ducks giving the Oilers a run for their money, Edmonton deserves to be the favored team.
Why Anaheim will win: Speaking of teams that are playing with house money – the Ducks have already exceeded expectations this year, and they’re going into this series fast and loose. If they can ruffle the feathers of whoever the Oilers go with in net, Dostal might just be able to do the rest of the heavy lifting and engineer a major first-round upset.
There’s next-to-no chance the Oilers walk all over Anaheim. Ducks coach Joel Quenneville has done great work this season, and he isn’t going to allow his players to squander that now. Thus, the Ducks will give the Oilers all they can handle. And in a deciding Game 7, Anaheim may be able to defy the odds and eliminate Edmonton.
Prediction: Oilers in seven games
Dallas Stars (C2) Vs. Minnesota Wild (C3)
Season series: Series tied 2-2
Why Dallas will win: In what’s easily the most-anticipated first-round matchup of this year’s playoffs, the Stars and Wild are looking to go on a long playoff run. The Stars, who have a slightly better offense and defense than Minnesota, will have home-ice advantage against the Wild. That’s important, as the series may go the full seven games.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger hasn’t had an ideal season, with an .899 SP. But with a deep, strong team in front of him, Oettinger doesn’t need to steal games. He just has to keep the games close and let Dallas’ deep group of forwards produce enough offense to get by. So the Stars can kick off this year’s post-season by eliminating what could be their toughest opponent in the West.
Why Minnesota will win: If you’d asked us at the start of the season who’d win a Dallas/Minnesota series, we would’ve picked Dallas 10 times out of 10. But we’re happy to admit the Wild has earned the prediction they’ll win this showdown. That’s in no small part due to Minnesota goalies Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt, who have been more effective than Oettinger has been this season.
Picking the Wild to win in six games is a hunch, but one we feel comfortable making. The addition of Quinn Hughes offsets any impact Stars star D-man Miro Heiskanen will have, and Minnesota’s defense corps is also better than Dallas’. So not only do we like the Wild to win this series, we like them to win it without needing seven games.
Prediction: Wild in six games
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