The writers at The Hockey Writers submitted their predictions for the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now that they have wrapped up, it is time to see how it went.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket
Tallying up how the voters did, the series winner is obvious, the series length will have a bit of leeway if the correct prediction has the winner taking the series with a top-three amount of votes, and the Series MVP, while subjective, will be based on how high the true MVP was voted.
New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes
The voters gave the New York Rangers the edge in this series with 61.3 percent of total votes for them. The Rangers’ dominant play through the first round against the Washington Capitals was something that helped lean the voters, but defeating the Carolina Hurricanes, who fought back hard, helps their case moving forward.
The Rangers nearly swept the Hurricanes, which was a surprise to everyone. The series ultimately ended in Game 6, which is exactly what the voters picked at 35.5 percent.
The series MVP is undeniably Chris Kreider. With a natural hat-trick in Game 6 to lead the Rangers past the Hurricanes in a 3-1 comeback, he put the team on his back when they needed it most. Igor Shesterkin was great as well, and credit should be given, but it was Kreider’s series. It was Mika Zibanejad and Jake Guentzel who dominated the votes, so no point to the writers on this one.
Series Winner: 1/1
Series Length: 1/1
Series MVP: 0/1
Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins
There aren’t many series that get much more exciting to watch than this one. Great goaltending performances on both sides, all of the physicality, the mind games, it was all great. The Panthers took the series, but the Bruins fought back hard, especially without their captain Brad Marchand. The Panthers coming out on top is no surprise. Voters had the Panthers with 93.6 percent of votes.
Like the Rangers/Hurricanes series, the writers took Florida in six games with over 40 percent of the votes, and hit the nail on the head.
There are a few names to toss in the hat here. Sam Bennett’s all-around impact on the series leads him to be included in the conversation, Aleksander Barkov played incredibly as well, and Sergei Bobrovsky was lights-out. It was Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart leading the way in the predictions, so no point for MVP again.
Series Winner: 2/2
Series Length: 2/2
Series MVP: 0/2
Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche
The writers had this series split almost down the middle. They did predict right, with the Dallas Stars receiving 54.8 percent of the votes, and they were ultimately the winner of the series. This was the one series that truly could have gone either way. Of course, the Avalanche were without star forward Valeri Nichushkin for the last few games, but even still, they kept it close.
The Stars in six games was fourth in the votes, so no point on this one. To give credit to the writers, they were correct in that every vote was for six or more games in the series.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 2 Predictions
There are a few ways the MVP could go in this series. The Stars were led by committee, with Miro Heiskanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Jason Robertson all making their mark on the series, while it is hard to take away from Nathan MacKinnon’s play. The votes had MacKinnon and Johnston number one and two, so point to the writers on this one.
Series Winner: 3/3
Series Length: 2/3
Series MVP: 1/3
Vancouver Canucks vs. Edmonton Oilers
This was another tight series, and the only Game 7 of the second round. Voters picked the Oilers to win it with 61.3 percent of votes. It was a hard series to predict as the two teams play very different styles and both had questions in goal and throughout the lineup.
The Oilers winning in seven games was one of the least-voted options, with only 9.7 percent of voters predicting it that way.
The series MVP race was all over the place. Whether you want to look at Arturs Silovs, Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl, or Elias Lindholm, none of them were amongst the highest votes received in the poll.
Series Winner: 4/4
Series Length: 2/4
Series MVP: 1/4
Exciting Conference Final Matchups
With the Panthers and Rangers facing off, there is bound to be a lot of offense, physicality, and strong goaltending performances. With the Stars and Oilers, there is a lot to like about both teams. Needless to say, the final four teams are all deserving of a Stanley Cup and they have earned their spots in the conference finals.
