For the 28 teams not in the Conference Finals, the best place to look to improve is at the top. That means learning from the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, and Florida Panthers.
Related: 4 Keys to Oilers Beating Stars in Western Conference Final
These four teams are model franchises and have been for a few years. They’ve all reached the semifinal round twice in the past three seasons, and three of the four have reached the conference final in three of the past four seasons (the Panthers and Stars are here for the third time in a row). These are the teams to emulate to become a Cup contender.
Here are the four lessons the rest of the NHL can learn from the conference finalists, including some tangents related to some of the lessons, but, in some ways, also stand alone.
The regular season is long. It has 82 games and only two significant breaks, the Christmas holiday break and the All-Star (or international event of some kind) break. It’s a marathon, and for the teams who have made the playoffs in the past, all that matters is getting in, not the seeding.
The final four teams stumbled into the playoffs. The Panthers won only three of their final 10 games. The Hurricanes lost seven of their last eight. The Stars lost seven games in a row to close out the season. The Oilers finished playing .500 hockey but just barely, going 4-3 in their last seven games. Some had stumbled so much down the stretch that they didn’t look capable of going on a run.
Once the playoffs began, they found another gear. They were all the lower seeds in the last round, yet they stepped up, while teams like the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets ran out of gas and lost in six games to the Stars.
These teams also improved as the series and playoffs went on. The Oilers struggled in their first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1, but they became a significantly better team by the end of the series, closing it out in six games. The same is true of the Panthers, who lost their first two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 2 but won the series in seven games and were dominant in two of the final three contests. The great teams run the regular season marathon, but prepare for the playoff sprint to reach the final hurdle, the Stanley Cup Final.
Tangent One: The best coaches don’t overreact to the highs and lows of the season. They understand it’s a long grind and will stick to the process or the plan, knowing it will work out. Moreover, good head coaches manage their teams with a marathon mentality in mind, trying not to overwork their stars in a regular-season game or even early on in the playoffs.
Mikko Rantanen is a star who impacts the game in multiple ways. It’s why the Hurricanes made a blockbuster trade to acquire him, knowing they needed that type of player to get them over the hump. He wasn’t a fit in Rod Brind’Amour’s system with the Hurricanes, and the Stars gave up a lot, arguably more than the initial Martin Necas and Jack Drury package the Colorado Avalanche received, to get him at the trade deadline.
The Stars moved on from Logan Stankoven, a young skater who has three goals and two assists in the playoffs, plus multiple draft selections, yet the move has already paid off. Rantanen took over Game 7 against the Avalanche in Round 1 with a hat trick and led the Stars to a 3-2 Game 1 win over the Jets with a hat trick in Round 2. It’s not just his scoring that stands out, it’s Rantanen’s ability to score off the rush, as a shooter, in the dirty areas off of rebounds, plus, he finds open skaters in the offensive zone and plays both physical and defensive-minded hockey when needed.
The Oilers and the Panthers also have elite players who do it all. In last year’s playoffs, the Oilers could rely on Connor McDavid to not only score but also forecheck and defend to win low-scoring games, while the Panthers saw Matthew Tkachuk play a physical style but also win with skill. This year, it’s the stars who are giving their teams the edge from McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Sam Reinhart, or Aleksander Barkov, and it’s why it looks like we’re headed for a Stanley Cup Final rematch.
There are plenty of teams with great players, even star-caliber players. However, few teams have players who can take over games in multiple ways. They set the tone for the rest of the team to follow suit, and when the best players are playing a 200-foot game, so will everyone else. They are the teams competing for the Cup at the end of the day.
Tangent One: When searching for talent, it’s best to look for the best players first and worry about the fit afterwards. The Stars drafted and developed Thomas Harley into a two-way defenseman, knowing they already had one in the lineup in Miro Heiskanen. Ideally, a defense is anchored by one two-way player and another stay-at-home option. The Stars have two defensemen with the same skillsets, which has given them an edge as both can make an impact in all three zones (the Avalanche in 2021-22 were built similarly with Cale Makar and Devon Toews on their blue line).
People often wonder why a team will sign a center in free agency when they already have two top-six centers in the lineup. Similarly, people wonder why teams select talent over need in the draft, even if they have a skater or two already playing that role. The final four teams are a reminder that it’s hard to find talent, and when a team does, they should keep it and figure everything else out afterwards.
Tangent Two: Elite skaters lead the way, but depth must do it all as well. For years, the Oilers were known as a top-heavy group that could not score or defend outside their top-six. Now, they have a third and fourth line that can do it all while also possessing a defensive unit with multiple skaters who can step up when called upon (which the Mattias Ekholm injury required of them).
The Stars are led by Rantanen, yet the forwards fueling the offense in the final three games against the Jets were Granlund and Sam Steel. The Panthers saw their third line consisting of Brad Marchand, Eetu Luostarinen, and Anton Lundell lead them to a Game 7 victory over the Maple Leafs. The Hurricanes are led by the Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, and Andrei Svechnikov trio, yet Taylor Hall and Jordan Martinook, two veterans, have stepped up for them during the playoff run.
There’s a belief that teams are built through good drafting and development. That’s true to a point. Eventually the contenders make a splash and take risk in the offseason or at the trade deadline to get over the hump. Oftentimes, the big swings end up missing, but aggressive general managers (GMs) can say they went down swinging and did everything in their power to get their team to the finish line.
The Rantanen trade stands out. Both the Stars and Hurricanes saw this season as their window to win a championship and made the big moves. The Hurricanes were forced to flip Rantanen ahead of the deadline, yet credit goes to GM Eric Tulsky for going all-in and still setting up his team for a Cup run. The Stars, meanwhile, were built from within and kept adding talent through the pipeline but GM Jim Nill needed to make a trade that moved the needle. It’s why he got Rantanen and extended him before knowing if he’d fit in their system.
After the Panthers won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2021-22, management knew they wouldn’t be a great playoff team unless they made a splash. That offseason, GM Bill Zito gave up two elite players, Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, to acquire Tkachuk. The move changed the dynamics of the Panthers. They became a well-rounded team and, more importantly, added that forechecking and toughness were needed to make a playoff run.
The only thing that matters at the end of the day is the Stanley Cup. The Vegas Golden Knights won’t care that they gave up a haul to acquire Jack Eichel when he became a cornerstone on their Cup-winning team in 2023. The same applies to the Panthers and teams that buy in at the trade deadline. While GMs love prospects and draft picks, they love banners more.
Tangent One: It’s important to have a great farm system in place to go all in. The Hurricanes made a splash when they acquired Jake Guentzel at the 2024 Trade Deadline, and while he left in the offseason, the move didn’t set the team back because they didn’t mortgage the future. It’s also why the Stars, who are always looking to add, aren’t taking big risks when they move prospects, as their plans for the future remain intact. The teams that go all in and then regret it are the ones that don’t have a plan in place in case the deal fails. The final four teams have GMs who are prepared in case things don’t work out.
All four conference final teams play a specific system. A team needs to have an identity and their go-to way of winning games, and when they start winning, players are happy to stick with it. These teams are well-coached and, specifically, have coaches who preach a style of hockey that the players listen to.
The Panthers often dictate play because they establish the forecheck, look to win puck battles, and move the puck downhill. Head coach Paul Maurice was hired to have the Panthers playing playoff hockey, and it didn’t work at first, as the team barely made the playoffs in his first season behind the bench. Once the players bought in, they became a juggernaut.
The Hurricanes have a reputation for playing boring hockey, especially in the playoffs when many teams around them are flying up and down the ice and running up the score. But it shows that the players have bought into Brind’Amour’s system, which values puck possession, control, and quality shots. They’ll slow games down, and it works. It also wins games in the playoffs. It’s why the Hurricanes are back in the Eastern Conference Final.
Great coaches work with the skill sets they have available. It’s how Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper became one of the most successful coaches in the NHL, and Jared Bednar got the most out of a skilled Avalanche team. That said, every coach has an ideal way for their team to play, and when the players stick to the plan, it works out in the regular season and especially the playoffs.
Tangent One: While every coach tries to instill an identity and an ideal way of playing, they must also prove they can pivot when needed. The Oilers are an offensive-minded team that wins with speed, but with Kris Knoblauch behind the bench, they’ve become a team that can win with defense and when the game slows down. The Oilers played fast and weren’t a hard-hitting team in the season. When the playoffs came around, they needed to prove they could deliver the big hits, and they did.
Tangent Two: Head coaches must also manage their lineups, especially their goaltenders. Pete DeBoer dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the Stars against the Jets. He did that so Rantanen could take extra shifts. Knoblauch saw that goaltender Stuart Skinner was struggling early on in the playoffs, and he replaced him with Calvin Pickard for a few games. With the time off, Skinner returned well-rested and ready for a playoff run, and it paid off as he shut out the Golden Knights in back-to-back games to secure the series for the Oilers in Round 2.
Special teams are always important, especially in the playoffs. A great power play can take over a series, while a penalty kill can stunt momentum. This season has proved that great special teams help, but aren’t the key to a series. The final four teams haven’t allowed their special teams to be the difference. These teams don’t take penalties and won’t allow the opposition to capitalize on mistakes. We’ll see if it lasts, but the lesson from this season is that special teams only matter if teams make them matter.
This is the fourth edition of a series that outlines what we can learn from the NHL’s final four teams. Below are some of the lessons that teams have provided over the years, starting with the 2022 version, to see what still holds up.
2022 (Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers & Tampa Bay Lightning)
Teams Must Find Their Stars & Keep Them: This one is obvious.
Don’t Chase Talent in NHL’s Free Agency & Trade Deadline: This no longer holds, if we consider the Eichel trade, the Tkachuk acquisition, and other recent deadline moves.
The Value of Two-Way Defensemen: Cale Makar and Adam Fox were the driving forces behind this. While most teams don’t have a Makar, Fox, or a Norris Trophy caliber defenseman, the teams that win the Cup have two-way defensemen leading the way.
Goaltending Wins the Stanley Cup: Back in the day, teams needed elite goaltending to win a championship. However, the Avalanche won it with Darcy Kuemper, the Golden Knights with Adin Hill, and the Oilers nearly won it last year with Skinner, which suggests otherwise.
2023 (Golden Knights, Hurricanes, Panthers, Stars)
Coaching Matters: This is obvious.
Depth & Defensive Forwards Are Essential: The Hurricanes and the Panthers are back in the Eastern Conference Final with forward units that have depth scoring and can help out the defense. When the forwards play a 200-foot game, it goes a long way.
Versatile Stars Are Key: Especially in the playoffs. Star players who do it all take this one step further.
Defensive Units Win Championships: It’s not just defense that wins championships. It’s crucial to have a complete defensive unit that opens up the offense.
2024 (Panthers, Oilers, Rangers & Stars)
Great Coaches Come From Anywhere: Every offseason, teams look to hire the next great coach, and they look for specific criteria. The 2023 group of coaches included three retreads and a startup hire from the American Hockey League (Knoblauch). This season has the same group of coaches with Brind’Amour thrown in.
Goaltending Matters, But Defense Is More Important: The Oilers proved it last year and are proving it again.
Special Teams Go a Long Way: As the 2025 Playoffs have shown, special teams matter if teams let them matter. Teams that don’t make mistakes won’t worry about poor special-teams play.
Free Agency Is a Wise Place to Build a Contender: A full reversal of the 2022 lesson! Teams can win with the right moves in the offseason and sometimes by making a big signing.
The above lessons have, for the most part, held up. Overall, great teams do the same things right every season and have for the past few seasons. What lessons do you think the final four teams from 2025 provided? Let us know in the comments section below.
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