NHL
It took a bit longer than expected — thanks for the suspense, Columbus – but we’ve got our 16 playoff teams. That means we’ve also got our 16 teams that missed, and those fan bases have a choice to make.
Stay neutral, and just root for the best playoff hockey possible? A very valid option. Root against your team’s rivals, and hope they lose in a way that makes them sad? We’ve all been there. Sit on the sidelines and sulk, acting like you don’t even care who wins? A bit unseemly, but understandable.
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And then there’s the most controversial option: Pick a new team, just for the postseason. Yes, it’s the dreaded bandwagon pick, a path some fans find untenable. If that’s you, feel free to check out now. But if you’re open to at least considering a bandwagon pick, you want to at least take the right one. That’s where this post comes in, as we’ll rank the 16 playoff teams from worst to best in terms of bandwagonability.
We’re looking for a fun team with good storylines and some rootable characters, ideally one with a realistic chance to win without feeling like a pure front-runner pick. It can be a tough needle to thread, but some teams do it better than others. Let’s start from the bottom and work our way up to the best options.
Why you should get on board: They’re a good team with a decent chance at winning it all, but not so dominant this year that you’re just picking the consensus favorite. And there’s lots of star power, so they’re an entertaining team to watch.
Why you shouldn’t: Come on. I wrote about these guys becoming the league’s top villains last March, and since then they’ve won a championship, had a player suspended for PEDs and traded for Brad freaking Marchand. At this point, they’ve basically been designed in a lab to be the most hateable team in the league. So hate them! It will be fun.
And yes, I get that some of you are contrarians by heart and will be tempted to root for the team everyone else despises. But you don’t have to do that. Even a contrarian can sometimes just come along for the ride with everyone else. The hockey gods want this for you.
Bottom line: When the puck finds your stick and the net is empty, don’t overthink it. This is a tap-in.
Why you should get on board: It will annoy the exact kind of people that it’s morally right to annoy.
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Why you shouldn’t: They already won a few years ago, and their fan base has literally never had to deal with a bad season. And with Seattle and Utah now in the league, even the novelty factor isn’t all that high anymore.
Also, they cheat. Or maybe they don’t, but it’s fun to cry about that constantly, and you can’t do that if you’re also cheering them on.
Bottom line: The Knights, to their credit, have unabashedly embraced the villain role in the NHL. Don’t ruin it by hopping on their bandwagon.
Why you should get on board: They’re playing the Panthers.
Why you shouldn’t: Once they get past Round 1 — make that if they get past Round 1 — you’ll be left trying to justify being on the bandwagon of a recent-ish repeat champion with a star-studded roster. In other words, you’re going to get called a front-runner even as you back a team that may not even be the favorite in their opening-round series.
Bottom line: The Lightning are good, but it feels like there should be better options.
Why you should get on board: Based on everyone’s rankings and predictions, it seems like there should be plenty of room on the bandwagon.
Why you shouldn’t: Their best player is hurt, their best defenseman is just coming back from injury and may not be 100 percent, and they’re big underdogs in Round 1 against the Hurricanes. And while the Devils haven’t won much in recent years, they’re not all that far removed from those three pre-cap championships, so it’s not even like you’re rooting alongside some long-suffering fan base.
Bottom line: Also, you’ll be signing up for the Sheldon Keefe playoff experience, so … good luck with that.
Why you should get on board: If you can get past them being the Maple Leafs, there’s a ton of bandwagon potential here. If they were ever to finally break through, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.
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Why you shouldn’t: You cannot, in fact, get past them being the Maple Leafs. And let’s be honest, at this point their constant playoff failures have become the NHL equivalent of Sideshow Bob stepping on the rakes. It was funny at first, then it was just repetitive and weird, but it kept going long enough that it’s somehow funny again.
Bottom line: Did you know that the Leafs have finished exactly one game under .500 in seven straight playoff runs and counting? Yeah, don’t do this to yourself.
Why you should get on board: It would be kind of cool to be the first person in history to bandwagon the Minnesota Wild.
Why you shouldn’t: While the roster certainly features some enjoyable players, and there’s the potential here for a feisty underdog story to play out, it’s very likely that you’ll be looking for a new team after Round 1.
Bottom line: Between a (hopefully) healthy Kirill Kaprizov, the last run of Marc-Andre Fleury and newly minted OGWAC Marcus Foligno dragging them into the playoffs, there’s some legitimate potential here. (Annual OGWAC rankings are coming next week, by the way.) As long as you’re OK with a high-risk, high-reward pick, the Wild might be your team.
Why you should get on board: They went from midseason also-ran to the hottest team in the league with a second-half surge that locked down an unexpected wild-card spot. Now, six years after a miracle run to a Stanley Cup that had its own soundtrack, they might just be gearing up for a sequel.
Why you shouldn’t: They’ve cooled off since the win streak was snapped, so it’s possible this is just a decent team that peaked a little too early.
Bottom line: If you missed out on the 2019 run, this could be your chance to make amends. Then again, maybe the past should stay in the past, and we don’t need the warmed-over reboot years down the line.
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Why you should get on board: Do you enjoy the comforting familiarity of seeing the same thing over and over again? Welcome to the L.A. Kings’ first-round playoff experience.
Also, Quinton Byfield has apparently decided to start semi-regularly doing stuff like this.
Why you shouldn’t: There’s a good chance they lose to the Oilers for the fourth year in a row, although home-ice advantage might tip the scales this time around. Just be aware they’re one of the lowest-scoring playoff teams and they give up fewer goals than anyone but the Jets, so they’re not exactly the most exciting team you could sign up for.
Bottom line: Honestly, if you’re starting to feel some of that anti-Oiler energy that’s percolating out there, the Kings make for an interesting pick that could pay off early. Just know that they’re a long shot to go deep.
Why you should get on board: They have a ton of talent, including the reigning MVP and this year’s Norris shoo-in. But the big name is Gabriel Landeskog, the team captain who hasn’t played in the NHL since 2022 due to injury but could be on the verge of an inspiring comeback. If he can return for the playoffs — and especially if he can contribute in any kind of meaningful way — it’s going to be one of the best stories in recent memory, and you’ll want to be rooting for it.
Why you shouldn’t: Because of the NHL’s cool playoff format that we all love so much, they have to go through Dallas to get out of the first round, at which point the Jets are probably next. To put it bluntly, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a team this good with a playoff path as difficult.
Bottom line: That tough path works both ways, as it means you can bandwagon a very good team that still feels underdog-ish. No guts, no glory, in other words.
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Why you should get on board: They came agonizingly close a year ago, almost pulling off a comeback for the ages before falling one game short, and the whole “this time we finish the job” narrative worked for the Panthers last season. With Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, they’ve got plenty of high-end firepower. But between a tough matchup with the Kings and some injury adversity, they’re not so obvious a pick that you’ll feel like you’re front-running.
Why you shouldn’t: They’ll be missing their best defenseman, and have just seemed off almost all season. They feel like a case of a good team where it just isn’t their year. Mix in the fact that you may not love the idea of cheering for some or all of Corey Perry, Evander Kane and Stan Bowman, and there are better options.
Bottom line: All that said, it’s a lot of fun to root for Connor McDavid for a few days, as a bunch of us found out two months ago.
Why you should get on board: They’re the ultimate underdog, a young team nobody thought was playoff-worthy that jumped into the race and then held just strong enough while so-called contenders ran out of gas. And now they get a first-round matchup with a top seed nobody seems to quite believe in, meaning another 2021-style miracle run isn’t completely out of the picture. Get in on the ground floor now, because this bandwagon might fill up quickly.
Why you shouldn’t: The most likely outcome is still an early exit. Also, Montreal fans tend to be traditional, which means they may not be as welcoming of bandwagon fans as other markets. I don’t think that’s as much of a factor this year as it would be in a year where the Habs were consensus contenders, but keep it in mind.
Bottom line: Remember, don’t go out and get so many Lane Hutson tattoos that you forget to save room for future Lane Hutson tattoos.
Why you should get on board: They’re a very good team, but unlike similar contenders like the Avs, Knights and Panthers, they don’t already have a recent Cup win. What they do have is Mikko Rantanen, meaning that if they were to win it all, the big lesson would be that going all in on a deadline blockbuster works. And Tyler Seguin is a nice comeback story.
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Why you shouldn’t: Uh, please don’t ask how the last week or two of the season has been going.
Beyond that, they’ve been so-so since the 4 Nations break, their best defenseman is injured to start the postseason, and the path out of the Central is pretty brutal. And unlike recent years, when they dominated these rankings, they don’t have the unstoppable OGWAC power of Joe Pavelski and Ryan Suter.
Bottom line: They’re still a decent pick, but honestly, it will feel like you’re pulling up to the party a season or two late.
Why you should get on board: They’re a young team that’s waited eight years to get back into the playoffs, and of all the wild-card teams, they seem like the best chance to make a surprise run. And if they did, the Claude Giroux OGWAC vibe would be strong.
Why you shouldn’t: Brady Tkachuk is going to do something weird, although we don’t know yet if it will be cool-weird or infuriating-weird, so you’re taking your chances.
Bottom line: Look, they’re playing the Leafs, so you do the math.
Why you should get on board: Because it’s not often you can find a conference one-seed with plenty of good bandwagon seats still available and some solid “nobody believes in us” cred. But here we are, with a team that’s dominated the East pretty much start-to-finish and yet still feels like an underdog pick.
Why you shouldn’t: From the outside, it could look like you’re just picking the team that has the famous goals record guy.
Bottom line: They may be a long shot to go all the way, but there’s a ton of potential here.
Why you should get on board: They’re a very good team that’s flown a bit under the radar this year, at least on the ice. But they made some big moves to get to this point, including the Mikko Rantanen blockbuster and also, uh, the Mikko Rantanen blockbuster. Hey, it’s a copycat league, and having a champion whose big lesson is “Make multiple jaw-dropping trades” would be cool, right?
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There is also the Brent Burns OGWAC factor, the Frederik Andersen playoff redemption arc, and the fact that you’d rather have Rod Brind’Amour on your side if the apocalypse comes.
Why you shouldn’t: Did you know that the Hurricanes haven’t lost a first-round series in the cap era? That’s weird. Spending six months getting all excited for the playoffs and then watching your team blow it in a matter of days is a rite of passage for hockey fans. Hey Carolina, do you think you’re better than us?
Bottom line: They’ll be strong favorites against the Devils and would be a popular pick against the Capitals, so if you’re looking for a final four trip but don’t want to pick a first-place team, this might be your best bet.
Why you should get on board: This is the best team that Winnipeg has had in its NHL history, which spans two different franchises and includes a 15-year gap where they didn’t have a team. It’s been a story of ups and downs, with more of the latter. But now it’s finally all clicking into place, with a balanced team led by Connor Hellebuyck, who should be the MVP but will probably get robbed.
That should be enough to get you on board, but the stakes are even higher in Winnipeg. With recent attendance issues raising some uncomfortable questions about their long-term outlook, this could literally be a make-or-break year for the Jets — their best chance in a generation to not just win the team’s first Stanley Cup but ensure the NHL’s future in the city.
Also, Jets fans are awesome and the Whiteout is super cool. Get in on this.
Why you shouldn’t: They did finish first overall, so you don’t get cool underdog points for this pick. But even that’s misleading, because everyone secretly thinks the Stars and/or Avalanche are the real Central powerhouse.
Bottom line: This feels like an appropriate time to snap Canada’s 32-year Cup drought, and the Jets are the only team that could unite the nation in doing it. Prepare for takeoff.
(Top photo: Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
Sean McIndoe has been a senior NHL writer with The Athletic since 2018. He launched Down Goes Brown in 2008 and has been writing about hockey ever since, with stops including Grantland, Sportsnet and Vice Sports. His book, “The Down Goes Brown History of the NHL,” is available in book stores now. Follow Sean on Twitter @DownGoesBrown

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