My colleagues and I at Bleacher Report recently made our predictions for the Conference Finals of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The following are my selections. You can see the full staff list by following this link, and feel free to make your predictions in the comments section below.

The Carolina Hurricanes swept the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers to reach the Eastern Conference Final. The Montréal Canadiens eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres in seven games each.

Led by Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Lane Hutson, Montréal has a slight offensive advantage, with a 3.07 goals-per-game average compared to Carolina’s 3.00. However, the Hurricanes’ second line of Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, and Jackson Blake gives them the additional firepower they’ve lacked in previous postseasons.

Frederik Andersen has gone the distance thus far for the Hurricanes, leading all goaltenders with a 1.12 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage. Jakub Dobeš has started every game for the Canadiens, with a 2.52 GAA and .910 SP.

Carolina’s deep defense corps has allowed the second-fewest shots against per game (25.1), while Montréal is seventh in that category with 28.7. The Canadiens’ blue line is led by the game-changing puck-mover Hutson, but the Hurricanes have the experience advantage, led by defensive stalwart Jaccob Slavin.

The Canadiens have the edge on the power play with a 25.0 percent success rate compared to the Hurricanes’ 13.5 percent. However, the latter has the second-best penalty-killing percentage (95.0) in this postseason, with the Canadiens a distant 74.1.

While the young Canadiens have taken their fans on a wonderful postseason run thus far, the Hurricanes’ experience, their solid defense, and Andersen’s goaltending will make the difference in this one.

Prediction: Hurricanes in 6

The Colorado Avalanche reached this stage by sweeping the Los Angeles Kings and eliminating the Minnesota Wild in five games. The Golden Knights dispatched the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks each in six games.

Colorado possesses a deep roster with superstar Nathan MacKinnon and winger Martin Necas leading their offensive attack. They lead all postseason clubs with a 4.11 goals per game average.

All-Star defenseman Cale Makar anchors the Avs’ blue line, but an upper-body injury hampered him during the Wild series. That could become a factor if he hasn’t fully recovered for this series.

Goaltending became a concern as Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood had some difficulty against the Wild. Nevertheless, the Avalanche’s 2.56 goals-against per game ranked fifth among postseason clubs.

Golden Knights winger Mitch Marner has silenced critics of his postseason play, leading all playoff performers with 18 points. Young winger Pavel Dorofeyev has a playoff-leading nine goals, and Jack Eichel leads with 14 assists.

Center William Karlsson returned from a long absence due to injury, but captain Mark Stone missed the final three games of the Ducks series. Goaltender Carter Hart has been solid between the pipes thus far, with the Golden Knights sitting just behind the Avalanche with a 2.58 goals-against per game.

Both clubs are pretty much even with the man advantage, with Vegas’ power-play percentage of 25.7 just ahead of Colorado’s 25 percent. However, the Golden Knights have been better at killing penalties, with a kill percentage of 86.8 compared to the Avalanche’s 79.3.

What could tilt this series against the Golden Knights is that they faced inexperienced competition from the Mammoth and Ducks, who were making their first postseason appearances in years. The Avs had short series with the Kings and Wild, but both were experienced playoff clubs.

The Golden Knights have the talent to pull off an upset, but the Avalanche’s depth should make the difference here.

Prediction: Avalanche in 6.