NHL Power Rankings: Top 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs storylines

In this week’s edition of the NHL Power Rankings we continue to get you ready for the start of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs with the top storylines to watch ranging from Tampa Bay’s quest for another championship, to the possibility of a dark horse team making a run, and everything in between.

What all makes the cut this week?

1. Tampa Bay’s quest for a third straight Stanley Cup. Only two different franchises have managed to win three straight Stanley Cups in the post-Original Six era (the 1970s Montreal Canadiens and the 1980s New York Islanders), so the Lightning are trying to make some history. Will Andrei Vasilevskiy run out of steam? Did they adequately replace their depth? Can they put it all together again for another championship? Over the past five teams that won back-to-back Cups four of them lost in the second round in their bid for a three-peat, while the fifth lost in the First Round.

2. Will the Toronto Maple Leafs win a round? Franchise regular season records in wins and points, Auston Matthews‘ 60 goals, and Mitch Marner‘s 97 points will not matter if this team, and this core, loses again in the First Round. This current group has lost in the First Round five years in a row, while it has been 16 seasons since the franchise played a game in the Second Round. It is an outstanding team and a very fun team. But it has to do something this time of year to avoid being an annual punchline.

3. Pressure is on Colorado. The Avalanche are now at that point in their development where it becomes Stanley Cup or bust. They have been a top-tier team for three years now, have the best roster in the league on paper, and have yet to reach even the Western Conference Final with this core. If they go out in the Second Round