Picks for every series in the Stanley Cup playoffs bracket - ESPN

Before each season, I predict who will win the Stanley Cup. I predict whom they will defeat for the Stanley Cup.

Both the champion and the runner-up from those preseason predictions for 2023-24 qualified for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. Rather than hedge or waver against that prognostication, I actually see a path for both of them in this tournament. Call it delusional, call it stubborn, call it hubris — I'm sticking with them.

Here is how the Stanley Cup playoffs will play out, from the opening round through the last game of the Final. I apologize in advance for spoiling the next two months for you, as obviously all of this is going to happen exactly to script and none of these picks will be incorrect.

Please enjoy the best postseason tournament in all of sports, no matter how it actually plays out.

The Battle of Florida has been lopsided in the postseason, with Tampa Bay winning both previous meetings, in 2021 and 2022, and winning eight out of 10 games between the teams. But those were different Lightning teams.

This team is more top-heavy than ever: There's a 29-point gap between the Lightning's fifth- and sixth- leading scorers. They don't have injured defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, a key to their blue line. They haven't had the same Andrei Vasilevskiy they've relied on for years to carry them. He missed two months with injury and posted a minus-10.84 goals saved above expected.

If Vasy is Vasy again, there's always a chance that Tampa Bay's collection of stars — MVP candidate Nikita Kucherov, defenseman Victor Hedman, center Brayden Point and forward Steven Stamkos — can control a seven-game series. But I think this is where that diminished supporting cast will get exposed.

Sure, the Panthers are a bit top-heavy,