Last Word on Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2022-23 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team over the course of the campaign. Today, we’re wrapping up the series with our site-wide predictions for the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
2023 Stanley Cup Final Predictions
Prior to every season, Last Word on Hockey has a long-standing tradition of polling its writers for their preseason Stanley Cup picks. This year, 18 LWOH writers have contributed their picks to continue the tradition.
We enter this season with a relatively split pool, but among Last Word writers, the Colorado Avalanche stay the site-wide favourite for a second straight season. The question remains: can they follow in the footsteps of our crystal ball last year and be the second consecutive back-to-back Stanley Cup champion? Other popular picks included the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Carolina Hurricanes, all of whom were selected three times to take home the 2023 Stanley Cup by our writers.
The New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and St. Louis Blues broke through as the three other teams to get Stanley Cup love.
Unfortunately, the Rangers were the most-picked team for the most unsatisfying finish in hockey – Stanley Cup runner-up. One-third of our voters predict the Rangers to come up just short. The Florida Panthers were also a common pick to lose in the Cup Final after winning the President’s Trophy last season. Our writers also picked the Avalanche, Lightning, Oilers, Maple Leafs, Flames, and Pittsburgh Penguins to break through to the Final only to lose.
Make your voice heard below in the comments on who you think will win the 2023 Stanley Cup Final.
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Embed from Getty Images
