NHL Playoff Bracket 2024: Results, Schedule & 2025 Preview

The 2024 NHL playoffs delivered one of the most dramatic Stanley Cup Finals in recent history: the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2–1 in Game 7 on June 24, 2024, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, to claim the franchise’s first championship. A year later, the same two teams met again — the first back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals rematch since 2008–09 — and Florida completed the repeat with a 4–2 series win. This is the full picture: the 2024 bracket, schedule, results, and how 2025 completed that rare chapter.

League Champion: Florida Panthers ·
Conn Smythe Trophy: Connor McDavid (8 G, 34 A, 42 P) ·
Goals Leader: Zach Hyman (16) ·
Final Result: Panthers 4–3 Oilers (Game 7, June 24, 2024)

The table below consolidates key facts from official sources for quick reference.

What is the NHL playoff bracket for 2024?

The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs opened with the Florida Panthers as the Atlantic Division’s top seed and eventual Presidents’ Trophy winners. Their first-round assignment: a rematch of the 2022 Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Eastern Conference Matchups

The 2024 Eastern Conference bracket produced three series sweeps and a historic Boston–Toronto outcome. The New York Rangers swept the Washington Capitals 4–0 in their opening series, a statement-making performance from a team that went on to reach the conference final. The Florida Panthers, by contrast, needed five games to close out Tampa Bay. Boston and Toronto renewed their rivalry with a decisive seven-game series that the Bruins won 4–3 — a result that immediately entered playoff lore given how consistently these two franchises have met in the postseason.

• FLA (A1) vs. TBL (WC1): Panthers won 4–1 (ESPN)
• BOS (M1) vs. TOR (WC2): Bruins won 4–3 (NHL Records)
• NYR (M2) vs. WSH (A2): Rangers won 4–0 (NHL Records)
• CAR (M3) vs. NYI (A3): Hurricanes won 4–1 (NHL Records)

Western Conference Matchups

The Western bracket delivered a pair of grueling seven-game series in the second round, but the opening round was less dramatic. Edmonton eliminated Los Angeles in five games. Dallas and Colorado split the first four games before the Stars pulled away for a 4–2 series win. Winnipeg took down St. Louis 4–2, and Vegas swept Minnesota in convincing fashion. The two Canadian clubs in the bracket — Edmonton and Vancouver — produced the most compelling series of the opening round, with the Oilers ultimately prevailing in seven games.

• EDM (P1) vs. LAK (WC2): Oilers won 4–1 (ESPN)
• DAL (C1) vs. COL (C2): Stars won 4–2 (NHL Records)
• WPG (C3) vs. STL (WC1): Jets won 4–2 (ESPN)
• VGK (P2) vs. MIN (P3): Golden Knights won 4–0 (NHL Records)

Key Rounds

Moving into the Second Round, Florida needed six games to eliminate Boston despite the Bruins having home-ice advantage. New York dispatched Carolina 4–2. In the West, Edmonton got past Dallas in six games — the Stars having won both Game 1 and Game 2 on the road before the Oilers took control — and Vancouver pushed the series to seven games. In the Second Round, the Panthers defeated Boston 4–2 (NHL Records), and the Rangers beat Carolina 4–2 (NHL Records). In the West, Edmonton eliminated Vancouver 4–3 (NHL Records) and Dallas beat Colorado 4–2 (NHL Records).

• Eastern Final: Panthers vs. Rangers — Panthers won 4–2 (ESPN)
• Western Final: Oilers vs. Stars — Oilers won 4–2 (ESPN)

What is the NHL playoffs 2024 schedule?

The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs ran from April 20, 2024 through June 24, 2024 — approximately two months of high-intensity elimination hockey. The First Round opened on the weekend of April 20–21. Subsequent rounds followed a compressed but overlapping schedule that typically allows teams two to three days between games.

First Round Dates

With eight best-of-seven series in each conference running concurrently, specific game dates varied by series. The NHL.com playoff hub at nhl.com/playoffs/2024/bracket provides the complete game-by-game schedule with broadcast information. Series typically began on the third weekend of April, with Game 1 dates staggered to avoid television conflicts.

Conference Finals

The Eastern and Western Conference Finals typically conclude in late May. In 2024, the Panthers advanced past the Rangers on May 30, 2024, and the Oilers eliminated the Stars on May 31, 2024, setting the stage for the Stanley Cup Final to begin the first week of June.

Stanley Cup Final

The 2024 Stanley Cup Final began in early June. Per NHL Records, the Panthers defeated the Oilers 4–3 in a winner-take-all Game 7 on June 24, 2024, to claim the championship. The complete Final schedule — with confirmed broadcast windows on national television — was available through the official NHL schedule portal and major sports networks.

Who won the 2024 NHL playoffs?

The Florida Panthers won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2024 by defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4–3 in Game 7 of the Final on June 24, 2024, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. Sam Reinhart scored the series-winning goal in the 2–1 victory.

Stanley Cup Champion

Florida’s championship run was defined by resilience. They beat Tampa Bay 4–1 in the First Round despite the Lightning having playoff-tested goaltending. They survived a seven-game war with Boston in Round 2, then dispatched the Rangers — who had swept their way through Washington and Carolina — in six games in the Eastern Final. The Final itself went the distance for only the second time in 20 years, and the Panthers handled the moment.

Goals and Stats Leaders

Connor McDavid of the Oilers won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP — awarded to the most valuable player in the postseason — despite being on the losing team. According to CBS Sports, McDavid recorded 8 goals and 34 assists for 42 points across 25 playoff games. His 34 assists set a new single-postseason record in the NHL’s expansion era, surpassing the previous benchmark held by Wayne Gretzky. Zach Hyman led all players in goals with 16.

How does the NHL playoff bracket 2023 compare?

The 2023 Stanley Cup Final featured the Vegas Golden Knights defeating the Florida Panthers 4–1 in a series that was decided by Game 5 in Las Vegas. The result set up one of the more intriguing storylines heading into 2024: a Panthers team that had learned from a painful Finals loss, now reinforced, facing a Canadian contender in Edmonton with everything on the line.

2023 Results

In 2023, Vegas entered the Final as the West’s top seed and dispatched the Panthers with the kind of clinical efficiency that had defined their entire playoff run. The 2023 Panthers had themselves upset the Boston Bruins — who set an NHL single-season record for wins — in the First Round, a result that became one of the biggest upsets in recent playoff history. Florida then beat Toronto and Carolina to reach the Final before running into a hotter Vegas team.

Changes to 2024

The 2024 bracket shifted power dynamics in both conferences. In the East, Florida moved from the Second Round upset victim in 2023 to the top seed in 2024 after overtaking Boston for the Presidents’ Trophy. The Bruins’ elimination of Toronto in 2024 — winning Game 7 on the road in Toronto — was a reversal of their 2023 failure against the Maple Leafs. In the West, Edmonton replaced Vegas as the Canadian representative in the Final, having navigated a tough Pacific Division path through the playoffs.

What is the 2025 NHL playoff bracket?

The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs began on April 19, 2025 and concluded on June 17, 2025. The Panthers and Oilers met in the Final for the second consecutive year — the first back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals rematch since Detroit and Pittsburgh in 2008–09, per NHL.com. Florida won 4–2 to complete the back-to-back.

Projected Matchups

Based on regular-season standings, the 2025 bracket structurally mirrored the 2024 format with conference seeding determining first-round matchups. Both the Panthers and Oilers earned their top seeds through regular-season performance and advanced through three rounds to reach the Final once again. The Panthers defeated the Lightning in five games, the Maple Leafs in seven, and the Hurricanes in five. The Oilers beat the Kings in six games, the Golden Knights in five, and the Stars in five to reach the championship.

Early Predictions

The storylines entering 2025 were shaped by what happened in 2024. Could the Oilers finally end Canada’s 33-year Stanley Cup drought — their last championship came in 1984? Could the Panthers sustain the level of play required to win back-to-back titles, having lost key contributors to injury during the 2024 run? Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers made playoff history in 2025, becoming the first player in league history to score four overtime goals in one postseason, according to Wikipedia.

The 2024 and 2025 playoff brackets tell a story of sustained parity in the NHL — but with a twist. The Panthers did not merely win; they built a system that won twice against the same opponent. The Oilers, meanwhile, have now reached the Final in consecutive years without winning, ending Canada’s longest championship drought in the modern era still very much alive. For Canadian hockey fans, the 2026 bracket will carry a weight it has not carried in a generation: the question is not whether the Oilers can return to the Final, but whether they can finish the job.