Is 2025-2026 the worst eastern conference ever?

[JKG33]

You are coping hard.

Btw here's a couple of those meaningless stats. After 13th of January Carolina's regular season stats were 24-7-3 and in the playoffs 16-2-1 for a combined 40-9-4 with a +67 goal differential. During that 53 game span they had 130 point regular season pace, never lost 2 games in a row and only lost 6 games by more than 1 goal (4 of those against Montreal and Ottawa). Not only were they dominant in the latter half of the season, but they were consistently dominant. And btw they started that streak by beating Panthers 9-1.

Neither beating a Barkov-less (and others) Panthers team nor a bunch of regular season wins is the flex you think it is.

I think there's a very decent chance Florida misses playoffs next year as well, because other teams in the Atlantic have caught up to them.

If anything, Montreal squeeking through by the hair on their nuts, and Ottawa getting dummied by Carolina, makes the atlantic look worse than it did coming into the playoffs.

I expect Florids to reclaim their seat at the top of the confrence by this time next year.

 

[Silky Johnson]

East was really good this year in the regular season.

Still the fact of the matter is that this year the playoff teams in the east had historically little playoff experience and playoff series winning experience from the previous years going into the playoffs.

If winning a playoff series was as easy as winning a random regular season game, we would see a lot more diversity in the postseason.

I honestly dont get your point. Your second paragraph is incoherent. What diversity? Of outcome? Of teams? Being good in the regular season is 82 combined games - what does that have to do with a randon regular season game?

Not really understanding your point Ill just say, the east was better in the regular season and produced the cup winner. Enough said.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Yes there is. Here are the Eastern Conference playoffs from 2022 to 2026:

Teams that made back to back playoffs the years before thisTeams that won a playoff series the year before this202621 (Carolina)202573202463202372202263

The east being a meat-grinder during the regular season doesn't take anything away from the fact that the teams this year in the Eastern Conference playoffs were almost historically inexperienced. Just looking at this table tells you all you need to know about how the Hurricanes made finals this year so easily despite struggling the previous years in the later rounds.

2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 have ZERO to do with this season at all.

Terrible flex lol.

 

[daver]

Yes, it is the worst Eastern Conference ever because Florida will win the Cup next year.

If that makes sense to you, please explain because it makes no sense to me.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I've said it once ill say it 1000 times, I dont give a shit about the meaningless regular season, the majority of the east was trash. This years versions of Ottawa, Philadelphia, Montreal is by far the worst set of opponents a SC finalist has faced in a very long time.

Carolina beat who was in front of them, but Florida has owned them for the last few years.

If anyone watches UFC, this really feels like an interim championship when the champion gets hurt so the next two contenders fight.

Carolina won the required 16 games, but oh man the east is awful without Florida. Hell even Montreal with their 10 shots a game and horseshoe up their ass had no buisness being in a confrence final.

Holy cope , impressive dude

 

[Panteras]

Why are we even talking about a team that didn't make the playoffs this year anyway.

to be fair, we did have a better regular season record than Vegas and we've dogwalked Carolina the past few seasons we've met. So since this is a forum, they're worthy talking points.

But yeah, carry on, this is Cane's year. They deserve it. The Panthers are old news that will just fade into obscurity as Barky and co. get back healthy from a much needed rest and we go get Brady or Larkin and Helly.

 

[Golden_Jet]

to be fair, we did have a better regular season record than Vegas

Vegas finished 13th this year, Panthers were 25th.
How is that better?

 

[chaz4hockey]

Neither beating a Barkov-less (and others) Panthers team nor a bunch of regular season wins is the flex you think it is.

If anything, Montreal squeeking through by the hair on their nuts, and Ottawa getting dummied by Carolina, makes the atlantic look worse than it did coming into the playoffs.

I expect Florids to reclaim their seat at the top of the confrence by this time next year.

"I expect Florids to reclaim their seat at the top of the confrence by this time next year."

Funny, years ago a team I valued had won 4 straight Cups heading into a Final in '84 to win a 5th. They had beat their opponent 8 or 9 straight prior to that but yet lost the series. Their players were still relatively young but yet they never make it back to the Finals; reason- in large part because their players were spent plus their star Goalie, Billie Smith, had aged out.

Now, Panthers still have a core that is late 20/early 30ish but will they win?

1) are their tires permanently bare due to past series length & 2) as importantly, their Goalie, BOB, has aged out.

 

[Panteras]

Vegas finished 13th this year, Panthers were 25th.
How is that better?

sorry, i meant more wins.

 

[Frank Drebin]

to be fair, we did have a better regular season record than Vegas and we've dogwalked Carolina the past few seasons we've met. So since this is a forum, they're worthy talking points.

But yeah, carry on, this is Cane's year. They deserve it. The Panthers are old news that will just fade into obscurity as Barky and co. get back healthy from a much needed rest and we go get Brady or Larkin and Helly.

nobody cares

 

[Clark Gillies]

Panthers had a great run, 3 straight finals appearance and 2 cups, but their time has passed.
I love how they can use the injury excuse for not making the playoffs but they then brag about beating a depleted Canes team in the ECF icing multiple defenseman with no NHL experience.

Some thickheaded posters just don’t want to acknowledge that this years Canes team is built significantly better than the pretty good teams of their recent past

With Buffalo, Tampa and a Montreal/Ottawa teams on the rise, I would not be surprised if the Panthers are golfing next April as well.
The vast majority of the team is North of 30 and on the downside of their careers and Bob’s best days in net are long past.


On the flip side, the Canes are in a great position moving forward with very friendly long term contracts for most of the key guys, a stable of draft picks and a top tier AHL team with young talent.

Canes may or may not make it to the finals next year, but they will continue to be a playoff threat for the next few years at minimum - Panthers not so much.

 

[Panteras]

nobody cares

sorry you have to live with those 2 finals for the rest of your life. Maybe you'll get over it one day.

 

[Panteras]

Panthers had a great run, 3 straight finals appearance and 2 cups, but their time has passed.
I love how they can use the injury excuse for not making the playoffs but they then brag about beating a depleted Canes team in the ECF icing multiple defenseman with no NHL experience.

Some thickheaded posters just don’t want to acknowledge that this years Canes team is built significantly better than the pretty good teams of their recent past

With Buffalo, Tampa and a Montreal/Ottawa teams on the rise, I would not be surprised if the Panthers are golfing next April as well.
The vast majority of the team is North of 30 and on the downside of their careers and Bob’s best days in net are long past.


On the flip side, the Canes are in a great position moving forward with very friendly long term contracts for most of the key guys, a stable of draft picks and a top tier AHL team with young talent.

Canes may or may not make it to the finals next year, but they will continue to be a playoff threat for the next few years at minimum - Panthers not so much.

I think it has a lot to do less with Panthers fans, and more to do with other fan's wishful thinking. Only time will tell.

 

[Frank Drebin]

sorry you have to live with those 2 finals for the rest of your life. Maybe you'll get over it one day.

Go to the Florida board if you want to talk about old times. This is the Hurricanes moment, not the Panthers.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I would have agreed about Carolina being lucky dodging Florida two weeks ago. But they made a big physical Vegas look very pedestrian. This version of Carolina can withstand the physicality and even dish it out themselves. It's a moot point anyway, Florida next year doesn't look to be as good as 2025, a lot of key guys are older. Canes would be clear favorites entering 2026-27.

 

[Not The One]

Some of the commentary is pathetic considering how much eastern teams dominated the west this season.

However... what IS true is that within both conferences divisions were also far from equal this year.

Carolina coasted to an easy no-stress first place 15 points ahead of the Pens, while Buffalo, Tampa and Montréal raced to the finish with much tougher division matchups and were vying for their positions right until the end. In the playoffs all three of those teams faced grueling series while Carolina had an extremely easy path and an unprecedented amount of rest before the ECF.

You can fault the Habs for folding like they did after winning game 1 but they were clearly out mentally out if it by the end. They lost 4-1 in the ECF and STILL played as many playoff games as the Canes did in their SC winning run.

No disrespect to the Canes though they did exactly what they had to and had no control over the rest.

 

[NikolaTesla]

Born in 1990, I cant remember a worst east.

Carolinas path to the cup involved an ehhh at best ottawa team, a horrific flyers team and albeit talented, a bunch of kids barely able to drink in the US with the habs.

Whens the last time the east was close to this bad?

If the east was bad, then how damn bad was the west?

 

[HockeyVirus]

I've said it once ill say it 1000 times, I dont give a shit about the meaningless regular season, the majority of the east was trash. This years versions of Ottawa, Philadelphia, Montreal is by far the worst set of opponents a SC finalist has faced in a very long time.

Carolina beat who was in front of them, but Florida has owned them for the last few years.

If anyone watches UFC, this really feels like an interim championship when the champion gets hurt so the next two contenders fight.

Carolina won the required 16 games, but oh man the east is awful without Florida. Hell even Montreal with their 10 shots a game and horseshoe up their ass had no buisness being in a confrence final.

Agreed. Not a real cup unless someone goes through the Leafs who are the real contender of the east.

 

[LaffyTaffy13]

If the east was bad, then how damn bad was the west?

It was the worst cup final team quality wise in a very long time. The canes won with a chipotle line worker in net.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

It was the worst cup final team quality wise in a very long time. The canes won with a chipotle line worker in net.

Jesus.

How is this even a f***ing story that people are creaming themselves about? He was in college 5-6 years ago when this was true, where a lot of people happen to have part time jobs. It's not like he was Edgar Martinez getting plucked out of a General Electric factory to be a DH, he was a typical college student with a part-time job.

 

[NikolaTesla]

It was the worst cup final team quality wise in a very long time. The canes won with a chipotle line worker in net.

Thats not what im asking. You made this thread to shit on the east. The east was much better than than the west this year, as evidenced by facts. So if the east is so bad according to you, what does that makes the west?

 

[Mattilaus]

Thats not what im asking. You made this thread to shit on the east. The east was much better than than the west this year, as evidenced by facts. So if the east is so bad according to you, what does that makes the west?

Makes the west a conference that can't beat a team with a Chipotle line worker in net.

 

[HisIceness]

I enjoyed the 2025-26 Eastern Conference very much. I hope it repeats itself in 2026-27

 

[Kegs]

Born in 1990, I cant remember a worst east.

Carolinas path to the cup involved an ehhh at best ottawa team, a horrific flyers team and albeit talented, a bunch of kids barely able to drink in the US with the habs.

Whens the last time the east was close to this bad?

The east was better than the east as far as I could tell. So if this was the worst east and the west was worse does that mean this was the lowest point in the nhl based on skill?

 

[Panthaz89]

I've said it once ill say it 1000 times, I dont give a shit about the meaningless regular season, the majority of the east was trash. This years versions of Ottawa, Philadelphia, Montreal is by far the worst set of opponents a SC finalist has faced in a very long time.

Carolina beat who was in front of them, but Florida has owned them for the last few years.

If anyone watches UFC, this really feels like an interim championship when the champion gets hurt so the next two contenders fight.

Carolina won the required 16 games, but oh man the east is awful without Florida. Hell even Montreal with their 10 shots a game and horseshoe up their ass had no buisness being in a confrence final.

Are we supposed to be impressed a 92 point Vegas team made it through and swept the Avs when they literally would have been golfing if they were in the East?