The panel picked three out of the four second-round series correctly, only missing on the Oilers defeating the Golden Knights. The panel's lifetime record is now 150-93 when it comes to postseason predictions.

Congratulations to Brennan DeSouza, Chad Simpson, Flip Livingstone, and Puneet Sharma, who correctly picked all four series in the second round!

Here are the picks for the conference finals:

For the coin toss, heads was the higher-seeded team. The default is seven games for each coin toss pick, as well as for any writers who replied only with series winners. The coin toss results aren't counted among the aggregate results – they are just there to embarrass any of our writers if needed.

Note that the number of games is the average number of games picked by the panel and does not factor in who will win the series.

With both of last season's Stanley Cup finalists still alive, the potential is there for a rematch between Edmonton and Florida. However, the panelists are leaning toward a Carolina/Dallas final instead. According to BetMGM, the Oilers and Panthers are the two favorites to win the Stanley Cup, but the odds are extremely close – nearly a coin toss for each series and similar odds for each team to win the championship.

The Stanley Cup Conference Finals are set 🏒

Who's your pick to win it all? pic.twitter.com/fFFo20BVhE

— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) May 19, 2025

The Western Conference Final features a rematch of last season. Dallas will be making its third consecutive trip to the Western Conference Final, losing to Edmonton last season and Vegas two seasons ago. Will the third time be a charm for the Stars, or will the Oilers return to the final where they hope for their revenge?

The Eastern Conference Final also features a rematch from two seasons ago. Florida will be making its third consecutive trip to the conference final, while Carolina will be there for the second time in three seasons. The Hurricanes will try to prevent the Panthers from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for a third consecutive season.

Plenty of familiar foes in the 2025 conference finals, which makes both these series tough to call.

About the Panel

Dobber launched this website in 2005 after he was the fantasy hockey columnist for The Hockey News website, The Fantasy Sports Network, and a contributor to The Forecaster. DobberHockey has since grown into the Dobber Sports Network and has work can be found across the internet.

Ian Gooding is the managing editor of DobberHockey and a regular writer on the daily Ramblings beat, also providing monthly Top 100 Roto Rankings. He has also contributed to many other sites, including Sportsnet, Today's Slapshot, Kukla's Korner, and fantasyhockey.com.

Mike Clifford is an associate editor of DobberHockey, writing the Ramblings multiple times per week. He also covers DFS for Stokastic and writes for EP Rinkside.

Alex MacLean is an associate editor and writes the Ramblings once a week. He was previously the author of the Capped column and also contributes salary cap league rankings.

Brennan DeSouza is an associate editor who writes the Ramblings once a week. He had previously covered Injury Ward, Eastern Edge, and Lining Up.

Mario Prata is the manager of special projects and marketing for Dobber Sports. He is also a co-founder of the famous The Sports Forecaster magazine.

Eric Daoust manages our valued Frozen Pool section.

Rick Roos authors the weekly Roos Let Loose column every Wednesday, covering a variety of topics. He is the former Cage Match writer for Dobber Hockey.

Flip Livingstone is the Saturday game picks writer. He is a former NHL writer for theScore with past experience at such outlets as Postmedia, Hockey Night in Canada, and the CBC.

Michael Amato is the Goalie Post editor who provides the latest starting goalie information and writes the Goalie Ramblings. He also covers fantasy hockey for Sportsnet and is the co-host of the Sleepers & Keepers podcast for The Hockey News. 

Grant Campbell keeps an eye on everything Western Conference in the Wild West column every Monday.

Chris Kane writes the Frozen Tools Forensics column on Fridays, emphasizing what he finds on Frozen Tools.

Andrew Santillo checks out what’s coming down the pipe schedule-wise with the Looking Ahead column every Friday, as well as salary cap column Capped on Thursdays. He's a very busy guy, also sharing his DFS picks three days a week.

Ryan Brudner shares his expertise of multicategory leagues in the Geek of the Week column every Sunday. He has also contributed to GoaliePost and has contributed goalie stats to Frozen Tools.

Stas Pupkov dives deep into advanced stats with Analytics Advantage every Thursday.

Puneet Sharma handles the popular Top 10 list every Monday, and he lends his prospects expertise to The Journey every Saturday. Puneet is also a senior writer at Dobber Prospects.

TJ Branson focuses on Eastern Conference teams in the Eastern Edge column. TJ is also a host on the Five Hole Fantasy Hockey podcast.

Logan Clarkson details the key injuries you need to know about every Wednesday in Injury Ward. He has also written for GoaliePost.

Eli Feldman covers line combinations every Tuesday in Lining Up.

Chad Simpson has filled in on a few articles this season, most recently Injury Ward.

Enjoy the playoffs, folks!