2024 Stanley Cup winner debated by NHL.com

The Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup on Tuesday and will officially celebrate their championship with a parade down the Las Vegas Strip on Saturday night. It will be a scene the other 31 teams in the NHL wish they could experience and will aim to next June.

But which team will win the Stanley Cup next season? We asked eight NHL.com writers and editors for their picks. Of course, all 32 teams will look different when the season starts in October following the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft on June 28-29 in Nashville and the start of free agency July 1, but if the season started today, here is who our writers and editors think would win it all:

Boston Bruins

The Bruins, fresh off setting NHL single-season records with 65 wins and 135 points, prepared to storm into the Stanley Cup Playoffs two months ago with the Presidents' Trophy in tow to claim the Stanley Cup, which appeared to be theirs for the taking. That is, until they were stunned in the Eastern Conference First Round by the Florida Panthers, who played their role as destiny's darlings in their run to the Cup Final. But you can bet Boston will be steaming all summer and driven to barrel into next season with a huge chip on its shoulder. The Bruins know there is a precedent for such a scenario; look at the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Presidents' Trophy in 2018-19 only to be swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs. The Lightning reacted by advancing to the Cup Final three straight times, winning in 2020 and 2021. Given the scope of their domination during the regular season, there is no reason forwards David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand and all their friends can't author a comeback of their own. -- Barry Rubinstein, manager, assignments

Carolina Hurricanes

Though the Panthers' first-round win against the Bruins was the most stunning result of the postseason, Florida's sweep of Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final was almost as shocking. Why? Because the Hurricanes were the second-best team in the NHL this season and looked strong in their second-round win against the New Jersey Devils. But they had issues scoring against the Panthers, and that painful loss will provide them with a road map of what they need to do to reach their ultimate goal, and that's what they will do. They already have a strong back end with Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin, and a have a solid group of forwards with Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov, who missed the playoffs due to injury. They also have perhaps the best coach in the NHL in Rod Brind'Amour. If they can add another goal-scorer between now and the postseason, I see them as a team that will clear the hurdle next season and win the Cup. -- Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief

Dallas Stars

The Stars' second deep run in the past four postseasons came to an end when they couldn't overcome the eventual-champion Golden Knights at 5-on-5 or solve breakout goalie Adin Hill in the Western Conference Final. But with Dallas having one of the best 26-and-under cores in the NHL, including forwards Jason Robertson, 23, Roope Hintz, 26, and Wyatt Johnston, 20; defenseman Miro Heiskanen, 23; and goalie Jake Oettinger, 24, the future is still extremely bright in the short and long term. Oettinger especially struggled in the series against Vegas but has a higher gear to reach next postseason considering he has a .916 save percentage in 139 regular-season games and has excelled in the playoffs before (.954 in 2022 postseason). Factor in all the experience on their roster, some offseason moves to improve the back end and secondary scoring, and the possible integration of touted forward prospect Logan Stankoven next season, and the Stars could be equipped to get over the hump. -- Pete Jensen, director, senior fantasy editor

Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers seem closer to the Stanley Cup even if they failed to advance as far as they did a year ago, making it to the Western Conference Final before losing to the Colorado Avalanche. This season, the Oilers fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, marking the second consecutive season they were knocked out by the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. With captain Connor McDavid having three seasons remaining on his contract and forward Leon Draisaitl with two, Edmonton is in its championship window and is a few pieces away from putting it all together. Depth on the blue line was an issue this season and it may have cost the Oilers in Game 5 against Vegas. Without Darnell Nurse in the lineup because of a suspension, Edmonton faltered and lost the pivotal game 4-3, and then went on to lose the series in six games. If the Oilers can improve their depth on the blue line and get better goaltending from Stuart Skinner or Jack Campbell next season, they should have enough to take another serious run at the Stanley Cup. McDavid and Draisaitl are both determined to win in Edmonton, and general manager Ken Holland has done a good job of putting the proper pieces around them. The Oilers have gone through their playoff heartache, and it seems only a matter of time before they break through. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer

When last we left the Oilers, they'd been eliminated by the Golden Knights in six games in the Western Conference Second Round, and emotions were running high. A despondent Draisaitl took ownership and blamed himself for a lack of production late in the series. A frustrated McDavid delivered a heated speech in the dressing room that one player told me was so inspirational that "I wanted to run through a wall for the guy." The bottom line: The team's two best players know this uber-talented team has a window of opportunity to win a Cup with the current pieces. Mattias Ekholm was a huge addition from Nashville at the trade deadline and will now have a full season to leave his fingerprints on the team's defenseman group. And don't forget this: Skinner was still a rookie last season and enters next season with a cache of experience, both good and bad. Vegas' Adin Hill showed during the Golden Knights' run that you don't have to be a big-name veteran to have postseason success as a goalie. The Oilers very much took their loss to the Golden Knights to heart: It says here they'll use their anger and disappointment as motivation to go all the way this time around. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Los Angeles Kings

I'm going a bit outside the box. Yes, the Kings play in the Pacific Division, home of the Stanley Cup champions. And yes, they were eliminated from the Western Conference First Round by the Oilers in consecutive seasons. They're also a young, thriving, invigorating team that falls under the philosophy of having to learn how to lose before before winning. The Kings have done their share of learning by missing the playoffs in five of seven seasons after winning the Cup in 2014 and were bounced from the first round the two times they did make it. They went further, faster, than projected in 2022 by pushing the Oilers to seven games and improved their point total from 99 to 104 this season. I love the young core in Los Angeles, and it's getting better. Center Anze Kopitar, 35, and defenseman Drew Doughty, 33, the last links to the championship teams of 2012 and '14, still have game. Forward Kevin Fiala will be better after enduring late-season injuries, and Adrian Kempe is a stud forward who set NHL career highs across the board (67 points; 41 goals, 26 assists in 82 games). Predicting a Golden Knights repeat or Captain Connor winning his first NHL title with the Oilers is too easy. In this unscientific experiment, give me the team with the right mix of exuberance and savvy, especially if pending unrestricted free agent goalie Joonas Korpisalo returns and plays his best hockey in his age-30 season. -- Jon Lane, staff writer

Tampa Bay Lightning

Everyone seems to have forgotten about the Lightning. You remember them? Another pesky team from Florida. Only this one has been to the Final in each of the three seasons before this one, winning twice. Yes, they lost this season, in the first round no less, to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but they are not done. They ran out of gas after playing so much high-intensity hockey over the past three seasons. Now, they will have a long offseason to rest, recuperate, recover and recharge. When they come back for the 2023-24 season, they will be well-rested and hungry. They will also still have the best goalie in the world in Andrei Vasilevskiy, dynamic, game-changing forwards like Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, and a world-class defenseman in Victor Hedman. Yes, they will all be a year older, but they are still in their Cup-winning prime. And with Jon Cooper pulling the strings from the bench and Julien BriseBois patching holes as the general manager, the Lightning remain an unquestioned threat to win another title. -- Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights were the top team in the Western Conference this season and still were an afterthought to many to win the Cup. They steamrolled their way to a 16-6 postseason record and did not face elimination once in the playoffs. So why can't they repeat? Almost all of their core skaters are signed through at least next season (forwards Ivan Barbashev and Brett Howden are not), and we know how deep their goaltending was. True, Adin Hill, Laurent Brossoit and Jonathan Quick can each become an unrestricted free agent July 1, but you have to imagine at least one will be back, and Vegas showed its depth all season and in the playoffs. There's no reason to think captain Mark Stone and the Golden Knights won't be keeping the Cup in its residency in Vegas for another season. -- David Satriano staff writer