The Vegas Golden Knights have clinched a trip to the Stanley Cup Final with a sweep of the Colorado Avalanche.
Now they’re waiting to find out whether they will face the Carolina Hurricanes or the Montreal Canadiens in the championship round. The Hurricanes took a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals with a 4-0 win on Wednesday, May 27.
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But when will the Stanley Cup Final begin?
Generally, the NHL will move up the Final if the conference finals wrap up in five games. Here are opening dates that make sense if that happens or if the Canadiens extend the series.
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
The NHL is announcing the finalists for the Hart Trophy and the other major awards. Here’s who is in the running (listed alphabetically):
(Ethan Miller, Getty Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
The NHL is announcing the finalists for the Hart Trophy and the other major awards. Here’s who is in the running (listed alphabetically):
(Ethan Miller, Getty Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Jack Adams Award (coach) finalist: Tampa Bay Lightning’s Jon Cooper
(John E. Sokolowski, John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Jack Adams finalist: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Dan Muse
(James Guillory, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Jack Adams finalist: Buffalo Sabres’ Lindy Ruff
(Brad Penner, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Vezina Trophy (goaltender) New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin
(Alexander Wohl, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Vezina finalist: Boston Bruins’ Jeremy Swayman
(Brian Fluharty, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Vezina finalist: Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy
(David Kirouac, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Lady Byng Trophy (sportsmanship) finalist: Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield
(David Kirouac Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Lady Byng finalist: Los Angeles Kings’ Anze Kopitar.
(Harry How, Getty Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Lady Byng finalist: Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson
(Keito Newman, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player) finalist: San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini
(Eakin Howard, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Ted Lindsay finalist: Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov
(Dan Hamilton, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Ted Lindsay finalist: Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid
(Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton Trophy (perseverance) nominee: Anaheim Ducks goaltender Ville Husso
(Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy
(Brian Fluharty, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Philadelphia Flyers left wing Garrett Wilson
(Robert Edwards, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Anthony Mantha
(Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington
(Connor Hamilton, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: San Jose Sharks goalie Laurent Brossoit
(Walter Tychnowicz, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Seattle Kraken right wing Jordan Eberle
(Matt Blewett, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh
(Keito Newman, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson
(Stan Szeto, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller
(Stephen R. Sylvanie, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Vancouver Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen
(Bob Frid, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Akira Schmid
(Stephen R. Sylvanie, Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin
(Danny Wild, Danny Wild-Imagn Images)
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NHL awards finalists: Who’s up for 2025-26 regular season awards?
Masterton nominee: Winnipeg Jets center Jonathan Toews
(Matt Marton, Imagn Images)
If Eastern Conference finals end in five games
June 2 would be the ideal starting date.
That’s already set aside for Game 7 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Game 5 would be May 29 in North Carolina, so there’s plenty of time for the Golden Knights to fly to Raleigh and for the NHL to hold media days.
If Eastern Conference finals end in six or seven games
How about June 4?
ABC is showing both the Stanley Cup Final and the NBA Finals, so there aren’t a lot of open dates. June 4 would fall between Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals.
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And nothing is going on at the Lenovo Center (Hurricanes) and Bell Centre (Canadiens) that day. The Stanley Cup Final will begin at the home of the East champion, regardless of who wins.
If there is a Game 7, it might be a tight turnaround for the Golden Knights to fly to the winning team’s city and take part in media days, but it can be done.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup Final opening day: Here are dates that make sense
