If pressure is a privilege, consider the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, and Toronto Maple Leafs the luckiest of the National Hockey League lot. Just days away from the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all three organizations know they will be under immense scrutiny going forward.

Every playoff qualifier knows the stakes rise once the postseason begins, but organizational expectations and historical outcomes have a unique way of dialling up the heat. All three teams have relatively short Stanley Cup odds and are expected to push deep into the postseason at a minimum. That means a first-round exit for any of the three could lead to an off-season of considerable organizational overhaul.

It’s hard to say which of the three is under the most pressure heading into the fray, but I wanted to talk through each club’s situation and what lies before them in round one.

Let’s start in the East.

I don’t think we need to rehash the litany of playoff failures in this space. Since superstar Auston Matthews joined the Maple Leafs back in 2016-17, Toronto has a 331 goal differential – a staggering number and third best in the NHL, only trailing Tampa Bay ( 423) and Boston ( 367).

The problem is the Leafs, unlike their division rivals, not only have no hardware to show for it, but they also barely have any playoff success to point to. Other than their six-game victory over the Bolts in 2022-23, Toronto’s star-powered teams have........

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