The Eastern Conference playoff matchups are finally set for the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning was the most obvious playoff matchup and that was set weeks ago with how far ahead the Boston Bruins were and how far behind the Florida Panthers were from the 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division. All that needed to be settled was home-ice advantage and the Leafs secured that well ahead of time.

The historic season for the Bruins landed them the obvious top spot in the Eastern Conference and they were given a date with the Florida Panthers, who were 1 point away from avoiding this matchup but fell to the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 6-4 on Thursday.

The Hurricanes needed points to secure the Metropolitan Division crown and by beating the Panthers they were able to seal their fate, matching up against the New York Islanders and keeping the New Jersey Devils at bay, setting up a Devils/Rangers.

Aside from the Leafs/Lightning series, that matchup should be one of the most exciting series' in the first round considering the sheer amount of talent on both sides of the puck. Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton versus Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin.