Who wins the conference finals? Expert picks for Hurricanes-Panthers, Stars-Oilers

The 16-team field for the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs is now down to four: the Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.

For the Stars and Oilers, it's a rematch of the 2024 Western Conference finals; for the Canes and Panthers, it's a rematch of 2023's Eastern Conference finals.

Who wins this time around, with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line? The ESPN hockey family checks in with their predictions for each series:

More: Full schedule
Conference finals preview
Betting intel

Blake Bolden: Panthers in seven
John Buccigross: Panthers in seven
Ryan Callahan: Panthers in six
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Panthers in six
Sachin Chandan: Hurricanes in five
Meghan Chayka: Hurricanes in seven
Ryan S. Clark: Panthers in seven
Linda Cohn: Panthers in seven
Rachel Doerrie: Panthers in six
Ray Ferraro: Panthers in six
Emily Kaplan: Panthers in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Hurricanes in six
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Panthers in seven
Steve Levy: Panthers in six
Vince Masi: Hurricanes in seven
Victoria Matiash: Panthers in six
Sean McDonough: Panthers in six
Mark Messier: Panthers in six
Mike Monaco: Hurricanes in seven
Arda Öcal: Panthers in six
Kristen Shilton: Panthers in six
John Thoering: Panthers in six
Bob Wischusen: Panthers in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Panthers in six

Consensus pick: Panthers (19 of 24 picks)

Blake Bolden: Stars in seven
John Buccigross: Oilers in seven
Ryan Callahan: Stars in six
Cassie Campbell-Pascall: Stars in seven
Sachin Chandan: Stars in seven
Meghan Chayka: Oilers in six
Ryan S. Clark: Oilers in six
Linda Cohn: Stars in seven
Rachel Doerrie: Stars in seven
Ray Ferraro: Stars in seven
Emily Kaplan: Stars in seven
Tim Kavanagh: Stars in seven
Peter Lawrence-Riddell: Stars in six
Steve Levy: Stars in seven
Vince Masi: Oilers in six
Victoria Matiash: Stars in seven
Sean McDonough: Stars in seven
Mark Messier: Oilers in six
Mike Monaco: Oilers in six
Arda Öcal: Oilers in six
Kristen Shilton: Stars in six
John Thoering: Stars in seven
Bob Wischusen: Stars in seven
Greg Wyshynski: Stars in seven

Consensus pick: Stars (17 of 24 picks)