This year’s winner will be...

Washington Capitals, 4-0. SM

Vegas Golden Knights, 4-2. CH

Vegas Golden Knights, 4-2 JK

A Golden Knights win would be the equivalent of ...

The Miracle on Ice, only if the Team USA had to play the Russians roughly 100 times instead of just once, and still kept pulling off upsets all along the way while everyone stood around trying to figure out how it was happening. SM

Sitting down at the first slot machine you find at a Las Vegas casino and hitting the jackpot. CH

Getting accepted by Harvard University after your safety school rejected you. JK

What Washington need to do to win ...

Get pucks past Marc-Andre Fleury, who’s been almost unbeatable. Goalies can singlehandedly win games and even series in the NHL, and Fleury’s been hot enough to do it here. The long break before the opener might hurt him, since goalies don’t tend to like time off. But if he picks up where he left off, look out. SM

Play as they did against Tampa Bay in Game 7 of the Eastern final. The Caps need to go for broke, leave their past playoff baggage way behind them, and come at this series like Vegas will – with nothing to lose. CH

It’s rare to see the kind of singularly dominant performances like the ones Ovechkin gave us in Games 6 and 7 of the conference finals. As the possibility of playing in his first ever Stanley Cup final loomed, he played like a man possessed, hitting everything in sight and driving the play in a manic fashion. The Capitals will need him to not only to use his physicality on the forecheck but also keep finding the back of the net. If Ovechkin continues to play like the best goal scorer of his generation, the Capitals will take the title. JK

What the Golden Knights need to do to win ...

Shut down Alexander Ovechkin. The Caps have more than just one weapon, but Ovechkin is still their most dangerous player and he’s been looking like a guy on a mission lately, so keeping him quiet will be a priority. That’s especially true on the powerplay, where he loves to set up in his spot and bomb. SM

History has shown that Ovechkin can be contained, and when he does, the Caps are a different team. CH

Don’t change a damn thing. They’ve marched through the entire postseason playing without any fear and as determined as the Capitals have looked to right the wrongs of playoffs past, the Golden Knights have shown little reason to doubt that they’re capable of beating any team. The Golden Knights are rested, not having played since 20. For a team that relies on their speed to break down opponents, that should help. JK

Jonathan Marchessault’s Golden Knights have put together a remarkable debut season. Photograph: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images

The Finals MVP will be ...

Ovechkin. It’s the easy pick, but I’m not going to overthink it. After 13 seasons of hearing about how he can’t win the big one, this is his time. I think we’ll see some of his very best hockey. SM

Marc-Andre Fleury, and rightly so. Expansion teams, by their nature – with no established record or history, composed of a sometimes motley crew of players, and usually formed in the face of fan opposition – lack confidence. It’s impossible to know what the Golden Knights would have accomplished without Fleury backstopping them, but likely nothing as impressive as this. He’s been clutch. He continues to be clutch. If he remains clutch, this should be a no-brainer. CH

Fleury. What he’s done this postseason has been nothing short of historic. The goalkeeper’s .947 save percentage through 15 playoffs games is currently a hair better than Jonathan Quick’s 2011-12 mark when the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup and Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy. Whether or not Vegas actually do win the Stanley Cup, overlooking Fleury’s performance would be criminal. JK



A Canadian team will win the Stanley Cup in ...

2019. SM

The next decade. CH

With teams in Seattle and Houston likely on their way, I’m inclined to say never as there could be some new legitimate Cup contenders in the hopper. But I’d like to think it happens in the next three seasons. There’s just too much young talent on the Maple Leafs and the Jets. Both teams have taken their knocks in the playoffs and should be able to get over the hump soon enough. JK

One bold prediction ...

Ryan Reaves and Tom Wilson will fight within the first 10 minutes of game one. SM

Las Vegas residents Céline Dion and Britney Spears will sing the Star-Spangled Banner alongside a hologram of Frank Sinatra, with Elton John backing on piano, as Cirque du Soleil performs a high-wire trapeze act above their heads. The performance will finish with a shower of casino chips onto the crowd as Spears remixes (Hit Me, Baby)...One More Time. It will take hours to clean up, and the game will ultimately be postponed. It will be immediately and forever be remembered as the high point of the Gary Bettman NHL era. CH

Gary Bettman is cheered as he presents the Stanley Cup. JK