By this time next week it'll all be over.

Not the NHL playoffs, they'll just be getting started.

But what will be done is the hand-wringing and analysis over the numerous permutations covering who'll be playing who when the tournament starts on Saturday night.

Every team but the Edmonton Oilers has played at least 80 of its 82 games, meaning there's little runway for those looking to creep in through the back door or ensure a more favorable matchup and home-ice scenario.

The B/R hockey team gathered to take a final look at the field as the homestretch begins and forecast one last time what the 16-team bracket will look like, given what's left on the schedule and how teams are playing as the finish line nears.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments section.

Atlantic Division: Boston Bruins vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

There's still some time to change the narrative, but it's looking more and more like there'll be a fourth postseason go-round between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Bruins begin the week just a point ahead of the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division but with two games remaining to Florida's one.

The Panthers have more overall and regulation wins and thus would win a tiebreaker, but any combination of two points for Boston across its last pair—at Washington on Monday and home with Ottawa on Tuesday—would outdo Florida no matter the result of its Tuesday night finale with visiting Toronto.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, has been all but locked into the first wild-card position for weeks given its lead over the gaggle of teams seeking the second Eastern spot and the deficit between the Lightning and the third-place Maple Leafs in the Atlantic.

The Bruins beat Tampa Bay in their initial playoff duel in the 2011 Eastern finals but have dropped the last two, in the second round of the 2018 tournament and again in 2020 as coach Jon Cooper's team moved toward the first of two straight Stanley Cups.

The teams split two regulation games in 2023-24, but Tampa Bay beat Boston twice in extra time, winning in overtime in November and in a shootout in February.

Atlantic Division: Florida Panthers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

The second series in our crystal ball yields the first rematch from last spring.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida were unexpected second-round dance partners in 2023, given the Panthers' unlikely success as a No. 8 seed in the first round against the record-setting Boston Bruins.

There they were, though, and the residents of metropolitan Miami broke the hockey-mad hearts of Canada's most tortured fanbase, winning three one-goal games—including two in OT—to end matters in five.

It's still possible they could miss one another this time because Florida enters the season's final week just a single point behind Boston, and it's possible the Maple Leafs could have some impact on things given they'll complete their four-game season series Tuesday on the Panthers' home ice at Amerant Bank Arena.

It's Florida's final game of 2023-24 schedule, but Toronto will have one more as it completes the back half of a Sunshine State doubleheader the following night at Tampa Bay.

The Maple Leafs can carry some confidence given the first three head-to-head results, which yielded a shootout win in November and a 6-4 regulation victory on April 1, both at home and in spite of a collective 0-for-9 on the power play.

The Panthers won the first time the teams met this season, taking a 3-1 decision in October.

Metropolitan Division: New York Rangers vs. Detroit Red Wings

OK, Detroit Red Wings fans. It's time to exhale.

Maybe.

Though Steve Yzerman's master-planned roster has foundered its way from playoff lock to playoff hopeful over the last several weeks, it's got the most favorable road home among the teams still harboring dreams of making the Eastern Conference field.

The Red Wings are in a three-way tie at 87 points with the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, and they sit just one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It's Washington's race to win given its current 30-27 edge (over Detroit) in regulation wins, but the Flyers have just one game remaining (against Washington) and the Capitals will also play Atlantic-leading Boston, while the pursuing Penguins have difficult dates with a pair of playoff teams in Nashville and the New York Islanders.

Meanwhile, Detroit will wrap up with a home and away on Monday and Tuesday with the Montreal Canadiens, who'll enter Monday sitting 28th in the overall standings.

The hysteria may wind down quickly even if the Red Wings do finish the job, because they'll more than likely be matched up with the New York Rangers, who can lock down the top seed and the President's Trophy with a Monday night win against Ottawa.

It would be the first time the Original Six rivals have met in the postseason since 1950, when the Red Wings took a seven-game series to win the Stanley Cup.

As for 2023-24, it was a three-game sweep for the Rangers, who won each time in regulation while scoring 12 goals to Detroit's eight.

Metropolitan Division: Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Islanders

You've got to give it to Patrick Roy and the New York Islanders.

Just when it started to look like hiring the perennial playoff hero goaltender as coach in January was a failed experiment, the mixture flourished and the team used a league-best 6-0-1 run through the first two weeks of April to pull ahead of its brethren in the Eastern pursuit pack and into what appears to be a safe third-place spot in the Metropolitan.

It's not a done deal considering the Islanders are only three points ahead with two games to play, but securing two points across their last two games—at New Jersey and home with Pittsburgh—will lock up the position and a first-round duel with the Carolina Hurricanes.

It would be the second straight year and third time in the last six seasons that the teams meet in the tournament, following Carolina's second-round sweep in 2019 and a tighter-than-it-seems six-game triumph in last spring's opening round. The Hurricanes won three of the four games by a single goal in 2023, including games two and six in OT, and they scored 16 goals in the series compared to 15 for New York.

The teams split four games in the 2023-24 regular season, with Carolina winning twice in regulation at New York, while the Islanders earned a pair of 5-4 decisions at PNC Arena, once in regulation and once in OT.

Central Division: Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights

Raise your hand if you saw this one coming.

Given they met last spring for the Western Conference title, it wasn't a popular thought that the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights would meet again a year later, but this time in the opening round after the defending Cup champs limped in as a No. 8 seed.

The Stars have been everything a returning final-four participant could be expected to be, pulling ahead late in the season to win a loaded and competitive Central Division ahead of fellow 100-point teams in Colorado and Winnipeg and secure the West's top seed.

They have won more games (51), established a better goal differential (plus-63), and are better on the road (26-10-5) through 81 games than any team in the conference and appear ready to make a serious run toward the first Stanley Cup for the franchise since 1999.

It's not quite so certain in Vegas.

The Golden Knights will definitely be in the mix after clinching a spot late last week. They could still climb past the Los Angeles Kings and into third in the Pacific Division, which would yield a second straight series with the Edmonton Oilers after last spring's six-game win.

Vegas begins the week a point behind the Kings, but it will need some help from an unexpected source to bridge the gap, given Los Angeles plays a pair of home games against non-playoff teams (Minnesota and Chicago) coming down the stretch while the Golden Knights finish by hosting the Blackhawks and the Anaheim Ducks.

A first-round matchup with presumed Pacific winner Vancouver could also happen if the Golden Knights make up a three-point deficit on current wild-card leader Nashville.

Vegas fans may actually covet the matchup with the Stars, though, given a sweep of the season series with wins in OT and a shootout that came alongside a 6-1 win in Dallas in early December.

Central Division: Winnipeg Jets vs. Colorado Avalanche

Finally, we've got one that's signed, sealed and delivered.

In fact, the only thing left to determine between the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche before the playoffs start is where the initial puck drop will take place.

The teams comprise the only head-to-head matchup that's guaranteed in the first round, given their locked-in positions as the Nos. 2 and 3 teams in the Central.

Winnipeg leads the two-team race by a single point (106-105) heading into the final week, when the Jets will play twice and the Avalanche just once after their OT loss to Vegas on Sunday afternoon.

If Winnipeg holds on, the series will begin at the Canada Life Centre, while a late Colorado rally will mean the best-of-seven duel will start at Ball Arena.

It'll be the first time the teams have been matched up in the postseason and neither got past the first round last year, with Winnipeg falling to Vegas in five games and the then-defending champion Avalanche exiting after seven games against the Seattle Kraken.

Given recent results, it would be difficult not to be optimistic in the Winnipeg locker room. The Jets wrapped up a three-game sweep of the season series with a 7-0 rout in Colorado on Saturday night, and that came after a pair of wins in December by 4-2 and 6-2 scores.

Goalie Connor Hellebuyck was a winner in all three games, stopping 92 of 96 shots for a .958 save percentage.

Pacific Division: Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators

There have been no guarantees lately for the Nashville Predators.

They rolled through several weeks while on a franchise-record 18-game point streak in which they went 16-0-2 and climbed comfortably into the West's top wild-card spot.

However, they're just 4-4-1 in nine games since and enter the week three points up on Vegas for that wild-card position and the series it would yield with the Vancouver Canucks.

Nashville finishes its season with a Monday visit to Pittsburgh and can lock the spot up with a win, but anything less will open the door for the Golden Knights, though the Predators will win any tiebreaker by virtue of an advantage in regulation wins.

We'll proceed here as if the spot will be theirs and it'll result in the second all-time postseason series between the franchises, following a 2011 second-rounder that the Canucks took in six games on the way to a losing appearance in the Stanley Cup Final.

Vancouver, for its part, has been in control of the Pacific Division for much of the season and all but locked up the top spot with a 3-1 defeat of second-place Edmonton on Saturday night.

The Oilers could still wrest the title away if they win their final three games and the Canucks lose to Calgary at home and at Winnipeg, but it's particularly unlikely given the Flames stumble down the stretch and Edmonton continuing to play without Connor McDavid.

Vancouver likely views the Predators as an attractive foe after sweeping the season series, scoring 13 goals to Nashville's six while outshooting the Predators, 86-75.

Pacific Division: Edmonton Oilers vs. Los Angeles Kings

Stop us if you've heard this one before.

Unless some things change in the next few days, the Edmonton Oilers will meet the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Again.

Indeed, should the Oilers and Kings retain their current positions as the second- and third-place teams in the Pacific, they would meet for the third straight season after Edmonton escaped with seven- and six-game wins in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The Oilers trail first-place Vancouver by five points with three games left and have a slim chance to overtake the Canucks, while the Kings lead fourth-place Vegas by a point with two games remaining and could wind up as the eighth seed headed to Dallas.

Los Angeles, though, finishes with home games against Minnesota and Chicago, a pair of teams that won't be playing past this week. So, assuming it takes care of business against them, it's full-speed ahead toward the Oilers and the second time in franchise history they have met in the playoffs for at least three straight seasons.

Edmonton and Los Angeles actually got together four straight times from 1989 to 1992, with the Wayne Gretzky-led Kings winning the first series before the Oilers won the next three. They've met nine times altogether, in fact, with Edmonton going 7-2 in those series, including three times on the way to Stanley Cup parades.

The Oilers won two of three regulation games in 2023-24, including a 4-1 win in the most recent meeting on March 28. They also won in a shootout in December.