As the Canes sit and wait for the other qualifying-round series and the seeding round-robin to conclude, Carolina’s potential opponents for its first-round series that will start next week has been narrowed down to just two teams.
While the Canes don’t even know what seed they will play yet, the math dictates that Carolina will meet either the Washington Capitals or the Boston Bruins when the more traditional first round of the playoffs kicks off.
The Hurricanes will be the top seed out of the qualifying round if Montreal can finish out its 2-1 series lead over Pittsburgh, and that will mean a matchup with the fourth-place finisher in the seeding round-robin.