Storylines heading into NHL Conference Finals: Staal brothers faceoff & Peter DeBoer taking on his former team

The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs are down to the final four teams and there are plenty of storylines ahead of the Conference Finals.

After the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken in Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Finals on Monday, it set the final four teams. In the West, it will be the Stars playing the Vegas Golden Knights while in the East, the Carolina Hurricanes will take on the Florida Panthers.

Although these aren't four major markets, there are plenty of storylines and intrigue and let's get into one key storyline for each Conference Final.

Staal brothers faceoff in NHL Conference Finals

In the NHL's Eastern Conference Final, the Florida Panthers head to Carolina to play the Hurricanes to open up the series on Thursday.

Florida was the eighth seed in the East while Carolina was second in the East, but have been dealing with plenty of injuries. However, the biggest storyline is the fact that all three Staal brothers who are in the NHL will be playing against one another.

The Panthers have Eric and Marc Staal while Jordan Staal is playing well for Carolina with the winning team advancing to the Cup.

Eric and Jordan have already won the Cup with Carolina in 2006 and Pittsburgh in 2009, respectively, leaving just Marc as the lone Staal brother of the three to not win the Cup.

DeBoer vs former team

Out in the Western Conference Final, the key storyline is Dallas Stars head coach, Peter DeBoer coaching against his former team, Vegas Golden Knights.

DeBoer coached the Golden Knights from 2020 to 2022 going 98-50-12 in Vegas as his firing was a bit of a surprise, given in three years he made the Conference Finals twice and missed the NHL playoffs in his third year. After getting fired, he was quickly hired by Dallas, and in his first year as the head coach, he has already coached his squad to the Conference Final.

“There’s a lot to unpack there,” DeBoer said with a laugh about facing Vegas after winning Game 7. “I think we’ll just enjoy tonight and talk about that as we go forward.”

Peter DeBoer also becomes the first coach to lead four different teams to the Conference Finals. He has led New Jersey, San Jose, Vegas, and now Dallas while being a series victory away from taking his third team to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, he is still looking for his first Stanley Cup.