The NHL’s final four is set.The Colorado Avalanche continue their quest to win another Stanley Cup title on Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference final, and the Carolina Hurricanes continue their dominance on Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference final.The Avalanche opened the second round as The Athletic NHL staff’s favorite to win the Cup. Are they still our top pick? And how much more confidence does our staff have in the Hurricanes — our pre-playoff pick — after an undefeated run? What about Conn Smythe favorites?Here are the results of our staff survey after the second round, with analysis and critique from national writers Shayna Goldman, Harman Dayal, Sean Gentille, Mark Lazerus and James Mirtle.Lazerus: Somebody had to emerge from the “pillow fight” in the Pacific, and good on Vegas for getting this far. The Golden Knights are stacked down the middle, unlike Minnesota, but there were stretches of this season during which they were truly awful. The only thing that can prevent Colorado from cruising here is an absolute goaltending meltdown.Dayal: It’s scary how easily the Avalanche took care of the Wild, who were an elite team on paper (albeit missing Joel Eriksson Ek and Jonas Brodin), in just five games. Vegas’ best shot at upsetting Colorado probably hinges on special teams — the Golden Knights’ PK has been elite all year, and their power play can get red-hot at any moment too. Colorado’s power play finally got going in Round 2 against Minnesota, but it was against a dreadful Wild penalty kill. Ultimately, it feels like the Avs will still overpower the Golden Knights, especially with Mark Stone’s injury.Mirtle: Vegas’ underlying numbers were excellent almost all year, and it was really some very tough performances in net that mostly held them back from having a much better record. I'm on Team Avalanche here, for sure, but if Carter Hart can continue to hold up, I think they give Colorado a longer, harder-fought series than Minnesota did.Gentille: Yeah, I’m with Harm here. Did I pick the Wild to beat Colorado almost solely to look smart in case they pulled it off? Sure, but I wasn’t expecting it to be a laugher, either, and that’s basically what we got. The Avalanche have stars who can win series on their own and, if not, the depth necessary to handle business. It’s borderline impossible to pick against them using any logic other than “goaltending is unpredictable.”Goldman: Credit to Vegas for getting back on track after a rough go down the stretch, but this is a different ballgame. The Golden Knights can’t get outplayed at five-on-five here and then flip the switch for quick scoring plays as they did at times last round. Colorado is star-powered, deep and winning games in all different ways. And it has had an answer each round as the matchups have gotten progressively harder. Maybe the Golden Knights push the series longer and give them a little more trouble. But it’s getting harder and harder to pick against the Avalanche.Lazerus: Frederik Andersen is 4-10 in the conference final, giving up four or more goals in eight of those 14 games. This is where he usually turns into a pumpkin. But I still think he’ll have to be really bad for Carolina to lose this one. The Canes finally break through.