Welcome to one of my favorite columns to write each year, where we go through all 30 teams that didn’t make the Stanley Cup final and offer up a suggestion on which of the finalists to root for. Nothing mandatory, mind you; more of a gentle nudge for the undecided. We have a bit of fun, it usually spurs some fun discussion, and there’s always a bit of suspense over which finalist the scales will ultimately tip toward.Let’s just say that this year, I don’t think we have much of a suspense factor.The Vegas Golden Knights are the villains here. It’s a role they’ve embraced, not just as far as this final but as the defining quality of their entire existence. The list of reasons to hate the Knights starts with jealousy, as they enter their ninth season of perpetual contention without ever really suffering through a bad season, but it doesn’t end there. Their win-at-all-costs mentality is enviable on some level, but at some point some folks start getting tired of their whole act.That’s not to say that everyone loves the Carolina Hurricanes; I’ve seen plenty of fans who don’t, or who seem to view this year’s final as a “none of the above” matchup. But finding fan bases that will be solidly pro-Vegas feels … daunting. So much so that I even briefly considered scrapping this year’s rooting guide altogether. But I like a challenge, and I love a recurring bit that means I don’t have to come up with a new angle. So let’s do this, even if we know how it’s going to end up.We’ve got 30 teams to get to, and at least as many lenses to view this final through. As always, some reasons will be obvious, and some will be reaches. Will this end up being the most lopsided rooting guide ever? Almost certainly, but let’s dive in and see where we wind up.Anaheim DucksAs the team that drafted and developed Frederik Andersen — not to mention helped launch his reputation as a guy you couldn’t trust in big games — it feels right to root for him to finish the story, especially when the other option is a divisional rival who knocked you out.Pick: HurricanesBoston BruinsA Vegas win would make the Bruins this year’s Ultimate Loser. That’s not as devastating an honor for a rebuilding team as it is for others, but it’s still a decent reason to root for the ex-Whalers, especially after they made Montreal fans sad.Pick: HurricanesBuffalo SabresThere will come a time when Sabres fans will have to move past the whole Jack Eichel thing. That year is not this year.Pick: HurricanesCalgary FlamesHey look, it’s a final matchup Flames fans can actually enjoy after two straight years of watching their biggest rival face a team built on players who deserted them. Two years ago, we even took the unprecedented step of making the Flames the first team to ever get a pass on rooting for anyone.But this year, they’re back in the game. And it’s an interesting call, because the Flames are the first team where there’s a solid case to make for Vegas. The Knights have built their blue line on ex-Flames in Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson, and while that’s always bittersweet for a fan base, it’s generally a good thing for a rebuilding team if the guys you trade away have success because it makes future deals a bit easier to sell.Is that enough to make the Flames our first pro-Vegas team? Not necessarily, but there’s the additional factor of a Knights win meaning the second-rounder from the Andersson trade becomes an unprotected first. That’ll do it.Pick: Golden KnightsChicago BlackhawksSeeing Taylor Hall continue to turn back the clock could make the Hawks the favorite for this year’s Conned Smythe award, but I’m not sure anyone in Chicago is all that bothered by that trade. Wait, do Hawks fans still care about Brandon Saad? Let’s pretend that they do.Pick: Golden KnightsColorado AvalancheGenerally speaking, conference final losers are encouraged to root against the team that just beat them. It doesn’t always work that way, but this time I think it does. Besides, remember when you played the Hurricanes and you guys all played dress-up with your old uniforms? That was fun.Pick: HurricanesColumbus Blue JacketsThere’s a running theme through a lot of the anti-Vegas sentiment around the league that says they were handed a Cup-caliber roster through a super team-friendly expansion format. That’s just not true, and the Kraken are proving it. But while the NHL didn’t gift Vegas an easy winner, they sure handed them a better chance at one than they did Columbus back in 2000, when the Jackets and Wild had to compete for the right to draft guys like Bert Robertsson and Oleg Orekhovsky.Should Columbus fans still hold a grudge over something that far in the past? Yes, of course, that’s half the fun of being a sports fan.Pick: HurricanesDallas StarsHey, remember the Mikko Rantanen trade? Do you? Would you like to be reminded about it three thousand times over the next two weeks? Too bad, you’re going to be. Between that, avoiding Ultimate Loser status and the fact the Knights made the Avalanche sad, I think we can lean Vegas here.Pick: Golden KnightsDetroit Red WingsHuh, so you can win a Cup with a former Ducks goalie, no clear-cut elite center and a beloved former captain playing a prominent role since 2018-19, interesting. Cool, good to know.Pick: HurricanesEdmonton OilersThe Hurricanes did beat you in the 2006 final, and they injured your goalie to do it. It would be reasonable to still be holding a grudge over that, even two decades later, if there was a more palatable option of the other side. But Taylor Hall chasing the Conn Smythe while the Knights are actively being jerks about your next coach, and then somehow blaming you for it being a story? Come on.Pick: HurricanesFlorida PanthersYou know when you’re watching pro wrestling and one hated heel will align with another hated heel for no reason other than that they’re both evil jerks and everyone else despises them? Yeah.Pick: Golden KnightsLos Angeles KingsRemember when the Kings were briefly the Knights’ first real rivals, back before they decided to just play the Oilers every year instead? That was fun. And between those memories, the Kings’ secondary role in the Cassidy controversy and the chance for Justin Williams to get another ring in Carolina, this one feels pretty straightforward.Pick: HurricanesMinnesota WildOn the one hand, watching the Knights embarrass the Avalanche had to be kind of cathartic. On the other, giving up 24 goals in a five-game loss to a team that immediately forgets how to score and gets swept isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of a team being close to contending. Also, didn’t we spend all season telling ourselves that the Central was a powerhouse and Pacific was a pillow fight?Pick: HurricanesMontreal CanadiensThe Hurricanes just beat you, and did it so easily that fans around the league are now casting doubt on what had been a dream season. Oh, and also they spent years making fun of you for that dumb offer sheet to Sebastian Aho. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights gave you Nick Suzuki. Finally, a relatively easy pick on the Vegas side.Pick: Golden KnightsNashville PredatorsNothing really jumps out as an obvious factor for Nashville, unless you’re still not over that social media beef with the Hurricanes from years ago. But I think you can at least show some loyalty to Knights president George McPhee for being the GM who gifted you the best forward in franchise history way back when. And speaking of GMs, if the weird rumors about Chris McFarland are true, Vegas may have helped you get him two weeks earlier than expected.Pick: Golden KnightsNew Jersey DevilsI can come up with a few reasons why Devils fans should root for Carolina. Taylor Hall would finally get his ring after winning the Hart in New Jersey, and a Hurricanes win would be a nice proof of concept for analytically inclined GMs like the one the Devils just hired.But one thing I’ve learned over time is that Devils fans are surprisingly hostile towards the Hurricanes. I don’t fully understand it, but far be it from me to discourage that level of long-term spite.Pick: Golden KnightsNew York IslandersThe Hurricanes ended three of the last five Islanders playoff runs in dominant fashion, winning 12 of 15 games in the process. The Golden Knights have Mitch Marner, who makes Leafs fans sad about a franchise icon abandoning them in free agency.Pick: Golden KnightsNew York RangersThe Hurricanes are a division rival and the Rangers are one of several teams with a John Tortorella factor in play. But I’m sorry, if you didn’t get a little weepy seeing this clip of ex-Ranger K’Andre Miller with his newborn, you might be dead inside.Pick: Hurricanes Ottawa SenatorsThe Sens seem like a team that might lean Vegas, given they lost badly to the Hurricanes and the Mark Stone factor. But Stone already has a ring, and every dominant Carolina series makes the Sens look better for at least playing them tough. This one’s closer than most, but…Pick: HurricanesPhiladelphia FlyersUnder normal circumstances, you’d expect a fan base to root against the team that eliminated them. Could the Flyers be a rare exception? After all, their series against the Hurricanes was over so quickly that it didn’t really produce any bad blood. And the Flyers were both the team that drafted Rod Brind’Amour and the one whose fandom started Eric Tulsky’s path to the NHL. I think that might be enough to override the bitterness of a second-round loss, although I’m guessing not everyone in Philadelphia will agree.Pick: HurricanesPittsburgh PenguinsSeeing Jordan Staal lift the Cup as a captain would be very cool.Pick: HurricanesSan Jose SharksSharks fans, where are we at on Tomáš Hertl? In a world where Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski all retired without Cups, and it sure looks like Brent Burns will too, don’t we need at least one longtime Shark to get a ring? Is there any chance that’s enough to put past rivalries aside and root for the Knights? I don’t think it is, but it’s at least a question, right?Pick: HurricanesSeattle Kraken“In the world of expansion NHL teams winning Cups, it’s more fun to imagine that it can be done in six years rather than 30.” That was my reasoning for nudging Seattle fans towards Vegas when they were in the final in 2023, and I stand by it. But two Cups in a decade? That probably sets the bar a little too high for a Seattle team that’s already struggling to find their way. Expansion loyalty is a thing, but it only goes so far.Pick: HurricanesSt. Louis BluesI’m not sure how to weight the Alex Pietrangelo factor here, or if there even is one. Rooting for your former captain to win another Cup in 2023 was one thing; having him watch his Knights teammates do it without him is another. One of these two teams is going to move out of the “one-time Cup winners” club, but I think you’d rather have it be the one that’s been around more than a decade.Pick: HurricanesTampa Bay LightningI think we’ve finally found our team where the Tortorella factor is enough to tilt the scales to the Vegas side. He guided the Lightning to their first championship way back in 2004, and now he’s making his first trip back to the final over two decades later. Lightning fans may not love the guy given some of the more recent history, but you have to respect him.Pick: Golden KnightsToronto Maple LeafsLeafs fans narrowly avoided the worst-case scenario of a Knights-Habs final, which might have had them in the running for a Flames-like exemption. Instead, they’ve at least got a chance at avoiding the Mitch Marner mania that will follow the Conn Smythe honors everyone has already decided he’ll get if Vegas wins. Whether you view Marner as a victim or villain or somewhere in between, the narrative around him will be exhausting.Would a Freddie Andersen win be just as bad? Not even close. That makes this an easy call.Pick: HurricanesUtah MammothNo team has given the Knights a bigger scare than the Mammoth, who back in the first round had a 2-1 series lead and a third-period lead in Game 4 before dropping back-to-back OT heart-breakers. That’s always a tricky spot, because “it could have been us” is a double-edged sword different fans will handle in different ways. I’ll go with some new-team loyalty, but it’s close.Pick: Golden KnightsVancouver CanucksRod Brind’Amour is a good BC boy who still comes home to do charity work. John Tortorella is not, and the Canucks are the only team he didn’t have any success with as coach … unless you count driving the best goalie in franchise history out of town as success.Pick: HurricanesWashington CapitalsThe Golden Knights served up your first and only Stanley Cup back in 2018, the Hurricanes knocked you out of the playoffs with ease last year, George McPhee is still in Vegas and Nic Dowd is a worthy OGWAC story who gave you eight solid seasons after just missing your title run.Does it help or hurt the Knights’ case that the Capitals could become the first team to miss the playoffs with a better record than the eventual Cup champion? I’m not sure, but you can probably hold your nose here.Pick: Golden KnightsWinnipeg JetsWe end on a bit of a tricky one. Jets fans are likely to have some mixed feelings from watching Nik Ehlers compete for a Cup. On the one hand, he played well in Winnipeg and left on reasonably good terms. On the other, this is a market that’s had trouble keeping elite players, and seeing one leave and then immediately win a Cup might send a bad message.Is that enough for Jets fans to root for a Vegas team that’s knocked them out of the playoffs in two of the last eight years? I’m not sure it is. Winnipeg fans seem to be cool with Ehlers (and with local kid Seth Jarvis), and that’s enough for me.Pick: HurricanesThat leaves us with a final split of 19 to 11 in favor of Carolina, which is honestly closer than I thought. I’ll now head to the comments section, where I’m sure everyone will agree with my picks while wishing both teams the best of the luck in the series to come.