To this day, the 2022 Stanley Cup Final might be one of the more memorable Cup Finals in recent memory.
Played between the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Avalanche would eventually end the Lightning's almost-three-year-long run as Stanley Cup champions with a 4-2 series win.
The series began just as the pro-Lightning crowd feared: the Avs dominated play while outskating, outshooting, and heavily outscoring the Bolts. Though the Lightning would remarkably force overtime in Game 1 despite being down 3-1 at one point in the game, they would head to Florida in a 2-0 hole after the Avalanche won Game 2 with a decisive 7-0 win.
In Tampa, it seemed that the Lightning flipped a switch and suddenly looked like their old selves again. Game 3 would see the Lightning give the Avalanche a taste of their own medicine, dominating them by a 6-2 scoreline with goals from the likes of Steven Stamkos and trade deadline acquisition-turned-role player Nick Paul. The Lightning would still head back to Denver down two games after losing a evenly-matched Game 4 that was decided in overtime by Nazem Kadri, scoring an iconic game-winning goal. Remember his name, he'll be important later on.
Despite having a chance to seal the series and their first Cup since the turn of the millenium in front of their home fans, the Avalanche ended up dropping Game 5 of the series in what was a 3-2 decision. That game saw Corey Perry and Mikhail Sergachev record two assists each, while Nikita Kucherov would score one of the Bolts' three goals. Remember Corey Perry, he'll be important later on as well.
Despite the Bolts taking an early lead in Game 6, the Avalanche would find a way to rally in the second period and win the Stanley Cup, leaving behind a brief period of time that saw the Avs have the roster to contend but fall short of putting it all together in the playoffs. That time period saw the Avalanche lose in the second round of each of the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs despite recording strong regular season performances.
Since that 2022 Stanley Cup Final, both the Lightning and Avalanche would taper out of the Cup contention conversation to some degree. Though both teams fielded strong rosters, they couldn't find a way to get back to the final and replicate what they had done in years prior. The Avalanche would win just one playoff round in the three years that followed, beating the Winnipeg Jets in the opening round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, while the Lightning have failed to win a playoff round since that 2022 postseason.
But with the events of the 2025-26 NHL trade deadline in mind, could we be in for a rematch of that Stanley Cup Final?
Both teams did bring back key pieces of their rosters from that 2022 season. The Lightning re-acquired Perry through a trade with the Los Angeles Kings, while Kadri was sent back to the Avalanche by the Calgary Flames.
And both players are playing well since returning to their respective clubs. In the three games he's played since returning to the Lightning, Perry has scored two goals while providing a +/- rating of +3. In Kadri's first game back with the Avalanche, which was a 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild, he recorded an assist on Nathan MacKinnon's ice-breaking goal in addition to five shots on goal.
But it's worth noting that both players were just traded and that we'll need to see more in the way of results on the part of both the players as well as the teams as a whole.
That said, both Kadri and Perry were enjoying strong seasons before their respective trade deadline moves. In the 61 games that he played this season for the Flames, Kadri tallied 41 points (12 goals and 29 assists); that total has him on pace to reach 55 points before the end of the season. Meanwhile, during his stint with the Kings, Perry would record a point in just over 50% of his 50 games played.
The season they played each other in the Cup Final, Kadri recorded 87 points in 71 regular season games, while Perry would record 40 points in 82 games played.
In terms of how the Avs and Lightning have performed since the deadline, that's a tale of two cities. The Avalanche won 3-2 against the Wild before losing 4-3 to the Edmonton Oilers, while the Lightning won just one of their three games since bringing Perry back into the fold; the lone win was a 5-2 win over the Leafs while the two losses were 8-7 and 5-2 decisions against the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets respectively.
Moving forward, we will need to see whether a rebooted version of the Avalanche squad that dominated in 2021-22 will replicate the same feat four years and if the Lightning can snap out of their recent cold streak and push for a top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
If both teams can achieve those feats with Perry and Kadri playing key roles, we could very well be on course for yet another Stanley Cup Final rematch.