The NHL just had its most entertaining trade deadline in recent memory for a reason: Teams had to gear up for an especially competitive playoff race. Now we're about two weeks out from the end of the regular season, and the playoff race has been exactly as heated as expected.

You've got wild-card hopefuls like the Penguins and the Flames fighting to extend their seasons each night, the Maple Leafs fighting for the home ice we know they could use, and the Bruins, well, still winning just for funsies.

About half of the league has clinched at this point, though, and with that comes our favorite thing headed into the Stanley Cup Playoffs: narratives!

Here are some postseason storylines to familiarize yourself with as we get ready for the 2023 postseason.

Which Legendary Cores Might Be Making Their Last Cup Runs?

You never know how long a professional athlete's career will last, but huge advancements in information and technology have helped greats like Zdeno Chara achieve peak longevity. But as the playoffs roll around, it never hurts to tip our hats to some aging cores who might be making their last postseason runs with their respective teams.

Pittsburgh Penguins: We've had the pleasure of watching Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang dominate the league for the past 17 years, and Pittsburgh will always be relevant with Crosby around. Period. But with Malkin's needlessly contentious contract negotiations, management's failure to truly figure it out in net after Marc-André Fleury and Matt Murray, and father time, we could be looking at this core's last run together.

That is, if the Penguins hold it together long enough to secure a wild-card berth. The Penguins have been inconsistent of late (more like the whole season) with a 4-6-0 record in their last 10 games, and following Tuesday's results, sit one game back of the Panthers and Islanders of a spot in the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Any heartbroken opponent from the latter half of this decade will tell you the Lightning have a gift for "turning it on" out of nowhere. This "it" factor is a hallmark of many dynasties, and it's tough to declare a true end for this Tampa Bay team until it flat-out fails to qualify for the postseason, especially with goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy still kicking—literally, sometimes.

But it's been a rough few months for the Lightning, and not even the great head coach Jon Cooper's tricks (like benching his stars in the third period) have worked at times. That said, a "rough few months for the Lightning" still means playoffs. Let's make sure to appreciate Vasilevskiy, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and whichever "overpaid" depth player decides to shine this year (as is tradition) while they're all still playing together.