The Stanley Cup playoffs project to be wide open for the second straight year.
FanDuel Sportsbooks has the Stars as the nominal favorite to lift the trophy at +600, but nine teams are listed between +600 and 10/1.
That’s over half the field, and the first team outside that range is Toronto at just 13/1, so you may as well lump the Maple Leafs in that group, too.
The betting market is telling us that 10 teams are true contenders to win the Stanley Cup, and six would be surprises of varying degrees.
With so many teams bunched together, the path to the Cup becomes almost as important as a team’s talent level. That is what we’ll use to separate one team from the pack.
Dallas is the Stanley Cup favorite, but it has a brutal projected path. The Stars will play the Avalanche in Round 1, and whoever gets out of that battle will likely take on the Winnipeg Jets in Round 2.
And that’s just to get to the Western Conference finals.
The same logic applies to Colorado, which is +950 to win the Stanley Cup.
The Avs are a trendy pick to come out of the West after a busy trade deadline, a strong second half, and the return of Gabriel Landeskog, but Dallas and Winnipeg stand in their way to get to the final four.
Winnipeg’s route to the business end of the playoffs is slightly easier, but the Jets will still need to deal with Dallas or Colorado in Round 2.
The second-favorite behind Dallas is Florida at +650. It’s hard to argue with the logic of hanging the Panthers at this price — they’ve been to the past two Stanley Cup Finals and won in 2024 — but Florida has looked less than inspiring down the stretch, and will have Tampa Bay and Toronto in its way just to get into the Eastern Conference finals.
Betting on the NHL?
The Lightning (+900) are getting a lot of love from the hockey media as the team to beat in the East this season, but the Bolts are staring down either Toronto or Florida in Round 1, with the other likely to come in Round 2.
The Hurricanes (+850) are a formidable group, but their goaltending may be the least reliable of any team in this cluster, and they’ve got some serious playoff demons to contend with this spring.
The Canes are a big favorite to beat the Devils in Round 1, but it would likely be the first-place Capitals that await them in Round 2. The Caps have been a beast all season, but they’d likely be an underdog to Carolina in Round 2.
That brings us to the team I believe should be the favorite going into the playoffs.
The Golden Knights (+850) are almost guaranteed to win the Pacific Division, which will earn them the opportunity to play one of the wild-card teams in Round 1 and the winner of Edmonton-Los Angeles in Round 2.
Maybe the Oilers turn things up a notch in the playoffs, but they’re mired in a 14-13-1 stretch since the beginning of February and don’t look like the team they were last spring.
The Kings are 21/1 to win the Cup, meaning the Knights would be a considerable favorite to beat L.A. in Round 2.
You may not think Vegas is the best team in the league, but that’s not the question we’re asking.
Given their path, experience, and talent, there should be enough to make the Knights the leader of this pack.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.
