The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs are commencing this Saturday with a couple of opening matchups in the Western Conference. One of these games will see the unexpected St. Louis Blues visiting the Winnipeg Jets, who claimed the Presidents` Trophy. The Blues had an impressive 12-game winning streak and earned points in 14 of their last 16 regular-season games (13-2-1), allowing them to jump ahead of several other teams and secure the second wild-card spot in the West.
In the other Saturday game, the Dallas Stars will host the Colorado Avalanche. These Central Division rivals previously clashed in the second round of the last postseason, where the Stars eliminated the Avalanche in six games.
Three more first-round series are scheduled to begin on Sunday, with two additional series starting on Monday. The Florida Panthers, current Stanley Cup champions, will start their title defense against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. This is the second consecutive year that the `Battle of Florida` will take place in the first round of the playoffs, following the Panthers` five-game victory over the Lightning last season.
Another familiar series in the West is between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers. These Pacific Division teams, starting their series in Los Angeles on Monday, are actually facing each other in the first round for the fourth postseason in a row. Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will host the Montreal Canadiens for Game 1 of their series.
The remaining Western Conference series features the Minnesota Wild versus the Vegas Golden Knights, starting Sunday in Las Vegas. Also on Sunday, the New Jersey Devils will visit the Carolina Hurricanes for their first game, and the `Battle of Ontario` will begin in Toronto with the Maple Leafs hosting the Ottawa Senators.
Winnipeg and Vegas are considered strong favorites in the West to win their respective series. The Jets have odds around -210, and the Golden Knights are at -235 or higher at most sportsbooks. Oddsmakers also believe that three of the four Eastern Conference series are heavily skewed, with Carolina, Washington, and Toronto being significant favorites to win. Some sportsbooks list the Hurricanes at -300 or higher, while the Capitals have odds around -275.
Below are some teams that offer potential value when considering prop bets for first-round series wins.
Top Picks
Dallas Stars (+140, Caesars)
The Stars have been defeated in four of their six postseason encounters with the Avalanche and had a 1-1-1 record in the 2024-25 season series. However, Dallas possesses the stronger goalie in Jake Oettinger, who ranked third in the NHL with 36 wins and is a potential contender for the Vezina Trophy. They also have former Avalanche player Mikko Rantanen, a 28-year-old right wing who has achieved 30 goals for the fifth consecutive season, despite playing for three different teams this season. Jason Robertson, Dallas` leading scorer this season with 35 goals, sustained a knee injury in the regular-season finale and his availability for the series is uncertain. Despite this, the Stars still have Wyatt Johnston (a career-high 33 goals) and Matt Duchene (30), who began his NHL career with Colorado. Roope Hintz (28), Mason Marchment (22), Mikael Granlund (22), and Evgenii Dadonov (20) are also capable of scoring against Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and contributing to a Dallas victory in this round.
Los Angeles Kings (+115, DraftKings)
The Kings have historically struggled against the Oilers in the playoffs, losing eight of their ten previous series, including the last six. In the past three postseasons, Los Angeles has been eliminated by Edmonton in seven, six, and five games, respectively. However, this time, the Kings have home-ice advantage and were the NHL`s best home team in 2024-25, with a record of 31-5-4 at Crypto.com Arena this season. Los Angeles also has an advantage in net with Darcy Kuemper, who led Colorado to a championship in 2022 and was among the top five in goals-against average (2.02, second), save percentage (.922, third), and shutouts (five) this season. Despite the Oilers boasting the formidable duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and coming close to winning the Stanley Cup last year, this could be the year the Kings break their playoff losing streak against their division rivals.
Tampa Bay Lightning (-102, FanDuel)
While Sergei Bobrovsky outperformed Andrei Vasilevskiy in their previous postseason matchup, it`s difficult to bet against a Tampa Bay team that features two 40-goal scorers in Brayden Point (42) and Jake Guentzel (a career-high 41). The Lightning also have Nikita Kucherov (121 points), who secured his second consecutive and third overall Art Ross Trophy this season and topped the playoff scoring charts in both 2020 (34 points) and 2021 (32). Additionally, Brandon Hagel (35) and Anthony Cirelli (27) both achieved career-high goal totals in 2024-25. Although the Panthers are the reigning champions and expect Matthew Tkachuk to be back in the lineup for this series, Tkachuk has been recovering from a lower-body injury since February and might not be fully effective to help Florida overcome the potent Lightning.
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Elton Marrow