NHL Odds: Three Stanley Cup Playoff Bets To Open Postseason

With the Stanley Cup playoffs set to get underway Monday, let's examine three bets to make right now on the NHL postseason.

We'll start with the much-anticipated rematch of heavyweight contenders, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning.

(Betting odds from DraftKings Sportsbook)

Maple Leafs vs. Lightning exact finish: Toronto in seven (+425)
This was one of the best playoff series in all of sports last season. The Lightning came back from down 3-2 in the series to edge the Maple Leafs in seven games. It's hard to believe the Maple Leafs haven't advanced to the second round in nearly two decades, losing six consecutive first-round series. In that time of misery for the Leafs, the Lightning have suffered no such fate. In fact, it's been the opposite results down in Tampa. The Lightning have won three Stanley Cups in that window and currently have been the Eastern Conference champions three years in a row. If Tampa can somehow manage to do it again, it would become the first team to achieve that since the Islanders in the 1980s. I'm willing to bet that this time will be different. The Lightning are not playing well heading into the postseason, as they lost some steam in the last 10 games of the regular season. Meanwhile, the Leafs' confidence is high, as they ended the regular season hot. There are stars on both sides of the ice, but nobody has the talent of Toronto with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander. Plus, I'm sure if the Leafs were to choke again, there would be wholesale changes to both the roster and the front office. With everything at stake for this franchise, I'll take my chances betting on this talented group.

Bruins Eastern Conference champion (+200)
It's hard to truly encapsulate and put into words just how dominant the regular season was for the Bruins. They broke the all-time records for both wins and points in a season. The most impressive nuance to that feat is how the Bruins were able to accomplish all of that in a loaded Eastern Conference with a myriad of teams who can win the Stanley Cup. The Maple Leafs are one of the more dynamic offenses in hockey, the Hurricanes have one of the best home-ice advantages, both the Devils and Rangers are rich with talent on both sides of the puck and the Lightning have the championship pedigree and culture. Yet Boston was head and shoulders above them all. If this were a young, inexperienced Bruins team that was able to reach these heights, I would have some trepidation, but this is veteran group that can handle the pressure of the Stanley Cup expectations and aspirations. Boston will continue its dominance in the postseason.

Avalanche Western Conference champion (+275)
How the West was won has a fun ring to it in these Western Conference Stanley Cup playoffs. The Avalanche began the season with many of their star players injured. Even as some of those big names, like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, worked their way back into the lineup, you could see there was a still a void left by some of the other stars who left the team in the offseason, like Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky. Colorado still battled every night and eventually reached full health. Although they weren't as dominant as the previous season, they nonetheless managed to finish near the top of the standings. Unlike the much deeper East, the West feels top-heavy. Alongside the Avs, you have the Connor McDavid-led Oilers and the explosive Dallas Stars. Both of those teams are viable threats to Colorado, but the playoff experience and the team being fully healthy should be enough to push the Avs back into the Stanley Cup Final.