The quest for Lord Stanley’s trophy begins in earnest on April 15 with the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The New York Rangers, the President’s Trophy winners as the best regular season team, are the runaway favorites at +500 to claim the cup for the fifth time.
But with the NHL playoffs as unpredictable as any in sports, even the Rangers aren’t safe from an early exit. What do the hockey experts think of their chances of making it out of the first round and beyond? Let’s check out those experts’ picks for all eight first round matchups, as well as their early picks to win the Stanley Cup.
First thing’s first, let’s see who the experts see making it past the first hurdle in these playoffs, and how long it’ll take each of them.
ESPN
SERIES
Scott Burnside
Craig Crustance
Pierre LeBrun
Barry Melrose
Katie Strang
Habs-Sens
Habs in 6
Habs in 6
Sens in 7
Sens in 7
Habs in 7
Lightning-Red Wings
Bolts in 5
Bolts in 6
Bolts in 6
Bolts in 6
Bolts in 6
Rangers-Pens
Rangers in 5
Rangers in 7
Rangers in 5
Rangers in 5
Rangers in 6
Caps-Isles
Caps in 7
Caps in 6
Caps in 6
Caps in 6
Caps in 6
Blues-Wild
Blues in 7
Blues in 6
Blues in 7
Blues in 6
Blues in 7
Preds-Hawks
Hawks in 7
Hawks in 5
Hawks in 6
Hawks in 6
Hawks in 5
Ducks-Jets
Ducks in 6
Jets in 7
Jets in 6
Ducks in 7
Jets in 7
Canucks-Flames
Flames in 7
Canucks in 5
Flames in 7
Flames in 6
Flames in 6
[sc:NHL240 ]ESPN.com polled a dozen hockey experts from its very deep stable, but we decided to pare the list down to a much more manageable list of five. All five were very much in agreement on seven of the eight series; the only one which brought about the most uncertainty was the Canadiens-Senators series. Pierre LeBrun and Barry Melrose are smelling a big upset of the Habs at the hands of the wild card Sens in seven.
After seeing the Sens defy the odds with an absolutely insane hot streak (21-3-3!) to even reach the postseason, don’t put anything past Ottawa, which is +1,600 to win the cup. The fact that the Habs’ leading point-scorer Max Pacioretty could be less than 100 percent in the postseason only strengthens the Sens’ case of pulling a shock result.
CBS Sports
SERIES
Adam Gretz
Chris Peters
Habs-Sens
Habs in 7
Habs in 6
Lightning-Red Wings
Bolts in 6
Bolts in 5
Rangers-Pens
Rangers in 6
Rangers in 5
Caps-Isles
Caps in 6
Caps in 7
Blues-Wild
Wild in 6
Blues in 7
Preds-Hawks
Hawks in 7
Hawks in 6
Ducks-Jets
Jets in 6
Ducks in 7
Canucks-Flames
Canucks in 5
Flames in 6
CBSSports.com’s two resident hockey experts, Adam Gretz and Chris Peters, were also alike in their predictions on how the Eastern Conference will shape up. They both picked the favored Habs, Lightning, Rangers and Caps to go chalk, with the Habs and Caps possibly pushed to seven games.
Things got a little wild when it came to the West, though. They agreed on just one of the four series: both fancy the Blackhawks, the co-favorites at +375 to win the West, to have enough to get past the Preds. That prediction looks a lot more solid with the news that the Blackhawks’ star forward Patrick Kane will be back healthy to start the playoffs.
TSN
SERIES
Scott Cullen
Habs-Sens
Habs in 7
Lightning-Red Wings
Lightning in 6
Rangers-Pens
Rangers in 6
Caps-Isles
Caps in 6
Blues-Wild
Blues in 7
Preds-Blackhawks
Blackhawks in 6
Ducks-Jets
Jets in 7
Canucks-Flames
Canucks in 6
Scott Cullen over on TSN went predominantly chalk with his picks. He saw seven of the eight first round series going to the favorites, but the lone upset he sees is a big one: he’s got the Winnepeg Jets bringing down the Anaheim Ducks, +750 favorites to win the Stanley Cup, in seven games.
The Ducks have home-ice throughout the West, and also swept the Jets 3-0 during the regular season. But Cullen sees the Jets’ depth on both sides of the ice as something that can give the Ducks a lot of problems. And don’t sleep on the hot goalie potential of Ondrej Pavelec, who is is 9-2-1 in his last 12 decisions.
Top Bet
SERIES
RESULT
Habs-Sens
Habs in 6
Lightning-Wings
Lightning in 6
Rangers-Pens
Rangers in 6
Caps-Isles
Caps in 7
Blues-Wild
Blues in 7
Preds-Blackhawks
Blackhawks in 7
Ducks-Jets
Ducks in 6
Canucks-Flames
Canucks in 6
Top Bet’s hockey expert doesn’t see much in the way of upsets in the first round, with all eight favorites making their way to the next round. However, he does think that none of those series will be a cakewalk. He has all eight series going at least six games, with the Caps, Blues and Blackhawks needing all seven games to make it to round two.
Stanley Cup
Now that we’ve seen which teams the experts see surviving, let’s check out the teams whom they think will be the last ones standing – and which one lifts the cup.
ESPN
EXPERT
FINAL
CHAMPION
Scott Burnside
Ducks-Caps
Ducks
Craig Crustance
Blackhawks-Caps
Blackhawks
Pierre LeBrun
Blackhawks-Rangers
Blackhawks
Barry Melrose
Blackhawks-Rangers
Blackhawks
Katie Strang
Blackhawks-Rangers
Blackhawks
Despite there being no premeditated effort to select these five specific experts, we’ve managed to find the ones that have some very similar point of view. Four of the five have the Blackhawks not only reaching the Stanley Cup, but all four also have them winning their third title in six years. LeBrun, Melrose and Strang were also in agreement that the New York Rangers would, for the second straight year, come away just short of the cup.
It should also be noted that two experts have the Washington Capitals (+1,600) coming out of the East. After all these years (and goals), will this finally be Alex Ovechkin’s time to shine in the playoffs? Ovechkin, the regular season leader with 53 goals, has never even made it to the conference finals in his glittering nine-year career.
TSN
EXPERT
FINAL
CHAMPION
Scott Cullen
Blues-Lightning
Blues
Cullen, though, is sensing that this will be St. Louis’ year, not Washington’s. After 48 years of existence and not a single a Stanley Cup appearance to show for it, Cullen has the Blues (+800) going all the way to lift the cup this year. Cullen likes the Blues’ mix of high-end talent, experience and depth in their squad heading into the postseason.
He sees goalie as their biggest weakness on the team – neither Jake Allen nor Brian Elliott has established himself as a true No. 1 – but even that isn’t enough to dissuade him from picking the Blues as the class of the West – and the league.
Top Bet
EXPERT
FINAL
CHAMPION
Top Bet
Blackhawks-Rangers
Blackhawks in 7
We may be way off here (which is quite often) but the Blackhawks have that faint whiff of a team of destiny. The fact that Patrick Kane was ahead of schedule and will play just in time for the playoffs helps a lot. He might not be able to reach the Conn Smythe-level play he’s more than capable of in this postseason, but just having him back will be a major boost.
It’ll be tough to see the Rangers fall just short yet again, especially after a tremendous regular season. But the Blackhawks look like the best team from top to bottom, and the best bet at +750 to lift the cup.
