2016 NHL Stanley Cup Champion Expert Picks and Predictions

We’ve finally reached this exhilarating point of the year. The 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs will officially commence this coming Wednesday, and there’s really no telling which of the 16 participating teams will come out on top at the end of it all. But right now, the President’s Trophy winner—the Washington Capitals—are the clear favorites at +400  to win the cup.

Still, anything can happen and no team is safe from the competition. That said, you can check out below as to who the hockey experts think will be this year’s Stanley Cup champion.

For more about the NHL playoffs, click here for our detailed preview for Game 1 of the first-round series between the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.

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2016 NHL Stanley Cup Expert Picks

Bleacher Report

Expert | Prediction
Adrian Dater | Los Angeles Kings

Adrian Dater of Bleacher Report confidently believes that the Los Angeles Kings are built to win it all.

Dater states that this team has all the necessary ingredients to succeed in doing so. The Kings have top-tier talents in goalkeeper Jonathan Quick, as well as No. 1 center Anze Kopitar and No. 1 defenseman Drew Doughty, who can leave many opponents scratching their heads.

Quick, in particular, should prove to deliver the biggest impact. He knows what it takes to get it done at this time of the year and his postseason stats can attest to this. Quick is 45-31-0 with a GAA of 2.22 and an even more impressive save percentage of .923 across 76 playoff career games. By the way, he’s also a two-time Stanley Cup champion.

Lastly, Dater points out that the Kings’ mastery of puck possession is arguably their strongest asset. They led the league in this department (56.4 Corsi percentage) during the regular season.

TSN

Expert | Prediction
Scott Cullen | Pittsburgh Penguins

Meanwhile, Scott Cullen of TSN thinks that the Pittsburgh Penguins are the ones bringing home the Stanley Cup this year. They haven’t hoisted the trophy since 2009, and that drought is going to end with arguably the league’s No. 1 player in Sidney Crosby leading the way.

At the beginning of the regular season, though, Crosby got off to a relatively rough start, which made many people question if his prime has reached its end. But those doubters were quickly silenced when the Penguins replaced head coach Mike Johnston with Mike Sullivan in December.

Crosby, who only notched six goals and 19 points in his first 28 games, quickly got his groove back and went nuts with 66 points throughout 52 games in Sullivan’s guidance. Pittsburgh also finished 33-16-15 under their new coach.

Also, making the Penguins a little bit more intriguing is the gradual rise of defenseman Kris Letang. He’s deservingly part of the Norris Trophy conversation after having his best regular-season performance. Letang accumulated 67 points (16 goals, 51 helpers) and is fourth in the NHL in average ice time with nearly 27 minutes of action.

Top Bet

Expert | Prediction
Top Bet | Washington Capitals

Over here at Top Bet, our hockey geniuses couldn’t resist the temptation of going with the obvious and aforementioned favorites—the Washington Capitals.

Well, it’s hard to blame them especially when this Capitals team dominated the regular season with a league-best 120 points. The Caps even have scoring extraordinaire Alex Ovechkin, who boasts an NHL-high of 50 goals, to lead their loaded offense.

Besides Ovechkin, they also have elite playmakers down the middle in the pair of Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsove, who provides Washington such a dynamic 1-2 center punch. And there’s also the playoff-tested and always-reliable Braden Holtby, who’s likely going to be at least a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.

Create a betting account now and raise your own cup by winning huge on the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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