The Colorado Avalanche, out to end the miserable postseason history for Presidents' Trophy winners, are the unanimous favorite to lift the Stanley Cup with the playoffs about to start.
The regular season concluded Thursday night, and the final two first-round playoff matchups were confirmed.
The Edmonton Oilers routed the Vancouver Canucks 6-1 and claimed second place in the Pacific Division, setting up a best-of-seven series against the Pacific's third-place team, the Anaheim Ducks. The Kings fell
3-1 to the Calgary Flames and slipped into the Western Conference's second wild-card slot. Los Angeles will open against the NHL-leading Avalanche on Sunday in Denver.
The other six series were already confirmed before Thursday.
In the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars will have home-ice advantage on the Minnesota Wild, and the Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights will oppose the wild-card Utah Mammoth.
The Eastern Conference matchups are headed by the Metropolitan Division champion Carolina Hurricanes facing the wild-card Ottawa Senators and the Atlanta Division champion Buffalo Sabres meeting the wild-card Boston Bruins.
In an Atlantic Division matchup, the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning will oppose the Montreal Canadiens, while the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins will skate against the third-place Philadelphia Flyers in a Metropolitan Division clash.
Oddsmakers like the Avalanche's chances of going all the way, with Colorado listed at +300 by both DraftKings and BetMGM and at +320 by FanDuel.
The winner of the Presidents' Trophy, given to the NHL team with the most regular-season points, hasn't won the Stanley Cup since the Chicago Blackhawks accomplished the feat in 2012-13. Since then, 10 of the 12 Presidents' Trophy recipients bombed out of the postseason in the first or second round, with just the New York Rangers (in 2014-15 and 2023-24) advancing to the conference finals.
The Hurricanes and Lightning are next among the Cup favorites. Carolina has +475 odds at DraftKings and +500 at both BetMGM and FanDuel. Tampa Bay is +390 at FanDuel and +500 at both DraftKings and BetMGM.
All other teams have odds of at least +1000, generally headed by the Stars, Golden Knights and Oilers.
The biggest longshots are the Kings, Flyers and Ducks, all at least +5000 at each book.
--Field Level Media
