With only the second Eastern Conference wild card spot still in doubt, the remaining postseason series have now been decided and operators have been quick to set lines for each.
On April 15, the NHL world witnessed the vast majority of postseason franchises clinch its ticket and final seeding for the 2024-2025 Playoffs, set to be one of the most hard-fought contests in some time. The Vegas Golden Knights found out it would be taking on the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Playoffs this season, while the Ottawa Senators were matched with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern conference.
For the second wild card spot in the conference, the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets are still fighting for the opportunity to take on the Washington Capitals in the first round of the postseason, which will be decided by the conclusion of April 17. On sportsbooks such as bet365, odds have already been listed for which teams are favored to advance to the second round, including for tight matchups such as the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, as well as the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers taking on its in-state rival in the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Beginning in the Western conference, the President’s Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets will face the St. Louis Blues, which went on a 12-game winning streak to clinch a postseason spot in the final weeks of the regular season. Winnipeg is listed as a -210 favorite on bet365, but the Jets have been known to fall flat during the Playoffs no matter how talented the roster may appear throughout the regular season. St. Louis won the Stanley Cup less than a decade ago, but has reinvented its roster to continue contending for championship glory in 2024-2025, standing as a +175 underdog to pull off the first round upset.
The series could feature an intense goaltending matchup, as Blues netminder Jordan Binnington has been known to elevate his form in the postseason, while Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck is the favorite to win this season’s Vezina Trophy award. If St. Louis can continue riding its hot streak into the postseason, Winnipeg will need to finally enhance its play from the regular season in order to counteract the confidence shown by the Blues for over a month now.
With the Golden Knights and Wild, Vegas has been an elite postseason team since its inaugural season during 2017, having won the Stanley Cup in 2022-2023 and reaching the Finals during its opening year against the Capitals. Minnesota has not found similar success, struggling to surpass the elite rosters of the Western conference despite holding immense talent of its own as well. At +190 compared to the Golden Knights’ odds of -230, it seems as if bet365 expects these trends to continue, but this could also be dependent on the health of Vegas forward Jack Eichel.
Eichel, the Golden Knights best player and one of the top standouts at the Four Nations Face-Off tournament in February, has missed the last number of games with what has been described as an upper-body injury. Assuming Vegas is just resting its franchise star in the hopes of additional recovery prior to the postseason, the squad should have no issue surpassing Minnesota in the first round, unless netminder Adin Hill’s play falls off a cliff once the series begins on April 19 or 20. With such favorable odds from bet365 - including the second-most favorable of any opening round matchup at time of writing - it seems fair to believe Vegas will advance to the second round on its quest to build a dynasty in Sin City.
Wrapping up the Western conference will be the Avalanche and Stars, with each having made significant moves at the trade deadline to improve its roster prior to what will be a highly competitive 2024-2025 postseason. Dallas traded for former Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen, who began the year in Colorado but was then sent to Carolina after failing to reach an extension with the Avalanche. Having met the same result with the Hurricanes as well, Rantanen was shipped to Dallas as part of Carolina’s best efforts to recoup value from the deal, originally sending off 83-point scorer Martin Necas for the Finnish winger’s services.
Now, Rantanen will have the chance to face his former club, including the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and the returning Gabriel Landeskog, who has missed the better part of three years with injury but made his miraculous return to action prior to the regular season concluding. Sportsbooks such as bet365 have actually shown more faith in Colorado to start despite the depth Dallas will feature throughout the series, listing the Avalanche with odds of -120 compared to the Stars at +100.
The difference is obviously miniscule, but getting plus-odds on a roster that includes Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Jake Oettinger, Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston is not a bad opportunity by any means for bettors. From when Rantanen was first acquired by the Stars, sportsbooks have shown a high level of confidence in Dallas to win the Stanley Cup, showcased by bet365 currently listing both franchises with the same odds to take home the title this season (+750).
Finally, the Edmonton Oilers will look to return to the NHL Finals following its 2023-2024 loss to the Panthers in seven games, having made a tremendous comeback after going down 3-0 to even reach a deciding matchup. The Oilers have been hit by the injury bug at the worst time, as stars Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Ekholm have all missed time with various ailments over the last month. Ekholm has already been ruled out for Edmonton’s first round series with the Los Angeles Kings, while McDavid and Draisaitl should be fine to compete in the challenging contest. Even with the injuries racking up for Edmonton, bet365 still shows a decent amount of faith in the team, placing the Oilers at -135 as compared to the Kings which are listed with odds of +115.
Significantly, Los Angeles has been one of, if not the, best team when playing at home across the entire NHL, and will claim home-ice advantage in the upcoming series with Edmonton. If the Kings can use the familiarity of playing at home to compile four victories in seven games, the +115 odds will appear as a genius play for any bettor willing to wager against McDavid, who may stand as the most motivated hockey player heading into this postseason. Having won the Conn Smythe award for performing as the best player throughout last season’s Playoffs despite failing to take home the Stanley Cup, it would be easy to see McDavid using the memory of hearing his name called during the Panthers’ celebration to boost his performance to an all-time level this year.
