Stanley Cup Playoffs start on April 19 with few value bets left ahead of first round

The NHL Playoffs are fast approaching and despite the first round not being set just yet we can already starting looking at bets for what we think will happen.

All season, we've been looking at future bets for the Stanley Cup final, conference, division and award winners. Starting next Saturday, we will finally get the first round for the best postseason in all of sports. 

It is under two weeks away but in the meantime we can start looking to find value in the early rounds now with predictions on who will go on a potential run and who will bow out early in disappointing fashion. 

All betting lines are from FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.

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Edmonton Oilers to Win 1+ Playoff Series (-156)

The Kings have been rolling this season with a 44-24-9 record, that has them slated to have home-ice for a first round matchup versus a familiar foe in Edmonton Oilers. 

The two teams have faced off numerous times in recent years with the Oilers prevailing in each of the last three years. However, things appear different for the defending Western Conference Champion with several key players out of the lineup as of like superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl as well as top pair defenceman Mattias Ekholm.

They will be rested and hopefully healthy heading into a matchup against a Kings team that appears very home-dependant. 

LA is tied with the Winnipeg Jets for the best home record in the NHL at 29-5-4 but this overshadows the Kings abysmal 15-19-5 road record. This places them 22nd in the league, behind the likes of the Flames, Canucks and Utah Hockey Club, who are all expected to miss the playoffs.

The Kings have one win in their last eight trips to Edmonton and this could prevent them from moving on to the second round, if they can't figure things out. 

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The Oilers have bona fide stars that carried them to a 7-6 road record last postseason. Because of this and the lack of star power for LA, I expect the Kings to struggle in at least one home game that Edmonton should be able to edge out and take the series. 

Toronto Maple Leafs to Win 1+ Playoff Series (-122)

Expecting that Toronto would get past the first round used to be a tall order but after years of troubleshooting and putting together a solid roster full of star talent mixed in with playoff-type players, this is their best chance to win in recent history. 

The amount of mythbusters being surpassed by this group is starting to create a feeling like the Leafs can finally do real damage. As they are currently on track to win their third division title in franchise history, they would be set up for a fiery Battle of Ontario versus the Ottawa Senators in the first round. 

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Facing off against the tenth-youngest team in the league should give Toronto a confidence-building series that as a franchise, they could really use. Compared to squaring off against battle-tested teams like the Panthers and Lightning early on can give the Buds some time to hopefully build momentum. 

Ottawa has downed the Toronto four straight times this season but playoff hockey is a different atmosphere with Toronto simply having far more experience. 

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This team has dealt with the heartbreak of multiple hard losses and will be more motivated to get the job done against a red hot Senators team that is due for a cool off. The confidence built during this round will play the biggest factor in how challenging the second round will be. 

Toronto Maple Leafs to Win 2+ Playoff Series (+310)

The current assumption is that the Battle of Florida will take place in the first round with the second-place Lightning battling the third-place Panthers. 

The biggest hope for the Maple Leafs is that this series would chip away at the health of the already beat up Florida Panthers, who have missed many key players lately in captain Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart.

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If the Cats can make it out of Tampa, it could be without one of their stars and this should bold well for the Leafs. 

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If the Bolts prevail, the Maple Leafs should enter with more confidence as they can say they beat Tampa Bay the last time they squared off in the playoffs plus beat them in three straight matchups this season.

A Toronto team making the conference Finals isn't out of the question so long as all the chips fall the right way for the Maple Leafs.