April brings one must-see playoff matchup after another in not only the NBA, but also the NHL.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway on Saturday night. Cup favorite Colorado took down the Stars in a 5-1 beatdown, while another contender, the Winnipeg Jets, also started the playoffs strong with a 5-3 win over the Blues.
As the odds below make clear, there’s no posteason in sports that’s more wide-open and unpredictable than hockey’s. Oddsmakers agree on the Nathan MacKinnon-led Avs being the favorites to raise the Stanley Cup trophy in June, but a number of teams are 10-to-1 or shorter.
And the fact that the “clear favorites” are available at as long as 6-to-1 tells you something, especially considering that the favorites in the NBA playoffs, the Thunder and Celtics, are both +200 or shorter.
2025 NHL Stanley Cup Odds
Below are the current odds to win the Stanley Cup at DraftKings and FanDuel.
The Panthers (2024), Knights (2023) and Avalanche (2022) were the last three teams to win it all, and the Oilers, Panthers and Lightning all reached the finals in that time period. The latter appeared in three straight Stanley Cup Finals from 2020-22, winning in both 2020 and 2021.
| DK | FD | |
| Avalanche | +600 | +500 |
| Panthers | +800 | +750 |
| Jets | +800 | +800 |
| Lightning | +900 | +1000 |
| Oilers | +900 | +1000 |
| Hurricanes | +900 | +650 |
| Golden Knights | +1000 | +900 |
| Maple Leafs | +1000 | +1400 |
| Capitals | +1100 | +1100 |
| Kings | +1800 | +1600 |
| Stars | +2000 | +2200 |
| Devils | +3000 | +3900 |
| Senators | +3500 | +3500 |
| Wild | +3500 | +3800 |
| Blues | +6000 | +8000 |
| Canadiens | +10000 | +7000 |
2025 Stanley Cup Analysis, Best Bets
Can Colorado Avalanche Win Stanley Cup?
The Avalanche look like worthy favorites on paper, even though they finished the regular season with 102 points, fewer than the Stars, Jets, Maple Leafs, Capitals, Golden Knights and Kings.
But Colorado has a tough path in the playoffs, starting with its first-round matchup against the Stars. Former Avs standout Mikko Rantanen is now in Dallas, which makes this matchup between two of the best teams in the league that much more interesting.
Based on Game 1, though, Colorado appears to have the upper hand in that series.
The Avalanche should win a series or two, but are they deep enough to win back-to-back Stanley Cups? Don’t rule it out, but in a wide-open field, there are better bets — with far more upside — than the favorites at 6-to-1.
2025 Stanley Cup Best Bet: Winnipeg Jets
- Best available odds: +800 at DK, FD
There’s a ton to like about Winnipeg, which finished the regular season with a league-best 116 points despite playing in a tough Central division alongside the Avalanche and Stars.
The Jets went 3-1 vs. the Avs and 3-1 vs. the Stars, which bodes well for a possible Western Conference playoff matchup against either squad. But the biggest reason to like Winnipeg (besides its outstanding play throughout the 82-game regular season) is goalie Connor Hellebuyck, though there is a caveat here.
The three-time All-Star and two-time Vezina Trophy winner is coming off arguably the best regular season of his career in Year 10, with an outstanding save percentage of .925 and league-best Goals Against Average (2.0), shutout (8) and Goals Saved Above Average (41.6) numbers, to name a few.
Hot goalies have taken otherwise average teams far in the playoffs plenty of times in the Stanley Cup, and Winnipeg showed during the regular season that it has few holes anywhere on the roster.
Hellebuyck, an outstanding regular-season player throughout his career, has struggled in the playoffs, though, especially last year. That is probably the biggest reason his team’s odds aren’t shorter entering this postseason.
But if this is the year his outstanding regular-season play carries over into the playoffs, Winnipeg will be a team no one wants to face over the next few weeks.
Another reason to like Winnipeg is its favorable first-round matchup. After last night’s 5-3 win over St. Louis, the Jets are -425 to advance, which makes sense given the Jets’ 3-1 regular-season record against the Blues this year.
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