2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Preview

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

You don’t have to spend a fraction of a second convincing a die-hard hockey fan that the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most exciting postseason in all of sports. Casuals are also hooked by the ice drama that transpires each spring, as even Charles Barkley—the preeminent NBA analyst—proclaims that the NHL postseason is easily the best.

The unpredictability of hockey is the biggest reason for its status as the most thrilling, as upsets are commonplace.

With the field now set, we’ll dish out a betting preview for this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs below.

**Eastern Conference
A1 Buffalo Sabres vs. WC1 Boston Bruins**The Sabres are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 15 years, so KeyBank Center will be an absolute zoo when this series against the Bruins kicks off on Sunday night. Regardless of how amped the Buffalo crowd is, though, this will not be a walk in the park for the Sabres. Boston won the season series with Buffalo this season, 3-1, and the B’s have the top offensive player in the series in David Pastrnak, who tallied 100 points this season, tied for seventh-best in the NHL.

COMPLEX SHOP: Shop the brands you love, anytime and anywhere. Uncover what's next. Buy. Collect. Obsess.

Both teams have top-notch goaltenders in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (.909 save percentage) and Jeremy Swayman (.907 save percentage).

The Sabres went 50-23-9 (109 points) this season, while Boston went 45-27-10 (100 points).

Buffalo is favored to win the series at Fanatics Sportsbook, owning a -175 price.

**A2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3 Montreal Canadiens**The Lightning are favored to win this series as they have a -260 price at Fanatics Sportsbook.

Tampa Bay is far from a lock, though, as the Canadiens won the season series, 2-1-1, and Montreal took the last two meetings. The Habs went into Tampa Bay and won 4-1 on March 31, and then beat the Lightning 2-1 at home on April 9.

Both teams have no problem putting the puck in the net as both finished top 10 in Goals For per Game.

Tampa Bay does have the advantage between the pipes, with Andrei Vasilevskiy shooting for a second Conn Smyth Trophy.

Fanatics lists the Lightning winning this series 4-1 as the most likely outcome.

**M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC2 Ottawa Senators**The Hurricanes won the season series over the Senators, 2-1 with the one Ottawa victory on April 5, when Carolina rested stars Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook.

Carolina is just a -170 series favorite at Fanatics Sportsbook despite owning a much better record. The Hurricanes finished with the top mark in the Eastern Conference at 53-22-7. Ottawa went 44-27-11 in the regular season.

The Sens were one of the top teams in the NHL in the second half of the season, however, and they finished the campaign strong with a 15-8 record after March 1.

Carolina, on paper, has the goaltending advantage as Ottawa finished the season with the second-worst save percentage in the NHL at .882.

The most likely series outcome at Fanatics is the Hurricanes winning in seven games (+360).

**M2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. A3 Philadelphia Flyers**The “Battle of Pennsylvania” will feature a veteran-laden Penguins squad going up against a youthful Flyers bunch. The teams split the season series, 2-2, with Philly taking the most recent affair by a score of 4-3 (shootout). Pittsburgh was without Sidney Crosby, who was nursing a lower-body injury at the time.

Crosby is once again the Penguins’ leading scorer with 29 goals and 45 assists on the season. Travis Konecny led the Flyers offensively this season with 27 goals and 41 assists.

Pittsburgh and Philly finished with identical .891 save percentages this season, which ranked in the bottom half of the NHL. Flyers netminder Dan Vladar finished the season strong, though, with a .912 save percentage after the Olympic break.

The Penguins went 41-25-16 (98 points) this season, while the Flyers went 43-27-12 (98 points).

Pittsburgh is -145 to win the series at Fanatics Sportsbook, and the most likely outcome is Penguins in seven (+360).

**Western Conference
C1 Colorado Avalanche vs. WC2 LA Kings**Expectations are sky high in the Mile High city as the Avalanche won the Presidents’ Trophy with the best regular season record in the NHL.

Avs fans know full well, though, that winning the Presidents’ Trophy does not always translate to Playoff success. The 2020-21 Avalanche posted the best regular season record but were upended in the second round of the playoffs by the Vegas Golden Knights. In fact, no team that has won the Presidents’ Trophy has also gone on to win the Stanley Cup since the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks accomplished the feat.

The Kings have more than a puncher’s chance in this series against the Avs. LA traded for Artemi Panarin earlier this season, and they went on a five-game win streak from April 4 to April 13.

Colorado is -450 to win the series at Fanatics Sportsbook, with the most likely outcome being a 4-1 series win for the Avs.

**C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Minnesota Wild**Dallas owns the home ice advantage here thanks, in large part, to a 5-4 win over the Wild on April 9. The two teams already knew they would face off with one another come playoff time, and the game featured a playoff-level intensity. The showdown included 16 minor penalties (12 for roughing).

The teams split the season series.

Dallas is led offensively by Jason Robertson (45 goals, 51 assists) while Kirill Kaprizov (45 goals, 44 assists) has powered the Wild.

Both the Wild and Stars have received strong play in goal this season as Minnesota has a team save percentage of .908 (second in the NHL), and Dallas has a save percentage of .902 (T-8 in NHL).

Dallas is a narrow -125 favorite in this series. Fanatics has the most likely series outcome as Stars in seven (+425).

**P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Utah Mammoth**The Mammoth took the season series against the Golden Knights, 2-1, although two of those games came way back in November. Utah took the most recent game, on March 19, earning a 4-0 victory. Clayton Keller netted a pair of goals in the win for the Mammoth.

That was one of the final games coached by Bruce Cassidy as the Vegas head man, as he was relieved of his duties by the Vegas front office on March 29. The fiery John Tortorella now resides on the Vegas bench and the early returns have been phenomenal. The Knights ended the regular season on a 7-0-1 run under Tortorella’s watch.

The Mammoth have had mixed results over the past few weeks as they posted a five-game win streak March 28 to April 9, but then dropped two of their last three.

Vegas is a -190 favorite in the series at Fanatics Sportsbook. The most likely result is a 4-3 Golden Knights series win as it has +360 odds.

**P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. Anaheim Ducks**The Oilers will need their supporting cast to step up if they hope to dump the Ducks. Connor McDavid, who finished first in the NHL with 138 points, is good to go against Anaheim, but Leon Draisaitl’s status remains unclear as he is nursing a lower-body injury.

The Oilers took the season series from the Ducks, 2-1, including the most recent outing. Edmonton beat the Ducks 4-2 on March 28, with McDavid, Jack Roslovic, Matt Savoie, and Zach Hyman each lighting the lamp.

Edmonton and Anaheim rank near the bottom of the NHL in save percentage, as they both have a .883 mark.

The Ducks are led offensively by Cutter Gauthier (41 goals).

Anaheim comes into the series limping, having lost eight of its last 10 games.

The Oilers are -215 to win the series at Fanatics Sportsbook.

Related News

Masters Betting Odds for Longshots Sam Burns, Ben Griffin, Kurt Kitayama

NBA Playoffs Odds: Sorting Out the Eastern Conference Playoff Picture

COMPLEX SHOP: Shop the brands you love, anytime and anywhere. Uncover what's next. Buy. Collect. Obsess.

Making Culture Pop. Find the latest entertainment news and the best in music, pop culture, sneakers, style and original shows.