NHL Playoffs 2025 Odds, Hot Takes, Top Storylines Entering Postseason Bracket

The NHL postseason certainly doesn't lack juicy storylines.

The first round features two matchups of teams from the same state or province, one rivalry renewed for the fourth year in a row and a star player facing his former team.

The latter of those matchups, which is Mikko Rantanen and the Dallas Stars' meeting with the Colorado Avalanche should be the most intense series. Both teams are capable of winning the Stanley Cup, but only one will advance to play either the Winnipeg Jets or St. Louis Blues.

Other teams, like the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes, could cruise through the opening round and preserve some energy for the later rounds.

Perhaps the most dangerous team, though, is the Vegas Golden Knights, who seem poised for yet another deep postseason run led by Jack Eichel.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Florida (+800; bet $100 to win $800)

Colorado (+800)

Tampa Bay (+900)

Edmonton (+900)

Dallas (+900)

Carolina (+900)

Vegas (+1000)

Winnipeg (+1000)

Washington (+1100)

Toronto (+1100)

Los Angeles (+1800)

New Jersey (+3000)

Ottawa (+3500)

Minnesota (+3500)

St. Louis (+4000)

Montreal (+10000)

First Round Rivalries

A handful of rivalries will take center stage in the first round.

The battle for Florida between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning and the battle of Ontario between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators take place in the Eastern Conference.

Over in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers face each other for the fourth year in a row in the postseason.

And then Mikko Rantanen faces the team that traded him away midseason in the Dallas-Colorado showdown.

Every postseason series will be played at a heightened intensity, but these four matchups should provide more fireworks than a usual opening-round best-of-seven.

Can Florida Repeat?

Florida is the co-favorite along with Colorado to win the Stanley Cup.

The Panthers have a difficult road to just get to the Eastern Conference Final with Tampa Bay and Toronto on their side of the bracket.

However, the Panthers will get Matthew Tkachuk back for the postseason and they won two of the three regular-season meetings with Tampa Bay at full strength.

Florida also picked up three regular-season wins over Toronto, who it would likely face in the second round.

It's a challenging path, but Florida is one of the deepest teams in the NHL and it has the postseason success from last year and the regular-season wins over its Atlantic Division opponents to draw confidence from.

Vegas Emerges From West

Vegas put together a 110-point season amid all the chaos and drama in the Western Conference.

Jack Eichel and Co. are proven winners in the postseason and have an easier path than others to the Stanley Cup Final.

Vegas should defeat the Minnesota Wild in the opening round. It'll get either Edmonton or Los Angeles off a grueling series in the second round.

Even if the West goes to chalk, Vegas has a slight edge over the Winnipeg Jets because Winnipeg has yet to prove it can win consistently in the postseason.

At +1000, the Golden Knights might be the best bet you can make the win the Cup out of the West.

Ovechkin, Capitals Make Run In East

Washington earned the most points in the Eastern Conference.

While Florida is the reigning champion, Toronto has some of the best top-end talent and Carolina is defensively sound, the Capitals seem poised to go on a deep run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Alex Ovechkin is scoring goals at will, there's plenty of veteran leadership with Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and John Carlson among others and the young core took a massive step forward in the regular season.

Washington will have home-ice advantage through the East playoffs. It went 26-9-6 in the nation's capital.

If Washington continues its play from the regular season, it will be hard to stop and it could give Ovechkin a shot at his second Stanley Cup in his record-breaking season.

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