The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin on Saturday, April 18, with 16 teams vying for the greatest trophy in all of sports.
The first round will look a bit different this year, with the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers among the perennial contenders set to miss the postseason.
That has opened the door for other teams, like the Buffalo Sabres, who snapped the NHL’s longest playoff drought that spanned 14 years.
With all that in mind, let’s look at some of the matchups and make our best bets for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
All NHL odds used for these Stanley Cup Round 1 predictions are current as of Thursday, April 16, and courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Predictions
Hurricanes -1.5 Games (+120) vs Senators
The Carolina Hurricanes ran away with the Metropolitan Division, finishing 15 points ahead of the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins and racking up the most points (113) in the Eastern Conference.
In Round 1, they’ll take on an Ottawa Senators team that played in a much more competitive Atlantic Division and earned the East’s final wild-card spot with 99 points.
These two teams are on two different levels. Carolina is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender that has won at least one playoff series each of the last seven years. Ottawa only returned to the postseason last year following a seven-year absence and lost in six games to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Canes won two of the three regular-season meetings between these teams and have covered this series spread in Round 1 each of the past three seasons.
Back Rod Brind’Amour’s team to advance in six games or fewer as one of your best NHL bets today.
Stars vs Wild: Series to Go Seven Games (+210)
The Central Division showdown between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild will be the most highly anticipated matchup of the first round, and I expect it to deliver plenty of drama across seven games.
Dallas (-120) is a slight favorite over Minnesota (+100) in the series odds, which makes sense since these teams split the regular-season series 2-2, with the home team winning each game.
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The Stars are used to playing seven-game series in Round 1, having done so each of the previous two postseasons. Overall, they’ve played the full allotment of games at least once in each of their previous four postseason trips.
While it’s unfortunate that these two teams have to play each other, especially since they finished the season with more points than the Pacific Division champion Vegas Golden Knights, viewers will be in for a treat.
Golden Knights -1.5 Games (+115) vs Mammoth
This Western Conference first-round series is one of the most difficult to predict, but I’m backing the Golden Knights in six games or fewer at plus-money odds.
Vegas’ late-season decision to fire head coach Bruce Cassidy and replace him with John Tortorella has paid off so far, as the Golden Knights won seven of their final eight regular-season games.
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Vegas also has a sizable advantage when it comes to postseason experience, having qualified in seven of its eight seasons and advanced past Round 1 five times.
On the contrary, Utah will be making its first-ever playoff appearance, and many of its players who came from Arizona haven’t been on this stage in some time. I’ll go with the more experienced squad to get over the line.
