Who’s pumped for the start of the 2023 NHL Playoffs?! In advance of The Islanders and Hurricanes kicking off the festivities at 7pm Monday night, I perused all available New York State sports book odds in search of first round values. Here’s what I came up with. Odds may have changed since posting.
Bruins (-320 best odds), Avalanche(-260), Hurricanes(-200) Parlay (+127 DraftKings)
In my opinion, Boston, Colorado and Carolina are the only unbeatable teams in the first round. But you’re not going to get better than -200 odds on any of them to with their individual series. So I parlayed them all to win on DraftKings for the best possible odds of +127.
Lightning over Leafs (+148 Caesar’s)
Toronto is favored on average at -160, with a range of -152 to -175. I just think Tampa is getting no respect here. Yes they are an older team, but they are the most experienced of the remaining squads. I’ll take the Lightning at +148.
Kings over Oilers (+225 Caesar’s)
Edmonton is strongly favored to win this series, with odds between -225 and -280. So no value taking them straight up. However, the Kings are extremely pesky and will not go down without a fight to their division rival. The Oilers may prevail in the series, but I give the Kings better than a fighter’s chance. At +225, they are a great value.
Devils over Rangers (-110 BetRivers)
This series features the biggest rivalry matchup, and as a result New Jersey is only favored by -126 at best. I found the best value at BetRivers at -110.
Wild over Stars (+126 Caesar’s)
Jets over Knights (+145 BetMGM)
These two series are toss ups in my opinion. Minnesota played hard near the end of the season and just got their top forward back in Kirill Kaprizov. He missed 13 games in March and April but scored his 40th goal in their second to last game of the season.
Vegas has been a surprisingly solid team ever since they joined the NHL in 2018. But the Jets have much better talent and should give the Golden Knights a run for their money.
Do you agree or disagree with these first round picks? Let me know in the comments!
AndyPicks 