2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Betting Preview

We couldn't let puck drop on the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs and not say anything!

The Overrated Experience is back and covers all 8 NHL playoff series.

Review Series and player props.

Enjoy!! 

00:00 Introduction to the Overrated Experience Podcast
00:59 NHL Playoffs Overview and Team Analysis
02:53 Betting Insights and Responsible Gambling
05:48 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers Series Breakdown
09:12 Dallas Stars vs. Minnesota Wild: Key Players and Predictions
12:07 Carolina Hurricanes vs. Ottawa Senators: Expectations and Health Concerns
16:50 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens: Rivalry and Predictions
20:49 Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins: Series Outlook
27:01 Vegas Golden Knights vs. Utah Mammoth: Series Predictions
30:56 NHL Expansion and Market Growth
32:52 Playoff Predictions: Edmonton Oilers vs. Anaheim Ducks
40:16 Colorado Avalanche vs. LA Kings: Analyzing the Odds
46:28 NHL Playoff Bracket and Format Discussion
51:15 Eastern Conference Predictions and Team Performances
54:51 Stanley Cup Predictions and Value Bets

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Transcript

Kyle Blondin (00:01)
Welcome to the overrated experience sports and sports spending podcast. I'm your host Kyle Blahn and back after a lengthy time off for the NHL playoff edition of the overrated experience for those who have joined the overrated experience before in our football coverage, our world baseball coverage. You'll know this is a ⁓ betting experience and a sports talk type podcast where we talk about ⁓ sports from the view of your view, the regular person kind of view.

There is no sharps on this podcast. is no, nobody breaking down advanced analytics. This is the podcast for you, the people. So welcome to the Rated Experience Sports and Sports Spreading podcast. You can, you can follow us on Twitter, aka X and overrated E X P E R two. That's overrated E X P E R two. All fall also follow us on Facebook and Instagram at overrated experience. And here we go. Welcome back once again.

We are ready to talk. could not hold off and not come back with a fury to talk about the NHL and the NHL playoffs. What we'll do and what you'll hear in this episode is a breakdown of each matchup. Maybe talk a little bit about those teams that did not make the playoffs, aka the Leafs, and maybe their future and what they need to do in the off season to turn things around or what they need to do or will do or predicted to do. Maybe that I don't agree with, but probably what will happen.

coming into next season. ⁓ Sports is going crazy right now. got the NBA playoffs. Raptors here in Toronto kick it off at one o'clock against the Cleveland Cavaliers. We obviously have Saturday morning English, German, Italian, Spanish, ⁓ soccer action, AKA football action. Of course, we got some bets on there. ⁓ It's going crazy. Baseball is in full swing. Toronto's coming off, obviously, a World Series appearance.

with a Blue Jays and so everything is going crazy when it comes to Blue Jays. It's just a wild time in the sports landscape, but I also want to kick it off and also remind us that sports betting, just like anything else, can spin out of control at any point. And in the recent surge of legalization of sports betting, it is important to promote that, look, I get caught up in it too, chasing, you chase and chase and chase.

Things will just not go your way. You won't get the corner kick on the parlay that you need. You won't get that goal that you need. Maybe there's no goals in a third period and you chase in that 10 o'clock game. I know it. I feel it. I live it too. But there's always tomorrow. There's always another day. You can always take a break. Circle back at some point when you can have a regular bankroll that is legitimate and you're not chasing and borrowing and going over your skis. I'm to use that term a lot here. You're over your skis on maybe making bad decisions financially.

That are steering you in the wrong direction. So safety first. I think we should promote that more but at the same time You know be okay with talking about how this is fun. This is great We all dream of being ⁓ able to pay some bills or pay out it pay a trip out of our winnings when it comes to sports gambling But ⁓ let's keep it cool. Let's keep it calm and let's move forward So the overrated experience is gonna look at the NHL and I hate putting these glasses on guys. I hate it. I want to

get rid of them, but don't get old. Hey, don't get old. And they don't have to put on reading glasses. I'm already wearing contacts and I got to put reading glasses on. It's ridiculous, man. Don't get old. That is my number one advice to you. So I'm to share my screen. I'm to take a look at what we're ⁓ going to be chasing here today. And that is the NHL. man, where's my screen? Where is my screen, boys? Let's go.

All right, let's share. Got my screen up and we're gonna talk NHL action. What you're notice here, I think is a change in what we're gonna be looking at in this year's playoff format. Sorry, not the format, but we have a lot of fresh faces here. A lot of fresh faces in the NHL that had not been in the playoffs before. We're gonna have a new Stanley Cup champion. The Florida Panthers are done, they're gone. They didn't do it, back-to-back champions.

three-time Stanley Cup appearance. They're out. Teams like the Buffalo Sabres who have not been in there forever are going to be, they're a division winner in the Atlantic and taking on the Bruins. You have teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins that were left for dead, that are now in the playoffs and will be taking on the Flyers. Thought Crosby was nuts for not taking the opportunity to get out of there. ⁓

that look for them to make a run and I'll make picks to the bracket a little later. Utah over from Arizona, second year in Utah will be taking on the Vegas Gold Knights. The Ducks, the up and coming Ducks are in the playoffs taking on the Oilers and ⁓ yeah, Colorado Avalanche will they make a run. They won the President's Trophy from start to finish, pretty much the dominant team in the NHL this year. And we'll break that series down against the Kings. So a lot to talk about.

and a lot to go through and we'll come back to that in a bit. first series we want to go through here is the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sid the Kid and company taking on the Philadelphia Flyers, Rick Talkets, Philadelphia Flyers came in, took over from Torts. It's funny how Torts, ⁓ John Tortorella, 7-0 with the Vegas Golden Knights leading into the playoffs.

The answer in Vegas and wasn't the answer to move this Flyers team closer to the playoffs like Rick Taukett was. So interesting perceptions on two teams, two organizations. It's the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers. Home ice advantage. FanDuel has them at a minus 152 favorite to win the series. Flyers plus 126. Now if you look at it, cup favorites plus 4,000 the Pittsburgh Penguins are.

This is a three time Stanley Cup champion with in the Sydney Crosby era and not giving much hope to be honest, plus 4,000. Flyers plus 6,000 to win the cup and raise Lord Stanley. Just can't envision the Travis Konecky and Trevor Zegritz lifting the Stanley Cup. Can you envision Pittsburgh? Just maybe, just maybe. So where do we go here? Who's gonna win this series? How long will it go?

I gotta believe that the Pittsburgh Penguins will eventually win this series. But it will be squeezed out to game seven. So if I look at a fan duel and I look at the exact games, I think this is a seven game series, so you have a plus 170. I too find that as being a value bet. Now, I will throw out there, DraftKings, for you props folks out there, you love your props, and I'll dive into some of those

DraftKings props gives a little more spice to the betting action if you like betting series props more options more value I Will give you some of those as well. So FanDuel DraftKings are the two sites We're working off what we're suggesting some plays. Don't mind me My left eye is on the Newcastle Bournemouth game. I'm a sports better So I'm gonna be looking at what's going on and I need a goal here 78 minutes in 1-1

one more goal to put into the cash window. ⁓ I digress. Pittsburgh, Philly, seven games, plus 170. Draft Kings, series most goals. I'm gonna put head to head. That's what I like. They have a lot of head to head matchups where one player's pitted against another, whether it be points, goals, and other items. So right now I have a matchup head to head.

Sydney Crosby, Travis Konecky of the Flyers, minus 120 when it comes to most goals in the series versus Travis Konecky. Minus 120 I like for Sid, that's a good value, about 100 bucks on that. You're getting a 90 plus dollar payout like that on DraftKings. Look at the series. If I'm thinking this series is gonna go seven games, there's no way that Sydney Crosby is not gonna have at least three or more goals in this series.

And you give me a plus 125 on that, I'll take it. So what we got here to wrap up this series, we have Sidney Crosby being a presence, an impact, and a difference maker to send the Pittsburgh Penguins into that second round. So as far as the bracket goes, consider the Penguins moving on. Now we move on and I got East, West, West, West, East, doesn't matter. We have a matchup of the Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild.

Now here's an alert. What to look out for and keep in mind. What player stands out for both teams as make or break if he's not playing or not playing at a high level, do you believe shifts the balance between the series? In me, Quinn Hughes, big time defenseman that the Minnesota Wild took out of Vancouver as their difference maker, as their franchise,

you know, making that franchise statement that Quinn Hughes is coming to Minnesota and he's going to take us to another level. I do believe that's the right decision. Quinn Hughes is the only defenseman to my opinion. The, you'd really think of Kale McCarr, Quinn Hughes. I'd still probably put Kale McCarr as the guy, but Quinn Hughes is not that far behind. So he's the difference maker. However, he's missed practices. He's missed, he's missed time.

And technically he's questionable heading into game one here on Saturday in Dallas. And my understanding is, I don't know if he's confirmed that he's landed in Dallas, but I know he didn't travel with the team and the expectation is that he is going to play. The expectation he's going to be on a flight to Dallas. Well, that's a flag to me. And. And now I'm thinking, is this more posturing on the wild side?

I mean, Minnesota Wild have been locked into this matchup with the Dallas Stars for quite a bit. So it's not like it's been down to the wire where Minnesota had to A, make the playoffs, two, get a better seed. They've been locked into this matchup with the Dallas Stars. So is there a bit of posturing here? Right? Is there a bit of posturing that our franchise defenseman, our difference maker, a guy we know

might get up to 25 to 30 minutes a night in a playoff matchup. All playoff long, not just this series. So is there posturing going on? And that this is more of a resting, that I want to make sure that I'm explaining that he has a health issue and it defined as an illness into this series. That's a flag, something to watch out for, but it might be on the other side where it's more resting versus anything detracting from Quinn Hughes' performance.

because he's big and where I'm looking at this series. He needs to be available and they're going to push him and push and push. So right now the Dallas Stars and FanDuel are minus 118 to win the series, minus 102 to actually for Minnesota to win the series. So Dallas is a slight favorite despite having home-vice advantage, not having a bigger advantage here on the betting side. Stanley Cop, plus 1100 for Dallas, plus 1600 for Minnesota.

Now this is where you look at Quinn Hughes, aka the Ottawa years with Eric Carlson, where he kind of dragged the Minnesota, sorry, he dragged the Ottawa Senators, an overtime goal from getting into the Stanley Cup final against Sid ⁓ Melkin, his Penguins, years back. That's the difference maker that Quinn Hughes can be. So I'm going to take Minnesota for the minimal upset here to move on beyond Dallas and take this series.

Quinn Hughes is going to be the horse that brings the Minnesota Vikings to the second round. I'm going to assume he's not ill. I don't care if he's poppin' Advil. Just do it Quinn. Get in that lineup. Make a difference and move beyond the Dallas Stars. So right now when it comes to a prop betting, didn't really take anything on the series. What I looked at is despite my thought Minnesota is going to be the

Minnesota's Bournemouth just scored, got me the win. That's what I needed. That's what I'm looking for. Wins. Okay, back to concentrate, Kyle. Concentrate. Here we have the Dallas Stars, I think will jump out to a series lead. So on draft kings, sorry, on fan duel, I'm gonna take the Dallas Jumps out to a 2-1 lead in this series. Splits at home, or takes the first two and Minnesota comes back, but wins that third game.

Plus 1.30, I'll take Dallas to jump out to that 2-1 lead. From a player perspective and player props, right now on FanDuel, Mikko Rantinen, where, and ⁓ this goes along with lot of playoff matchups here. You have to look at playoffs completely different, completely different than the regular season. If it wasn't, my hometown Leafs would have four Stanley Cups with Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, William E. Lander, and John Tavares.

They couldn't perform in the playoffs. Regular season, no problem. But we don't hand out Stanley Cups in the regular season. Mikko Rantinen is built for the playoffs. And for him not to have three goals in a series of probably is gonna go 6-7 is a crime. He has plus 300 to have at least three or more goals. Give me that all day in this series. Mikko Rantinen, he's gonna be, remember, they're gonna be loading up.

on those first two lines. Mikko Rantinen is going to be the guy for Dallas. He's the difference maker. He's the reason why they brought him in last year. Dallas Stars want to take that next step. They got rid of Pete DeBoer thinking that they needed a change.

It's not crazy to get rid of Pete DeBoer thinking they need a change to go to the next level. But the New York Islanders think, I'll fire Patrick Waugh with a few games to go and bring Pete DeBoer to direct the Islanders to a higher level. Let's recycle another coach. So I think that Ranton is great value, three goals in this series. And I look at DK DraftKings head to head. Wyatt Johnson at minus one 15 versus Quinton Hughes.

Minus 115 for most points in the series. Are you kidding me? I'll take, I know why Johnson's a solid player, but he's not gonna be the focal point. He's not gonna get the 30 minutes a night like Quinn Hughes will. And all those first and second assists that I expect Quinn Hughes to have, because Minnesota will be scoring, so give me Quinn Hughes all day, minus 115. Great value. That's a hunch. That's maybe 200 to put on

Quinn Hughes to head to head Wyatt Johnson. What else do I got here? then series shots on goal. Taking a flyer here. Mikko Rantinen plus 115 to have 15 or more shots on goal. Rantinen's gonna be loaded up guys. He's gonna be the guy.

He's going to be the horse that Dallas is going to rely on. He was a monster last year in that first round series and in that Dallas run last year. He's a monster. All right. He's going to be making a run and he's going to be the guy. So bank on it. You bank on that right now that Mico Ranton is going to have 20 plus shots, but all I need is 15. So don't blame me if he wants it was 17, 18, but he assures hell is going to get to 15.

I like Minnesota to take the series. like for them to move on. Quinn Hughes is going to even increase his stock in the eyes of the NHL community of a franchise defenseman. It happens here in this series. Minnesota moves on knocks off Dallas six or seven. Carolina, Ottawa, which is the series that kicks us off at three, two o'clock or three o'clock, whatever on Saturday. I don't see a lot of national attention on this series.

I don't think there's going to be a lot of hoopla. That's probably the one series that's going to be from a larger pitcher, not as popular. But we've got two good teams here. Carolina. What's Carolina? Carolina comes in once again. Expectations super high. Should steamroll the Ottawa Senators, despite the Senators coming in hot.

into the series. How's the health of Brady Kachuk? Should be available but you knocked up as he was coming into the end of the season. Wasn't playing. Is he available 100 %? We'll find out.

What questions will we hear from Carolina? I think that Carolina knocks off the Ottawa centers. Carolina is a minus 172, not much value there to take them in the series. Carolina is a plus 500 to win the Stanley Cup.

Guys, Carolina, what's different than last year? What's different than two years ago? At some point the goals dry up. At some point, Freddie Anderson goalkeeper for the Carolina Hurricanes becomes a problem. At some point, Rob Brindamore starts yanking Freddie Anderson. They lose the trust in him. Why is this year different? They may get through Ottawa, which I expect.

But why is the Carolina narrative any different than in years past? Again, I think they go through Ottawa. I think Ottawa takes us maybe five games. They're not going to keep up. Olmark, yeah, he played solid down the stretch, fine. But I Carolina maximizes their playoff success here in the series, fades away a little later. So Ottawa.

is a plus 142 to win the series. value there in my opinion. 1600 plus to win the Stanley Cup. don't envision Brady Chuck lifting Lord Stanley. you? I'll even take the series from FanDuel. 4-1 plus 4-30 Carolina. You know, Ottawa gets that charity game where they get that win. Nothing more, nothing less.

Playoff Series Goals, Seth Jarvis solid player, you know was an alternate came in, played for Team Canada at the Canadian Olympic team. He pops in at least three in this series. Plus 140, I think it's solid value.

But this series is all Carolina, despite Carolina's gonna fade away later. So not much to say there, Carolina moves on.

Series now Tampa Bay Montreal.

Could you say, well, I'm gonna first of all press, know, set the stage here that as a Leaf fan, I'm obliged to the Montreal Canadiens. I'm obliged to not want Montreal to win. I have no desire for the Montreal Canadiens to lift the Stanley Cup. I don't care that, you know, 30 plus years have gone by.

since the last Canadian team to win Stanley Cup. I don't know why people look at that as such a, if it's not the Leafs, who cares? Who cares? Do I want to see Montreal? 100 % no. Do I want to see Ottawa? 100 % no. But I don't even want to see Edmonton win it. I don't care if Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Vancouver. I want none of those. I have no desire to cheer for Edmonton harder because they're Canadian.

to win the Stanley Cup. It's the Leafs, it's the NHL. My Canada view, my Canada hat goes on during the Four Nations, the Olympics, and the soon to be World Cup of hockey. That's where it comes into. Even the World Championship that's gonna come up every year, the men's World Championship. Not in the Stanley Cup finals. Not in the NHL. Okay, that's not the way it should be.

No way. the way this series to me is going to play out, sorry I was going to go here and what I was going to say is you can't argue that the Montreal Canadiens are not the most exciting team in the NHL.

I don't think you can argue that the Bell Center is the best viewing experience when it comes to watching a playoff matchup, even a Tuesday matchup in the NHL. When the Canadians are rolling and the Bell Center is rocking, there is no rink like it. You got to respect that. So props to the Canadians. I hate you though. And you know what? When you start hearing and seeing

Habs fans talk then I get a cringe because I especially push back and really don't want to see them make a run. But unfortunately I do see them making a bit of a run here. Despite being a plus 210 to win this series over the heavily favorite Tampa Bay Lightning, their minus 260, Lightning is a

Plus 360 to win the cup. So they're up top. Much raw plus 3,500. Something's not selling me on the Lightning though. I mean, yeah, they rebounded. They got the horses, I guess. And with the Florida Panthers out of the picture, lot of people think they're gonna make the run. They're gonna be in the Stanley Cup Final. I don't see it.

I think there's flaws in this team and I think they had a great regular season, but this dynasty is going to crumble. I hate to say it, but the Montreal Canadiens are going to take this series. That Bell Center is going to be rocking. You know, all Montreal has to do is split in Tampa Bay and they come home and I think that they take over from there.

Tampa doesn't have that same juice. You know what I mean? The COVID series where really fans weren't a factor when Tampa knocked off Montreal. I know they were a factor, but it just wasn't the same. It's going to be different. And I think the lightning you're in for a surprise here. And I think they're false. I think they're frauds. The lightning go down, Montreal moves on. There's my take. I'm going to live with it.

And then when you look at the props, series goals, I think there's value when it looks like a fan duel. And Slavkovski, man, there's a guy that for the Montreal Canadiens that I think is real value. He's a peace player. He's a goal scorer. He's a big body that will grow and grow over the next few seasons to be more effective, especially in the playoffs. I say he has at least three goals in the series of plus 450.

Forfeit plus 150. There's the glasses situation. I didn't see the plus plus 150 sir for self koski To get three goals or more. He'll at least have a goal like a two-goal performance and pop one in in another game But you got the cold coffee caulfields and Nick Suzuki's are gonna be carrying this much your all-team Coffee, here's a value. Here's a value you want to put You want to put the chips in the table and put them in the middle cold caulfield

to have a hat trick in the series plus 650. Name a guy in this series that when things are rocking, things are rolling, things are rolling for the Montreal Canadiens, they might not have a game, might not have a career highlight, a moment. It's gonna be Cole Caulfield rocking in the Bell Center or grinding it out in Tampa and just has a game. Three goals from Cole Caulfield, a memory.

that will be instilled in Habs fans. Plus 650. Also, FanDuel. I'm taking a chance here, but Cole Caulfield, 50 goal scorer, because this series, I think he's going go six or seven. 20 or more shots. He's going to be lighting it up, guys. He's going to be rifling the puck on net. He knows that Vasilevsky is a top tier NHL goaltender, one of the best we've ever seen. Maybe the favorite to win the Vezna.

He's gonna be rocking, he's gonna be throwing that howitzer on net. He's gonna have 20 plus shots. Five, six shots is not out of the question in some of these games that we'll see against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Take the Canadians to move on. Take Cole Caulfield to have a series to be a focal point to be putting pucks on net and get the payout. Habs move on. Hate to say it, but they're gonna move on.

Alright, here's an interesting matchup. Old Norris Division, not old, Adams Division matchup. Buffalo Sabres taking on the Boston Bruins. Boston Bruins limping in, I'm say limping in, because we're used to the Bruins coming in at one or two or top seeds. Stanley Cup favorite, Brad Marshawn and know, Patrice Bergeron. That era's gone, but we do still have pasta.

David Pasternak is still there. What do the Buffalo Sabres have? They've had a great year. Are they coming into their own? Are they gonna make a run here? Do they have the horses? They're a minus 178 to win this series, Boston plus 146. Sabres plus 1900 to win the Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins plus 7500 to win the Stanley Cup. Do you envision that

The Sabres are going to be lifting the Stanley Cup. Buffalo is going to have a parade. I don't see it guys. I think you made a run. I think you've had a great season. But I think the Boston Bruins knock you off. I think the Stanley Cup Playoffs is going to be a bit overwhelming for you Sabres fans out there. I pasta is going to have a series. And I think a series is going to be the differentiator.

like that word, differentiator, to where the Boston Bruins move on and you just don't. right, pasta, four plus goals in this series, you're damn right. You're damn right. So that's kind of where I'll see it here, but I also throw in the Bruins are gonna have a two, one series lead. That's good value to me. It's plus 170. I see a split in Buffalo and game three with the Bruins win.

Plus 170. And then head to head on DK. Goals, Tage Thompson, who can put a puck in the back of the net. There's no question about that. Against Pasta, minus 150 in each guy. Give me Pasta all day. Let's add the carbs for Pasta. Knocks off Tage Thompson. Pasta makes it done. He's the differentiator in the series, as I said. Bruins move on. And I move on. Because we're to talk Vegas, Utah, Mammoth.

Head into Vegas, taking on the minus 1.88 to win the series Gold Knights plus 1.55 series for the Mammoth from Utah. The Gold Knights minus 1.1200 to win the cup and plus 3.300 for the Mammoth. I think the Gold Knights are undervalued not only in this series, I'm not going to take minus 1.8,

188 But 1200 to win the cup. I mean that's based on Aiden Hill Goal tending for the lightning or the what do you see in lightning? Gold Knights has been awful But I think with torts in there, which I don't think will last long term for as far as him Being a coach of the Gold Knights over he gets the exit in the door, but I do see the Gold Knights walking over the Mammoth either for one or four to

I like 4 410. So if you go on Fandual, I think there's value taking both. Gold Knights winning the series 4-1 at plus 410 or winning 4-2 at plus 420. You get your money plus, you know, double if you put a hundred on each or triple, whatever it is. Value there. Gold Knights win the series of Yeez. Mammoth have a nice little run.

like to see Utah. Utah is a great spot for the NHL by the way guys. The NHL is going to go middle class America. Utah is the world. Two more expansion teams I think you're probably, I mean they're probably going to go to Houston, Atlanta when it comes to adding a 34 team league. Atlanta they can't say no to. Third chance. They just love the corporate community there. But really the NHL is bread and butter.

I think is going to be, man, they would fit in Omaha and Nebraska or in Austin, Texas, or somewhere, you know, middle America, where you could see colleges being a part of the mix of, you know, filling the NHL coffers of players. But Utah is a fantastic spot. I bet you will hear in 10 years that the Utah Salt Lake City area, all over that area.

Being a hotbed for young players, local leagues, and just the ⁓ community is going to grow. Don't worry Canada, you're dying. Hockey wise, because you're catering to the upper class, to be honest with you. Ridiculous. But middle class America, maybe closer to the upper class where you got 300-400 million people, is going to thrive. The NHL is going to see an influx of American players from different parts.

where you've put in teams. So kudos to you, Gary Badman. You play out for him, that sucks. But your thought process on the long-term viability of the NHL in these markets, hey, you had something here. Good job. So when it comes to Vegas, they win, minus 188. Keep in mind, good value for Stanley Cup lifting. And I think that this team is loaded and ready to make a run. And their goaltending can't get worse than it was in the regular season. And remember, that's the regular season.

Aiden Hill is a Stanley Cup winning goaltender and was a factor a few seasons ago on the Vegas run to the Stanley Cup. And I think he will regain at least some of that form, which I think will be enough for the Vegas Golden Knights to make a run.

We move on. Edmonton Anaheim. Edmonton, again, like the Gold Knights, are plagued by goaltending questions. Plagued by maybe dry-ecidal, not being 100%. He should be back for the series against the Anaheim Ducks. After showing up to the cup final two times in a row,

I think the stock is down, at least from the public, for the Edmonton Oilers.

They're only a minus 240 to win this series. Wow. Talk about lack of respect. The Ducks have had a fantastic season under Joel Quenville. Their stock is up. They have the young talent. They started mixing in some veteran established talent with Chris Crider, which I think was a solid move. Carlson, John Carlson, Stanley Cup winning defenseman, veteran.

brought in from Washington, great value. Now, if you've watched this Ducks team, you see Cudder Goche, controversial, you know, I don't want to play for the Flyers, get me out of here. He quietly turns into a 40 goal scorer in the NHL, which is not easy to do. Value. You know, the Ducks took advantage of a situation, they grabbed a player, won it out, and capitalized. But as I've watched this Ducks team,

throughout the season. Their talent has brought them to this point. I don't think they have a shot against the Oilers. I think the Oilers steamrolled them. Either 4-1 or 4-2. Eileen on the 4-1 side. The Ducks are sloppy right now. They're sloppy. They're a sloppy team. You know, the times I've watched them not taking advantage of multiple, you know, power plays, two man advantages where

It's just a little sloppy. They don't go for the kill. They just don't know at this point how to keep an opponent down. How to eliminate, take advantage when you have leverage. They just can't knock an opponent out and they're sloppy.

Connor McDavid, Leon Dreisaitl will outscore the Ducks here. They will be just a bit better on the power play. They'll take advantage of the Ducks not taking advantage of their situations, their leverage situations, and they will knock off the Ducks. And the Ducks will be going into the off season looking at the blueprint and thinking, all right, we had a good season. We got into the playoffs.

Maybe we weren't as ready and prepared as we thought we were. And where do we go from here? We brought in Chris Kreider, we brought in John Carlson, but what other pieces do we need? Do we make the same mistake as the trauma beliefs where I hold onto a core a bit too long before changing a deck chair here and there? Or maybe a move here, maybe a move there, taking a chance of the unknown.

me allows us to take that next leap and take that next step we'll see but it's not going to be this year and it's not going to be in this series the Edmonton Oilers will knock off the ducks in maybe six games but I predict five so give me the Oilers at least a minus two and a half and FanDuel plus 240 what that means is that they're going to win by ⁓ three games in that series so I believe

They'll take the series four games to one or sweep it all out, I tend to think the four to one. So there's value at the plus 240.

Who's going to lead? Oh, and also a solid bet is who wins game one and also wins the series. Oilers are minus 110. Give me the Oilers all day to win the first game at home. Probably pummel the ducks and then minus 110 for the Oilers to carry out the series. I think there's value. That's a close to a lock in a series. I think there's going to be that you're to get a minus 110 bet.

at great value. From a props perspective, DraftKings, most goals in a series, I know Dreisettles back, but you give me Conor McDavid, plus 350, all day, all day, most goals in a series, plus 350, most points in a series, guess who I'm gonna take at a plus, minus even money, Conor McDavid, Art Ross trophy winning,

Former Conn Smythe, he performs, there's no question. He's one of the few players, superstar players, and that's why he's a superstar, that produces in the regular season at a high clip, at an elite level, and does the same in the playoffs. The Ducks are not gonna have the horses to shut him down like maybe a Florida Panthers would. Not happening. What are you on, quack? Get that? Like that corny joke?

There it is.

Head to head, Zach Hyman, is, we forget, he's a goal scorer, he's a playoff guy, and he makes a difference. Zach Hyman right now, I believe is undervalued heading into this playoff year and series. So head to head, Trevor Zegras, I'm not sorry, not Trevor Zegras, got traded to Philadelphia. Troy Terry, minus 135 versus Zach Hyman on points.

I'll take Zach Hyman all day. Value at plus 105. And here's a wacky one. Man, here is a chance to put a small little something on who will get a hat trick in the series. Zach Hyman plus 1100. You tell me that in this series that it's not gonna get out of hand in a few games. It's not gonna be a wild 6473.

8-3 game where Zach Hyman is just popping pucks in just outside the crease. Zach Hyman tips a couple home. Zach Hyman gets that third goal on an empty netter because the team is feeding Zach Hyman. That could happen. There's value there. Plus $1100 for Zach Hyman to walk away in the series with at least one hat-trick. That caught my attention. Does it catch yours? Oilers move on.

Colorado taking on the LA Kings. Minus 530 for the Colorado Avalanche to knock off the Kings in the series. Plus 390 for the Kings. Plus 340 for the Avalanche to win the cup. Plus 6,000 for the Kings.

This is what pisses me off actually, you know what I mean?

We've gotten to a point right now where books are so chicken shit and don't want to do good business in my opinion. If the LA Kings are plus 6,000 to win the Stanley Cup, mean the Colorado Avalanche are the Stanley Cup favorite by Longshot.

You tell me if this wasn't 10 years ago and we are in the same scenario where the LA Kings are coming into the series on the road, nobody in hell gives the Kings a shot to win this series. But wouldn't it be intriguing and gutsy of a sports book to give the Kings like a plus 1000 to win this series? If you saw plus 1000 plus 950,

Would you kinda like, maybe, just maybe, does Anze Kovatar in his last season make a run here? Do the Kings summon the ghosts of years past where they go on a Stanley Cup run as the eighth seed, come back from a 3-0 deficit against, I think it was the Vancouver Canucks at the time. Why would I bet the Kings in the plus 390? Where's the value in that?

You guys are such chicken shits, fan duels and draft kings of the world. Like, you're squeezing the public so bad. Like one time we have an upset where people get paid off. I get you have to cater to your stockholders and shit like that, but guys, if you haven't been in the game long and you're recently because...

You know sports betting has become legal and you just opened your FanDuel account in April for Canada here at least. know a few years back. Man you've missed out big time. You missed out on some of the fun. Yeah we had to go to a Western Union. Yeah we had to go buy a vanilla MasterCard and get those dirty looks when you've walked in three or four times to buy vanilla MasterCards.

and people are looking at you strange because they're thinking you're up to no good because why is this guy buying vanilla master cards multiple times a day? But man, you used to be able to go for an upset and when it paid off, you got paid. Most of the time you lost, but Jesus Christ, you have the story to tell, but man, is... Sorry, I'm going off on this, but the world has changed. You're getting squeezed. I know we're still in the racket and I got a podcast here talking about it, but...

I just look at this and the LA Kings should be ⁓ a much higher value than they are. They're not gonna win this series, don't get me wrong. Even if it was plus thousand, I don't know if I had put any dollars and cents on this. Colorado should walk through the Kings. And some of the value here to me are, yeah, Nathan McKinnon should have a hot series. That guy's a gamer, he's a superstar. He produces whether it be regular season.

or playoff, no question. Brock Nelson is a guy they brought in last year from the New York Islanders. But he's a value player. He's a value guy. He'll produce in the series. He'll score. So for me, plus 400, four goals from Brock Nelson, a goal here, a goal there, two goals here, one goal there, one goal there. There's value to me on FanDuel, taking Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche to perform

Score at least four goals in this series.

The series itself for FanDuel minus two and a half is not even offered. So I mean, I guess the big odds here that Colorado is going to take this most likely and maybe give charity to the Kings winning a game for one. Not even offering it for Christ's sake. Come on. Head to head, FanDuel, Martin H.S. minus 120 versus Panarin.

I know it's minus 120, but Panarin to me has not been the guy that the Kings thought he'd be. He has a producer, he's a point producer, and just the Kings are starving for that offense that they don't have. They can't produce on a consistent basis. And I know Terry Panarin was there, but this is where a teammate made a mistake that they're

You know, I need a goal scorer, need a difference maker. What's available? But what you need wasn't available. What you're gonna need, and I think it's overvalued, but I envision, if it's not this year, it's next, where Auston Matthews is gonna be. He's gonna be in LA. That's the kind of change that they need.

They need to make the Quinn Hughes move that the Minnesota Wild made. They need to make the Austin Matthews game-changing move or they're not going to move forward. They got good players. Quinn Bifield's a good player, he's not carrying the load offensively that the Kings need to go to that next level to compete with the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights. They don't have the firepower. They just don't. And that's why they won't have a chance to upset the Colorado Avalanche. They don't have a game-changing player.

on the back end or on its center that's going to make a difference and give them a shot here against Colorado. Just ain't not happening. Not on my watch. So we'll move on. Let's go to the bracket. All right. So I'm done with the game. I'm on with these teams.

Let's go to the bracket, share the screen, share my screen. Let's go to the windows. And let's go to the bracket here in the NHL, the locked in bracket. Everybody's screaming one to eight, by the way. Gary, you go online, you constantly get asked about the format.

Come on guys, overwhelmingly the public wants the 1-8. And if you really want to make it competitively fair, you want the 1-8, which the fans are screaming for. I don't know if there's a push like the NBA to have a playing series. Just give me the 1-8. And if you really want additional value on the regular season, the top seed should be able to play the low seed in

The playoffs that that's simply the way it's gotta be. Okay. I know the locked in bracket allows us to post the bracket allows you to put in the competitions, the fantasy and have it easier to follow along. But if competition and fairness and value in the regular season means anything, you got to allow the top and higher seed to play the lower seed. Take advantage. If.

Let's say the LA Kings do pull off the upset. Allow the, you know, the Vegas, or the Edmonton Oilers, sorry, the Vegas Gold Knights to then take on the LA Kings and make it mean something that they won their division and be in the second seed. Allow there to be an advantage. That puts more emphasis on the regular season, but I don't believe that's going to happen. The 1-8 idea is probably dying with Gary.

who delusionally talks about, think people like it. No you don't. There's other factors to why you want to keep it. But this delusion that you're talking about people like it, who? Who are these people? Not the paying public. Just stop with the stupid answer. I give you credit and props for envisioning some of the franchises and markets would allow explosion of hockey popularity.

in the United States, you've done that, but still give me that stupid treble and verbiage on why it's a good idea.

So I look at the bracket. What do I think is going to happen? Colorado moves on. went through this. Minnesota has the upset. Vegas Golden Knights knock off the Utah Mammoth. Edmonton Oilers quickly move beyond the Anaheim Ducks. Now Western Conference, where do we go from here? All right. Reputation Online.

upset city Minnesota Knocks off the Colorado Avalanche Quinn Hughes again Makes his mark in his career by advancing not only beyond the Dallas Stars But being the difference-maker head-to-head with Kale McCarr Allowing the Minnesota Wild to get past the Colorado Avalanche you're saying I'm Fine, but you and I know that we don't see it play out

in the NHL playoffs like we do in other sports, there is a lot of upsets and this outcome can very much happen. Edmonton Oilers Vegas Gold Knights. I think the Knights are going to make a run here guys. Average to good goaltending will be in the cards for the Gold Knights. They knock off the Oilers. Oilers just can't get it done. And the questions are out there. Does Connor want to stay at Edmonton?

I don't know, maybe he won't. Then we have a Minnesota, Vegas Gold Knights Western Conference Final. Finally, the Gold Knights put an end to this Minnesota Wild Run. Quinn Hughes has a strong series, but the Gold Knights get it done and they head off to the Stanley Cup Final. Now before we get to the final, we go to the Eastern Conference. The Buffalo Sabres.

lose to the Boston Brewers we talked about. Montreal upset against the Tampa Bay Lightning. And then we move on Carolina knocks off Ottawa. Pittsburgh moves on from Philadelphia. And now we got choices to make. Traditional Adams Division, Boston, Montreal.

The Old Forum vs. The Boston Garden.

Montreal gets it done. Montreal goes on the stupid runs that you don't think they're gonna make, they get on a roll, they get the goaltending, they get the big plays, the Bell Center's rockin', they knock off the Bruins in six. And then Carolina, Pittsburgh. Here's the questions about Freddie Aniston. Sidney Crosby and the Penguins knock off the Carolina Hurricanes in six or seven games. Carolina cannot get it done. Carolina has to reflect in the mirror, do we have

what it takes to move on, which you don't. And then we have a Montreal Pittsburgh Eastern Conference. The Eastern Conference final we didn't think we'd see. Does Montreal make that journey to the Stanley Cup finals? Nah. The kid has a story. We have a story in the NHL is about the Sydney Crosby run. Is this it for Sid?

Is this the last time we're going to see Sidney Crosby in the NHL? Is this it? Is this the last time we're going to see him in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform if he decides to move on?

It's going to be a story and that's going to be the story of this year's playoffs. The Pittsburgh Penguins knock off the Canadians, six, seven games. And then we go to a final. Vegas Gold Knights taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sorry Pittsburgh, this is where the story ends. The Vegas Gold Knights win the Stanley Cup. Jack Eichel makes a difference to me. Gold Knights win Stanley Cup.

There's your champion, two times Stanley Cup champions. Con Smythe we move into. Right now the odds are Nathan McKinnon plus 700, Nikita Kucherov plus 600, Conor McDavid plus 1900, Kale McCarr plus 2000, Vasilevskiy 2200, Sebastian Aho 2200, Seth Jarvis 2700, and I'm say the best value to me is Jack Geichel.

plus 4,000. I think he will be the difference maker this time around for the gold knights. But if you think the oilers are going to make a run, which could happen, I think the gold knights are the barrier between, to me, the Edmonton oilers making another run. So if they get past the gold knights, which I don't think they will, they go to the final. right? And Conor McDavid a plus 1900, there's value there.

So my value to me first is Jack Eichel, 4,000. McDavid, second, plus 1,900. There's my value there. So I like the Golden Knights to win this Stanley Cup, 2026 Cup. The Pittsburgh Penguins to make a run. Canadians to make a little bit of a run. Shocking two round losing conference final.

Minnesota to make a bit of a run knocking off the avalanche at some point here in the second round We got a lot of things going

You know what? I'm going to leave it there. I think we've talked a lot. I was going to dive into some of the teams that didn't make the playoffs, but we're going to focus on that. I'm going leave it there for the Stanley Cup playoffs. But when I said I was going to leave it there, I'm to circle back a bit and give you some plays for this first two days of NHL Stanley Cup Playoff action. To me, game one, Boston comes in good value to knock off the Sabres on Sunday plus 1.30.

Here's a parlay for, sorry, Sunday, let me circle back to Saturday. Ottawa, Carolina kicks us off at three o'clock, plus 112 for the under.

five and a half, I'm gonna give it plus 112.

under Minnesota wild minutes ⁓ Dallas stars over five and a half i think you'll squeeze out of four and a half four and ⁓ over five and a half here take the alternative night game Pittsburgh Philadelphia from six and a half to five and a half and you get a nice plus 178 payout so 100 bucks on both games there to go over five and a half pays you out of profit of 178 again going into Sunday take the Bruins

plus 130 Vegas, Edmonton, Moneyline, Vegas to win, Edmonton to win on Sunday plus 156 I see them both winning at home and then take I was gonna do Montreal Tampa I don't have a play there not in game one at least not in game one at least well that sets you up for a Sunday going back to Saturday and gives you plenty to think about plenty to chew on when it comes to the NHL playoffs

I'm sorry for putting this a little tight to the window of the final that, sorry, the Stanley Cup playoffs puck drops very soon, but the overrated experience has got you going, got you thinking, and got the value plays ringing around, and I wish you the best of luck. I'll try to get back here for more to get into maybe heading into the second round, or looking at games on the weekend as the first round continues, and maybe looking at an updated Con Smythe.

slash Stanley Cup odds. So here we go. Here we go. Good luck to you. The Over 8 Experience has, it's been a pleasure providing you this podcast, but the pleasure's more on your side of course. The Over 8 Experience is over. Let me get back to my screen here so I'll wave at you. Stop sharing.

So the overrated experience is over and out. Good luck.