Who is the Stanley Cup favourite?

[Nadal On Clay]

1) Tampa
2) Nashville
3) Washington

Boston have a great team, but I don’t expect them to go far in the playoffs.

 

[Andy6]

Amazing how little attention is being paid to the Golden Knights. It’s as though people just don’t want the natural order of things to be disturbed THAT much, so they’re ignoring the possibility in hopes it will just go away.

 

[Bronson]

Boston.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Totally agree, Bruins doesnt have it in them..Oh wait, their core has already won one. How interesting.

Leafs with the second highest odds in the east...lmaooo

 

[shtorm2005]

1) Tampa
2) Nashville
3) Washington

Why you take Caps over Pens in your list?

 

[Rob Brown]

Leafs with the second highest odds in the east...lmaooo

Did he say anything about odds? It's just the opinion of one person, no need to get so upset about it.

Nashville/Pittsburgh for me.

 

[BruinLVGA]

Boston is clear favorite. There's no way they could lose.

An anti anti-jinx won't work.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

Why you take Caps over Pens in your list?

Because I’m not confident about the team this year. Hope to be wrong though

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Because I’m not confident about the team this year. Hope to be wrong though

You also have good company. McCurdy has had the Caps as the favorites (albeit currently at only 14% chance, so 86% chance it is someone else) pretty much since he started updating these odds daily about a month ago.

 

[shtorm2005]

Because I’m not confident about the team this year. Hope to be wrong though

Was Brassard a downgrade to your team? Meanwhile caps are weaker than last year. I think in this matchup, Pens will be heavy favorites.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Was Brassard a downgrade to your team? Meanwhile caps are weaker than last year. I think in this matchup, Pens will be heavy favorites.

a.) The Pens defense and goaltending has been considerably worse all season long and lacks the depth of last year.
b.) The fact that people just assume a Caps collapse at this point may be exactly what Washington needs to get over this mental-block of theirs.

Nobody is anything but confident about the Penguins ability to score goals...but keeping them out is a very real concern right now. There's nothing I want to see more than a playoffs full of 5-4 games, but that's generally not how this goes.

If I were a betting man my money would go -
1. Nashville
2. Boston
3. Tampa/Pitt

Pittsburgh has to be considered a favorite because, you know, defending champs and all, they know how to win...but that defense and that goaltending does not scream unstoppable. There's not much that could happen in these playoffs that would legitimately surprise me, it's a whole new ballgame.

 

[shtorm2005]

a.) The Pens defense and goaltending has been considerably worse all season long.
b.) The fact that people just assume a Caps collapse at this point may be exactly what Washington needs to get over this mental-block of theirs when it comes to playing Pittsburgh in the playoffs.

Nobody is anything but confident about the Penguins ability to score goals...but keeping them out is a very real concern right now.

Plus Brassard is hurt and nobody is sure how much that'll affect his game once he returns (presumably Game 1).

I watched some Pens games and I had impression that they don't play full force. There were stretches , when they dominated opposition team like it was bunch of AHLers. Pretty sure they will show that kind of hockey. Probably first round will show who's favorite between Pens and Caps.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I watched some Pens games and I had impression that they don't play full force. There were stretches , when they dominated opposition team like it was bunch of AHLers. Pretty sure they will show that kind of hockey. Probably first round will show who's favorite between Pens and Caps.

Depending on what shift I've seen last I could easily see this team flaming out in the first round or winning a third consecutive Cup. Nothing the Pens can do can surprise me anymore, and that's both a positive and a negative.

...that said, as a fan it feels like we're playing with house money. Complacency is a concern, though not one I necessarily have with any particular player.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

Was Brassard a downgrade to your team? Meanwhile caps are weaker than last year. I think in this matchup, Pens will be heavy favorites.

Brassard sure is a plus, but our defense is far from what it was in the last playoffs.. Murray is shaky too this season.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Brassard sure is a plus, but our defense is far from what it was in the last playoffs.. Murray is shaky too this season.

I didnt think their D was all that great in last years playoffs. Their goalies stepped up when they need them to though. I think one thing Pitt has going for them is they easily have the best offense in the league. When they are on, they just overwhelm teams offensively and its amazing to watch. Especially now with the addition of Brassard to that team, wow they can do that again. If Murray is focused in the playoffs it could be tough for teams to beat them again.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

I didnt think their D was all that great in last years playoffs. Their goalies stepped up when they need them to though. I think one thing Pitt has going for them is they easily have the best offense in the league. When they are on, they just overwhelm teams offensively and its amazing to watch. Especially now with the addition of Brassard to that team, wow they can do that again. If Murray is focused in the playoffs it could be tough for teams to beat them again.

I do agree with you, but there is a lot of ifs with the team. We could dig our path all through all the teams and win a 3rd straight cup, just like we could be bumped in 4 games in the 1st round.

 

[Heldig]

My top 3
Penguins (really hope not though)
Predators
Bruins

 

[Team Cozens]

Jets

 

[Hank Plank]

Pens have shaky goaltending and are iffy on defense pretty much the kiss of death in the playoffs. Both aspects will have to suddenly improve if they plan on defending their Cup.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Did he say anything about odds? It's just the opinion of one person, no need to get so upset about it.

Nashville/Pittsburgh for me.

You may want to work on your reading comprehension if you somehow got that I was upset from that post.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Not sure why people are acting like Tampa isn't a 110+ pt team. Just the goaltending? Not like many of the other playoff teams in the East don't have that same question.

 

[Hunter368]

My top 3
Penguins (really hope not though)
Predators
Bruins

That’s my top three also.....Preds are the best in the nhl

 

[DrJustice]

Tampa/Nashville

Bolts seemed to have gotten their offensive groove back at the right time, Nashville is super deep and looking for redemption after last year.

 

[MattMartin]

Caps or Pens









Everyone else.

 

[Miri]

One of the teams wearing yellow/gold.