They've lost a ton of points to 3-on-3 OT (4-5) and the shootout (0-7), which have no bearing in the playoffs, so their overall record is being undersold a bit. They also had some playoff success last year going to Game 7 of the Cup Final, relative to a lot of the other contenders (TBL, WSH, PIT, COL) people are talking about.
Points - 86 (1st)
Points % - .717 (1st)
Regulation wins - 33 (1st)
Regulation losses - 11 (1st)
GF/G - 3.32 (6th)
GA/G - 2.32 (1st)
PP% - 25.9% (2nd)
PK% - 84.2% (2nd)
5-on-5 GF% - 58.3% (3rd)
Tampa has an absolutely ridiculous team "on paper". Like - monster roster, one of the best teams in i don't know how long. So it makes sense that they were seen as favorites last year, and again this year. Testimony to how strong a roster they have.
Unlike Boston, Washington actually went all the way and won a cup recently. Pittsburgh - even better, they did it twice, back to back.
So to me - Boston is the least exciting/likely of the 4 to represent the east in the finals. But - it's by a very small margin, as all 4 teams are great, and all 4 have a good chance to go all the way.
Colorado? I dunno - I don't think any team in the West is really talked of as much as those 4 as a cup favorite - but since the West is more wide open, I guess Col gets talked of as a favorite.
Finally - the OT losses are pretty bad. It's kind of embarrassing. It's more about making fun of them for results, than it is about drawing any type of conclusions that will affect the team come playoff time though. Shootouts/3vs3 OT have no bearing on playoff matches.