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It’s that time once again, the greatest time of the year for all hockey fans: the first round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is about to begin. Will the powerhouse Eastern Conference produce this season’s champion? Or will the relatively weaker Western Conference allow the cream of that crop a simpler pathway to glory?

Last year’s Stanley Cup champions appear primed for another run, but with Cale Makar’s status questionable, Gabriel Landeskog out for the year, and the hits they took losing Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky, they aren’t quite the powerhouse they were last season. That doesn’t mean they can’t win, but I don’t think their path to win is as simple as it was last year, as they were the most dominant cup winner in years. The Avalanche remain one of the top two contenders from the West, in my opinion, but they’re not the best bet.

Out East, the Bruins lead a stacked group of elite teams with the best regular season in NHL history, both in terms of wins and standings points. Putting that together in the salary cap era is quite the feat, but are the Bruins, who have a relatively old roster, especially down the middle, going to be able to make it out of the Eastern Conference gauntlet?

Here are the two best bets to win the Stanley Cup in 2023 with the playoffs set to begin, followed by the best value pick.

Edmonton Oilers 

Get in Connor McDavid’s way at your own risk. After putting up the best offensive season in decades, McDavid looks primed to conquer the world all on his own, but for the first time in his career, he’s not really alone. For most of McDavid’s career in Edmonton, while he’s been off the ice the Oilers have been woefully outscored, vacillating between controlling 35 to 41 per cent of the goals.

That started to change after the Oilers brought in Jay Woodcroft as head coach, bumping the team up to 46.7 per cent last season, but the additions Ken Holland has made to the roster like Mattias Ekholm have helped move the needle to where the Oilers are controlling nearly 55 per cent of the goals when McDavid isn’t on the ice. That's an elite team, even without the best player in the world.

Make no mistake due to regular season standings points, the Edmonton Oilers are the team to beat this year.

New Jersey Devils 

One of the biggest improvements season-over-season in NHL history, the Devils didn’t seem to get much love as the regular season wound down, but they finished the year first in the entire NHL in expected goals for percentage at 5-vs-5 over the final 25 games of the regular season, which is one of the best indicators of playoff performance that we have.

Controlling expected goals at a nearly 60 per cent rate for a 25-game period is impressive enough, but they also finished tops in the league over the last 25 games in expected goals for percentage in all situations, over 60 per cent, while controlling nearly 62 per cent of the high danger chances, also the best margin in the league.

They’re a little bit slept on due to lack of playoff experience, but don’t write this dynamic Devils team off, they’re going to be a tough out for any opponent.

Value Pick: Florida Panthers 

Facing the best regular season team in the salary cap era, maybe in NHL history, the Florida Panthers are in a tough spot to start these playoffs, but over the last 25 games of the season, they’ve controlled expected goals at a better rate than the Bruins have, and controlled high danger chances at a far better rate.

Last season, the Panthers were favourites heading into the playoffs and promptly got their teeth kicked in as soon as they faced a team that was halfway decent, but this year I think they could shock everyone. They’ve been playing playoff-level hockey for two months just to make it into the postseason at all, and the Boston Bruins happen to be the luckiest team in terms of expected goals to actual goals in the history of the analytics era of the NHL (since 2007-08).

Only two teams have ever led the league by even close to as much in goal differential and points in recent memory: the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, who were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in Round 1, and the 2009-10 Washington Capitals, who were upset in seven games in Round 1 by the Montreal Canadiens.

First Round Series Predictions

Western Conference

Vegas Golden Knights to beat Winnipeg Jets in 7 

Edmonton Oilers to beat Los Angeles Kings in 5 

Colorado Avalanche to beat Seattle Kraken in 6 

Dallas Stars to beat Minnesota Wild in 5 

Eastern Conference

Florida Panthers to beat Boston Bruins in 7 

Toronto Maple Leafs to beat Tampa Bay Lightning in 6 

Carolina Hurricanes to beat New York Islanders in 5 

New Jersey Devils to beat New York Rangers in 7