NHL Stanley Cup playoffs first round best bets - Will the Cup stay in Florida?

The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs are finally upon us, and after 82 regular-season games, there are 16 NHL teams remaining in the quest to raise the greatest trophy in sports. However, the immediate questions on the minds of bettors are what will happen, how will it happen and who will do it.

To answer these queries, we've asked our NHL insiders and betting experts to break down the field and spotlight key spots where value can be found.

All odds from Caesars Sportsbook.

Greg Wyshynski, senior NHL writer and Daily Wager contributor: There was some slight slippage at 5-on-5 play by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the regular season. That's to be expected when you've won back-to-back Stanley Cups and are trying to get up for Game 68 in the regular season. (Coincidentally, a shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens.) But now, it's tournament time, and the Lightning bring back the same cast of characters… save for one significant change. Their checking line from the past two championship runs dispersed to the four winds: Yanni Gourde (Seattle Kraken), Barclay Goodrow (New York Rangers) and Blake Coleman (Calgary Flames) are no longer there to be a defensive stopper who also scores critical goals.

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But the Lightning might have found Version 2.0 of that line: Holdover Pat Maroon, playing with offseason pickups Corey Perry and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. That was the second-best line at 5-on-5 in the regular season, for lines with a minimum of 500 minutes together. Given that, I don't think the Lightning at +1100 is