Stanley Cup playoff pools - Top picks, sleepers and busts

Ready for some NHL playoff fantasy fun? This brand of dense competition boasts its own charm in combining a compact calendar, simpler scoring system, drama of losing players every round, and a set-it-and-forget-it approach that should appeal to you more low-maintenance types. One burst of lineup-building effort and you're done. Except for the churn of emotional labor by way of riding an inevitably volatile rollercoaster that doesn't cease to offer new twists and turns with each fresh round. Except for that.

So strap in. Again, this is fresh fantasy territory where the quantity of games played often matters as much as individual performance. Auston Matthews can't score you valuable fantasy goals if relegated (back) to the golf course by the Tampa Bay Lightning (again). So, I'll re-offer the tried/tested/true advice that's carried many a fantasy manager to glory over the years: Pick a handful of clubs you believe have the best shot of reaching the Conference Finals, target the finest fantasy players on those particular teams, with specific scoring guidelines in mind, then stack away. Hedging with a well-balanced lineup will not help you here. There's less shame in flaming out in the first round than settling for a lineup destined to finish mid-tier. It's a sprint, not a marathon. Go big or go home.

With that, here's my rundown of playoff fantasy performers by team, once again ranked in order of shortest to longest odds of winning the Stanley Cup, as recently determined (April 14) by our partners at Caesars.

Pick the winners and crown your Stanley Cup champion! Make Your Picks

The best team in NHL history by several measuring rods is, rationally, the clear-cut favorite to win it all come mid-June. Do we really need a deep