NHL Playoffs Series Best Bets

It’s here. The best playoffs of all major sports. The NHL road to the Stanley Cup. And Round One is almost always the most violent, entertaining, intense and insane round of the journey. We will see upsets, high scoring games, games that are five hours long due to going into three overtimes and more drama than a season finale of the Bachelorette. We had a 56-49 record over the last 33 articles of my Betting News NHL best bet articles with a positive unit size due to plenty of plus money plays cashing. Now it’s time to bring it to the playoff.s

We will be breaking down NHL best bets here at Betting News all playoffs long! Each article will look for VALUE, as in straights you can take to build up your bankroll or pieces you can use to beef up your parlays. All bets will be -135 or better odds. And while we will focus on NHL player props, there are times we will take sides and totals. So keep your eyes peeled here as we will drop these throughout the week.

And if you haven’t already be sure to check out some of my favorite futures and awards. So time to lace them up and get ready to ride with Betzky for my favorite NHL Playoff Series best bet.

1. Carolina Hurricanes Series Spread -1.5 -125 on BetOnline:

The Carolina Hurricanes do not look as promising as seasons before. Their goaltending is not elite. Their offense has taken a hit with the Martin Necas trade. And they lost key defensemen this offseason. In fact they feel like they are in the midst of a retool, as younger players are making an impact on their squad. Yet, they are still one of the toughest teams to play against in the league due to a strong system play, fantastic coaching and role players who step up. They will face a New Jersey Devils team in Round One who are down some of their most dynamic players.

But it’s not just that the Devils are down superstar Jack Hughes that makes the Carolina spread an NHL playoff series best bets. It’s because in the calendar year of 2025 the Devils have been one of the worst teams in most advanced metrics including 5 on 5 play. This will make it difficult to score on a Carolina team who ranked 25th in goals against per game play (GA/GP) and allowed the least amount of shots against per game played (SA/GP) all season long.

To make matters worse the Hurricanes had the top penalty kill in the league this season, while allowing the 9th least amount of power play opportunities to opponents. This is bad news for a Devils team who relied on the power play to score, holding the 3rd best power play in the league. Essentially, all of the Devils strengths will be throttled by all of the Hurricanes strengths. The Devils will have top goaltender Jacob Markstrom back, but Jake Allen had played well down the stretch, and this could ultimately make for a goalie controversy. It will be an uphill battle for the Devils, and the Canes are the last team you want to be fighting against the storm. I love the Carolina Hurricanes -1.5 spread as an NHL playoffs series best bet.

Get 50% up to $750 Deposit on BetOnline for this pick

2. Tampa Bay Lighting to win the Series -105 on BetOnline:

The Battle of Florida will begin in Round One this year. And I predict that the Tampa Bay Lightning will best the previous Stanley Cup winners the Florida Panthers. Not only do the Lightning have home ice advantage, but they are more rested, have stocked up their forward depth and will be taking on a Panthers team who have been a bit out of sort over the last weeks of the season.

The Panthers have been without Matthew Tkachuk since the Four Nations break. And while one could argue that this means he should be fresh and ready for a big series, there are many unknowns that come with this. The Panthers added vet superstar Brad Marchand at the deadline, a playoff warrior. But he has yet to play with Tkachuk who many pencil him in on a line with. Will they have chemistry? We will soon find out. The Panthers have also be down top defenseman Aaron Ekblad who was suspended for 20 games and will miss the first two games of the series. There could be a lot of rust on this team who made it to the Cup Finals two seasons straight.

On the flip side, Tampa has stocked up bringing back Yanni Gourde and bringing in Bjorkstrand to their forward group. While Bjorkstrand is still a ways away from rejoining the team, Gourde has already made an impact. This Tampa team feels grittier and deeper than last years squad. And their best playoff performer, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, has returned to form this season. If this series goes to Game 7 there is no better netminder to have, as Vasilevskiy has won five of the seven Game 7’s he has played, recording a shutout in three of those games. On top of that he has a 5-game series clinching shutout performance.

Give me the fresher Florida team, who are ready to make a long run again after a 1st round loss last season. Vasilevskiy’s dominance and the home ice advantage is the what really makes this feel like an NHL playoff series best bet to me.

Get 50% up to $750 Deposit on BetOnline for this pick

3. Los Angeles Kings to win the series +110 on BetOnline:

This is the fourth year in a row where the Los Angeles Kings will take on the Edmonton Oilers in the first round. In three straight years the Oilers have not only won, but dominated this series. But this year things feel a bit different. The Kings will have home ice advantage this time, and surprisingly that may make all the difference.

The Kings were 29-9-3 at home this season. And while that record is impressive, their underlaying metrics at home are even more so. They were 7th in GF/GP at home averaging 3.55 G/GP while ranking 28th in the same category on the road (2.46 G/GP on the road). They allowed the least amount of GA/GP at home this season (1.98 GA/GP) and had the 5th best penalty kill at home. On the road this dropped to the 21st for GA/GP and the 9th ranked PK. Just incredible numbers for major hockey stats, and their 5 on 5 play and other underlaying metrics are just as dominant at home.

The Oilers still are loaded with two of the best players in the world, and have an offense that makes you need to chase them. However, they have been limping into the post season with poor goaltending and injuries to both McDavid and Draisaitl. And while both will be back for the playoffs, they will be without one of their top shutdown, vertean defensemen in Mattias Ekholm.  They will need strong team play to get past the Kings this year, making the Kings series win an NHL playoff series best bet.

Get 50% up to $750 Deposit on BetOnline for this pick

Interested in More Content?

More NHL Content on Betting News:

• NHL Betting Guide
• NHL Futures Best Bets – Atlantic Division
• NHL Futures Best Bets – Metro Division
• NHL Awards – Hart Trophy
• NHL Awards – Norris Trophy
• NHL Awards – Vezina TrophyNHL Best Bets 3/18/2025