NHL Playoff Futures

Hockey playoffs get started Wednesday night. Futures picks for both the Stanley Cup and just the first round:

Chicago Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup +1600 (Matchbook), 1 unit to win 16 units

Lazily and shamelessly, we sat back and let our friend over at Numbers Don't Lie put the math together on this one. I'm not the math whiz that he is, but if the Hawks are 9-1 to win the Cup and Matchbook is paying 16-1, that's incredible value right there and we're on board. Excellent find by the guy who likes numbers.

St. Louis to advance to the second round +196 (Matchbook), 2 units to win 3.92 units

Maybe Vancouver is a little better (maybe), but I don't think they're 2-1 better over a series which is what this line would suggest. Blues have been better on the power play and killing penalties, and are pretty much equal in goal (Canucks' Luongo's save percentage is .919, Blues' Mason's is .916). I'm not counting on Paul Kariya coming back 100% for this series, but anything he can add would just be gravy on top.

Rangers to advance to the second round +190 (WSEX), 1 unit to win 1.9 units

Does defense win championships? This series will be a good test of that theory, because the Rangers are fantastic defensively - the best penalty killing team in the league and much better in goal than Washington - but no match for the Capitals offensively. This line is +160 or +170 at some books, so I was happy to find the +190 at good ol' WSEX.

Considered Philadelphia to win their first series as well, but I decided to just play the individual games in their series with Pittsburgh. In my completely uneducated hockey opinion, there's virtually no difference between those two teams (except that Philly is the better power play squad), but the recreational bettor has heard about Sidney Crosby a million times on Sportscenter and the public should be overvaluing the Penguins as a result.