NHL betting picks: Expert Stanley Cup futures predictions for 2023 playoffs, plus over $4,000 in bonuses

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With less than a month remaining in the regular season, we look at some 2023 NHL futures best bets while making some Stanley Cup 2023 predictions.

About 10 teams are in the Stanley Cup contenders’ mix, the lion’s share coming from the Eastern Conference. In 2022-23, the East is the clear-cut beast.

While the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, and Colorado Avalanche represent the most promising hopes of keeping Lord Stanley in the Western Conference, the below three, based on team quality and odds value, are our three Stanley Cup best bets (plus an honorable mention).

The closer we inch toward the playoffs, the more confident everyone should be about the Bruins’ chances of hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Pundits and analysts will soon run out of superlatives to describe the soon-to-be Presidents’ Trophy winners.

Boston leads the NHL in an outrageous number of meaningful statistics, including:

• Best home record (28-3-3).
• Most wins when leading after the first period (31).
• Goals against above expected (-41.49).
• Most wins when scoring first (35).
• Fewest losses when leading after the first (1).
• Best goals against 5-on-5 (96).
• Best goal differential (+114).
• Fewest goals against (148) and fewest goals against per game (2.11).
• Best penalty kill (86%).
• Most regulation wins (52).

Boston’s +114 goal differential is the most decisive of the bunch, as the Bruins boast an enormous 60-goal superior differential to the second-place Devils.

The aforementioned best-of list is also matched by how many statistical categories of which Boston is the current runner-up.

The Bruins also have an embarrassment of riches between the pipes, with Linus Ullmark a shoo-in to win the 2022-23 Vezina Trophy. He leads the league in save percentage (.937), goals-against average (GAA) (1.95), and wins (35). He also scored a goal, so add that category to the list.

If anything happens to the league’s best netminder, the Bruins have the finest understudy waiting in the wings. The sensational backup has the third-best GAA (2.20) and fourth-best save percentage (.920).

While the stats tell an inarguably dominant tale, Boston is also bursting with the intangibles needed to win the Cup.

They have previous Stanley Cup winners, stalwart veterans Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand leading the charge, and a seemingly bottomless depth chart.

The deadline additions of Tyler Bertuzzi, Dimitry Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway further bolstered Boston’s Stanley Cup chances, a formidable proposition for the other 15 playoff participants.

The Carolina Hurricanes’ chances of winning the Stanley Cup deteriorated recently due to Andrei Svechnikov’s season-ending knee injury.

If it weren’t for the Hurricanes’ exceptional defensive prowess, the loss of Svechnikov would all but end their Stanley Cup chances.

Carolina is especially adept at grinding out low-scoring victories, the emphasis of which is heightened even more without one of their top scorers to call upon.

The Hurricanes will rely on their defense-by-committee mantra to propel them into the postseason. They have conceded the second-fewest total goals (177) and 5-on-5 goals (116) and boast the second-best goals against per game, allowing 2.57.

The Hurricanes will have to rely on their home proficiency (fourth-best home record (24-8-2)) and knack for jumping on their opponent early (only Colorado has scored first more) to make a deep playoff run.

Carolina has the most wins (35) when scoring first and enjoys the best winning percentage (70) in one-goal games.

Both of those critical stats must extend through the playoffs if the Hurricanes are to overcome the injury to Svechnikov and represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup final.

The New York Rangers didn’t catch fire like many thought they would after acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane just prior to the trade deadline.

The Blueshirts lost four straight and six of eight at the end of February and the beginning of March, contradicting the expected initial ascent.

And while Gerard Gallant is yet to find the chemistry everyone expects of his stacked offensive contingent, there is still time to source the magic formula.

Despite their recent blip, the Rangers hold the league’s third-best record since Jan. 1 (22-8-4). While the Rangers haven’t beaten an elite Eastern Conference team in over a month, Gallant won’t be overly concerned.

Igor Shesterkin, whose numbers haven’t evoked widespread admiration like last season’s, is undeniably one of the league’s premier netminders.

He will almost inevitably save his best hockey for the postseason, which bodes well for the Rangers, who already possess the league’s sixth-best defense (2.70 goals against per game) and sixth-best road record (20-8-6).

By then, Kane and Tarasenko should have fully adapted and assimilated to life in the Big Apple, which should significantly improve the Rangers’ 9th-best powerplay and 11th-best offense.

New Jersey is our honorable mention and it would be remiss not to mention the searing-hot Devils, who surprisingly hold the NHL’s best away record (26-5-4).

There’s an increasing likelihood that the Devils and Rangers will meet in the opening round of the playoffs. It would mark the neighbors’ first postseason encounter since the Devils beat the Rangers in the 2012 Eastern Conference final.

The Devils have the advantage in most analytical categories, including goal differential, goals against, regulation wins, goals per game, goals against per game, wins when trailing after two periods, and 5-on-5 goals against.

They also claim the longest winning streak, a run of 13 straight victories. Lindy Ruff’s team has the league’s second-best record since Jan. 1 (22-7-6), getting another one over on their arch-rivals.

Oh, and the Devils picked up Timo Meier at the deadline, arguably a more influential and impactful addition than Tarasenko and Kane.

However, the Devils will entrust Vitek Vanecek to carry them to the Promised Land. New Jersey’s No. 1 netminder has enjoyed an exceptional regular season but has made just three playoff starts, and while admittedly a minuscule sample size, his postseason stats don’t inspire confidence (4.25 GAA, .855 save %).

Rangers fans won’t lose sleep over the Devils’ analytical dominance, knowing they have Shesterkin’s superiority to leverage.

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