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Morning Coffee: FanDuel Best Bets To Consider For The Stanley Cup Playoffs
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“You don’t really need to make a decision until you need to make a decision, so there’s no rush with that.”
If you’re wondering what the Washington Commanders will do with the second overall pick in next week’s NFL Draft, that was the message from their general manager Adam Peters when he met with the media on Thursday.
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels remains the favourite in FanDuel’s market for the No. 2 overall pick.
However, with one week to go until the NFL Draft, those odds were on the move at several sportsbooks last night.
A week ago, Daniels was -170 to go second overall.
This morning, the LSU QB is down to -125 to go No. 2.
Meanwhile, North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is +100 to go No. 2 at FanDuel, which is down from +145 at this time last week.
USC quarterback Caleb Williams is the obvious top choice for the Chicago Bears with the No. 1 pick.
After that, we still don’t know for sure which way the Commanders are leaning with the No. 2 pick, even if their decision comes down to two QBs in Daniels and Maye.
With the NFL Draft right around the corner, and the start of the NHL and NBA playoffs, this is one of my favourite periods on the sports betting calendar.
After locking in my first FanDuel Best Bet for the NHL playoffs on Thursday, it’s time to get back to work with a couple of more recommendations for the playoffs.
This is the Morning Coffee for Friday, April 19th, 2024.
FanDuel Best Bets To Consider For The Stanley Cup Playoffs
The stage is set for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
We’ve known for a while that the Vegas Golden Knights would have to match up against one of the top teams in the Western Conference in the first round of the playoffs.
Thanks to some unexpected results last night, fans of the Edmonton Oilers don’t have to worry about facing Vegas in the first round.
The combination of a regulation win by the Anaheim Ducks in Vegas with the Los Angeles Kings beating the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime allowed LA to leapfrog the Golden Knights into third place in the Pacific Division.
The Kings will play the Oilers in the first round.
Vegas will open the playoffs against the Dallas Stars.
The Golden Knights would have been a much tougher match-up for Edmonton in the first round, at least on paper.
Instead, the Oilers are now the biggest favourite to advance to the second round at FanDuel at -182 to win their series versus LA.
The Stars are -130 to win their series versus Vegas.
In case you missed it, I recommended a play on the New York Rangers -1.5 against the Washington Capitals in the first round at -160 odds as a FanDuel Best Bet for the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday.
I also sprinkled on the Rangers to win that series 4-0 at +520 odds.
This morning, I’m locking in two more futures plays.
First up, I’ll parlay the Oilers to win their series against the Kings at -182 with the Carolina Hurricanes to win their series against the New York Islanders at -345.
In addition to their playoff series winner markets, FanDuel has markets for X player to score 1+ goals, 2+ goals, 3+ goals, etc. in each series.
I believe there is value in a couple of those markets.
First up, I like Brad Marchand to score 2+ goals for the Boston Bruins in their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs at -135.
Only David Pastrnak scored more goals for the Bruins than Marchand’s 29 in 82 games this season.
In Boston’s last two trips to the playoffs, Marchand scored four goals in seven games in both instances.
Goaltending is considered Toronto’s biggest weakness.
In a series that could very well go seven games, I think Marchand to score two or more goals at -135 odds is a good bet.
I’m also jumping on Tyler Bertuzzi to score two or more goals for Toronto in that series at +105.
In last year’s playoffs, Bertuzzi scored five goals on 21 shots in seven games for Boston.
Only Auston Matthews scored more goals than Bertuzzi for Toronto over the final month of the regular season.
Skating with Matthews and Mitch Marner at 5-on-5, I think Bertuzzi has a good chance to net two goals in a series that could go the distance.
Speaking of goaltending being a weakness, the Colorado Avalanche are -138 to win their first round series against the Winnipeg Jets.
That number would be a lot higher if it wasn’t for the goaltending disparity between the two teams.
Connor Hellebuyck was the obvious favourite to win the Vezina Trophy at FanDuel this season.
Meanwhile, Alexander Georgiev’s .897 save percentage was six percentage points below the league average.
Colorado is the favourite to win the Western Conference at FanDuel.
However, the perception is that goaltending could cost them in a first-round series against the Jets.
While I still like the Avalanche to advance, I also believe there’s value in betting on Adam Lowry to score one or more goals in the series at -135.
Lowry, who led Winnipeg with four goals in five games in last year’s playoffs, scored three goals in three games versus Colorado this season.
There’s no doubt he will have his hands full with Nathan MacKinnon in the series.
Still, one goal in 4+ games seems very reasonable.
Finally, I like the Florida Panthers to win their first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
However, I don’t like the price at -184, and I don’t want to have to take Florida to win the series in six games or fewer at a better number, either.
I already made the case for the Rangers on Thursday.
I’ll double down on New York to beat Washington and parlay the Panthers and Rangers to advance at -109 as my final FanDuel Best Bet in this column.
With the final two playoff match-ups in the Western Conference set late Thursday night, I’m also looking forward to the additional markets FanDuel will add for both the Edmonton and Dallas series’.
I’ll definitely have something to add to this list of plays.
Give me a follow at @Domenic_Padula on X for my full list of recommendations for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.