Four long shot 2023 NHL playoff bets as Stanley Cup chaos reigns

Last year, Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was relatively chalky.

There were no major upsets and by the time the tournament ended, the preseason favorites were skating around the rink with Lord Stanley’s Cup. 

This year looks different.

Not only were there no sweeps in Round 1, but heavily favored teams like the Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers have already faced some tense moments, while the record-setting Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes have squandered chances to eliminate their respective opponents. 

There seems to be chaos brewing in this tournament, which means that it would be wise for bettors to add some long shots to their futures portfolio just in case things truly fly off the rails. 

When betting futures — especially in tournaments — you always want to be ahead of the chaos, so here’s a few long shot picks that could become live:

Conn Smythe Award bets

Philipp Grubauer, Kraken (200/1, bet365)

Seattle has a 3-2 lead over Colorado in Round 1 and Grubauer has been quite the story.

After grading out as one of the worst goaltenders in the NHL over the last two regular seasons, the former Av has been terrific in this series with a .918 save percentage and a +2.4 Goals Saved Above Expected in five games.

The Kraken still have a long way to go, but if they do make a Cinderella run, Grubauer will likely be the reason why. 

Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers (80/1, bet365)

Florida is down 3-2 to Boston but already has won one elimination game and has looked competitive throughout this series.

The Panthers are still unlikely to just get out of the first round, but Tkachuk has been sensational, so he will shoot up the odds board if the Cats pull off the stunner. 

Tyler Bertuzzi, Bruins (100/1, bet365)

This may not seem like a “chaos pick” since the Bruins are the Stanley Cup favorites, but there are few people that would have had Bertuzzi ahead of players such as David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Linus Ullmark in the Conn Smythe pecking order 10 days into the playoffs. 

But that’s exactly where we stand right now because Pastrnak is scuffling and Bergeron has been hurt, while Bertuzzi has been all over the ice and has two goals and four assists through five games and has been one of Boston’s most effective players against Florida.

Whether Bertuzzi can keep it up and do enough to outperform the stars on his own team remains to be seen, but it makes sense to throw a few bucks on the former Red Wing at this price.

Betting on the NHL?

Conference future

Kings (31/1, FanDuel)

The Kings trail the Oilers, 3-2, and were badly outplayed in Game 5, but if you draw a line through that game, everything else looks pretty impressive for Los Angeles in a series that nobody picked it to win.

Getting through Edmonton will be an absolute chore, but if the Kings can come back and get to Round 2, things could be wide open with the Avs struggling against the Kraken.

If Edmonton and Colorado are both eliminated in the first round, you could make a strong argument that Los Angeles would be the best team standing in the Western Conference.