Game 7s predicted
Analysts are warning this Round 1 looks prone to drama rather than quick sweeps, and Sportsnet specifically predicts multiple Game 7s brewing across the bracket. (sportsnet.ca) (dknetwork.draftkings.com)
Round 1 opens Saturday, April 18, with analysts and sportsbooks pointing to a bracket built for long series, not fast sweeps. (sportsnet.ca) Sportsnet’s Justin Bourne picked Carolina over Ottawa in seven games and framed the opener as a toss-up between Carolina’s 113-point season and Ottawa’s late surge behind Linus Ullmark. The National Hockey League schedule lists that series as the first Game 1 of the postseason, starting Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern. (sportsnet.ca) (nhl.com) The bracket itself is unusually open. The National Hockey League’s 2026 playoff field includes six new teams, and the league said 11 of the 16 clubs are either chasing a first Stanley Cup or trying to end a long title drought. (sportsnet.ca) (nhl.com) That mix has produced first-round pairings with little separation between seed lines. The official bracket shows Buffalo-Boston, Tampa Bay-Montreal, Carolina-Ottawa, Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, Colorado-Los Angeles, Dallas-Minnesota, Vegas-Utah and Edmonton-Anaheim. (nhl.com) Sportsbooks are pricing at least one of those series as close enough to invite a long fight. DraftKings listed Edmonton at -170 and Anaheim at +140 for their Pacific Division matchup, with the Ducks still carrying +8000 Stanley Cup odds and the Oilers at +1300 entering the playoffs. (draftkings.com 1) (draftkings.com 2) The schedule also leaves room for several series to run deep into early May. The National Hockey League’s first-round release has potential Game 7s slotted as late as May 3, including Bruins-Sabres, if those matchups go the distance. (nhl.com) There is also a historical reason analysts focus on early swings. The league said teams that take a 1-0 lead in a best-of-seven own an all-time 535-252 series record, a.680 winning rate, which makes every opening game carry outsized weight in a field this balanced. (nhl.com) The first test comes immediately: Carolina hosts Ottawa on Saturday, Minnesota visits Dallas later that day, and Pittsburgh opens against Philadelphia at night. If the early favorites fail to separate, the “multiple Game 7s” forecast will start looking less like a hot take and more like the shape of this bracket. (nhl.com)
