Stanley Cup Playoffs: Staff Predictions

It's finally time for the Stanley Cup playoffs! 

To kick off the postseason, we polled our illustrious NHL content team for their picks in each round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. We also asked everybody to give a brief rundown on why they picked their winner to lift Lord Stanley's Chalice. 

We start with the first-round matches in the Eastern Conference, which is headlined by a clash of division rivals Boston and Toronto and is heavily split between our experts. Meanwhile, we all find ourselves on the Lightning and Capitals. 

The Western Conference offers several intriguing options, but perhaps none more so than San Jose versus Vegas, with the clubs having split their four regular-season matchups, though we find ourselves unanimous on the Golden Knights pulling this one out. Despite their high-powered offense, two of our guys peg the Jets to suffer an early exit. 

When picking the second round, obviously there are some differing opinions on who might get there, but the Lightning were a safe consensus pick, while our team was split between Winnipeg, Nashville, Calgary and Vegas on who might come out of the West.  

The parity in the Western Conference is highlighted by the fact that we find three different teams as possibilities with no clear winner to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. In the East, the Lightning continue to be the No. 1 option, though a few other possibilities crept in there. 

Finally, we asked our experts to give a run down of why they picked who they did to win the Cup. Here is what they each had to say:

Sasha: It's no secret the Bolts are the clear favorites for the Stanley Cup, but I see a lot of similarities to last year's Caps in this year's Jets. They aren't quite as battle-tested in terms of multiple years of playoff disappointment, but last postseason was a major learning experience. If Hellebuyck can pull a Holtby and turn things on in the playoffs after a pedestrian regular season, the combination of elite top-six forwards, depth on defense and a game-changing power play can carry the Jets to the Cup. Plus, this New Yorker just wants to see a team called the Jets win something, even if they don't wear green. (Winnipeg Jets in 6)

AJ Scholz: Tampa were the obvious choice here, but the Penguins only had their core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Justin Schultz and Kris Letang together for about 10 games all season. This is a veteran team getting healthy at exactly the right time and Matt Murray seems to have figured out his game. I also haven't even mentioned 40-goal scorer Jake Guentzel who always elevates his game in the playoffs. (Pittsburgh Penguins  in 6)

Mike Gay: The Lightning won 62 regular-season games to tie a record originally set by my favorite team (Detroit - 1995-96). There are simply no wrinkles to any facet of Tampa's game -- finishing 1st both offensively and defensively -- and No. 1 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy didn't tire out late like last season. (Tampa Bay Lightning in 6)

Tim Schuler: Leafs get on one of those cray offensive rolls they're capable of, while Andersen gets hot. (Toronto Maple Leafs in 6)

Kyle Riley: With the historic season Tampa Bay has had, you'd have to be crazy to pick against them in playoff brackets this year. As long as they're able to stay relatively healthy, this Lightning team may not need more than six games in any series to take home their first Stanley Cup since 2004. (Tampa Bay Lightning in 6)

Paul Bruno: The President's Trophy winner has won only eight of the last 32 Stanley Cups. I think the Lightning are going to be No. 9. They have had a historically dominant season, tying the single season win mark with 62 wins. Tampa Bay ranks first in goals for, power play and penalty killing efficiency. The club boasts a roster of size and speed and have not endured a significant slump all season long. Such consistency over the regular season is rare, historically, and that won't change in these playoffs. (Tampa Bay Lightning in 5)

Looking at our expert picks, the Lightning seem to be pegged to go the furthest, which makes them a good choice in your postseason pools. Other teams to consider loading up on are Washington and Nashville, while avoiding Columbus, Carolina and Dallas.