The Eastern Conference playoff picture is taking shape and bettors should begin to look towards the future odds to win the conference. Bettors should look towards these numbers now because once the playoff picture is completely set, odds tend to decrease in favor of the books. The advantage to placing a conference future now would be to lock yourself in at the best possible odds.

Eastern Conference Winner Odds

Boston Bruins

The Bruins lead the way sitting at +200. The Bruins have been the most dominant team all year in the NHL. I think the team’s playoff success will largely come down to whether Linus Ullmark can produce like he has all season in the playoffs. Ullmark has been absolutely sensational for the Bruins, rocking a .937 save percentage and a 1.90 goals against average. The bruins will need to produce offensively as well to be able to win games.

I am wary of how well the Bruins will do in the playoffs. The Panthers looked about as unbeatable as the Bruins did this season, and experienced great struggles in the playoffs past the first round. I expect the same to happen to what will be an exhausted Bruins team.

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers are +1400 to win the Eastern Conference and advance to the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers are still battling for a Wild Card playoff spot and will either face the Boston Bruins or the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs. The Panthers have split regular season games (2-2) with the Bruins, with both teams each defending home ice.

The Panthers are a particularly intriguing team to back to win the Eastern Conference. The Panthers have an 11.3% chance to win the eastern conference according to Moneypuck.com. Moneypuck further estimates that the Panthers have a 6.3% chance to win the Stanley Cup. Such a percentage to win the cup is higher than other teams like the Dallas Stars (4.3%), Tampa Bay Lightning (3.8%), Vegas Golden Knights (3.5%), Minnesota Wild (3.4%), and New York Rangers (1.4%).

The Panthers have looked like they have taken a step back from the form that saw the team win the presidents cup last year. The Panthers, however, are hitting their stride right now and are playing the best hockey they’ve played all season. The team will look to keep the momentum going in the playoffs if they are able to secure a spot.