Are you all excited? Are you? Because I certainly am. The second round of these playoffs has been underway since yesterday and already it's making me doubt everything I thought I knew about this sport and this league, and I love it. 

The Florida Panthers, who've been standing atop many fans' brackets since the postseason started, yours truly included, were humiliated at home against their state rivals yesterday. Meanwhile, the St Louis Blues, whom I predicted to get swept in this series in Dobber's experts panel predictions, almost upset the almighty Avs at home by taking them all the way to overtime.

Man, am I excited by all this. Who knows what may happen tonight? Just kidding, I do. Of course I do. I've got my betting advice ready for you guys. Take it all in one game at a time and things can become much clearer. Alright, I've got to put my excitement aside for a second here. Tell me this isn't the most beautiful sport.

Side note, I will be modifying the regular format for the remainder of the playoffs. I'll still have a gold, silver and bronze pick as usual, but, considering there will be two or less games per day, I'll alter the number of side bets I make, and may omit them altogether on some days. The goal here isn't to force bets, that's the number one losing strategy.

Gold Pick

Connor McDavid for 2+ points @1.80

With the surprising results we had yesterday, I want to keep things extra safe for my gold pick right now. I was actually going to go for a single point here for Connor McDavid, but the return on that bet is only of x1.18, which is never a good multiplier to place bets on since the return is either too insignificant or you risk losing egregious amounts of money. At x1.80, you can get a solid return for a bet that could almost be considered a given. Death, taxes and McDavid carrying the Oilers.

Don't get me wrong, I have this series going all the way to game seven, so there shouldn't be easy nights for anyone involved. That being said, it's hard to ignore a man who's currently rolling at a two point per game pace and can play hockey better than I can tie my shoes (or put a shirt on, or eat without spilling food on my clothes, or talk to people, or walk, or…)

Silver Pick

Edmonton Oilers @ Calgary Flames– Pick: Oilers

I'll say it again, there won't be any easy games for anyone here. That being said, as of right now, everything leads me to believe that the Oilers should have much more confidence than the Flames do. They are getting out of a clean game seven shutout. They have just won their first series in five years, only a second time since reaching the finals in 2006, and are hungry for more. Their best players are performing as expected. And, while Darnell Nurse's production is underwhelming, Cody Ceci and Evan Bouchard have emerged as reliable blue line options to support the offensive effort.

Meanwhile, the Flames are coming off a scary and stressful game seven. Despite having a tremendous amount of talent, they almost bottled the first round against the second worst team in the playoffs. Some key regular season players such as Tyler Toffoli, Andrew Mangiapane, Noah Hanifin, Calle Jarnkrok or Blake Coleman have not been up to par. The home ice advantage shouldn't mean much as Calgary is a three-hour drive away from Edmonton. While most of their first round struggles were caused by Texas' new prophet Jake Oettinger, they better not take scoring for granted as Mike Smith, one of the few players in the league older than Calder trophy candidate Michael Bunting, has been sensational in the first round.

*** Check out/Bookmark our new DFS/Sports Bet Hub here ***

Bronze Pick

Anthony DeAngelo for 1+ points @1.80

Yes, I chickened out of picking a winner for this game. Guilty as charged. I'll take a shot at it in my side bets, but I'm not confident enough to consider it a top three pick at this stage in the series. What I am confident in is that there's a certain someone who left a certain somewhere for a certain some-why that may still hold a grudge against his former club. And it just so happens that this certain someone is currently leading his team in point production for these playoffs so far. All jokes aside, DeAngelo has racked up eight points in seven games. That's with a limited ice time of 20:37 per night. While himself and Jaccob Slavin stand at +6 and +10 differentials respectively, both Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei have negative values in that column. Thus, expect him to see the ice more during the second round, especially if the Hurricanes fall behind during the game.

Side Bets

New York Rangers @ Carolina Hurricanes – Pick: Rangers

New York Rangers @ Carolina Hurricanes (Shots on Goal Over/under 66.5) – Pick: Under

*

Follow Walker’s ‘The Hedge’ on YouTube here, weekdays at 4:30pm EST for hot tips