The Stanley Cup Playoffs are about to begin on what has been a unique season.

As is the case before the first round every season, the panel is weighing in with predictions for each of the eight playoff series, the Stanley Cup finalists and winner, and Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

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The panel's lifetime record is 106-66 when it comes to postseason predictions. Pit your skills and knowledge against Dobber, Gooding and the rest of us by joining the DobberHockey NHL Bracket Challenge here!

For matchups, the number shows the seeding within the division.

West

Colorado (1) vs. St. Louis (4)

Vegas (2) vs. Minnesota (3)

Central

Carolina (1) vs. Nashville (4)

Florida (2) vs. Tampa Bay (3)

North

Toronto (1) vs. Montreal (4)

Edmonton (2) vs. Winnipeg (3)

East

Pittsburgh (1) vs. NY Islanders (4)

Washington (2) vs. Boston (3)

For the coin toss, heads was the higher-seeded team. I defaulted to seven games in each coin toss pick. The coin toss results aren't counted among the aggregate results – they are just there to embarrass any of our writers if needed.  

Strong Favorites

Colorado and Carolina were both unanimous selections among all 18 panelists to win their series, as not a single panelist chose St. Louis or Nashville to win its series.

All but one panelist chose Vegas to win over Minnesota, even though the Wild won the season series between the two teams 5-1-2. The panelists thought this series would go 6 games, though.

All but two panelists chose Boston to win over Washington, even though the Capitals finished four points ahead of the Bruins. The improvements made by the Taylor Hall acquisition combined with some recent injuries for Washington likely helps Boston's chances here.  

In the North Division, 15 of 18 panelists chose Toronto to win its long-anticipated Original 6 matchup with Montreal, while the same percentage of panelists chose Edmonton to win over Winnipeg in a battle of onetime WHA cities.

Too Close to Call

Tampa Bay and Florida were a dead heat, with the picks split 50/50. Tampa was chosen here to win (in seven games) because those who picked the Lightning did so in a slightly fewer number of games. The first-time playoff battle of Florida state rivals might be the most intriguing series in the first round.

The panel collectively likes Pittsburgh over the NY Islanders but only slightly. The Isles play a strong defensive style that works in the playoffs, while the Islanders' four-game sweep of the Penguins in 2019 might still be on some panelists' minds.

Stanley Cup Winner

The panel has chosen Colorado to win the Stanley Cup, with Nathan MacKinnon the most popular Conn Smythe Trophy winner from that team. Their most popular opponent was Central Division-winning Carolina.

An honorable mention should be given to Vegas, which was actually the second-most popular choice to win the Stanley Cup. Colorado and Vegas can't face each other in the Stanley Cup Final because they are from the same division, so the winner of a possible second-round series between these two teams should be a heavy favorite to hoist the Cup.

Agree? Disagree? Comments?  

About the panel

Dobber launched this website in 2005 after he was the fantasy hockey columnist for The Hockey News website, The Fantasy Sports Network, and a contributor to The Forecaster. DobberHockey has since grown into the Dobber Sports Network and has work can be found across the Internet, including on Sportsnet.

Ian Gooding is the managing editor of DobberHockey and a regular writer on the daily Ramblings beat. He has also contributed to many other sites, including Sportsnet, Today's Slapshot, Kukla's Korner, and fantasyhockey.com.

Mike Clifford is an associate editor of DobberHockey and contributor for Rotowire and other fantasy hockey ventures.

Alex MacLean is an associate editor and writes the Ramblings once a week. He was previously the author of the Capped column and also contributes salary cap league rankings.

Mario Prata is the manager of special projects and marketing for Dobber Sports. He is also a co-founder of the famous The Sports Forecaster magazine.

Eric Daoust manages our valued Frozen Pool section.

Tom Collins writes the weekly Top 10 column that can be found here every Monday.

Rick Roos authors the weekly Roos Let Loose column every Wednesday. He is the former Cage Match writer for Dobber Hockey.

Adam Daly-Frey checks out what’s coming down the pipe with the Looking Ahead column every Friday.

Logan Doyle authors the salary cap column Capped, which can be found here every Thursday.

Grant Campbell writes the weekly Wild West column every Monday.

Brennan DeSouza does double duty, as he writes the weekly Eastern Edge column every Tuesday and gives us the latest injury information every Wednesday.

Dave Hall pens the weekly prospect column The Journey that can be found here every Saturday. He has also contributed to Dobber Prospects.

Chris Kane writes the Frozen Pool Forensics column on Fridays.

Flip Livingstone is our Saturday game picks author. He is a former NHL writer for theScore with past experience at such outlets as Postmedia, Hockey Night in Canada, and the CBC.

Steve Dotzel provides tons of tips to help you win your daily fantasy leagues on Saturdays.

Ryan Sheppard provides you with what you need to know about line combinations in Lining Up.

Scott Royce gives you the fantasy hockey Geek of the Week every Sunday.  

Enjoy the playoffs, folks!