Best bet: Figure a battle of top seeds in Stanley Cup Final

The FanDuel betting lines for the NHL's conference finals couldn't be clearer: The money is on a Colorado-Carolina Stanley Cup Final. 

If the money is right, this would mark the first time since 2001 that the top seed from each conference made the Stanley Cup Final. Colorado (118 points) defeated New Jersey (111 points) in seven games that year.

The betting lines are similar 

Colorado, the 2026 Presidents' Trophy winners for most points, will face Vegas in the Western Conference Finals. Carolina, the 2026 top seed in the East, will face upstart Montreal in the Eastern Final.

The lines to win the series are identical. Both Colorado and Carolina sit at -285 to win. Meanwhile, the lines are nearly identical in terms of how they do it. Carolina is -125 to win by at least 1.5 games (so, in six games or fewer). Colorado is -128 in the same spread. 

The case for the favorites

Not only have both these teams been the best all regular season, but they've also been the best in the playoffs. Carolina has yet to lose a playoff game, sweeping both Philadelphia and a tough Ottawa team. Colorado has lost only once — to a Minnesota team widely regarded as one of the best in the NHL. 

MoneyPuck's expected goals metric, which values "distance from the net, angle of the shot, type of shot, and what happened before the shot," ranks Colorado first (57.33 percent) and Carolina second (56.41 percent) in the Stanley Cup playoffs. These rankings are identical to the regular season, when Colorado finished first (56.85 percent) and Carolina finished second (56.31 percent). 

Carolina's X factor in net

Carolina is starting to see the fruits of years of labor, but the biggest story is what has happened in goal. Frederik Andersen leads the Stanley Cup playoffs by MoneyPuck's Goals Saved Above Expected, which contrasts actual goals allowed versus what the expected goals against number is for the team. 

The Hurricanes have been doomed by subpar goaltending before in the eight years under head coach Rod Brind'Amour. Andersen's playoff history is mixed, particularly for Carolina. His two shutouts, .950 save percentage and 1.12 goals-against average in this postseason are all career bests.

Colorado's elite top line

The Avalanche are led by one of the best lines in all of hockey thanks, in part, to center Nathan MacKinnon and former Hurricanes winger Martin Necas. The Avalanche are winning 8-2 at five-on-five with those two on, regardless of who is on the left wing. 

When joined by captain Gabriel Landeskog (for 57 minutes, 24 seconds this postseason), that line leads the Stanley Cup playoffs in MoneyPuck's expected goals with an astonishing 75 percent.