Canucks Open as -140 Favorites Over Wild in Best-of-Five Qualifying Round

• The NHL has announced its return-to-play plan featuring a 24-team Stanley Cup Playoff
• The Canucks (No. 7 seed) will face the Wild (No. 10 seed) in the 16-team qualifying round
• Read below to find out which team offers the best value to win the series

The Canucks have opened as -140 favorites over the Wild in the qualifying round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The best-of-five series will be played in a hub city, with both Minneapolis/St. Paul and Vancouver being listed as candidates by the NHL.

Vancouver is listed at +4000 to go all the way in the 2020 Stanley Cup odds, while Minnesota is a +7500 longshot. Are the Canucks a shoo-in to defeat Minnesota and end their four-year playoff drought or do the Wild have value as an underdog?

Canucks vs Wild Qualifying Round Series Odds

Odds taken May 27

Two Closely Matched Teams

The Canucks are being listed as the favorite in this series, but Minnesota won the regular-season series (2-1) and only finished with one less point than Vancouver in the standings. Both teams looked dominant in regulation wins over each other, while Minnesota’s other victory was a tightly played shootout contest that could have gone either way.

The Canucks have the better goal differential and hold a special teams advantage, but don’t discount the Wild. Minnesota has found a way to win four of their last five overall games against the Canucks and prevailed in seven games when the two teams last met in the playoffs back in 2003.

A Healthy Jacob Markstrom Will Be Key

In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a hot goaltender can often be the key to a long playoff run. Jacob Markstrom was having a Vezina-caliber season for the Canucks before he went down with a knee injury back in March. He should be back to full health by the time the action finally resumes on the ice.

Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk is having a down year (.890 save percentage) and holds a lackluster 2-8 record in his last 10 playoff appearances. Alex Stalock (.910 save percentage) is the other goaltender in the Minnesota crease and hasn’t shown anything to indicate he could steal a series. Markstrom’s ability to put the team on his back gives Vancouver a big edge in a shortened playoff round.

Will Canucks’ Power Play Strike?

One of the most lopsided matchups in this series is Vancouver’s power play against Minnesota’s penalty kill. The Canucks concluded the regular season with the fourth-best power play in the NHL (24.1%) while Minnesota finished with the seventh-worst penalty kill (77.1%).

The advanced stats will tell you that the Wild have been just as good or even slightly better than Vancouver at five-on-five, but the Canucks power play is electric. With talent like Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes on the ice together, this series could be over quickly if Vancouver plays to its strengths.

Gary Bettman: "NHL regular season has concluded."

Rookie Scoring champ: Quinn Hughes! 😁🏆 pic.twitter.com/lY6gmvphy6

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 26, 2020

The Wild have their own rising star in 23-year-old Kevin Fiala, but he was the only player on the team to eclipse the 50-point mark. The Canucks have four of them. Five games instead of seven means less chance of a team wearing down their opponent and grinding out a series victory. That’s why Vancouver’s talent should prevail and lead them to victory.

Betting Advice

Minnesota has had Vancouver’s number of late, but everything about a best-of-five series is in favor of the Canucks. Vancouver is more talented on paper and has an MVP-caliber goaltender who can steal games.

I’d look longer at Minnesota as an underdog if this were a regular best-of-seven after a long regular season, but the youthful Canucks are simply more talented and are going to be motivated to end their playoff drought.  I’d jump all over this price before it goes up closer to puck drop.

Pick: Vancouver (-140)