Leafs vs Blue Jackets Updated Series Odds & Prediction

• The Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets play Game 1 of their play-in series Sunday, August 2nd
• Toronto is 0-3 in playoff series since Auston Matthews joined the team in 2016
• See the most recent odds for the series and our prediction below

NHL teams have arrived in the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton and the play-in round is right around the corner. The Maple Leafs are one of my favorite bets of the opening round and while a wager isn’t as inviting as it was two months ago there’s still value with at the current price.

Blue Jackets vs Maple Leafs Odds

All odds taken July 27

Why am I so confident they will win their first series in the Auston Matthews era? Here’s a break down of what to like about the Maple Leafs and dislike about the Blue Jackets.

🎧 Music to our ears 🎶#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/BIwemaTz8K

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 27, 2020

Matthews Healthy & Ready to Go

Matthews confirmed he tested positive for Covid-19 while in Arizona earlier in the pause in play. He also confirmed he is feeling 100% and has shown no signs of weakness since camp opened in Toronto. Having their number one center back at full strength will be a big boost, considering Matthews finished the shortened regular season with 47 goals which was one shy of co-Rocket Richard winners David Pastrnak and Alex Ovechkin.

Seires Total Games Odds

During camp, Matthews spent time on a superstar line with Mitch Marner and John Tavares. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has not confirmed they will play together in the series but it stands to reason in a must-win game, there would be no use saving the trio’s energy for a future game that may not exist. Former bench boss Mike Babcock was accused of not relying on Matthews enough in previous playoff losses to the Boston Bruins and I don’t think that mistake will be made in this upcoming series.

Does Columbus Have the Coaching Edge?

Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella is nominated for the Jack Adams award and that’s good and bad news. The good news, he had a great year and is deserving of an award nomination for his efforts. The bad news? The nominees almost always come from teams that are considered wild over-achievers. A plucky bunch of cast-offs outperforming low expectations are not what you want to take the ice with in a series against the high-octane Maple Leafs.

#CBJ coach John Tortorella just stopped practice 15 seconds into the first drill. He brought everybody together, let loose w an expletive-filled rant and started practice over again.

He wasn’t pleased after practice on Monday, and couldn’t have been happy w Tuesday’s scrimmage.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) July 23, 2020

Last off-season Columbus had one of the worst roster turnovers in 24 hours the league has ever seen. On the first day of free agency, they lost Sergei Bobrovsky who became the second-highest-paid goalie in league history, MVP nominee Artemi Panarin and first-line center Matt Duchene. All of this is to say this team in no way resembles the bunch that upset and swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round last year. Other than the jerseys being worn, little is similar about these two squads.

Bet Toronto Without Hesitation

While there will be no fans in the building the Maple Leafs are playing at home and there’s an advantage and comfort level that comes along with that. Don’t spend much time thinking about how the price could have been better two months ago. The 2020 Stanley Cup odds paint the picture, one team in this series is a contender and one most certainly is not.

PICK: Toronto Maple Leafs (-182)