The Stanley Cup playoffs: the time of year when all the blood and sweat of the regular season finally pays off for a few of the NHL superstars making millions to slap pucks around,  when Toronto Maple Leafs fans hang their hats in frustration and decry: “there’s always next year” and a time for watching games with friends instead of studying for finals, speculating on who will win the cup and betting in playoff pools.

Speaking of playoff pools, now would be a good time to start putting some thought into which team has the best chance of winning the cup and selecting players accordingly. The regular season will not conclude until Apr. 11, with playoffs starting on Apr. 13, so there is still plenty of time to do some homework.

One of the most common playoff pool formats gives bidders a limited number of skaters and goaltenders to select from all of the teams competing in the post-season. The rules between pools vary, with some pools using a draw to determine who gets first pick on players and others allowing bidders to share the same players. Regardless, the objective is to get the most points by selecting players that score the most goals and assists and the goalies that will win the most games. Whoever has the most points at the end of playoffs, wins.

One of the least successful strategies to use in a playoff pool is to evenly distribute player picks among the top scorers of all teams. The reasoning is simple: there are 16 teams competing in the first round of playoffs, half of which will be eliminated before the second round. If a bidder employs this strategy, half of their players will be eliminated after the first round  — which will be halved again in the second round and so on — meaning that the amount of points that a bidder could get would only shrink as playoffs progress.

This strategy also fails to take into account linemate dynamics. For example, if a bidder selects Evgeni Malkin on the Pittsburgh Penguins and none of his teammates, then they will miss out on the assists that his teammates get from the goals that he scores. It can add up quickly, considering that most goals are scored with at least one or two assists.

Therefore, bidders would be better off dividing their player selection among a smaller amount of teams and choosing more players per team. For instance, if a bidder divides their picks among four teams and they all happen to make it to the conference finals, then a bidder should have accumulated a fair amount of points prior to the Stanley Cup final, with half of their players competing in the last round.

With this strategy, the bidder has a higher chance of having more players in the latter stages of the playoffs, but the drawback is that they will have fewer players left compared to bidders that concentrated their picks on one or two teams.

If bidders narrow their selection to include only two teams  — usually one in each conference that they hope will make it to the final — they will have more remaining players as the playoffs progress, can take advantage of linemate dynamics and will continue to accumulate points if all of the other bidders have fewer players remaining or have been eliminated, but it’s risky.

The obvious drawback to this strategy is the possibility that one or both of the teams that the bidder selected may be eliminated early on in the playoffs. For example, if a bidder places half of their bets on the Dallas Stars and they get eliminated by the Minnesota Wild in the first round, then the bidder is pretty much out of luck.

Despite the risks, the best strategy is for bidders to divide their selections between two to four teams. It is higher risk but has the potential to pay off handsomely as playoffs progress. The only tricky part is choosing the right teams. The playoffs can be unpredictable, and you never know if a wildcard team will eliminate the conference leader in the first round, but that’s hockey. Best of luck.

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Brenden Palmer

Photo Illustration: Jeremy Britz / Graphics Editor