The year hasn’t been kind to NHL coverage in the U.S. ESPN gutted its hockey team (down to six expert predictions after 10 picked last year) and CBS Sports knocked the NHL off of its front page menu and barely has a page at all anymore. But the sport endures. And the playoffs are still better than most others, especially this year’s competition from the other winter sport. So we found fewer picks, but those we did find gave the edge to Pittsburgh. And all of them predicted 6 or 7 games, so buckle up.
Scoreboard Page: We’re fans of history, and either victor provides a bit of it. Nashville can bring home its first Stanley Cup, but the Penguins can be the first back-to-back winner since the Red Wings in 1998. The same Red Wings they prevented from doing it in 2009. But a lot of Cup droughts have end in the years since, at least when the Blackhawks weren’t winning again after ending theirs. So let’s give the edge to Nashville. And just for fun, let’s say Pittsburgh will build a 3-1 lead before falling to the Predators in 7.
Sporting News
DeCourcy: Penguins in 7
More info: http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/news/stanley-cup-final-2017-pick-prediction-penguins-predators-nhl-playoffs/18hoq8kn0wr981e42935zwrqh0
ESPN
Buccigross: Penguins in 7
Cohn: Penguins in 7
Grant: Penguins in 7
Kavanagh: Predators in 6
Levy: Predators in 7
Virk: Predators in 7
More info: http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/19466503/2017-stanley-cup-finals-experts-predictions
USA Today
Allen: Penguins in 6
Vingan: Penguins in 7
Rexrode: Predators in 6
Hascup: Predators in 6
Brehm: Penguins in 6
Evans: Penguins in 6
More info: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2017/05/27/stanley-cup-2017-predators-vs-penguins-predictions-playoffs/102190660/
CBS Sports
Benjamin: Predators in 7
More info: http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/video/stanley-cup-final-predictions/
Yahoo
Lambert: Predators in 6
More info: https://sports.yahoo.com/news/paper-predators-hold-cards-stanley-cup-final-trending-topics-133019834.html
Fox Sports
Penguins in 7
More info: http://www.foxsports.com/whatifsports/nhl/story/whatifsports-stanley-cup-finals-prediction-penguins-repeat-052617
The Canadian Press
Penguins in 6
More info: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/crosby-malkin-lead-pens-first-002503934.html
Forbes
Price: Predators in 6
More info: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkay/2017/05/26/2017-stanley-cup-finals-odds-and-predictions-for-pittsburgh-penguins-vs-nashville-predators/