With both the NHL All-Star game and the Super Bowl already a distant memory, it’s time to start getting serious about your NHL Future bets. NHL teams are on average 54 games into their schedules, which works out to about 35% of the regular season remaining. Now is the perfect time to find some value in the odds for teams to win the Stanley Cup.
Let’s take a look at a few teams I like to win the Stanley Cup, followed by an updated list of All 31 Team’s Odds to Win the Stanley Cup.
Tampa Bay Lightning +400
I hate to be so obvious and go chalk with my first team, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have left me no choice. They are destroying the East right now with 82 points, 13 points up on the second place Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Lightning are going through their worst slump of the season at the moment, losers of their last 2 and 5 of their last 9. These slumps happen over a long NHL season, and it happens to coincide with their 11 day vacation around the All-Star break.
Tampa has not only been good at home, where they’ve lost only 5 of 27 games, they are very good on the road, where they are a league best 19-6-2. A league leading 207 goals and +57 point differential has helped them a lot. The Calgary Flames have the second most goals with 199 and are also second in differential at +42.
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Calgary Flames +700
Sorry Flamers (isn’t that what they call Flame fans?), but the Calgary Flames aren’t on my list for the positive. Most “experts” predicted the Flames to miss the playoffs, but with great play from youngsters like Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm, combined with the veteran leadership from guys like Mark Giordano, they find themselves atop the Western Conference with the second most points in the entire league with 73.
At +700, the Flames provide no value for a team that would have trouble getting passed 3 or 4 other teams in the West in a 7-game series. I expect the Flames to soon come back to reality and become a .500 team the rest of the way. They will still make the playoffs, but are likely first round losers.
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San Jose Sharks +950
Is this the year the Sharks FINALLY put together a Stanley Cup winning campaign? The Sharks entered the league in 1991, back when expansion teams were terrible. But since the 1993-94 season, their 3rd in existence, they have only missed the playoffs 4 times, with the last coming in 2014-15, after making it to the second season for 10 years straight. But they have never won a Cup.
I love sports history, so lets dig a little deeper into the Sharks’ franchise. In their 20 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they have only made it to the Cup Final once. It was in 2015-16, when they lost 4-2 to the Penguins. Their best regular season was in 2008-09, when they won 53 games and won the Presidents’ Trophy. That season they lost in the Quarterfinals to the Ducks. The NHL scores and odds that came from that playoff year were insane.
The Sharks are very intriguing this year though. They have 3 solid lines, including a 3rd line that’s centered by Joe Thornton. On top of that, they have 2 of the best d-men in the league in Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson.
If goalie Martin Jones can tighten up his goals against average and save percentage, this finally might be the year that 39-year-old Jumbo Joe gets his Cup.
Pittsburgh Penguins +1350
I was going to go with the Winnipeg Jets here, because I truly believe they are the team in the West that matches up best against the Lightning, but I’m a value bettor. At +1350, the Pittsburgh Penguins offer some great value.
The Pens have been tough to figure out this season. They’ve had a streak where they lost 9 of 10 and a streak where they won 8 in a row and 10 of 11. They are currently on a 3-game losing streak, and have only won 3 of their last 10.
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They are only 5 points back of the Metropolitan leading New York Islanders, and are a shoe-in to make the playoffs. Once they get there, every other team will fear having to play them.
Other teams to watch: Winnipeg Jets (+600), Nashville Predators (+1150), Toronto Maple Leafs (+850)
Here is an updated list of All 31 Team’s Odds to Win the Stanley Cup:
Tampa Bay Lightning +400
Winnipeg Jets +600
Calgary Flames +700
Toronto Maple Leafs +850
San Jose Sharks +950
Vegas Golden Knights +1150
Nashville Predators +1150
New York Islanders +1150
Pittsburgh Penguins +1350
Boston Bruins +1750
Columbus Blue Jackets +2000
Dallas Stars +2000
St. Louis Blues +2000
Washington Capitals +2000
Buffalo Sabres +2800
Minnesota Wild +2800
Montreal Canadiens +2800
Colorado Avalanche +3500
Edmonton Oilers +4500
Philadelphia Flyers +4500
Anaheim Ducks +4500
Vancouver Canucks +4500
Carolina Hurricanes +4500
Chicago Blackhawks +5500
Florida Panthers +8500
Arizona Coyotes +8500
Los Angeles Kings +12500
New York Rangers +12500
Detroit Red Wings +20000
New Jersey Devils +20000
Ottawa Senators +30000
Article by Joe Berra
Posted on February 8, 2019