The National Hockey League has not been fertile ground for adventurous bettors this decade. Before last season the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks had divvied up ownership of Lord Stanley’s Cup five of the previous six seasons. When those teams stepped aside in the playoffs last year, the Pittsburgh Penguins filled the void – with the core of the team that won the championship in 2009. The 2016/2017 season is shaping up to involve the same cast of characters in the Cup chase.
The Blackhawks have made the playoffs for eight straight years and still enter the year as hockey’s best team. Top Bet has installed Chicago as the +750 preseason favorite to skate away with Stanley Cup again this season. But the talent gap is narrowing. Paying for stars like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews has stretched the Chicago purse strings and gnawed away at the team’s depth. There were cracks during the regular season in 2015/2016 and a relatively punchless ouster in the playoffs. Punters will have to evaluate if the complementary players added on a budget will be enough to sustain a championship run all the way through this time around.
Chicago will need to fight its way through hockey’s scrappiest group of rivals in the Central Division. The Blackhawks are +285 to finish on top but the St. Louis Blues (+300), Dallas Stars (+300) and Nashville Predators (+325) are all poised to win the regular season. The fact that each of these teams carry substantially longer odds to win a championship – Dallas +1000, St. Louis +1200 and Nashville +1600 – speaks to their deficiencies as a complete team.
Dallas, for instance, led the league in goals last season with 267 which is a nice way to win regular season games but defense takes over in the post-season and the Stars will be running out the same goal protectors who let in 230 goals – the most of any playoff team. If handicappers do not forecast improvement in their own end, Dallas will continue to be a precarious Stanley Cup bet.
【2016-17 NHL Stanley Cup Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 8, 3:00 a.m. (GMT)
Chicago’s top challenge is likely to come from the Washington Capitals, hockey’s best team without a Stanley Cup. Left winger Alex Ovechkin was the only 50-goal scorer in the NHL last season and Washington carved out the league’s best goal differential by a wide margin at +59 – almost one a game. Just about everyone who matters is back this season and the Capitals are given a +800 chance to finally win the title. Of course, bettors have lost plenty of money through the years on “this will finally be the year” wagers.
The defending champion Penguins are also listed at +800. The Pens found their stride late in the season and carried that fine play through a relatively stressless post season. That dominant run could provide Pittsburgh an edge in 2016/2017. It is notoriously difficult to defend Stanley Cups in the NHL and one of the reasons is all the extra games in four playoff rounds the previous year. Every chance to save wear and tear on attackers Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin is a plus in Pittsburgh’s ledger.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are on the short list of contenders as well at +800. This is one NHL team that has been steadily building towards a Stanley Cup from the dredges in the past few seasons. Two years ago it was a surprise appearance in the Cup finals and last year it was as Pittsburgh’s stiffest postseason test, going down in the third round only after seven games. Former first overall draft pick and two-time NHL leading goal-scorer Steven Stamkos leads a team that is more than ready to skate off with the Stanley Cup.
The Los Angeles Kings are in danger of slipping from hockey’s elite. They still have scoring brilliance with Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar, a defensive stalwart in Drew Doughty and a top goaltender in his prime in Jonathan Quick. But, like the Blackhawks, filling a star-studded roster in the era of salary caps makes team-building a challenge. The Kings’ success may rest more in the maneuvering in the front office than on the ice.
Sportsbook Top Bet has posted Los Angeles at +1400, behind the San Jose Sharks at +1200 in the Western Conference. The defending champion Sharks are a contrast to the Stars as they send out a balanced cohesive squad every night. They have done so for many years which has produced sterling regular seasons but only close calls in playoff runs. There are plenty of familiar names on the Sharks who are hoping for an unfamiliar finish this time.
In a similar mode are the Anaheim Ducks who have won the Pacific Division four years running and are +225 co-favorites with San Jose to keep the streak alive. The Ducks are built around the league’s stingiest defense – 2.32 goals allowed in 2015/2016. But a lack of scoring potency has sunk the Ducks in recent postseasons. If that formula were to result in a Stanley Cup this season it would reward backers at the payout of +1500.
If motivation alone were enough to predict success, bettors could do no better than to back one of the Canadian teams. Not a single one of the seven qualified for the playoffs in Canada’s national sport last year. Oddsmakers see more frustration ahead this year for the Canada Seven. The best bet among them would be the Montreal Canadiens (+2000), assuming Carey Price between the pipes can stay healthy all season. Price was named the top goaltender at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and in 2015 he became the first netminder to win the four top individual awards in the National Hockey League – the Ted Lindsay (outstanding regular season player), Jennings (fewest goals allowed), Vezina (best goaltender) and Hart (league MVP) trophies. Maybe a hot goaltender can carry an undermanned team all the way to a Stanley Cup in 2016/2107.
Latest Odds: NHL (courtesy of bet365)
