For most of the decade the National Hockey League has resembled the days of yore when it was a six-team league and the top teams seldom changed. The Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Pittsburgh Penguins have divvied up eight of the last nine Stanley Cups. As the puck drops on the 2017-2018 season the usual suspects are still in evidence but some new names have emerged for bettors’ consideration.
The Penguins skate into the season as two-time defending Stanley Cup champions and online bookie Bovada has installed Pittsburgh as +800 co-favorites to become the first team since the 1980-1983 New York Islanders to make it three in a row. Three-time Stanley Cup-winning goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has moved on and so have a passel of forwards and defensemen but Sidney Crosby, with two straight playoff MVP trophies, is back and in his prime at 30 years of age. Evgeni Malkin and his 33 goals are still around as well. In addition to recent playoff success, the Pens also have cap space to maneuver as the playoffs near, something the front office has used to its advantage in recent years.
2017-18 NHL Stanley Cup Winner Odds
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 4, 7:00 a.m. (GMT)
Latest Odds: NHL (courtesy of bet365)
Joining Pittsburgh at +800 are the Edmonton Oilers, the antithesis of the Penguins. Edmonton has enjoyed zero success of late and did not make it out of the second round of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. The Oilers and general manager Peter Chiarelli also did not do much tinkering with the roster. The cause for such optimism for a team that had not won a playoff series for 11 years? Connor McDavid. In a league that often defines its eras by its dominant force, the 20-year old is widely considered the world’s best player. McDavid won the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion and Hart Trophy as league MVP last year. Everyone expects McDavid will lead Edmonton to a Stanley Cup eventually but punters must make the call that it will happen this quickly.
Third favorite Tampa Bay is another story altogether. The Lightning had been a team on the come for several seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2015. Tampa Bay was high on the list of contenders heading into last season but then missed the playoffs entirely. General manager Steve Yzerman did not give punters the opportunity to decide if that debacle was an aberration or not as he shook up his roster and fired head coach Jon Cooper. Bovada has shown enough approval to make the Lightning +1100 and if center and captain Steven Stamkos comes back strong from a knee injury that could be a cheap price.
The Chicago Blackhawks are offered at +1200, their longest opening odds in many a season. Here is a case of a league’s best team growing progressively older but the talent can never be counted out. The Blackhawks engineered a successful 50-23-9 campaign in 2016-2017 but were dismissed from the playoffs in the first round. General manager Stan Bowman has shifted some complementary pieces around his veteran core but he has no cap space to maneuver going forward. At some point Chicago will drift down from the top contenders but this season is probably too soon.
2017-18 NHL Hart Memorial Trophy Winner Odds
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 4, 7:00 a.m. (GMT)
After the top choices it is a toss-up for the Stanley Cup. The Dallas Stars, Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, and Toronto Maple Leafs are all available at +1400 and the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers fetch +1600. The Stars were one of the most active teams in the off-season after missing the playoffs. Lindy Ruff is out as coach and Ken Hitchcock, who took Dallas to its only Cup back in 1999 is once again behind the bench. They will be hoping for a return to form from goaltender Ben Bishop, a one-time Vezina Trophy winner whose save percentage dipped to .910 last year.
With star left-winger Alex Ovechkin in his prime, Washington has stocked its roster the past few seasons with only one goal in mind – win a Stanley Cup now. That has so far failed to happen. Last season produced 55 wins before the Caps bowed out of the playoffs in the second round to Pittsburgh. That disappointment bred several off-season changes and may have represented the last legitimate Cup run for this version of the Capitals.
The Nashville Predators were the big story of last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs, making it to within two wins of the championship after a mediocre 41-win campaign. Captain Mike Fisher has retired but the core of the Cup finalists return intact and are all in their 20s. Will the Predators be another year better or just another year older?
2017-18 NHL Eastern Conference Winner Odds
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 4, 7:00 a.m. (GMT)
Another team that found unexpected success last season was the Toronto Maple Leafs, who last won a Stanley Cup in 1967. A young team expected to be several years from contention, the Leafs carved out a 40-27-15 record and pushed the Cup-favorite Capitals to six games in the first round of the playoffs. Seizing the momentum, Toronto invested $18.75 million in veteran free agent left winger Patrick Marleau to join the kiddie corps in Canada’s biggest city. Bovada now has the Maple Leafs as the slight favorite to finish atop the Atlantic division before a playoff push.
Like the Leafs, the Minnesota Wild are another squad that will have bettors scratching their heads trying to predict if last year’s 49-win season was a springboard to advancement through the Stanley Cup playoffs or just a season when a lot of things broke right. Most of 2017’s team returns including top net minder Devan Dubnyk.
2017-18 NHL Western Conference Winner Odds
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 4, 7:00 a.m. (GMT)
