Examining which division will have best chance at producing a Stanley Cup winner next season
The next NHL season is months away and with so much change going on, we look to tackle great betting odds when we can before it’s too late. The Predators and Lightning both made significant moves in the offseason and saw their odds for the next Stanley Cup drop dramatically.
We look to examine a classic value bet for the NHL and that’s which division will have a team win the Stanley Cup. The Atlantic is coming off yet another win and has seen the Division win three of the last five Stanley Cups. Will they repeat again or will another team take over?
All betting lines are from Bet365 and are subject to change. Hockey is a difficult sport to predict so please gamble responsibly.
The Metro jump out to an early lead in betting odds as the Rangers are coming off a Presidents Trophy win along with the Hurricanes refilling their blue line. The Central ride at the back of the bus despite having three teams finish in the top four of the Western Conference.
Bet: Central Division to Stanley Cup (+300)
After seeing the value it’s hard not to take the Central. Not only did they have three top teams last season with the Stars, Jets and Avalanche but they also have the Nashville Predators, who are having a summer to remember with key additions in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. The Division could easily top out with four or possibly even five teams representing if the Blues or Wild can find a way get in the mix.
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The Dallas Stars lost almost no one from their squad that made it to the Conference Finals except for Chris Tanev and reliable backup Scott Wedgewood. They re-signed Matt Duchene, Nils Lundkvist and Sam Steel plus made solid additions with Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin.
The Winnipeg Jets lose some key forwards up the middle in Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli but will have some players move into bigger roles like Vladislav Namestnikov or Adam Lowry needing to take over the second line centre job as well as Cole Perfetti being thrusted into a top six role on the wing. They remain very deep with quality forwards projected for the bottom six like Nino Niederreiter, Alex Iafallo as well as new addition Jaret Anderson-Dolan.
The Avalanche may have a down year after losing Sean Walker to free agency as well as Valeri Nichushkin to personal issues. They did sure up their top six with Casey Mittelstadt and Jonathan Drouin signing new deals and had Artturi Lehkonen showcase once again that he is a playoff performer when the time comes. They also have one of the best cores of young players with Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen, who will continue to give them a chance at winning a championship.
The opposing Pacific teams are mostly heading towards down years with the Oilers losing a handful of players, Vancouver lost Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to Boston along with the Vegas Golden Knights losing a slew of key players.
Calgary, Anaheim and San Jose looking to continue their rebuilds and the Kings and Kraken look to have better seasons but seem like they would be outmatched by any of the Central's top teams. The West should be represented by a Central team next Stanley Cup Final and at +300 is a great odd.