Ducks crowd celebrates Lukáš Dostál's Second 50+ save performance of the season and his career (Via: Derek Lee) Ten teams finished last season with over 100 points as well as four other teams landing just outside the mark with one or two points less. It is a tough mark to hit and only the most elite teams in the NHL can achieve this. The sportsbooks have many future bets out for next season with one of them being if a team will hit 100 points or not and we look to try and predict which ones will and won’t. To finish with that many points you need to either win a lot of games or push a good amount of your losses into extra time. You can easily hit 100 points by simply winning 50 games like the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars this past season. You could also secure a record with a respectable amount of wins as well as a good number of extra time losses like the Boston Bruins this past season, who won 47 games but made it over the 100-point mark with 15 overtime losses. Either way, there are many ways to hit 100 points and we look to find teams that are at a solid value and could give us a decent payout. Bet: Toronto Maple Leafs (-150) The Buds are slated for their best season yet and will aim to hit the 100-point mark for the fourth straight time. They’ve finally found a solid goalie tandem with Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz that should be good enough hold up. They also made great additions to their blueline with veterans Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev as well as having Jake McCabe back after a breakout season. With their backend seemingly solidified, the offence will be looked to what will need to be the biggest difference maker next season. They struggled in the playoffs but their regular season numbers were some of the best in the league. Toronto’s league-best road offence was lead by Auston Matthews, who had a terrific 69-goal campaign and will need to follow it up with another solid season. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTyb1Kysq-s[/embed] The biggest boost to the offence should be Mitch Marner, who will be entering a contact year and should put up career-best numbers and will want to prove the haters wrong. Team captain John Tavares will also be entering a contract year and will want to rebound after a 65-point season that was his worst since the Covid-shortened season of 2020. Pieces like Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann will also be returning with a season of experience under their belt and should give the Buds their best chance at the cup yet. Avoid: Vegas Golden Knights (+100) You can always count on Vegas being very aggressive when it comes to building a Stanley Cup contender after getting a taste of glory with their recent championship win. They’ve always kept themselves in the conversation but have only hit the 100-point mark twice in their franchises seven year history. It’ll be challenging to do it this season after losing many key players like Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, William Carrier and Anthony Mantha. Vegas still presents a very strong top six but will need yet another strong year from bottom of the lineup players like William Karlsson, Nicolas Roy, Keegan Kolesar and newcomer Alexander Holtz. The goaltending for the Golden Knights has always been a strongsuit but now they will be heavily reliant on Adin Hill, who has always struggled with injuries. They will not longer have the cushion of solid backup options like in the past with Logan Thompson or Jonathan Quick and will now have to rely on a shaky Ilya Samsonov. The vibes are off in Vegas and makes them appear to be a subtle team to avoid while others may be wanting to buy in. Bet: Boston Bruins (-130) Another minus money option that should be solid is the Bruins. They’ve hit the 100-point mark six straight seasons excluding the Covid-shortened season that still saw them on pace to clear the mark easily. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw-BoYhAdUM[/embed] They’ve been a consistent hockey powerhouse and they retooled their team once again this offseason with solid adds like Elias Lindholm for the teams top offensive line as well as Nikita Zadorov, who will slide into the teams top pairing with Charlie McAvoy. Boston is likely down in the odds due to the loss of Linus Ullmark as he was dealt to Ottawa but the team is still solid and will ride the back of Jeremy Swayman who helped carry Boston through the first round and should ride that momentum into next season.
