Updated NHL odds for the Stanley Cup, Hart & Vezina: From the favorites to the long shots
The latest line on the Stanley Cup, Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy: check out the long list of contenders and pretenders for the NHL's most sought-after awards.
Here's the thing about odds. They don't necessarily reflect who's the favorite, they reflect who people are betting the most money on. Oftentimes, it's one and the same, and that mostly holds true with the odds-on Stanley Cup favorites listed below (courtesy of internet bookmaker BetOnline.com), with the stacked Tampa Bay Lightning, Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames leading the way.
But if you look a little further down the list, you can find some legitimate contenders at a good value, such as recent two-time Cup winner Pittsburgh at 16/1 and defending champ Washington at 25/1. And if you believe this is the year that Nashville or Columbus goes over the top, you can get the Predators at 14/1 and Blue Jackets at 25/1.
For comparison's sake, here are the Stanley Cup odds from a month ago at the midpoint of the regular season as well as back in July 2018, shortly after Toronto signed John Tavares.
After you peruse the Cup odds below, scroll down to see a few "takeaway" highlights – and then scroll down further to view the betting favorites and long shots for the Hart Trophy (NHL MVP) and Vezina Trophy (best goalie). And remember, the same tenet holds true – the odds reflect who people are betting on, not necessarily the bona fide leading candidates for each award.
STANLEY CUP ODDS
Tampa Bay Lightning 9/2
Winnipeg Jets 7/1
Calgary Flames 8/1
Toronto Maple Leafs 10/1
San Jose Sharks 12/1
Nashville Predators 14/1
New York Islanders 14/1
Vegas Golden Knights 14/1
Pittsburgh Penguins 16/1
Boston Bruins 20/1
Columbus Blue Jackets 25/1
Dallas Stars 25/1
Washington Capitals 25/1
Buffalo Sabres 33/1
Minnesota Wild 33/1
Montreal Canadiens 33/1
St. Louis Blues 33/1
Colorado Avalanche 40/1
Anaheim Ducks 50/1
Carolina Hurricanes 50/1
Edmonton Oilers 50/1
Philadelphia Flyers 50/1
Vancouver Canucks 50/1
Arizona Coyotes 100/1
Florida Panthers 100/1
Chicago Blackhawks 150/1
Los Angeles Kings 150/1
New York Rangers 150/1
Detroit Red Wings 250/1
New Jersey Devils 250/1
Ottawa Senators 500/1
Takeaways:
–Tampa Bay remains the betting favorite in the East and the money’s on Winnipeg in the West. The Lightning continue to be the bookies’ pick to win the Cup, as has been the case virtually all season. And when you take into account their record and roster, well, it’s easy to see why. Bolts or bust? Not quite, but the Lightning have been the class of the league this season and deserve their lofty team-to-beat status.
–Among the top-rated contenders, Calgary, San Jose and the New York Islanders have seen their odds improve the most over the past month. The red-hot Flames have gone from 14/1 to 8/1, the Sharks from 16/1 to 12/1 and the Isles from 25/1 to 14/1. It certainly wouldn’t be a shock to see Calgary or San Jose emerge from the West. But the Islanders winning the East? Call him Barry ‘Bowman’ Trotz if that happens.
–Defending champion Washington has slid the most among teams in a playoff position, falling from 12/1 a month ago to 25/1. That’s what happens when you lose seven in a row.
-If you like the long shots, Carolina and Philadelphia have jumped from 100/1 to 50/1. Both the Hurricanes and Flyers remain on the outside of the East playoff picture, but they’ve been among the NHL’s best teams over the past month. Keep it going and maybe one of them sneaks into the post-season.
–Ottawa limps onto the list as the longest of long shots, dropping from 250/1 to 500/1. And even at that price, you should save your money – or maybe put it on Chicago, whose odds went from 100/1 to 150/1 despite the fact the Blackhawks have climbed into the wild-card fringe in the West.
HART TROPHY ODDS (NHL MVP)
Connor McDavid 2/1
Nikita Kucherov 11/4
Sidney Crosby 7/1
Johnny Gaudreau 10/1
Patrick Kane 10/1
Nathan MacKinnon 10/1
John Tavares 10/1
Alex Ovechkin 12/1
Auston Matthews 16/1
Jack Eichel 25/1
Steven Stamkos 25/1
Blake Wheeler 25/1
Claude Giroux 33/1
Brad Marchand 33/1
Mark Scheifele 33/1
Taylor Hall 40/1
Mathew Barzal 50/1
Anze Kopitar 50/1
Evgeni Malkin 50/1
David Pastrnak 50/1
Tyler Seguin 50/1
Vladimir Tarasenko 50/1
Aleksander Barkov 66/1
Jamie Benn 66/1
Filip Forsberg 66/1
Artemi Panarin 66/1
Evgeny Kuznetsov 80/1
William Karlsson 80/1
Patrik Laine 100/1
Takeaways:
–Edmonton's Connor McDavid is a 2/1 favorite for the Hart. That's not a big surprise. The guy's pretty darn good. But if the Oilers fail to make the playoffs (again), it'll likely lead to another should-a-non-playoff-team-player-win-the-MVP debate (again). My two cents? Well, of course a non-playoff-team-player can win the Hart. He can still be "the player judged most valuable to his team." It just means the rest of his team isn't up to playoff snuff.
–That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that McDavid should win the Hart this season. The MVP fight is far from over. Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov (11/4) is the best player on the NHL's best team as well as the league's leading scorer. Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau (10/1) has taken his game to another level, powering the Flames to first place in the West as a result. Chicago's Patrick Kane (10/1) has put the Blackhawks on his back and somehow lifted them into the wild-card race. Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (10/1) will garner support if he can reverse the Avs' fall and get them into the playoffs. Alex Ovechkin (12/1) has a shot if he keeps shooting the lights out and goes goal-crazy down the stretch. And Sidney Crosby (7/1) is, well, Sidney Crosby. You can't count The Kid out.
–Timeout for a Toronto-centric observation: The Leafs' John Tavares (10/1) and newly minted multimillionaire Auston Matthews (16/1) both rank among the top 10 favorites for the Hart – but, mysteriously, Mitch Marner is nowhere to be found.
–There are a few head-scratchers among the Hart odds. In fact, some of candidates feel like they're carryovers from last season. Reigning MVP Taylor Hall (40/1) has missed 20 games and New Jersey sits 30th overall in the standings. Vladimir Tarasenko (50/1), playing for a St. Louis team that has mostly disappointed this season, is tied for 59th in NHL scoring with 18 goals and tied for 90th with 37 points. Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar (50/1) and Florida's Aleksander Barkov (66/1) are two of the NHL's best all-around players, but they're performing below expectations – on disappointing teams, no less – this season. William Karlsson (80/1), whose breakout 43-goal effort became symbolic of Vegas' stunning expansion debut last year, is on pace for good-but-not-great 25 goals. Winnipeg sniper Patrik Laine (100/1) has one goal in his past 16 games and two in his past 22, while dragging a minus-15 rating on a Jets team that's one of the best in the league.
VEZINA TROPHY ODDS (best goalie)
Marc-Andre Fleury 9/2
Andrei Vasilevskiy 6/1
Connor Hellebuyck 7/1
Frederik Andersen 8/1
Carey Price 8/1
David Rittich 8/1
Braden Holtby 10/1
Pekka Rinne 10/1
Ben Bishop 12/1
John Gibson 12/1
Martin Jones 12/1
Sergei Bobrovsky 22/1
Devan Dubnyk 25/1
Tuukka Rask 25/1
Matt Murray 40/1
Jake Allen 50/1
Mikko Koskinen 50/1
Jacob Markstrom 50/1
Jonathan Quick 66/1
Henrik Lundqvist 80/1
Corey Crawford 100/1
Takeaways:
–No argument with Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury (9/2) or Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy (6/1) at the top of the list, but it's a little surprising to see Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck (7/1) with the third-best odds. Among goalies who have played at least 20 games this season, Hellebuyck sits outside the top 20 in both goals-against average (2.91) and save percentage (.910). Those numbers are decent, but not overwhelming, and he benefits from a deep and talented team in front of him.
–While Fleury and Vasilevskiy are both good bets to be finalists, the Vezina race remains wide open and any one of the top 10 goalies on the list could end up taking home the award. And there are candidates even further down, such as Minnesota's Devan Dubnyk and Boston's Tuukka Rask, both of whom come in at 25/1 but could take the trophy with a strong finish.
–Umm ... where's Robin Lehner? Or Thomas Griess, for that matter? The Islanders' goalie tandem might lose points because they're a platoon without a clear-cut No. 1, but they certainly deserve to be slotted somewhere on the list. Especially Lehner, who's lapping the field with a 2.02 GAA and .932 save percentage this season.
–Chicago's Corey Crawford seems strangely out of place, even at 100/1. The Blackhawks goalie has missed significant time due to concussions – he's been out since Dec. 16 with no timeline to return – with a 6-14-2 record, 3.28 GAA and .902 save percentage. He'd have to come back and pitch shutouts the rest of the season to win the Vezina.