The dust has settled on the NHL offseason, and we now have a decent picture of how things will look on Opening Night in October.
Let’s take a quick survey of the betting landscape before the hockey world departs for their summer cottages…
Buyer beware
Predators (19/1, FanDuel)
Originally, Barry Trotz preached patience in Nashville and wanted to focus on the future, but things changed when the Predators put together a stellar stretch run and the franchise has decided to go all-in.
Nashville signed Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei on July 1 and also extended goaltender Juuse Saros and defenseman Alexandre Carrier.
It was a bold decision from the Predators and they are unquestionably more dangerous than they were a week ago, but this number has been slashed in half in a couple of days and that’s way too much considering they’re in a deep Central Division that features Colorado, Dallas, Winnipeg and the emerging Utah HC.
Fade
Hurricanes (11/1, Caesars)
The Hurricanes did what they always do in free agency:
They signed effective players (Shayne Gostisbehere, Sean Walker and William Carrier) to savvy contracts.
But they also have major issues.
The scoring punch they desperately need is now gone with Jake Guentzel in Tampa Bay, and Martin Necas wants out.
The goaltending is also a concern.
Don’t be shocked if we see Carolina drift towards the 20/1 range for the first time in years.
Trendy sleeper
Utah HC (60/1, DraftKings)
Prepare yourself to hear a lot of pundits predicting that Utah will make the playoffs in their first season after the move from Arizona.
There’s no doubt that their aggressive trades for Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino made them better, but trendy offseason teams often get way too much love in the summer betting market (see: Buffalo, Ottawa from last summer).
Long shot to watch
Capitals (100/1, Fanatics)
The Capitals were not expected to take big swings this offseason, but they flipped that script.
More importantly, they did it in a measured approach.
The Caps bought low on Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane and Jakob Chychrun, while also adding terrific shutdown defenseman Matt Roy.
Washington’s scoring upside is still in question, but this is a very intriguing team considering you can grab them at 100/1.
The locals
Rangers (14/1, BetRivers), Devils (13/1, DraftKings), Islanders (50/1, BetMGM)
There’s a good chance that the Devils will be the (deserving) favorite to win the Eastern Conference on Opening Night after they addressed their biggest flaw by acquiring goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
The Devils also shored up their defense by bringing in Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon.
Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello made a couple of shrewd moves on July 1, adding some speed and skill to the lineup in the form of Anthony Duclair and extending Mike Reilly, but the Isles are up against the cap and need to offload some money to make room for some other additions before we can make a fair assessment.
The Metropolitan Division looks weaker than it has been in a while, so a 50/1 punt on the Isles isn’t crazy, but that number will almost certainly hang around for a while.
The Rangers, meanwhile, have to get their house in order.
Betting on the NHL?
- Check out the best NHL betting sites
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We know this roster has Presidents’ Trophy upside, but there are significant questions surrounding the team (notably the Jacob Trouba situation).
Until that works itself out, there’s no reason to get involved at a short price.
