Welcome to the 2022-23 season preview as brought to you by Betway Sports. We’ll be taking a dive into each teams offseason and what their Stanley Cup odds are for next season from the worst odds to the best. All odds current as of the time of writing.
New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup Odds: +6600
Another team with a quiet, but very solid offseason was the New Jersey Devils. After a season with many highs and lows and ultimately, a disappointing end, the Devils selected defenceman Simon Nemec second overall in a move that shocked some.
But truth be told, I love the fact that they took their guy. Nemec’s a great prospect who projects as a tremendous player.
That’s not where they did most of their offseason damage with a trio of trades bettering their team. They acquired Vitek Vanecek and the 46th overall pick in exchange for the 37th overall pick and the 70th overall pick. They inked the RFA to a one-year xx deal.
In a one-for-one swap, they moved center Pavel Zacha to the Boston Bruins in exchange for center Erik Haula. Lastly, the Devils traded defenceman Ty Smith and a 2023 3rd round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenceman John Marino.
Come free agency, they got one of the belles of the ball in Ondrej Palat, signing him to a five-year deal with a $6-million AAV. He’ll make an impact in their top-six.
Are we betting on the Devils to win the cup? No. This is a Devils team that is going to be on the up-and-up but let’s be real here — this is a packed Metro division. After a 63-point season, they’d need to have a 40-point swing to make it into the playoffs, based off last years standings. That’s just too much for this team, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them in the 80-point range next season.