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.
San Jose Sharks Stanley Cup Odds: +10000
Oh, San Jose.
This team had a loud offseason moving on from GM Doug Wilson and head coach Bob Boughner while bringing in Mike Grier and David Quinn, respectively.
At the draft, the Sharks traded back from 11th overall to 27th, 34th, and 45th overall. It was a nice little haul for a team in need of organizational depth using the picks on forward Filip Bystedt and Cam Lund, as well as defenceman Mattias Havelid.
The biggest move of their offseason was shipping off franchise staple Brent Burns to the Carolina Hurricanes. Retaining 34% of his salary, or $2.720-million, the Sharks also sent Lane Pederson in exchange for Steven Lorentz, Eetu Mäkiniemi and a 2023 conditional third-round pick. The condition is that San Jose will receive the lower of Carolina’s 2023 3rd round pick or Philadelphia’s 3rd round pick.
Burns remains a solid NHL’er at 37 years old after scoring 10 goals and 54 points last season.
They also brought in forward Luke Kunin in a deal with the Nashville Predators that saw the Sharks ship off defenceman John Leonard and a 2023 3rd-round pick.
Are we betting on the Sharks to win the cup? No. In fact, I wouldn’t even bet on them to make the playoffs. While their top-six is decent, the entirety of the roster really lacks depth. Their bottom-six is weak, and their defence is a complete disaster. While James Reimer was a big surprise last season posting some career numbers, the truth is he — nor Kaap Kahkonen or Adin Hill — are good enough to carry this Sharks team.
Fade the in the markets.