Welcome to the 2022-23 season preview as brought to you by Betway Sports. We’ll be taking a dive into each team’s offseason and what their Stanley Cup odds are for next season from the worst odds to the best. All odds are current as of the time of writing.
Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup Odds: +900
After back-to-back championships, the Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t three-peat.
They met a great foe in the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche, but could the Lightning get back to the finals? They absolutely could.
This team is still as deep as ever, even with some off-season moves. In a cap crunch, they traded Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for Philippe Myers, who will be on the opening-day roster. Ondrej Palat was lost to free agency and the team will look internally to replace him.
Their top line is one of, if not the best in the league, and they have rock-solid contributors all through their forward corps. On the backend, Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev remain as big pieces, but their defense is littered with solid players.
And with Andrei Vasilevskiy in the net, the sky is always the limit.
Tampa’s work came in some big extensions to Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak, Nick Paul, and Sergachev.
The question of course remains: are we seeing a Lightning team clawing to keep pieces together, or do they still feel as though they are perennial contenders? I wouldn’t write them off.
Are we betting on the Lightning to win the cup? They’re always worth a sprinkle. This team has been there and done that before, so until we see a major drop-off, they’re a team I’m willing to back.