With the NHL regular season only days away, bookmakers carefully weigh in on which teams have the best odds to win the 2022-23 Stanley Cup. There is little surprise that the Toronto Maple Leafs and the defending champion Colorado Avalanche are the oddsmakers’ favorites for the Eastern and Western conferences, respectively. Colorado opens as the +425 overall favorite, while Toronto pays 8-1 on Stanley Cup future bets.
However, things seldom go the way we expect them to in sports. The Stanley Cup has thrown up its fair share of surprises over the years, including the Carolina Hurricanes upsetting the Detroit Red Wings in 2002, the 2018 Washington Capitals getting past the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights, and most recently, the 2019 St. Louis Blues who were dead last in the NHL with three months to go and found a way to win it all against the Boston Bruins.
This year analysts at Gamble Online identify some underdogs that may surprise this season.
Los Angeles Kings +3500
“If you want a dark, dark horse for the Stanley Cup, here it is,” said Bleacher Report’s Lyle Fitzsimmons in his season preview. Last year was an important one for Kings’ GM Rob Blake and his team, which makes up for in youthful exuberance what it lacks in experience. Getting a taste of post-season action last year was just what the doctor ordered, and who’s to say they won’t take it a step or two further in the season ahead? The team both signed Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe to deals that will keep the two scorers in Los Angeles for years to come.
New York Islanders +4000
After reaching the conference finals in back-to-back years, the Islanders’ 2021-22 season was effectively derailed by an eleven-game losing streak in December. The team finished with 84 points and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.
General manager Lou Lamoriello didn’t shake things up too much during the off-season, counting on bounce-back years from Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, and Brock Nelson. Don’t be surprised if New York makes a run this season.
Detroit Red Wings +6000
General Manager Steve Yzerman is in his third season at the helm of the Detroit Red Wings and it looks as if the team will finally claw its way out of the NHL lottery for the first time in six years. The emergence of Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond as possible cornerstone players and the addition of veterans David Perron, Andrew Copp, Ben Chariot, and goaltender Ville Husso bode well for a team that hasn’t sniffed the playoffs since 2016.
