When the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to capture their third Stanley Cup in franchise history, bookmakers quickly installed them as favorites to repeat in the 2022-23 NHL season. The Avalanche entered the season as +400 favorites to repeat, and two months into the season, they are still at the top, but the NHL odds have narrowed considerably.
Colorado Avalanche +500
It may seem odd that a 15-10-2 team that is 9th in the conference and two points out of a playoff spot is the odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup, but that’s precisely where the Colorado Avalanche find themselves. Injuries have gutted the team over the last two months, including stars Nathan MacKinnon and team Captain Gabriel Landeskog, who, along with defenseman Josh Manson, are not expected to be back in the line-up until mid-January.
Despite a depleted lineup, Colorado has done well to stay in the mix. The return of Arturri Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin should help take some weight off forward Mikko Rantanen and defenseman Cale Makar’s shoulders as the team looks to stay competitive until reinforcements arrive. Colorado is still the team to beat when healthy, which explains why their odds have not slid much.
Boston Bruins +600
The Boston Bruins always seem to be in the hunt, but few expected them to be as good as they have over the season’s first two months. Under first-year bench boss Jim Montgomery, Boston is a league-best 23-4-1 with 47 points in 28 games and is an incredible 15-0-1 at home at the TD Garden.
Not only are the Bruins winning, but they’re winning convincingly. The team has allowed a league-low 2.17 goals per game and is tied with the Buffalo Sabres for goals per game at 3.9. They have the third-best powerplay, converting at 28.6%, and their penalty kill is tops in the league at 85.8%.
It won’t be easy to keep winning at this pace, but Boston looks like a playoff lock and early season favorite to win the Eastern Conference.
Vegas Golden Knights +900
Another early surprise has been the Vegas Golden Knights, who, like the Bruins, look revived under a new coach and system. Except new coach Bruce Cassidy happened to be Boston’s old coach last season.
The Knights dropped their game against Boston on Sunday before picking up a comeback win against the Winnipeg Jets yesterday, keeping them on top of the Western Conference with 43 points in 31 games played. The team has struggled a little recently, going 5-5-0 over their last ten games, and just lost first-line center and leading scorer Jack Eichel to the injured reserve list, but they still have a comfortable lead in the Pacific Division.
Carolina Hurricanes +1100
Last month the Carolina Hurricanes were in our top five, and they remain there despite trailing the New Jersey Devils by six points in the Metropolitan Division.
Carolina started hot, cooled off, and recently caught fire with a four-game win streak that’s helped propel it back up the standings. The new-look Hurricanes have started to play well as a unit despite losing starting goaltender Freddie Andersen to injury for about a month. Rookie goalie call-up Pyotr Kochetkov has been terrific in relief this season, with a 2.02 goals against average and a .926 save percentage while going 7-1-4 with three shutouts in 11 starts this season.
New Jersey Devils +1200
New on this list is another surprise team. The New Jersey Devils have been magnificent despite stumbling of late. At 21-6-2, they lead the Metropolitan Division by six points. The Devils have been multidimensional, with their success hardly predicated on any one element or player.
New Jersey’s top line of Jack Hughes, Erik Haula, and Jesper Bratt has been one of the best two-way units in the NHL all season. Haula joined Hughes and Bratt after Ondrej Palat went down with a groin injury in early November. The unit has averaged 3.9 goals per 60 minutes and earned nearly 70% of the scoring chances 5-on-5.
What makes this even more impressive is that the Devil’s second line of Nico Hischier, Tomas Tatar, and Fabian Zetterlund has been playing even better. The trio has outscored opponents 8-1, with 0.46 goals against average per 60 minutes, earning 62% of the shot attempts and 63% of the scoring chances 5-on-5. Hischier is putting together a Selke Trophy-worthy season while tallying the second most even-strength points on the Devils (20) behind Hughes.
With a top six playing this well it’s no wonder New Jersey has ascended into our top five favorites for the mid-month of December.
