Last season the Colorado Avalanche rolled into the Stanley Cup Finals by sweeping the Nashville Predators, beating the St. Louis Blues in six games, and then sweeping the Edmonton Oilers. Colorado defeated the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to capture their third Stanley Cup in franchise history.
The Avalanche entered the season as the overwhelming favorite to repeat, and about a month into the season, they remain at the top of bookmakers’ lists.
Colorado Avalanche +450
The Avalanche lost forward Andre Burakovsky, centerman Nazem Kadri and starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper in the offseason. Still, minus injured team captain Gabriel Landeskog, they have not missed much of a beat, skating to a 4-4-1 start in defense of their championship.
The team does not lack scoring talent, with Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Valarie Nichushkin, and the back-end combination of Cale Makar and Devon Toews may be the best defensive pair in the league on both sides of the puck. The biggest question is whether new goalie Alexandar Georgiev and Pavel Francouz can perform well enough for them come the playoffs. Still, the benefit of the doubt is Colorado’s to lose.
This well-coached team is a playoff lock and should only improve as the season progresses.
Toronto Maple Leafs +1000
The Maple Leafs seem to always be in the middle of NHL sports betting discussions, and here we have them tied with the Carolina Hurricanes as co-favorites to emerge out of the Eastern Conference. The team is young, well-coached, hungry, and deep down the middle, with Auston Mathews and John Tavaras anchoring an offense that also features William Nylander and Mitch Marner.
Like the Avalanche, the biggest question for Toronto will be in the net. The team let Jack Campbell walk in free agency and took a goaltending-by-committee approach adding Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray. Murray has already been sidelined with an injury, and a poor swing through Nevada and California might have exposed this team as more of a pretender than a contender.
Carolina Hurricanes +1000
No general manager did more in the off-season than the Hurricanes’ Don Waddell. In July, Carolina traded defenseman Tony DeAngelo to the Philadelphia Flyers and then acquired Brent Burns from the San Jose Sharks. Next, they added veterans Max Pacioretty, Paul Statsny, and Ondrey Kase to supplement their forward group already blessed with Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, Martin Necas, Andrei Svechnikov, and second-year wunderkind Seth Jarvis.
Carolina has one of the best coaches in hockey today, with Rod Brind’Amour at the helm, and is in “win-now” mode under owner Tom Dundon.
Florida Panthers +1100
When Florida Panther General Manager Bill Zito traded Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected first-round selection in the 2025 NHL draft to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk and then signed him to an 8-year deal the hockey world turned upside down.
The move broke up one of the top-scoring duos in the game. Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov formed a 1-2 punch that vaulted the Panthers to the top of the league standings last season but wasn’t enough to get them through the playoffs after they suffered a humiliating sweep in the second round against the in-state rival Tampa Bay Lightning.
Zito is betting that the addition of Tkachuk and new head coach Paul Maurice brings a tougher brand of hockey to southern Florida, something the team seemed to lack last season despite finishing with the best record in the NHL.
Tampa Bay Lightning +1200
No list would be complete without the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team has been to the Stanley Cup Finals for three straight seasons. This season despite losing Ondrej Palat, Jan Rutta, Brian Elliott, and Ryan McDonagh, the team retains perennial Norris Trophy frontrunner in Victor Hedman, arguably the best head coach Cooper, high-pressure producers in Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Alex Killorn, and Brayden Point, Vezina winner Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, and a pair of dynamic young forwards in Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul. This team can not be counted out on winning it’s third Stanley Cup in 4-years.
