Coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Tampa Bay Lightning entered the 2018-19 NHL season with only increased expectations after an active free agency period.
The team took care of internal matters during the summer, hammering out extensions with key players such as Nikita Kucherov, J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh. With one of the best young cores in the NHL locked up for the foreseeable future, Tampa Bay looks poised to finally get over the hump in 2019.
Behind a 28-7-2 record and NHL-leading 58 points in the Atlantic Division, the Lightning currently hold the best mid-season odds to win the Stanley Cup at 5/1. This is per 888 Sport US, a New Jersey-based website where residents of the Garden State and Pennsylvania can freely place wagers following the legalization of sports gambling in those states.
Facing a championship drought that has spanned over 50 years, the Toronto Maple Leafs boast the second-best mid-season odds to win the Stanley Cup at 5.5/1.
Toronto made headlines in July with its signing of star center John Tavares to a seven-year contract, who leads the way with 23 goals on the year. The 21-year-old Mitch Marner continues to create offense as well, having accumulated 50 points (12 goals, 38 assists) in 36 games played thus far.
Led by head coach Peter Laviolette, the Nashville Predators have the third-best odds to hoist the Stanley Cup at season’s end (7/1). That’s despite looking up at the Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division standings, who possess a four-point advantage with only one week remaining in December.
Rounding out the top-five are the Jets (11.5/1 odds) and the Boston Bruins (14/1). Winnipeg leads the Western Conference with 50 points and became the first team to reach that threshold, trailing only the Eastern Conference’s Lightning and Maple Leafs.
The Jets have been aided by excellent play from the likes of center Mark Scheifele and captain Blake Wheeler, who have combined for 97 points on the season. Goalies Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit have yielded only 101 goals between the two of them — good for ninth in the NHL.
With 44 points and a fourth-place showing in the Atlantic Division, the Bruins have caught the attention of bookmakers at 888sport.com. Having won six of their last eight games, the team is finally playing with some consistency after treading water earlier in the season due to a plethora of injuries.
Bruins captain and defenseman Zdeno Chara is nearing a return to the ice, having recently been cleared to practice in a full-contact jersey (https://nhlrumors.com/nhl-injuries-bruins-sabres-avs-oilers-panthers-isles-rangers-sens-lightning-leafs-and-knights/2018/12/21/). Another key member of the Bruins’ scoring attack, center Patrice Bergeron, was activated off injured reserve on Saturday.
The 33-year-old’s presence was immediately felt in Boston’s latest win over the Predators, as he registered two goals and two assists in over 16 minutes of total playing time.