2022-23 NHL Regular Season is a Week Away, Lets Take A Look at Future Odds
This is an early look at the 2022-23 NHL futures odds. The NHL Regular Season is scheduled to start on Friday, October 7th. The season has all the makings of being one of the best in years if it follows the script of last year and key players stay healthy.
Key Points
– Last year’s Stanley Cup champion opens as the early betting favorite.
– Several of the league’s stars are among the Hart Memorial Trophy favorites.
An Early Look at the 2022-23 NHL Futures Odds
It won’t be long before NHL teams report to training camp to begin the 2022-23 regular season. The defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche return looking to do what Tampa Bay did the prior two seasons – repeat.
Repeat champions happen much less often in the NHL’s era of the salary cap. The Pittsburgh Penguins pulled it off in 2016 and 2017. Could the Avalanche do it again?
Will Auston Matthews have another season like 2022? The talented Toronto center won both the Hart Memorial and Lindsay awards as the NHL’s top player. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie. Can they repeat in 2022-23?
Here’s an early look at the 2022-23 NHL futures odds. Be sure you know where to bet on hockey for the upcoming season.
The Stanley Cup Favorites
It’s no surprise. The Avalanche were installed as the early betting favorite when the first odds for the 2022-23 Stanley Cup were released. Colorado won its first championship since 2001.
Only two teams – Florida and Toronto – scored more goals in the regular season. That was with the Avs playing some of the season without their best player – Nathan MacKinnon.
MacKinnon returns after a 32-goal, 88-point season in 2022. The Avs forward missed 17 games last season. He will be joined by a talented group that includes Mikko Rantanen who led the Avs with 36 goals and 92 points.
Colorado also returns Conn Smythe and Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar, the NHL’s top defenseman. He is just the third defenseman in NHL history – Bobby Orr and Niklas Lidstrom are the others – to win both awards in the same season. Makar scored 28 goals and had 86 points last season.
The Avalanche will miss Nazem Kadri – 28 goals, 87 points – goalie Darcy Kuemper, and winger Andre Burakovsky. All three left in free agency. Still, the Avs are the +450 favorite to win a second consecutive Stanley Cup.
MUST READ >>> WHY YOU SHOULD EMBRACE BETTING AGAINST THE PUBLIC
NHL Futures Odds – The Stanley Cup Contenders
Somehow, Carolina lost in the second round of the playoffs last season. The Hurricanes were the absolute best defensive team in hockey last year. They obliterated the competition in the Metropolitan Division, but couldn’t get past the New York Rangers who happened to be the second-best defensive team in the NHL.
The Hurricanes gave up just 2.44 goals per game and return most of their roster intact. They added D Brent Burns from San Jose and winger Max Pacioretty from Vegas. The additions make the Hurricanes a serious threat to win it all this year.
Carolina is one of two teams given +1000 odds to win the 2022-23 Stanley Cup. Toronto is the other.
The Maple Leafs continue to have some kind of curse on their playoff dreams. They continue to make the postseason with one of the NHL’s best rosters. They return the Hart Memorial Trophy winner in Auston Matthews.
Matthews scored an NHL-best 60 goals and finished in the top-20 with 106 points. He also won the Lindsay Award last year, but he is just one of many talented Toronto scorers.
Mitchell Marner scored 35 goals and had 97 points. William Nylander also hit the 30-goal plateau with 34 and finished with 80 points. John Tavares added 27 goals and 76 points. It was recently announced that Tavares will miss part of the beginning of the new season.
The Leafs revamped their goaltending, trading for Matt Murray and signing former Washington starter Ilya Samsonov.
No matter who you like in the Stanley Cup race this year, make sure you choose a quality NHL sportsbook that meets your needs.
Scoring Machine
The Florida Panthers continually lit up the scoreboard in 2021-22. They finished as the NHL’s top-scoring team averaging 4.11 goals per game. They were the only team in the league to average over four goals a game.
As good as they were on offense, the Panthers were eliminated by Tampa Bay in the playoffs for the second straight season. When it was all said and done, the Panthers traded their leading scorer, Jonathan Huberdeau, to Calgary for Matthew Tkachuk.
How that move translates remains to be seen, but Florida is still listed among the top teams on the board at +1100 to win the Cup.
ICYMI: TOP ONLINE GAMBLING TRENDS AS WE LOOK TOWARDS 2023
Will Lightning Strike Again?
After 11 straight playoff series victories, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally saw their run end in the Stanley Cup finals last year. Could they return?
Well, they are listed at +1200 and have one of the best goaltenders in the world – Andrei Vasilevskiy. As long as he is in between the pipes, the Lightning have a shot. Last season, Tampa Bay finished sixth in goals against average (2.78).
Plus the Lightning still has massive amounts of scoring talent. Steven Stamkos led the team with 42 goals and 106 points last season. Victor Hedman is among the best defensemen in the NHL. He had 20 goals and 85 points last year. Don’t forget, a healthy Nikita Kucherov – 25 goals in 47 games last year – returns.
NHL Futures Odds – Hart Trophy
The Hart Memorial Trophy goes to the NHL’s most valuable player each year. Matthews is the reigning champion and he is among the favorites to win it again this season. He’s not the overall favorite though.
That role belongs to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who won the award after the 2020-21 season. The Oilers star led the NHL in points last year with 123. He scored 44 goals and led Edmonton into the playoffs. McDavid is listed at +250 to take this year’s MVP.
His teammate and former Hart winner Leon Draisaitl is given +800 odds. Draisaitl had 55 goals last season and finished fourth in the league in scoring with 115 points. He and McDavid are also popular NHL player props bets.
Matthews checks in at +400 to repeat as league MVP. The last player to repeat as Hart Trophy winner was Washington’s Alex Ovechkin who did it in 2008 and 2009.