NHL Stanley Cup - Winner

Colorado Avalanche, +380

The defending Cup champs lost their starting goalie and a couple of forwards, but a ton of high-end talent remains, led by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. Alexandar Georgiev, the new goalie, will be the biggest question mark entering the season. That’s not an insignificant thing. Otherwise, the defense looks rock solid, and Makar might be the best all-around player in the league.

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The defense will make it very tough for opponents to control the puck, and it usually tires out opponents. They are the favorites on NHL futures markets for a reason.

Florida Panthers, +850

Lots of excitement in South Florida over this team, and that was before they acquired Matthew Tkachuk in the offseason. Yeah, losing all-time leading scorer Jonathan Huberdeau was tough, but Tkachuk is younger and plays a heavier, more all-around game. Plus, he brings something the Panthers have lacked, even during a Presidents’ Trophy-winning season: Swagger.

Florida still has questions on defense and in goal, but this team will win a lot of games and be back in the playoffs. They will be one of the NHL betting favorites for much of the season.

Toronto Maple Leafs, +850

The Maple Leafs greatly disappointed their rabid faithful again with another first-round loss, this time to Tampa Bay. The Leafs then went out and essentially replaced their top goalie, Jack Campbell, with Matt Murray - who was a major bust in Ottawa after signing a big free-agent deal following two Cups in Pittsburgh.

Even though Ontario sports betting is now legal, I would shy away from this futures bet right now, at this price. Toronto still has too many ghosts to overcome. They haven't won the Cup since 1967.

Maybe Murray can turn back the clock, but based on his last couple of years it doesn’t seem too promising.

Tampa Bay Lightning, +1200

Don’t for a second count out the Lightning from getting back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2023. They lost a very good forward, Ondrej Palat, and a very good defenseman, Ryan McDonagh, and some of their key guys aren’t getting any younger. But there is still a lot to like here, starting with goalie Andre Vasilevskiy.

The Lightning looked tired and too slow to keep up with the Avalanche in the 2022 Final, yet still took them to six games. The Bolts will be a handful with the talent still on hand.

Carolina Hurricanes, +1100: This is a very good futures bet, considering the available NHL odds in the market. Carolina did a lot of good, interesting things in the offseason, including the acquisition of veteran defenseman Brent Burns. They also got Max Pacioretty from Vegas for absolutely nothing in return. I think this is absolutely a top dark-horse team that could come out of the East to play for Lord Stanley’s silver punchbowl. They may be a little long in the tooth to keep up with some younger teams, but there is a lot of talent here. I would hop on this price now before it gets lower.

St Louis Blues, +4000: Jordan Binnington will be healthy again, and the Blues still have a tough, talented nucleus. They have good strength up the middle, led by Ryan O’Reilly, Rob Thomas and Brayden Schenn. Binnington will have to be their best player to win it all, but this team still wins a lot of games.

LA Kings, +3500: The Kings were a playoff team this past season, much to the surprise of many. They still need two or three players, probably, to have a realistic chance at a third Stanley Cup, but they’re getting better. They have a lot of good, young talent up front, with more prospects on the way. This team could be really tough in the Pacific.

Detroit Red Wings, +6000: I think the Red Wings will be better than most people expect. The Wings had some nice offseason veteran pickups, and their young players are getting better. There’s probably not enough depth to realistically hope for a Cup, but this could be a real surprise team in 2022-23. GM Steve Yzerman is doing things the right way, including finally getting a new coach in place of Jeff Blashill. I expect this team to make the playoffs.

Colorado Avalanche

I don’t usually like to bet on the defending team to win a second straight Stanley Cup. It is just so hard to do, and Colorado will have a young, untested goalie taking the top job in place of Darcy Kuemper.

But I think this Avalanche team still has too much depth for opponents. All of their top forwards are still under 30, and the defense is the best in the league, led by Cale Makar and Devon Toews. As Kuemper proved, a goalie does not have to be great to win a Cup with this kind of roster in front of him.

Makar is just a freakish talent, and can control a game almost as well as a point guard in the NBA. I also expect the Avalanche to go out and get a good piece or two - maybe a good forward - at the trade deadline. The Avs don’t have as many draft picks with which to barter, but they should be in a good position of strength to wield some power then.