Seattle Kraken fans are excited to have hockey in town for the first time — and no player has them more excited than Yanni Gourde, who came from Tampa Bay through the expansion draft. He helped Tampa Bay win consecutive Stanley Cup championships, but shoulder surgery in July initially had him on the shelf for the first two months of the season. He had been wearing a red “no contact” jersey in practice until last week, when he put on the light blue jerseys that were the rest of the team. The team is relatively mum on his prospects, but taking contact is an important sign that he is ready to play.
We have the latest NHL betting odds for each of the NHL’s team to hoist the Stanley Cup at the end of the season, as well as thoughts on some of the contenders.
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Team Odds
| Colorado Avalanche | +600 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +700 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | +850 |
| Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs | +1200 |
| Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders | +2000 |
| Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild | +2200 |
| Washington Capitals, New York Rangers | +2500 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | +3000 |
| Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues | +3500 |
| Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks | +4000 |
| New Jersey Devils, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks | +5000 |
| Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators | +6600 |
| San Jose Sharks | +8000 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | +10000 |
| Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Detroit Red Wings | +15000 |
| Buffalo Sabres | +20000 |
The Tampa Bay Lightning have won two straight Cups and still have Andrei Vasilevskiy, the best goalie in the league, and Victor Hedman leading their blueliners. They still have tremendous depth and talent at forward as well, despite losing Gourde in the expansion draft. No team has won the Stanley Cup three straight times since the New York Islanders won four straight titles in the early 1980s — but this team is stacked enough to pull it off.
The Colorado Avalanche are another team with a stacked roster, as Cale Makar goes into the season as the favorite to win the Norris Trophy, awarded to the top defenseman, and center Nathan MacKinnon is already on the short list for the Hart Trophy, given to the league’s MVP. The goaltending situation is still in flux, as Philipp Grubauer left town via free agency. The Avs had to give up a lot to get Darcy Kuemper from Arizona, and it will be interesting to see how well he performs with high expectations.
The New York Islanders pushed Tampa Bay to seven games in the semifinals and only lost that game 1-0. The team added winger Zach Parise and defenseman Zdeno Chara in free agency, and the fan base rightly expects the Isles to push deep into the playoffs once again — and maybe even knock off the Lightning this time.
The Vegas Golden Knights were upset by Montreal in the semifinals last year, falling in six games. Their salary cap came back to bite them in the off-season, so they had to dump goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in a trade to Chicago that didn’t get them much in return. That means that Robin Lehner will be between the pipes, and it’s hard to be as optimistic with Fleury in another uniform.
The Boston Bruins have rebuilt their goalie situation, bidding farewell to veterans Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak and bringing in Linus Ullmark and rookie Jeremy Swayman. Ullmark is the journeyman who, if the plan goes well, will give way to Swayman as the starter by season’s end. In free agency, Boston added to the checking lines, but they are relying on Charlie Coyle to step in for second-line center David Krejci and keep that high-octane Bruin offense going, as he would work between Craig Smith and Taylor Hall. Can David Pastrnak get to 50 goals this season?
NHL Betting Odds
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