Andrew Hammond started in goal for the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, stopped 30 shots and also turned away two of three attempts in the shootout, leading the Habs to a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders. Why is this noteworthy? Because Hammond had not played in an NHL contest for 1,425 days before. The last time he started a game had been March 28, 2018, and he had not won a game in the regular season since April 9, 2016, when he led the Ottawa Senators to a 6-1 laugher against the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens are having a dreadful season – and their sports betting chances of contending are nil. Take a look at the updated NHL odds for each team to win the Stanley Cup, along with contender insights.
NHL News: Updated Odds to Win the Stanley Cup
Team Odds
| Colorado Avalanche | +425 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +750 |
| Florida Panthers | +800 |
| Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto Maple Leafs | +850 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | +1200 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames | +1600 |
| Minnesota Wild | +1800 |
| N.Y. Rangers | +2000 |
| Boston Bruins | +2200 |
| St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators | +2800 |
| Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals | +3000 |
| Dallas Stars | +5000 |
| L.A. Kings | +6600 |
| Winnipeg Jets, Anaheim Ducks, N.Y. Islanders | +8000 |
| Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings, | +15000 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers | +5000 |
| Buffalo Sabres, Seattle Kraken, Montreal Canadiens, Arizona Coyotes | +100000 |
Calgary has a 12-2-0 record in their last 14 games, and they had won nine games in a row coming into this week. Some of these victories have come against other contenders – and they haven’t been close. They beat Florida, 5-4; Toronto, 5-2; Vegas, 6-0; and St. Louis, 7-1. A few months ago, this looked like a team that might squeak into the postseason, but now they look like they could just skate off with the Cup. However, we’ve seen the Flames roll into the postseason red-hot…and then flame out (yes, pun intended).
Colorado is getting some excellent netminding this season. Goalies Darcy Kuemper and Pavel Francouz have both posted save percentages better than .920 this season.
Florida has nine different players who have scored 10 or more goals – and six different players who have tallied at least 15. How do you defend well against teams with that much scoring depth? This will be the challenge for Panther opponents in the postseason.
Carolina is getting a monster breakout season from Andrei Svechnikov, who is in pursuit of the 40-goal mark. The offensive side of the game has gotten more production for all teams thanks to rule changes in recent years, but this kind of season is still the sort of year that can inspire a team to make a deep postseason run.
Minnesota has to be glad to have signed Kirill Kaprizov to that big deal over the summer. When you sign a player for that much money, you expect your franchise to be transformed as a result, and the Wild have, at least for now, gone from a bubble team that occasionally makes noise to a true contender.
Tampa Bay is almost always at or near the top of these odds lists, but every now and then you read about a player who has done well under the radar, even with the Lightning. Check out Corey Perry, who has contributed from one of the lower lines and should hit the 20-goal mark this season.
Pittsburgh needs to get some better play out of the power play, as their inability to score with the man advantage led to disappointing results against Toronto and Carolina.
The N.Y. Rangers are getting outstanding play all over the ice from Igor Shesterkin. They could help him out by bringing in some depth at the forward position, as the Blueshirts are set to make some postseason noise for the first time in years.
NHL Betting Odds
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