If the alignment of the National Hockey League this season still seems odd to you, remember that there are still considerable travel restrictions between the United States and Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the league went through a temporary realignment that put all seven of the Canadian franchises in one division for the regular season. Each team completes the regular season against its own division (which means that division foes will become extremely familiar with one another).
Let’s look at the latest NHL betting odds for each of the seven North Division teams to win the division crown, along with our thoughts on each club.
NHL News: Odds to Win the North Division
Team Standings and Odds
| Team | W-L-OTL | Points | Odds |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 22-10-3 | 47 | -150 |
| Winnipeg Jets | 22-12-2 | 46 | +350 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 22-13-1 | 45 | +420 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 14-8-9 | 37 | +750 |
| Vancouver Canucks | 16-18-3 | 35 | +7000 |
| Calgary Flames | 16-18-3 | 35 | +7000 |
| Ottawa Senators | 12-20-4 | 28 | +250000 |
Toronto has done well this season despite not having goalie Frederik Andersen at his best. To add to his troubles, a lower-body injury continues to keep him from playing at full strength. However, the Maple Leafs appear comfortable with Jack Campbell as their top goalie and will go into the postseason with him leading the team into the rink. The commitment to defense since the departure of Mike Babcock is one reason for the optimism, but given how close the points standings are, I’m not sure the Leafs offer enough value yet.
Winnipeg has gotten a ton of offense out of Kyle Connor, who at the age of 24 will crack the top five in goals scored this season. Since the 2017-18 season, he is seventh overall in total goals scored, ahead of Chicago’s Patrick Kane and Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. It’s fair to note that Stamkos missed a lot of last season due to injury, but this is a four-season sample.
Edmonton saw Connor McDavid hit 60 points faster than any other player had done it since 2002-03. He entered fine company, because the last player to do it was Mario Lemieux. Could McDavid make it to 100 points in this shortened 56-game campaign? He’s just about on pace to do it, so it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch.
Montreal has between four and six games in hand on everyone else in the division. The team got off to a slow start in part due to the awful work from Carey Price, who had a save percentage below .900 in his first dozen games. The team axed goalie coach Stephane Waite in favor of Sean Burke, though, and Price is heating up.
Calgary has seen a lot more out of Milan Lucic since Darryl Sutter took the reins as coach. Lucic has improved his defense, which means that the team won’t suffer on the back end as much when he’s on the ice.
Vancouver has brought over two forwards that Toronto put on the waiver wire: Travis Boyd and Jimmy Vesey. It’s still not going to help the Canucks contend this year, but Vancouver is possibly just a piece or two away from contending in 2021-22.
Ottawa is having a quietly nice season from Drake Batherson, who has scored 11 goals — 10 since February 15. He’s easily on pace to get to 25 and is one of the few reasons why Senators fans are smiling this season.
NHL Betting Odds
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