The Toronto Maple Leafs made a trade on Friday night designed to equip them for a run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Noel Acciari and Ryan O’Reilly came from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Adam Gaudette, prospect MIkhail Abramov, Toronto’s first-round draft pick in 2023, Toronto’s second-round draft pick in 2024, and Ottawa’s third-round draft pick in 2203. The Blues will keep half of O’Reilly’s salary cap hit of $7.5 million. O’Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoffs MVP as part of the Blues’ Stanley Cup title. The Leafs sit in second place in the Atlantic Division and are in fourth place in the East with 74 points, and O’Reilly’s presence in the locker room is designed to push the Leafs to pursue a title. As the league pushes into the second half of the 2022-23 season, let’s look at each team’s updated Stanley Cup odds to win, along with our thought on some of the contenders.
NHL News: Odds to Win the Stanley Cup after Week 18
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | +500 |
| Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes | +700 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | +900 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +1200 |
| N.Y. Rangers | +1400 |
| Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, New Jersey Devils | +1500 |
| Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames | +2200 |
| Winnipeg Jets | +2500 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | +3000 |
| Seattle Kraken, L.A. Kings | +3200 |
| Florida Panthers | +3500 |
| Washington Capitals | +4500 |
| N.Y. Islanders | +6000 |
| Nashville Predators | +10000 |
| Buffalo Sabres | +15000 |
| St. Louis Blues | +20000 |
| Detroit Red Wings | +35000 |
| Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, San Jose Sharks, Montreal Canadiens, Arizona Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks | +50000 |
The Boston Bruins are still winning at an historic rate, picking up 80.56% of available points on the season. One big reason is the play of Hampus Lindholm, whom the B’s picked up from Anaheim last year for a wheelbarrow full of draft picks and prospects. Then, Boston turned around and inked him to an eight-year, $52 million deal. He has been playing more than 24 minutes a night and delivering physical play along the blue line while also adding points to the offense.
The Carolina Hurricanes are benefiting from their decision to add Patrick Marleau back in 2019, even though he’s no longer with the team. They brought him on board to build draft choices, one of which turned into forward Seth Jarvis, who broke the 40-point barrier in his first season and is valued as a key contributor as the Hurricanes eye a Cup run of their own.
The New Jersey Devils finally have the top-shelf goaltender they’ve been missing since the days of Martin Brodeur after getting Vitek Vanecek from the Capitals in July for two draft picks. The offense and defense have been reliable for a couple of seasons now, but the backstop of the defense has been a bit leaky. With Vanecek in net, the Devils are another dangerous team at the top of the East.
The Dallas Stars have spent some time recently at the top of the Western Conference, even though they have shown a dangerous tendency to blow third-period leads and give away games in overtime. They did pick up Scott Wedgewood from Arizona in March to give Jake Oettinger a legitimate backup goalie. However, the team needs to learn to play three-on-three in regular-season overtime to keep building points, and they also need to learn to finish games if they are going to do more than go a round or two into the postseason.
The N.Y. Rangers dealt for Vladimir Tarasenko and have seen it pay off big-time in the first couple of weeks, but a key contributor going under the radar is Adam Fox, who has joined the Blueshirts’ top defensive pairing. He is also just the second defenseman ever to win a Norris Trophy before reaching his third NHL season. The other? Someone named Bobby Orr.
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