Updated 2018 Stanley Cup Odds – April 23rd

When the National Hockey League started their Stanley Cup playoffs a little over a week ago, 16 teams were in the hunt for hockey’s grail. Now just 10 teams remain, as Philadelphia, New Jersey, Minnesota, Anaheim, Los Angeles and Colorado have all exited in the first round. Boston leads Toronto by a 3-2 margin in their first round series, and Washington leads Columbus by the same margin — after Columbus had jumped out to win the first two games on the Capitals’ home ice. Let’s look at your 2018 Stanley Cup odds for each of the 10 teams that are still alive to hoist the title.

Updated 2018 Stanley Cup Odds – April 23rd

NHL Morning Skate: #StanleyCup Playoffs Edition – April 23, 2018@penguins oust Flyers, earn ninth straight series win; @jakenbake20 posts stellar performance in clinching game; @PredsNHL blank Avalanche, advance to Second Round. #NHLStats https://t.co/2bcs7mIqZn pic.twitter.com/gByitWrSTH

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 23, 2018

• Nashville Predators +440
• Tampa Bay Lightning           +470
• Vegas Golden Knights         +560
• Winnipeg Jets                       +645
• Pittsburgh Penguins +675
• Boston Bruins                       +710
• San Jose Sharks                   +910
• Washington Capitals                        +1050
• Toronto Maple Leafs +4500
• Columbus Blue Jackets       +5000

The series between Winnipeg and Minnesota largely flew by under the radar — no major media market, no big stars for each team, no history of playoff glory. While the media was reporting on the glory of Vegas’ first-round sweep, the comeback by Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, and the epic battle of offenses between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Winnipeg quietly put away a Minnesota team that has youth, speed and plenty of offense — kind of like Toronto, but a year behind them. And how about goalie Connor Hellebuyck? He posted 60 saves for the Jets in the last two games of the Winnipeg-Minnesota series, allowing no goals. That’s just three times in the last 13 seasons that a goaltender has posted consecutive shutouts to end a postseason series. Can Winnipeg keep that up in the next round? Then there’s Vegas. This sports betting writer (along with many others) thought that the Golden Knights’ run would come to an end against a Kings team that had all the playoff experience. What happened? Led by goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, they swept Los Angeles right out of the postseason, becoming the first expansion team ever to complete a first-round sweep in the playoffs. This is still a team with no big names among their skaters, but they have come together as a team and could ride this momentum all the way to the Cup. They work hard on the defensive end and have plenty of quickness up front — and they just keep winning. If you’re looking for a real value bet, I’d start with the San Jose Sharks. They are quicker than Winnipeg, Vegas and Nashville, and the real question for them in seasons past has been finishing in the playoffs. They just polished off an Anaheim Ducks team in four games — and none of those games were particularly close. If they can bring that same focus and energy to the next round of the postseason, they’ll get more notice, and those odds will come down, so you might want to jump on that action now. With Martin Jones, they have a goalie who can put together a streak of games where he plays on his head, and that kind of combination of goaltending and speed can take you a long way. In the East, it’s looking like Pittsburgh is emerging as the favorite. Boston is having a hard time dispatching the youthful Toronto Maple Leafs in their series — but the Pens had a similar struggle getting free of the Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh has fixed enough of the holes in their defense to hold off a young team, and their next round opponent would be the winner of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Washington Capitals. Even if the Caps can finish the comeback and eliminate Columbus, the Penguins really have their number in the postseason. The interesting question is how Boston and Tampa Bay will turn out. The Lightning didn’t get pushed hard by the Devils, so it will be interesting to see how they respond from what will be a hard series either way, no matter whether it’s Toronto or Boston up next.