The 2022-23 NHL season will be here before you know it and the last two months of the offseason is where you begin to gameplan for the year of bets ahead. That’s what we’re doing here, as we make our expert bets on the 2023 NHL conference champions, both in the East and West.
Best Bets To Win 2023 NHL Eastern Conference
One thing you’ll immediately realize about betting on the Eastern Conference champs as opposed to the West is the disparity in odds. Out East, the betting field is crowded with high-caliber teams. You could realistically make the case for five or six teams to prevail in this conference. As it stands, the best NHL betting sites have pegged the following teams as the favorites out East:
| Team |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Maple Leafs | +450 | +450 | +450 |
| Florida Panthers | +450 | +450 | +450 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | +550 | +550 | +550 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | +900 | +900 | +900 |
| NY Rangers | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
We’ll be offering two betting picks in each conference. You can either go “all in” on one pick or spread your money on each. We’d vouch for the latter option given how unpredictable the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs routinely are. With that said, we believe these two Eastern Conference teams are MOST worth your dollar:
Florida Panthers
We’ll be completely upfront and say the Panthers could be in 2023 what the Avalanche were in 2022: the criminal underachievers that finally get over the hump. There are some parallels between both. Colorado won the 2021 Presidents Trophy before flaming out in the playoffs. The same happened to Florida in 2022, as they were embarrassingly swept by Tampa despite winning a franchise-record amount of games. As the Avs did, we’re confident the Panthers can “exercise the demons” per se.
Florida will bring back the core of its 2022 roster, but there are two new major additions. The first is head coach Paul Maurice, who replaced Andrew Brunette. Maurice is known for his defensive tendencies, which proved to be the Panthers’ undoing in the second round of the postseason. Maurice feels like an upgrade to us.
But there’s zero question the Panther’s other acquisition is a massive upgrade, and that’s Matthew Tkachuk. Florida traded the house for Tkachuk — including its all-time leading scorer Jonathan Huberdeau. It was a hefty price, but one worth paying because Tkachuk has superstar potential. The mere 24-year-old is coming off a season where he racked up 42 goals and 62 assists. These moves prove Florida is in “win now” mode and we love that as bettors.
Carolina Hurricanes
Like the Panthers, the Hurricanes also had a busy offseason in an attempt to right last year’s playoff wrongs — losing Game 7 to the Rangers in the semis. Carolina went out and got two solid pieces to bolster a team that won the Metro division in 2022. The first was proven goal-scorer Max Pacioretty and the other was offensive playmaker Brent Burns. However, Pacioretty tore his Achilles but is expected to re-join the roster in the second half of the year.
But perhaps the biggest difference-maker for Carolina, if they’re to make a run at the Stanley Cup, is its goaltender Frederik Andersen. A year ago, he had a Vezina Trophy-level campaign, tallying a 35-14-3 record, a .922 save percentage, and a 2.17 GAA. This was before an MCL injury wrecked his season and kept him out the whole playoffs. His presence in the net was sorely missed by the Canes and so long as he’s healthy for 2022-23, Carolina is a worthy bet here.
Best Bets To Win 2023 NHL Western Conference Finals
The betting market to win the 2023 Western Conference is far more “top heavy” than the East. And by that, we mean one team is the runaway favorite to claim the conference crown. Here are the current betting lines:
| Team | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Avalanche | +170 | +170 | +170 |
| Edmonton Oilers | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Calgary Flames | +700 | +700 | +700 |
| Minnesota Wild | +850 | +850 | +850 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| LA Kings | +1500 | +1500 | +1500 |
Colorado Avalanche
Rarely do we ever like using the words “must” and “bet” together, but this is one of those rare occasions. Indeed, the reigning Stanley Cup winners, Colorado, are must-bet material. First of all, they cruised to a title last year, dropping only three games in all playoffs. Almost that entire team — minus goaltender Darcy Kuemper — will be back in the fold this season. And that might not be a huge loss anyway since goaltending was its only soft spot last season.
We’re confidently throwing money on the Avalanche to retake the West and not thinking twice about it. With superstars like Gabriel Landeskog, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Hart Trophy candidate Nathan MacKinnon back in the mix, you’d be crazy NOT to wager with Colorado here.
Edmonton Oilers
We’ll be completely honest and say we had a rough time picking a non-Avs bet in the Western Conference. There’s seriously a huge gap in talent between Colorado and the next-best team, which is reflected in the futures odds. The only bet-worthy team is Edmonton, who while less balanced than the reigning champs, do possess two superstar forwards arguably better — Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. If the Oilers can find consistent defense (a big if but plausible), then Edmonton can make a run with those two goal-creating machines upfront.
How To Bet On 2023 NHL Futures?
Conference-title winners aren’t the only 2023 NHL futures bet on the table at top online sportsbooks. Plenty more are available, whether that’s on the Stanley Cup champions or individual award getters. To get all this in one place, check out the table underneath. We’ve featured only the best sites, based on our up-to-date sportsbook reviews. We’d urge you to read these carefully as they can go a long way in selecting the best sportsbook for your money!
About the Author
Eric is uniquely suited to be a writer for SBS. For one, he's a journalist by trade. Eric spent a large part of his career, covering sports — high school, college, and professional — for newspapers and online-based sites. However, Eric is a bettor himself too. He has first-hand experience hanging out in smoky sportsbooks and casinos, dealing with the ebbs and flows of gambling, and an understanding of how bookies operate. Both these unique qualities make him an expert bet picker for SBS. You'll also see Eric report on the sports betting industry as a whole.
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