More than one month of the NHL season is down and we have a decent sample size of games to evaluate all 32 teams. This information — that we weren’t privy to before the season — is valuable in picking 2023 Stanley Cup champions. That’s what we’re doing here so read if you want up-to-date futures betting advice!
Let’s start with the current Stanley Cup betting odds, shall we? It feels only right. The top NHL betting sites have pegged the following teams as the favorites to win it all:
| Preseason |  | | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Avalanche | +450 | +500 | Colorado Avalanche |
| Boston Bruins | +2500 | +900 | Boston Bruins |
| Vegas Golden Knights | +1400 | +1000 | Vegas Golden Knights |
| Carolina Hurricanes | +1200 | +1100 | Carolina Hurricanes |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | +900 | +1400 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| New Jersey Devils | +8000 | +1600 | New Jersey Devils |
Notice in the above table we’ve also listed odds for these title favorites BEFORE the season began too? Welp, we wanted to compare and contrast how almost one-quarter of the season has affected each’s trajectory in the eyes of bookmakers. We’ll add our thoughts to these big swings in the picks below.
Best Bets To Win 2023 Stanley Cup
Odds in this futures category remain pretty long. We mean, the odds-on favorites are as long as +500 to win. Therefore, you have plenty of cushion to bet multiple ways and not kill your profits doing so. Three different bets minimum makes sense here given the wide-open betting field. With that said, here are the three teams most worth of your Stanley Cup betting money here:
Boston Bruins
Take a look at the before-and-after Stanley Cup odds again. Notice how much of a leap Boston made from preseason to now? The Bruins improved their futures line by a whopping +1600, the most of any team outside of New Jersey. Boston’s success has caught bookies and bettors off guard, but it’s time for that to stop. We’re buying the Bruins’ legitimacy and think they should be high on your to-bet list for the Stanley Cup.
Despite its current 14-2 mark, we’re of the belief Boston can be even better. You see, that record has largely come without two of its most integral players. Last season’s leading scorer (Brad Marchand) and No. 1 defenseman (Charlie McAvoy) have been out of action for most of the campaign. They have since returned to the lineup, and once fully in shape, this Bruins team can be even more dangerous, which is scary to think about.
Right now, Boston is dominating in all phases of the game. Offensively, they lead the league in goals at 64. Defensively, they are second in the least goals allowed (35). This puts its goal-differential at +29, which is eight better than the next-best team (New Jersey at +21).
So if you haven’t figured it out by now, we’re fully aboard the Bruins bandwagon. We’d jump on betting them sooner rather than later because if this hot streak continues (which is our expectation), its Stanley Cup odds will shed value for bettors.
Colorado Avalanche
The defending Stanley Cup champions began the season as the favorites to win again and that hasn’t changed — despite Colorado looking very bearable so far. The Avs currently stand 8-5-1 and are far, far away from being the Western Conference’s top team. Its futures line was lengthened by +50 after the slow start but oddsmakers are largely undeterred, and so are we.
We’ve seen this with the Lightning before and other teams that win championships — across different sports leagues — you get complacent in everyday situations. By everyday situations, we mean early regular-season games that matter little in the grand scheme of the season. Colorado and its talented roster know it can “cruise” these games before “turning it on” when it matters (e.g. playoffs). That’s exactly what we expect to happen too.
The Avs will be fine. They’ve also played a large part of the season underhanded without captain Gabriel Landeskog and key piece Valeri Nichuskin due to injuries. Getting both back will instantly boost a lineup that’s top-heavy right now. Stars like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Maka are still shining bright, once they get extra help around them, Colorado will soon look like its dominant selves again, which warrants a futures bet.
Las Vegas Golden Knights
We’re making the Golden Knights our third and final pick for a pair of reasons. For one, this team has proved its mettle with a 13-4 record so far. It appears hiring head coach Bruce Cassidy was the right move because Las Vegas looks title-worthy again after a few up-and-down seasons.
But two, we feel the Western Conference is way, way more up for grabs. Outside of Colorado, there’s no real obstacle in front of a team like Vegas. Out East, you could argue five or six teams are legit Stanley Cup contenders. Therefore, the odds of the Golden Knights breaking through in the postseason are substantially better than a team like New Jersey or Carolina, for instance.
How To Bet On 2022-23 NHL Season?
The futures wager above is just one way to get your 2022-23 NHL betting fix in. From now until the Stanley Cup itself in June, there are almost daily NHL bets to be had at top-rated sportsbooks like the ones listed below. All five of these received high marks in our latest sportsbook reviews for its NHL betting menu.
However, there is one piece of advice we’d give you before you run off to gamble on NHL at these features sites: formulate tactics to win at betting right now. You don’t want to just throw money around with no direction or rules in place. Betting is too hard to just “wing it” and expect success so take the time to get a plan in place.
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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