It’s now been two months since the Chicago Blackhawks won the 2015 Stanley Cup. The sportsbooks literally had the new odds out a couple days after the Blackhawks Cup clinching win and I wrote a post on June 16th outlining the very early odds for the next Cup Champion.
It’s now been 2 months since these odds have been out and I’m interested to see if the odds have moved at all over the summer based on the various trades, draft and free agent signings done by each team.
I used Bet365.com for the odds in my last post, so I will stay consistent in order to see if there has been any changes in these two months.
2016 Stanley Cup Winner Odds in August
Below are the current odds from Bet365.com as of August 18th, 2015. In brackets will be the odds from June 16th, if there have been any changes. The teams who have had their odds shorten will be in bold, and the teams that have had their odds lengthen will be in italics.
- Chicago Blackhawks 8/1
- Anaheim Ducks 8/1 (9/1)
- New York Rangers 10/1 (8/1)
- Montreal Canadiens 10/1
- Minnesota Wild 10/1
- Tampa Bay Lightning 10/1
- St. Louis Blues 10/1 (11/1)
- Pittsburgh Penguins 10/1 (14/1)
- LA Kings 16/1 (18/1)
- Calgary Flames 17/1 (20/1)
- Washington Capitals 17/1 (18/1)
- New York Islanders 18/1
- Nashville Predators 20/1 (12/1)
- Boston Bruins 22/1 (18/1)
- Columbus Blue Jackets 22/1 (28/1)
- Winnipeg Jets 25/1
- Detroit Red Wings 28/1
- San Jose Sharks 30/1 (33/1)
- Dallas Stars 30/1 (40/1)
- Vancouver Canucks 35/1 (18/1)
- Colorado Avalanche 35/1 (40/1)
- Ottawa Senators 35/1 (33/1)
- Philadelphia Flyers 40/1
- Florida Panthers 50/1
- Edmonton Oilers 50/1 (66/1)
- Toronto Maple Leafs 75/1
- Buffalo Sabres 75/1 (125/1)
- New Jersey Devils 100/1 (90/1)
- Carolina Hurricanes 150/1 (100/1)
- Arizona Coyotes 150/1
The biggest movers in terms of becoming bigger favourites were the Pittsburgh Penguins who moved from 14/1 to 10/1 and the Columbus Blue Jackets who moved from 28/1 to 22/1.
The Penguins added Phil Kessel in a blockbuster trade with the Leafs and this should definitely help their offense this season.
The Blue Jackets added Brandon Saad, but I don’t expect that to be as big of an addition as many suspect. That said, this Blue Jackets team is better than their finish last season, as their late season form showed. If Bobrovsky stays healthy all season, this team should definitely be a playoff team.
The main movers the other way were the Nashville Predators who moved from 12/1 to 20/1. I think people are just realizing that this team overachieved to finish with 104 points last season and they need to add some more pieces, particularly up front, if they want to be legitimate contenders this year.
My Pick
I still like the Kings, even though they moved from 18/1 to 16/1. Finding a technicality to get rid of the Mike Richards contract will definitely help them with Cap Room this year. I expect a bounce back year from the Kings and for them to really contend for that Cup and the title of dual-dynasty over the past 5 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks. They still have the roster to go deep. If they get strong goaltending from Quick and find a way to commit to playing hard every game, this team will be very hard to beat.
The Lightning at 10/1 still interest me as well. I think they are now the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, even with the Phil Kessel addition to the Penguins. They have a great young team that I think will only get better this year. Their young guys play hard at both ends of the ice and you know they will be hungry to get back to the Cup Final and get a different result.
It’ll probably be another month before I get another post up here, because not much is happening in the world of NHL betting right now. But check back once we’re closer to the season for more frequent articles.
