NHL STANLEY CUP BETTING LONGSHOTS

The NHL Trade Deadline has passed, which means the NHL Stanley Cup odds should stay relatively in the same ballpark for the rest of the season. Here are the current NHL Stanley Cup betting odds:

ALL OF OUR LINES ARE COURTESY OF OUR PARTNERS AT BETMGM! CLICK HERE TO CLAIM YOUR OFFER.

Colorado Avalanche (+400)

Florida Panthers (+550)

Tampa Bay Lightning (+800)

Calgary Flames (+900)

Carolina Hurricanes (+1000)

Toronto Maple Leafs (+1200)

Vegas Golden Knights (+1400)

Boston Bruins (+1600)

Pittsburgh Penguins (+1600)

New York Rangers (+1800)

Minnesota Wild (+2000)

St.Louis Blues (+2500)

Edmonton Oilers (+3000)

Washington Capitals (+3000)

Dallas Stars (+4000)

Nashville Predators (+4000)

Los Angeles Kings (+5000)

Vancouver Canucks (+10000)

Out of the long list of NHL playoff teams, I have chosen two teams who I like as longshots to win the Stanley Cup. The Washington Capitals and Dallas Stars have been quiet in the Stanley Cup conversation compared to the other contenders. Here are the reasons why I like these two teams to potentially make a run this playoff:

Dallas Stars (+4100)

The Stars officially decided they didn’t want to sell at the deadline by keeping Klingberg, even though he will most likely not re-sign with the Stars in the offseason. The front office believes they have some sort of chance at making a run with their current roster and I’m completely on board. Dallas has a great mixture of veterans and young studs. They have plenty of playoff experience in players like Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Ryan Suter, and Radulov. Not too long ago (2020), the Stars made an appearance in the Stanley Cup final where they ultimately lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The experience is some of the best in the West, the big question is can they fight with Colorado Avalanche?

The Stars are currently 1 point behind the Golden Knights for the last wild card spot, which means if they find a way to secure the final spot they will play the Stanley Cup favorite, Colorado Avalanche. They will be huge underdogs in this series, all of the pressure is on the Avalanche, which could play to the Stars advantage. The Stars are currently 2-1 against the Avalanche this season, Jake Oettinger’s record of 2-0 with a 1.00 GAA. The key to winning this series is if the young goaltender can steal some games for the Stars.

If the Stars get past the Avalanche they will have a much more relaxed path to the Cup final and beating the Avalanche would result in a huge momentum boost going into the following series.

Washington Capitals (+3100)

No pressure? No problem for the Capitals. Everyone and their mother is counting out the Capitals because of their lack of activity at the trade deadline. They do have a familiar face returning to the Capitals in Marcus Johansson from the Seattle Kraken. The Capitals have always had pressure on them to perform come playoff time, which means the underdog mentality will be new for them.

The Capitals are a lock to make the playoffs either in a wild card position or one of the three spots in the Metropolitan Division, which they are only 5 points behind the Rangers and Penguins. If the Capitals are in a wild card position, they will have a tough matchup against the Hurricanes or the Florida Panthers. If they jump the Penguins or Rangers, they will have an opportunity to play one of those teams. Obviously, it’s a huge difference playing Penguins/Rangers versus Hurricanes/Panthers. The old saying goes, you gotta beat the best to be the best.

One of the keys for the Capitals to make a Stanley Cup run is figuring out their powerplay. The Capitals have a bottom 14 powerplay in the NHL and still have an impressive 35-19-10 record. They have the talent on PP1 to be a top 5 powerplay with studs like Ovechkin, Kuznetzov, Backstrom, and Carlson. The Capitals’ identity is good playoff hockey with big bodies that can score such as Mantha, Tom Wilson, and Ovechkin. The Capitals were also without Anthony Mantha for most of the season, since returning from injury, the Capitals are 7-2 in their last 9 games.

I can honestly see them stepping up come playoff time and shocking some of the Stanley Cup favorites.

Keep up with all things NHL and Fantasy Hockey by checking out our NHL page and subscribe to our YouTube channel!