Who Will Win The Stanley Cup? Best Betting Odds To Win 2021-2022 Stanley Cup

We’re one week away from the return of NHL hockey, with a doubleheader on Opening Night. The two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Pittsburgh Penguins as they raise their championship banner, then the Vegas Golden Knights will host the league’s newest club, the Seattle Kraken. 

Cup Favorites

Colorado Avalanche +475

Vegas Golden Knights +700

Tampa Bay Lightning +700

Toronto Maple Leafs +900

Best Value Pick: Tampa Bay Lightning

Let’s face it - they’re the two-time defending champions for a reason. The Lightning have the league’s best goaltender in Andrei Vasilevskiy, one of the top defensemen in Victor Hedman, tons of scoring depth in Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point… they’re the cream of the crop and the clear team to beat. 

However, seeing them at +700 with two other teams tied or ahead is surprising to me. That’s not to say Colorado and Vegas aren’t formidable teams (they very much are), but to see them ahead makes Tampa Bay a better value. 

Cup Contenders

Boston Bruins +1300

New York Islanders +1500

Florida Panthers +1800

Edmonton Oilers +2000

New York Rangers +2200

Pittsburgh Penguins +2500

Minnesota Wild +2500

Carolina Hurricanes +2500

Best Value: Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers are all-in on a Stanley Cup run this season. They added a bonafide scorer in Sam Reinhart, defenseman Aaron Ekblad is healthy, and the goaltending tandem of Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight could be the league’s best by the end of the year.

With Aleksander Barkov, Frank Vatrano, and Markus Nutivaara among 10 skaters facing free agency at the end of the season, the Panthers are in win-now mode. They’ll have to get past Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division to get there, but if they can beat the Lightning, the Panthers can beat anyone. 

Cup Hopefuls

Washington Capitals +3000

Dallas Stars +3500

Seattle Kraken +4000

Philadelphia Flyers +4000

Winnipeg Jets +4500

Chicago Blackhawks +4500

Calgary Flames +4500

Best Value: Seattle Kraken

Seattle hopes to replicate Vegas’ success with a march to the Stanley Cup Final during their inaugural season, and while that’s a lofty goal, the Kraken have a solid team in place that should have plenty of motivation as the perceived “castaways” during the expansion draft. 

The Kraken built their roster around advanced analytics, balancing recent trends with future projections. They didn’t take on bad contracts to accumulate draft picks, landed several quality free agents in Jaden Schwartz, Philipp Grubauer, and Alexander Wennberg, and have an excellent pipeline of defenseman. Seattle will be a tough team to beat. 

Cup Longshots

St. Louis Blues +5000

New Jersey Devils +5000

Montreal Canadiens +5000

Vancouver Canucks +6000

Best Value: New Jersey Devils

The Devils have a roster loaded with young talent like Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Yegor Sharangovich, and Ty Smith. But New Jersey also added a ton of talent to their roster, trading for Ryan Graves in the expansion draft and signing Dougie Hamilton in free agency. Jonathan Bernier also gives the Devils goaltending depth behind Mackenzie Blackwood, which should push both to a high level of play. While a Cup bid is still unlikely, they should certainly be in the playoff mix, and as we’ve seen in the past, anything can happen once you get there. 

In Need of a Miracle

San Jose Sharks +10000

Nashville Predators +10000

Los Angeles Kings +10000

Detroit Red Wings +15000

Ottawa Senators +20000

Columbus Blue Jackets +20000

Buffalo Sabres +20000

Arizona Coyotes +20000

Anaheim Ducks +20000

As the title suggests, teams in this tier will likely have a tough time making it to the playoffs, let alone winning the Cup. It may be a surprise to see Nashville in this group, as they were the only ones in this bunch to make the playoffs last season. While they’re slightly out of place, they do have a very difficult route to the postseason, especially after their roster turnover this offseason, which sinks their odds.